Sermon Tone Analysis

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*GALATIANS 4:1-7  *
Having set out the diverse situations of God’s people living “under the law” [3:23-25] but now living “in Christ” [3:26-29], Paul illustrates what he means in [4:1-7] by the use of the analogy of a son growing up in a patrician household.
Paul’s overall meaning in the situation is clear:
§  The guardianship of the Mosaic Law was meant to be for a time when God’s people were in their spiritual minority;
§  But now, with the coming of Christ, the time set by the Father has been fulfilled and Christians are to live freely as mature sons “in Christ”, not under the law’s supervision.
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*THE ANALOGY & THE CURRENT CONDITION *
*1.        **The Legal Status  *
*a.       **The Promised Inheritance   *
The legal status: “/the heir, as long as he is a child/…” [4:1].
§  κληρονόμος - “/heir/” [4:1], from /klé//̄//ros/, ‘lot’, and /némō/, ‘to hold, have in one’s power, to distribute’; ‘an heir, or an inheritance divided by lot’;
*                                                                                                         i.
**The Heir *
The verb belonging to this is /kleroo/, ‘to draw lots, apportion by lot’.
§  /kleronomia /compounded from /kleros /and /nemo/, ‘allot’, is first the activity of ‘dividing by lot’, then the ‘portion so divided, the inheritance’.
§  The /kleronomos /is one who has been given a /kleros/, the inheritor.
*                                                                                                       ii.
**The Inheritance *
The concept of inheritance has soteriological and eschatological dimensions.
It is linked with God’s historical saving acts.
§  The possession of the Promised Land: “/And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names/” [Num.26:52].
§  God is the Psalmist’s inheritance:  “/The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; thou holdest my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage/” [Psa.16:5].
§  The promise of Abraham: “/heirs of God/…” [Rom.8:15];
“/the promise that he should be heir of the world/…” [Rom.4:13].
§  An eternal inheritance:  “/an inheritance, imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven/…” [1Pet.1:4].
*b.       **The Future Possession  *
The inheritance: “/though he be lord of all/” [4:1].
§  ὤν – “/be/” [4:1], present active participle, ‘to be, exist’;
§  κύριος - “/lord/” [4:1], ‘owner’; ‘one who owns and controls estate land and property’; more like ‘young master’ in comparable English, which connotes both minority position and status as heir.
§  πάντων - “/of all/” [4:1], ‘everything in a class’; ‘each individual in a class’;
*2.        **The Current Status  *
*a.       **The Status *
*                                                                                                         i.
**The Minor*
The current status: “/as long as he is a child/…” [4:1].
§  νήπιός - “/child/” [4:1], ‘an infant’; ‘a minor’; ‘a minor in the legal sense’;  
§  ἐφʼ ὅσον χρόνον - “/as long as/” [4:1], ‘a period of time delimited by some temporary relationship’: “/the law hath dominion over a man as long as he lives/” [Rom.7:1].
*                                                                                                       ii.
**The Servant *
The comparison: “/differs nothing from a servant/…” [4:1].
§  διαφέρει - “/differs/” [4:1], from /diá/, denoting ‘transition or separation’, and /phérō/, ‘to carry, bear’;  
§  δούλου - “/servant/” [4:1], ‘slave’; ‘relation of servitude to another’; ‘one bound to serve the will of another’;
§  What Paul means is that they are alike in that they both live under rules and regulations.
*Application*
Before a minor comes of age, he has no legal rights at all; he is a /nēpios/, literally an “infant,” a word Paul used elsewhere (1 Cor 3:1) to describe spiritual immaturity but which here refers to the status of legal incompetence and dispossession.
*3.
**The Current Conditions *
*a.       **The Guardians *
*                                                                                                         i.
**The Tutors *
The role of the tutor: “/but is under tutors and governors/…” [4:2].
§  ὑπὸ - “/under/” [4:2], ‘submission, subjection’;
§  ἐπιτρόπους - “/tutors/” [4:2], from /epitrépō/, ‘to permit’; ‘the guardian of a minor’; ‘has the more specific meaning of a guardian of an orphaned child’;
§  ‘A person entrusted to act in another’s name or to whose care anything is committed by another’: “/the lord of the vineyard says unto his steward/…” [Mat.20:8].
§  In Roman law, an heir was under the supervision of a tutor nominated by his father until fourteen years old.
*                                                                                                       ii.
**The Governors *
The role of the governor: “/under governors until the time/…” [4:2].
§  οἰκονόμους - “/governors/” [4:2], ‘manager of a household’; ‘administrator’; ‘an estate manager, normally a trusted slave in the master’s household’: “/the lord of the vineyard says unto his steward/…” [Luk.12:42].
§  The οἰκονόμους was different in social status from a guardian, ἐπιτρόπους, the latter usually being someone of considerable social status who was a friend of the family.
The steward had no choice but to do his job; the guardian did his voluntarily.
§  In Roman law, an heir was under a curator appointed by the praetor[1] urbanus from the age of fourteen until he was twenty five.
§  Perhaps Paul means us to think of the former overseeing the person and education of the minor, the latter the minor’s property…
*b.       **The Previous Descriptions *
*                                                                                                         i.
**The Prison Warden *
The “/before faith came, we were kept under the law/…” [3:23].
§  ἐφρουρούμεθα - “/kept/” [3:23], imperfect passive, from /phrourós/, ‘a sentinel, guard’; ‘in the NT and generally followed by the accusative, ‘to watch, guard, keep’; ‘to be held prisoner’;
§  ὑπὸ νόμον - “/under/” [3:23], ‘submission, subjection’; “/as many as are under the works of the law are under the curse/…” [3:10].
§  συγκλειόμενοι - “/shut up/” [3:23], present passive participle, from /sún/, ‘together’, and /kleíō/, ‘to shut up, enclose’; ‘to shut up or enclose together’;
*                                                                                                       ii.
**The Supervisory Guardian*
The terms used in [4:2] are meant to be synonymous with supervisory guardian: “/the law was our schoolmaster/…” [3:24].
§  παιδαγωγὸς - “/schoolmaster/” [3:24], from /país/, ‘a child’, and /agōgós/, ‘a leader’, which is from /ágō/, ‘to lead’; ‘an instructor or teacher of children, a schoolmaster, a pedagogue’;
§  Originally referred to the slave who conducted the boys from home to the school.
Then it became a teacher or an educator.
*c.        **The Defining Moment  *
The term of the arrangement: “/until the time appointed of the father/” [4:2].
§  προθεσμίας - “/time appointed/” [4:2], from /pró/, ‘before’, and /thesmós/, ‘custom’, which is from /títhēmi/, ‘to set, place, lay’; ‘a pre–appointed day or time, the day or time being understood’;
§  ‘the normal legal term for an appointed day or time when the stipulations of a contract or covenant have been fulfilled after which certain things cease to be true or begin to be true’;
§  πατρός - “/father/” [4:2], ‘male parent’; ‘ancestor’; ‘it is the father who sets the προθεσμίας in the will, leaving the child in the hand of guardians and trustees until he comes of age should the father die’;
§  Paul has in mind the eschatological time set by God and also referred to in v.4.
*Application*
The purpose of the “tutor” and the “governor” is to supervise the minor and guard his possessions.
§  Such an arrangement is in force until the period stipulated by the father has lapsed.
§  “the picture he draws is of a boy in a home of wealth and standing who is legally the heir and so the ‘young master’ (/kurios/, literally ‘lord’ or ‘owner’) of the family estate, but who is still a minor (/nēpios/) and so lives under rules very much like a slave (/doulos/).”
*4.
**The Analogy Applied *
*a.       **The Status *
The status: “/even so, when we were children/…” [4:3].
§  νήπιοι - “/children/” [4:3], ‘an infant’; ‘minor’;
§  ἡμεῖς – “/we/” [4:3], pronoun first person plural, ‘referring primarily to Jewish believers’;
*b.       **The Conditions *
*                                                                                                         i.
**The Bondage *
The conditions of slavery: “/were in bondage under the elements/…” [4:3].
§  δεδουλωμένοι - “/bondage/” [4:3], perfect passive participle, ‘to be a slave’; ‘be subservient to’;
§  The /pluperfect/ construction with its /passive/ nuance carries the thought of another bringing about the enslavement – either the law itself, or God, or both.
*                                                                                                       ii.
**The Elements  *
The mastery of: “/under the elements of this world/” [4:3].
§  ὑπὸ - “/under/” [4:3], ‘subjection, submission’;
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