Paul wrote a convicting indictment to the church at Galatia - they were adhering to a gospel that was false...a gospel that Paul did not teach them. If you have ever read the letter to the Galatians, Paul comes right out of the gates in chapter 1 to let the church know how upset he is about the circumstances in which they put themselves, and then, he spends the rest of the letter fleshing out his argument - namely, that there is a significant difference between looking to the Mosaic covenant for life and looking to the promise given to Abraham for life. Before looking at what Paul says in Galatians 3, a quick glance at Genesis 15 might help shed some light on things.
In Genesis 15, Abram (not yet called by the name "Abraham") is pondering the promise made to him by God that he would bear a child in his old age and that he would be a "blessing to all the nations" (Genesis 12). God assures him again that he will fulfill his promise to him, in due time. Abram wants a sign. In ancient Near Eastern treaties, those who establish a covenant together ratify the covenant by a ceremonial sign. This ceremony is performed here by God in Genesis 15. God tells Abram to take different animals (i.e. a heifer, female goat, ram, turtledove, and young pigeon), cut them in half, and lay the halves one against the other, creating a bloody alleyway. What typically happens next is the two parties who have covenanted with each other ratify this agreement by walking side-by-side through the cut halves, thereby invoking a curse upon themselves, as if to say, "if my party does not fulfill all the requirements established in this covenant, then let me become as these cut up animals." This same ceremony is mentioned in Jeremiah 34, as God charges the leaders of Israel for not obeying his covenant. He says, "the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts..." (Jeremiah 34:18). These Israelite leaders confirmed the agreement between them and Yahweh by walking through a split calf - so when they transgressed his covenant, the curse they invoked during the ceremony came upon them.
The same scenario is established here - only God does not allow Abram to walk with him through the cut up sacrifices. God causes a deep sleep to fall upon Abram (Gen. 15:12), so that only God walks through the sacrifices. Verse 17 explains it this way, "when the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces." The smoking fire pot and flaming torch are symbolic of God's glory - resembling the pillar of cloud and fire that would later lead Israel through the wilderness.
So what exactly is going on here? God burdens the entire weight of the covenant on himself. If either side fails to adhere to the requirements of the covenant, God will bruise himself. Consequently, he invokes the curse upon himself. The fact that Abram "believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6) has now been sealed with this covenant ceremony where God takes full responsibility for its complete fulfillment. This is what theologians traditionally call the covenant of promise. Now let us go back to what Paul says to the Galatians who are struggling with trying to be Christians by looking to the Mosaic law for their eternal inheritance.
Paul says in Galatians 3:15-18, "To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise." Paul says, in essence, "Galatians, why are you looking to the law for life, as if that is God's normative manner for saving his people? If God made a promise to Abraham - a promise made 430 years before the covenant made with Moses - then that promise is not annulled, seeing that it has already been ratified by God. The promise made to Abraham still stands today!"
What do we learn here? We learn that although the Old Testament people of Israel were given the law by Moses, "the law is not of faith, rather 'The one who does them shall live by them.'" (Galatians 3:12). The promise established with Abraham transcends the Mosaic standard, so that all people, Jew and Gentile, "might be justified by faith" (Gal. 3:24b) and "there is neither Jew nor Greek...for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise" (Gal. 3:28-29).
SDG
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