Galatians 3:19, Sinai, and the Hand of Christ

Lachlan Reed

Welcome to our bible study on the book of Galatians. I'm Lachlan Reed, here in my backyard shed in Sydney, and across the line is Simon Carver. And Simon, I've got to tell you, trying to wrap my head around Galatians 3:19 this week... mate, it felt like trying to rebuild the gearbox on my old postie bike without the manual. Even a kangaroo could trip over this stuff!

Simon Carver

It is a bit of a theological puzzle, isn't it? That verse where Paul asks, "Wherefore then serves the law? It was added because of transgressions." That word "added" -- in English, it makes us think of basic math, right? Like God had this perfect Abrahamic covenant, and then at Sinai, He bolted this heavy, complex trailer onto the back of it.

Lachlan Reed

Exactly! You think of addition. One plus one. But A. T. Jones points out that the Greek word here -- prosetethē -- doesn't mean mathematical addition at all in this context. It's the exact same word used in Deuteronomy 5:22 where it says God "added no more" after speaking the Ten Commandments, and in Hebrews 12:19 for the voice that "spoke." It actually means "spoken," "given," or "introduced."

Simon Carver

Wait, so instead of "added to the covenant," we could read it as "it was spoken" or "introduced" because of transgressions? That changes the whole dynamic. It's not a change to the contract; it's a completely separate tool introduced alongside it.

Lachlan Reed

Spot on! It's like... okay, think of a cast on a broken arm. If you snap your wrist riding a dirt bike, the doctor doesn't "add" the plaster to your skeletal structure as a permanent upgrade. The plaster cast is introduced because of the injury. The bone is the eternal principle, but the external, rigid cast is only there because things went pear-shaped.

Simon Carver

That is a beautiful analogy, Lachlan. The moral law -- the principles of love to God and neighbor -- existed long before Sinai. It governed the angels, it was there in Eden. But because humanity fell, because we got dirty in Egypt and literally forgot what righteousness looked like, God had to carve it in cold, hard stone. The stone tablets were the cast for our broken, stony hearts.

Lachlan Reed

Yes! Had we kept the faith of Abraham, we wouldn't have needed the thunder and the stone tablets. But we lost the law from our hearts, so God had to make it visible. And then, because we kept failing, He gave the detailed statutes through Moses -- which Ellen White says were just the Ten Commandments simplified, like a detailed step-by-step assembly guide for people who can't see the big picture.

Simon Carver

So, if both the moral law and the ceremonial law were "given because of transgressions," which one is Paul primarily talking about here? Jones makes this brilliant textual connection to Stephen's speech in Acts chapter 7. Right before they stone him, Stephen tells the Sanhedrin they "received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it."

Lachlan Reed

And Stephen uses the exact same Greek root word there -- diataxo -- that Paul uses when he says the law was "ordained" by angels. Now, who was Stephen talking to? A mob of angry men about to commit murder. What law forbids murder? The sixth commandment. The moral law!

Simon Carver

Wow. That linguistic link is incredibly tight. Stephen is clearly accusing them of breaking the moral law, the Ten Commandments, using the exact same "angelic disposition" phrasing. So when Paul says the law was "ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator," he preeminently has the moral law of Sinai in view.

Lachlan Reed

And mate, the sheer majesty of that Sinai scene! Deuteronomy 33:2 says, "From His right hand went a fiery law for them." The chariots of God, twenty thousand angels, the mountains smoking. No other law in history was given like that. Moses wrote the ceremonial laws down with his own hand, but the Ten Commandments? Spoken by God's voice, written by God's finger, on stone He made Himself.

Simon Carver

It's breathtaking. But here is the thought that truly stops me in my tracks. Jones reminds us that the Mediator at Sinai -- the One who delivered that fiery law from His right hand amidst the thunder and the angels -- was Christ Himself.

Lachlan Reed

Yeah. Think about that, Simon. The very hand that wrote "Thou shalt not kill" on that fiery mountain... is the exact same hand that was later stretched out on a Roman cross, pierced by nails, to pay the penalty for our law-breaking.

Simon Carver

It completely demolishes this false idea that Christ is somehow pitted against the law, or that the Old Testament God is angry while Jesus is nice. The Lawgiver and the Savior are the same Person. He loved the law because it's His character, and He loved us enough to die for our violation of it.

Lachlan Reed

It makes you look at Sinai and Calvary as two sides of the same coin, doesn't it? The fire on the mountain showed the weight of the law, but the darkness at the cross showed the depth of the love required to redeem us from our failure to keep it.

Simon Carver

It leaves us with a profound question to ponder this week: when we look at the law, do we see a rigid, arbitrary set of rules, or do we see the beautiful, fiery transcript of the Savior's own character, waiting to be written back onto our hearts?

Lachlan Reed

An incredible thought to chew on. Thanks for joining us for this study on Galatians. We'll catch you next time!