Verses 1-3 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
The Greek word translated as “heir” is “kleronomos” and it means one who has acquired or obtained the portion allotted to him. An heir is a man or woman legally entitled to the property or rank of another on that person’s death. Prince Charles of England was born heir to the throne of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, but he did not receive that property and rank until she officially died and until he was an old man. As a child, he was not a king others were subject to, but he was subject to those that were put in his life to educate him until he grew to be an adult. He then served his mother, the Queen, and was subject to her until he inherited as firstborn son. The Apostle Paul is telling the Galatians that anyone who is a child destined to have an inheritance has no different position in life than that of a servant even though one day that child may inherit possessions that a servant cannot inherit. As such, children have to learn from others who rule over them. Child heirs are not free from serving others regardless of a position that may have been granted at birth. This is a comparison to those people who are in the world and under servitude to, in the case of the Jews, the Mosaic Law which put them in bondage.
Verses 4-5 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
When enough time had gone by as appointed by God, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was sent to Earth to redeem sinful mankind from the dominion of the Mosaic Law through His death, burial and resurrection. The converted Christian believer is no longer a servant to the Law, but is an heir to the Kingdom of God because through Jesus’ death believers were/are adopted as sons and are then heirs.
Application: Verses 4 and 5 above constitute the Christian message in one sentence. The true Christian is free, is no longer under or a servant to the Law, but is a son and an heir of the LORD Jesus Christ.
Verses 6-7 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Application: As true sons of God, believers have inherited the Holy Ghost/Spirit of Jesus which He gave up when His physical body died as a result of Roman crucifixion. That Holy Ghost/Spirit is Jesus who is God, very God, and so on Earth each believer is an heir to the eternal Kingdom of God and is also of royalty while in a physical body on Earth. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation; a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:”. 1 Peter 2:9 True Christian believers serve the LORD while here on Earth as they are representative of Jesus Christ and are to be doing what Jesus did when manifested in the flesh. Even though Jesus Christ was/is God Almighty and King of kings, He set an example for His sons which was one of serving others out of love. Jesus told others about God. Jesus healed the sick and those with infirmities. Jesus cast out devils that had people in bondage. Jesus showed compassion to all. Jesus forgave those who trespassed against Him. Jesus was kind. Jesus was selfless. Jesus met the needs of others.
Verses 8-9 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. 9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
The Greek word translated as “howbeit” is “alla” and it means but, nevertheless, or notwithstanding. The Greek word translated as “then” is “tote” and it means then or at that time. So the Apostle Paul is not asking “how be it then” but is stating “nevertheless at that time” when you Galatians did not know the true God you were in bondage to the Law and to those who were not divine but were false gods or idols. Then he asks how, after they have known and experienced the real and true God and also have been known to God they could do an about face and go back to that which had them in bondage and which has no power?
Verses 10-11 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
The Galatians apparently were observing the religious feast days and new moons and festivals of the Jews. The Apostle Paul in sharing the Gospel message with them would have made it clear that the religious celebrations put in place by the Prophet Moses had been fulfilled by the LORD Jesus Christ and that it was no longer necessary to participate in these events. He then writes that he is afraid that all his ministry to them was in vain because they are returning to the Law and to bondage and away from the truth of the Gospel.
Verse 12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all.
The Apostle Paul goes on to beg his fellow carnal Christians to be as he is or to be true followers of Jesus Christ as they have seen him be. Even though they are straying from the Faith, he still loves them and cares for them and he assures them that they have not caused him harm by their wrong thinking and actions.
Verses 13-16 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. 14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. 15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. 16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
The Greek word translated as “infirmity” is “astheneia” and it means want of strength, weakness, frailty, feebleness of health or sickness, or to bear trials and troubles. The Apostle Paul continually had trials and tribulations. He was beaten and jailed so many times not to mention being stoned that it can be assumed that he had physical infirmities as a result of the life he lead as a servant of Jesus Christ and of all the persecution he received at the hands of the Jews. He no doubt was not physically attractive by the time his missionary journey took him to the cities in Galatia. But he was warmly received of them as if he had the status of an angel of the LORD or as if he was Jesus Christ in the flesh instead of the servant of Jesus Christ. But now it seems the church at Galatia no longer viewed the Apostle Paul this way because they had been deceived into believing that which was not the one true Gospel.
Verses 17-20 They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. 18 But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. 19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, 20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.
The Greek word translated as “zealously affect” is “zeloo” and it means to burn with zeal, to desire earnestly, to pursue, or to strive after. Whoever was encouraging the Galatians to go after the Law was doing so with much zeal, but they were leading the Galatians astray. The Apostle Paul wanted the Galatian church to be zealous, but in the pursuit of the truth of the Gospel. In referring to them as “little children” the Apostle Paul was meaning that they were children in the Word and that they had not grown up spiritually and in their understanding of Biblical doctrine.
Verses 21-23 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? 22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
The Apostle Paul goes on to explain the Law by using metaphor. Abraham had a son, Ishmael, by the bondwoman Hagar, and another son, Isaac, by his wife Sarah. Ishmael was not the son of promise but was a substitute because Sarah wanted to raise a child so badly that she had Abraham have physical relations with her servant and so Ishmael was born and became the father of many nations including the Arabs. Isaac was the child God promised to Abraham and Sarah and he was born after Ishmael had been born and became the father of the Hebrews who settled the nation Israel in Palestine. As a result of Abraham and Sarah not waiting for the promised son, the Arabs and the Jews have been in conflict throughout history and continue to be so today.
Verses 24-25 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
So the Apostle Paul explains using these two women, Hagar and Sarah, that there are two covenants. The first one, the Law, which was given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai is represented by Hagar and it created bondage for the people as they could not keep the Law. Just as Ishmael was a result of the flesh and his mother was a bondmaid or servant, so the Law was fleshly and lead to bondage of all who were under it. “Do this, don’t do that, and if you do this I will do that” sums up the basis of the Law. The second covenant was/is spiritual and is from/in the LORD Jesus Christ. This covenant was/is the promise by God to write His law on the very hearts of people which happens when people are filled with the Holy Ghost/Spirit of Jesus. Under this covenant the Kingdom of God and His very presence is inside Christian believers and will always be with them. “I will do this regardless of what you do because of My love for you” sums up the basis of the New Covenant and there is no “if” attached. Hagar represents bondage and physical Jerusalem which, at the time of the Apostle Paul, was in bondage to the Law with its religious institutions as the Jewish leadership and much of the citizenry had rejected the Gospel and Jesus. Physical Jerusalem today is still in bondage along with all those claiming to be Jews.
Verses 26-27 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Sarah represents freedom from the Law and the Heavenly Jerusalem which exists in Heaven and was the source of the pattern of the earthly Jerusalem, and which is the abode of the Lord, his angels, and all the saints that have died with faith in Christ Jesus. The Greek word translated as “mother” is “meter” and it means a physical mother or is metaphor for the source of something. So the Heavenly Jerusalem, the seat of the power and righteousness of God, is the source of faith in the Word, the LORD Jesus Christ, and is the source of salvation and the Israel of God which today is the Church. The Heavenly Jerusalem has always been since the foundation of the world, and it will always be after the end of time when all true Christian believers have been ushered into eternity with the LORD.
Application: Earthly, physical Jerusalem is often referred to as the “holy city”. It is not. There is no holy city on Earth. All are corrupt and full of every kind of sin and evil that Satan and his devils can promote. The only Holy City that has ever been is the Jerusalem that is above.
Verses 28-31 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. (Galatians 4)
The Apostle Paul sums up the information in his epistle by firmly stating that Christian believers are like Isaac who was a physical child of promise to Abraham and Sarah, and are the children of God by promise and not by the flesh or genetics or race. And just as Isaac was persecuted by Ishmael who was not the son of promise, so has the Church been persecuted at its inception and continues to be persecuted today. And the source of persecution of the children of God has always been Satan working through those who Jesus referred to in the book of Revelation as the synagogue of Satan. Just as God commanded Abraham to cast out Ismael, so the unbelieving Jews have been cast out and will not inherit the spiritual Kingdom of God. Jesus said of the Jews, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” Luke 13:35, and “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Luke 21:24