Galatians 3:16-17, “On The New and Old in Regards to Time”

Galatians 3:16-17, “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ. ¹⁷What I mean is this: The law introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.”

In a previous entry I discussed the righteousness of Abraham, which he was granted by God because of His faith. This was not only due to his belief in God, but his faith that God’s promises were steadfast. In addition, I discussed the “offspring,” promised and made known to Abraham. This offspring was to be a singular person, and through Him the world would be offered the reconciliation unto God. Here, in Galatians, Paul presents the argument of the singular seed that was to come by and through Abraham’s bloodline. As profound as this is, Paul goes further, dipping a bit into history to reveal the true nature of the covenants.

Within the philosophical and theological boundaries of the Christian “religion,” we tend to separate the covenants of Moses and Jesus, and break the Bible down, in a general sense, into both the Old and New Testaments. Man loves to put things and ideas into categories or groups, that by their division, they may be easily sorted and understood. Concerning the division of the Old and New Testaments, as well as the old and new covenant, I conclude there is nothing specifically wrong with this. However, one stumbling block does arise that I have witnessed, but this is the fault of man. It usually concerns those new in the faith or exploring it. It doesn’t seem too uncommon for those whom Christ is calling to be curious about the differentiation between the God of the Old Testament and the New, rather than looking at it as a complete revelation from and of God.

We need to remind our brothers and sisters in Christ, and in fact everyone, that the Scriptures represent a singular narrative that explicitly shows God and reveals He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Why the wrath shown in the Old Testament? Paul gives us a clear answer:

“These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us . . .” -1 Corinthians 10:11

So am I saying its wrong to refer to old and new? Not at all! In fact, the Lord Himself declared prior to Christ that a new thing was being done, and a new covenant will be established with Israel. The Book of Jeremiah says in Chapter 31, Verse 31:

“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.'”

Yet, if it was shared with Abraham, what is it that makes it new? Simply, it is new in human, temporal terms. It is not as if man, who is subservient to God, caught God unaware and He had to hatch a new plan to save man. Rather, God’s plan was destined from the beginning. God, let it be known that it is a new covenant, because this is truly what it is in the context of time. Time has no bearing on God, for God controls time, and since time is under God’s belt, to God it is already finished. If anyone believes differently, then one cannot believe in the omniscience of God, for God would be subservient to time. Furthermore, if He is subservient to time, He could not be God, and our faith would be meaningless, for by and out of God came Christ. Yet, to God, it is time that has no meaning. The breadth of its meaninglessness is shown by eternity. We usually think of eternity as it corresponds to time, that time will stretch forever, but in actuality, eternity is a place where time doesn’t exist. The extent of the meaninglessness of time to God is made clear in 2 Peter 3:8:

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”

Therefore, according to time, which we all are subservient, the law came before, and Christ after, and in temporal terms it is new, or more recent. Yet, that’s not all, by this new covenant it gave the law unto the hearts of man, and revealed God unto the world, so that no man or woman is without excuse. Yet, God did promise the new covenant unto Jeremiah and Abraham, and because He refers to it as “new” to Jeremiah, we see that though the promise was made known, and though the revelation of Christ to come preexisted some 430 years prior to the Law, it doesn’t negate the temporal relativity of the coming of Christ and the Spirit. In addition, as Paul says, the two don’t cancel each other out, but instead, they compliment each other to such perfection, they become united and fulfilled in Christ.

It is not necessarily disrespectful or wrong to conclude that the two covenants, outside time, represent one great covenant, where man can be saved through faith, as Abraham was. This, I would argue, when approaching this issue in human linguistics, that the covenants represent old and new revelations, through which God’s attributes and power were proclaimed to man. First, His nature, commandments, and wrath. Secondly, His grace, love, and peace.

The plan of God was singular, but we can differentiate between the covenants, because of what they revealed to man and by the manifestations of God. Under the old covenant, God spoke through the prophets, yet in the new, God came to earth, became man, taught to a multitude, was crucified, and rose again. By this, man does not need to turn to a prophet to know God, but now, His Son and Sprit dwell within our hearts, upon which the law is now written.

Galatians 3:10, “On The Transposition of The Curse”

“All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” -Galatians 3:10

The verse Paul cites is within the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 27:36 and Jeremiah 11:3. God’s purpose by the Law was not to condemn or curse man eternally, but rather use the curse, an inevitable consequence of disobedience, to beckon us to Him, draw us closer, and prepare the way for Christ, who became the way. The word, “continue,” emphasizes that if observing the Law alone, one need to follow it exactly throughout their whole life, and any momentary slip, would negate any righteousness by the Law, which it represents.

Thus, the Law showed us the nature of God, and the great need for a savior who would reconcile us unto the Law, and thereby unto God. Many, in their hearts, cried out because of the Law for the Lord to save them from the curse it exemplified in man. Christ was the answer, and by the shame evident at the cross, the curse was placed upon Christ, and by His resurrection He was victorious in alleviating the curse from man. Thus, we come to another aspect of the Law, that by the Law, man looks to and relies more on God. This reliance becomes a necessary facet of our relationship with our Lord and savior.

Habakkuk 2:4, “On The Bloating of Pride, Sin, and In Which You’ll Read a Few Notes Concerning Biblical Humor”

“See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright – but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.” -Habakkuk 2:4

I regard it as a wonderful and amazing thing that when I first began reading the scriptures and developed my relationship with the Lord, I found some humor to be included in the Bible. I knew it would take some self discipline to sit and read the scriptures, for where I was at I knew the Lord would have plenty to say to me, some of which I probably didn’t want to hear. This isn’t too uncommon and most believers can probably relate to some degree, for when one lives in the darkness, the light can hurt or blind you for a time. Yet, when I began to notice little things that made me smile or laugh, I considered it a huge step towards developing a deeper relationship with God by His Son. Not only did I believe that conceptually, but I also felt it in my spirit.

I shall quickly mention here though, that the humor in the Bible is very different from the humor we are used to in the world, for the humor is never arbitrary, to be funny for the sake of being funny, but it is meant to teach and provide insight at the same time. Also, the humor comes at the appropriate time, meaning that God may have you focus on the lesson at hand, then follow it up by something that may make you chuckle. In a same way, something might make you chuckle to get your attention and then the message might come to you.

What ever the case, its possible we all approach the scriptures individually and maybe some are convicted about reading over the word of God with more of a stone-like countenance, but I ask why? If we do laugh and there is humor in the world, then it follows that it had to originate with God as did everything (See my note on 1 John 4:19, “On Love’s First Cause”). In addition, the potential of humor in evangelism cannot be denied. It is man that perverts humor. I will take this opportunity to confess that I myself have engaged in crass forms of it from time to time, which I am sure Lord didn’t find particularly amusing. Yet, despite my struggles, to me and my walk it was a fantastic realization that God does indeed have a sense of humor.

Thus, during your devotional time, if you find something particularly amusing, don’t be afraid to laugh, for the Scriptures tell us that laughter is a manifestation of joy (Psalm 126:2). The Bible wasn’t meant to be a burden on us, as it can honestly feel like due to the spiritual battle and war against the self in particular times of conviction. Rather, we are told that the yolk is light and to take great joy in God’s word (Jeremiah 15:16). Indeed, it is difficult to read about the crucifixion, for the events are brutal, but paradoxically it’s difficult not to smile when one thinks on Christ going through all the suffering He did for us that we may be saved by what He accomplished, and then appearing to His disciples alive and victorious! Amen!

One prime example of this pure humor is Habakkuk 2:4. I had to laugh, not because of the enemies of God’s existence and their sinful being is funny, but because what the Lord brought to my mind during the reading of this verse. An image of a “puffed-up” cat. Indeed, the very fact the Bible can be said to contain the imagery that is suggested by “puffed-up” is really kind of funny. Yet, despite the humor I find too an important message. Though in worldly humor we can make a person laugh just for the sake of pure entertainment, hardly ever can this humor actually teach us something important, besides maybe revealing the depths of sin by what kind of humor we may or may not indulge in.

This isn’t the case with God, when something strikes us as humorous when reading the word, one also needs to remember to reflect on the meaning and purpose of that particular which brought us to laughter. Again, this this verse is a great example and tells us a few things.

First, that the enemies of God are often bloated with pride. When we look at at the animal kingdom, we see creatures that extend their forms as a whole for a variety a reasons. We see a reliance based on appearance. What I mean is this, a cat does it when he is threatened in order to make himself look bigger than he really is. Thus, it is self manipulation, the cat “knowing” he may be perceived as weak by what he considers a threat. Thereby, the cat attempts to manipulate its appearance and alter how that aforementioned threat might perceive of it. Of course, I will point out a cat is sinless in its display.

We know this is true in many aspects of life. Think about some of the bullies you may have known, or maybe you were even one at one time in the past, or even now (I will pray for you).

Such people are usually putting on a display for any variety of reasons and though the cat does it for protection, such men do it because egoism, pride, or for the desire to be prideful in some thing, even if it means puffing themselves up to torture others, for they feel the more people they have underfoot, the greater they are. This consequently adds to their pride. The sad thing is we all tend to fall for the “puffed up” guise.

Secondly, those who act in like manner are not virtuous people. They rise up against anything that challenges them or threatens their pride, which by the way, is extremely fragile. They indulge in all glorifications of the senses and forgo the spirit, mind and God, for such a person cannot be hindered by such ridiculousness. They are threatened by those who have security and contentment, and will ruthlessly mock or attack those who have acquired it, for it is what they truly desire, but they remain bitter that through their comfortable means they cannot attain it, and indeed mock all other system of intermediate steps to acquire it. It is never based on rationality, but more so rather on emotion and not based on strength, but rather frailty. At times its not just explicit hate, but its expression can take on the appearance of something much more innocent and thereby more deceptive, like humor.

Their wretched minds are dark, and their actions sinful. They will attack those who even have the nerve to offer a better way of life. We see this not only in man, but these traits are even evident in Satan. Thus, if a man is puffed up to a large degree like I have described, the person is most likely following in the trail of darkness rather than being led by the light. The perversions that Satan originated, become the person’s own, represented in his spirit, thoughts and actions. He lives according to the self, not respecting anything, but demanding respect from everybody. This can get to such an extent that he will try to silence his mind and spirit to focus completely on the flesh.

From "Paradise Lost," by John Milton. "Satan Lands Atop Mt. Niphates, Where He Laments The Loss of Heaven," by Gustave Doré, c. 1866

The antithesis however, is that the upright, the secure, the content, and the joyful, will live in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of pushing any differing person away as the enemy does, the faithful will attract the lost to themselves, and more importantly, by the Lord who shines bright within those that are righteous in God’s sight.

The books of the prophets are amazing in that, not only do they give us insights of how we are to live today concerning our own lives, but also contain prophecy about the the Christ. Habakkuk, though a minor prophet by scholarly classification, is no different from his “major” counterparts, other than slightly harder to spell.

The Prophet Habakkuk

We see that the phrase, “but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness,” not only suggests tests how we are to live to be granted righteousness, but also that we will need to be faithful to something greater than the self, namely the Lord Jesus Christ, who was still to come in Habakkuk’s time. Also, because it is in a singular context, we see that it is pointing to a savior who by His faithfulness, will be made righteous and offer that same righteousness to all that would approach Him in humble faith. Not only was this verse fulfilled in Christ, it has been fulfilled within us at the present, that is in The Body of Christ, and will be fulfilled in the future when the enemy is brought low and deflated by the power, authority, and righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.