Buy Back
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4-5 NASB
Redeem – “It is not enough to have met a word in the dictionary and to have experienced unpleasant adventures with it in the study of grammar. A word has a soul, and we must learn how to attain insight into its life.”[1]
What is the “soul” of this word? If you read it in translation, you probably think that it is a synonym of “save.” That leads you to imagine that Paul is talking about saving people from their sins and that transports you to the usual imagery of Yeshua’s death on the cross. But is this what the word really implies? Let’s follow Heschel’s suggestion and do a little work with this word.
First, the Greek verb is exagorazo. The dictionary tells us that this word is connected with manumission of slaves. It is the “buy back” action of the gods purchasing slaves for the temple. The ethos of the word is financial transaction, that is, purchasing and ownership. Yeshua does not set you free in our sense of the term “free.” He purchases you from someone else in order that you become His slave. Redemption means transfer of ownership!
Secondly, we must deal with the grammar. Here the verb is active subjunctive, aorist. That tells us it is a hoped-for action completed in the past. Whenever it happened (which is not specified), it is now finished. We are the beneficiaries of this much-needed event. We should also note that the word is not found in the LXX. That means we do not have a clear connection to a Hebrew equivalent. Except for a few uses by John, nearly all the examples of exagorazo are Pauline.
Now, the “soul” of the word (although, obviously, we could spend a lot more time on the first two investigations). What does “redeem” mean in a Jewish context? Does it mean we are purchased from the Law? Of course not! No Jew would even consider that freedom meant being removed from the Law. The Law is freedom! Being removed from the Law is the equivalent of a death sentence. Nevertheless, there is a desperate need for redemption, but not from the Law. We need redemption from the penalty of the Law. Without some interaction on YHWH’s part, we are all subject to death, the penalty for disobedience. The entire sacrificial system recognizes this need. The sacrifices exist only because there are penalties for disobedience. It is not the Law that gives us problems. It is our disobedience with regard to the Law that gives us problems. We need to be redeemed from the inevitable result of our sinful choices.
If we add this Hebraic ethos to Paul’s statement, we get a very different perspective about his claim. In the fullness of time, Yeshua came to buy us back from the penalty we deserved under the Law. “Under the Law” we were condemned to die. Yes, sin was the cause of that penalty, but we didn’t need to be saved from sin. We needed to be saved from the result of sinning. We need to be bought back from death so that we might be counted as sons of the Most High God.
If we read this verse with a Hebraic perspective, we see that the issue is not sin, for which God established sacrifices. The issue is death, the penalty of sin even after the guilt of sin has been forgiven. The penalty must be removed if I am to live. “Those who were under the Law” are those who were condemned to die because of their disobedience. Forgiveness removes their guilt, but it does not remove the penalty for their past behavior. That must be taken away as well. And in the fullness of time, Yeshua came to deal with this penalty – on the cross.
Topical Index: redeem, exagorazo, buy back, cross, sin, death, penalty, Galatians 4:4-5
I guess we mix up “the need to be saved from sin and the need to be saved from the penalty of sinning” – death. Many of us think they are one thing. So, in light of seeing the continuation of OT into NT (yesterdays’ blogs…which makes so much sense) Yeshua’s work on the cross has to do with the resurrection; He being the Firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. He opened up the way to life in the olam haba. People in OT were forgiven and had a relationship with God, but when they died they “fell asleep” until Yeshua came. Is that right?
Almost. Who is to say that people who die AFTER Yeshua came do not also “sleep” until the final resurrection and the day of judgment. There is evidence of this in the New Testament. Paul uses the Jewish idea of sleeping, Matthew refers to it, John puts it in Martha’s mouth.
Where did we get the idea that when we die we are instantly transported to heaven? Research that.
Will do…thanks.
I assume it came from His words to one of the thieves from the cross – at least, from one interpretation of them.
I can’t follow the connection here. Can you add context so I can figure out what you are helping us see?
“I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise”; but is there no comma in the Greek?
I say to you today, You will be with me in Paradise. Put the comma where you want to since there is none in Greek.
Truly I say to you
Today you shall be with Me
In Paradise
Coldplay – Paradise (Official)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6ZWlDks0nQ
When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach
So she ran away in her sleep
And dreamed of
Para-para-paradise Para-para-paradise Para-para-paradise
Every time she closed
her eyes
Ah, the importance of commas or their lack:
Let’s eat Grandma.
Let’s eat, Grandma.
The “tri-unity” of our three-fold salvation: Christ has saved/delivered us from the penalty of sin. The cost/wages of sin (death) was “paid for” in full at Calvary. But wait!.. – there’s more!
Christ has paid the full price of our redemption (His own blood) and has also delivered us from the power/authority of sin. ~ Sin shall no longer have dominion/authority/power over you. ~ Romans 6.14 ~ Sin shall no longer be your master! ~ Why? or How? We (who are His- the blood-bought purchased sheep of His fold) now belong to a new Master. We no longer serve “self” or sin but a Savior!
Romans chapters 6,7 and 8 should be read together. Rabbi Sha’ul (some call him the Apostle Paul) takes us through this transformation from sinner and slave to son and steward! When we pray, we now may say, “Father!”
~ See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.…~
A new master and a new motivation! “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him”
Friend, if “any man” (or woman or child) be *in Christ,* he (or she) is a new creation. This is only the beginning of the new birth. The best is yet to be! ~ How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the LORD, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Ruach HaKodesh, according to His own will? ~ (Hebrews 2.3,4)
How much more?
Hebrews 9:12-14
~ Not with the blood of goats and calves,
but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all,
having obtained eternal redemption
For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,
how much more shall the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Now, ~ Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works? ~ Friend, – it is the LORD!
~ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–of whom I am the worst ~ (1 Timothy 1.15)
Thou loving all atoning Lamb
Thee – by Thy painful agony,
Thy blood, Thy sweat, Thy grief, Thy shame,
Thy cross and passion on the tree,
Thy precious death and life – I pray
Take all, take all my sins away!”
“Oh, let me kiss Thy bleeding feet.
And bathe and wash them with my tears,
The story of Thy love repeat,
In every drooping sinner’s ears,
That all mankind with me may prove,
Thy sovereign everlasting love.
Oh, let Thy love my heart constrain.”
“Oh, let Thy love my heart constrain,
Thy Love for every sinner free,
That every fallen soul of man
May taste the grace that found out me,
That all mankind with me may prove,
Thy sovereign, everlasting love.”
But, Carl, if it were paid in full “at Calvary,” then what do you make of Revelation 13:8? Is it just a wishful thought? And if Clavery is the place of full payment, then is Abraham saved some other way?
What Are These Wounds?
(the only “man-made” thing in Heaven!!)
Let us review (the) Revelation (of Jesus Christ) written by John chapter 13:
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
(verse 8) And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, (those) whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Revelation 13.8 ~ And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, (all) whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world ~
What do I make of this? another Hallelujah!- My name IS written in the Lamb’s Book of Life! The One who was slain from the very foundation of the world.
~ Before Abraham was- I AM ~
There never was a time when our LORD “never was”. There was a time when “the Word” (the Logos) became a man. Over three hundred Old Covenant prophecies were “in the fulness of time,” fulfilled by the carpenter’s son, Jesus the Nazarene.
~ Can anything good come out of Nazareth? ~ And our ready answer is? Yes. -Absolutely!
Yes, it is “mind-bending” to think that God would “allow” Calvary to occur. He could have called ten-thousand angels who would have immediately come to His rescue. But.. He did not. He was a man with a mission. The first Adam lost. Christ, The second Adam ,won.
What occurred “at Calvary?” Who won and who lost? Shall we?..
Hasatan? Dethroned and defeated – and the lion (may still “roar”) but he has no teeth! The Messiah pulled his teeth and rendered him “inop” at Calvary. Hallelujah- for the tslav!
The death of The Lamb sent from God was the death of Death. Christ was (and remains) the “firstfruits” of those who sleep. Firstfruits are a sign (here’s your sign) that more will follow.
Did (someone inquired) the carpenters son and the son of Mary conquer death? Was the sealed-stone rolled away? ~ “Come (with me) -see the place where the LORD lay” ~ The son of man and the second Adam has (thoroughly) triumphed over the tomb!
~ For among the first things I passed on to you was what I also received, namely this: the Messiah died for our sins, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; and He was buried; and He was raised on the third day, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; and he was seen by Kefa, then by the Twelve; and afterwards He was seen by more than five hundred brothers at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, though some have died. Later He was seen by Ya‘akov, then by all the emissaries; and last of all he was seen by me, even though I was born at the wrong time ~
This is the “gospel”- good news from God!
~ We are Ambassadors therefore in the place of The Messiah, and as if He who is God requested of you by us in the place of The Messiah, we beseech you therefore: “Be reconciled to God.” ~
~ God made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him ~ (2 Corinthians 5.21)
~ God presented The Messiah as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood–to be received by faith ~ (Romans 3.25)
~Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted ~ (Isaiah 53.4)
~ But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our shalom fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.…~
~ And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in Your hands? Then He shall answer, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends.” (Zechariah 13.6)
“Those who were under the Law” are those who were condemned to die because of their disobedience. Forgiveness removes their guilt, but it does not remove the penalty for their past behavior. That must be taken away as well. And in the fullness of time, Yeshua came to deal with this penalty – on the cross.
Hi Skip,
It seems to me that the Jews were under the Law and disobedient
What good would forgiveness be, if it did not remove the penalty for their past behavior
We often hear that Yeshua came to set us free, but I don’t think that’s true
God is the master and we are the slaves, and Yeshua came to show us the way
To follow the master
We are free in so far as we can choose to follow the master or not
And therefore we are responsible for our behavior
Yeshua is an “option” rather than a “requirement” in my view
What good is forgiveness? Forgiveness brings peace with God. Can there be anything more important than that?
To what may it be compared. A man is caught in the act of stealing. He is arrested an taken before the judge. There is no doubt of his guilt, but the judge shows compassion and forgives him of this crime. He is declared “not guilty,” rather than “innocent” because it is abundantly clear that he did commit the offense but the court is considering him as though he did not. Nevertheless, the injured party still experienced a loss. How will the loss be repaid now that the criminal has been declared forgiven. Someone else must atone for the loss. A stranger comes forth from the crowd and volunteers to reimburse that victim. Now atonement has been made, but not by the truly guilty party. The victim has been satisfied. The requirement of the law has been met. The offending party has been restored.
Removing the guilt may heal the breach between the parties but it does not remove the penalty. In the case of deliberate sin and willful disobedience, the penalty is death. Yeshua’s sacrifice before the foundation of the world provides the means to remove the offense by dealing with the guilt, but there is still the penalty which must be paid. How is this to be done? One man cannot die for all men since every man is guilty of his own sin. God Himself must met the requirement and overcome the penalty that would fall on all men.
Removing guilt (atonement) removes the defilement that prevents fellowship with God. That means we can have peace with YHWH while we live, a significant result. But there is still death. All mean die because the consequences of disobedience apply even after we have been restored to right relationship. Death has to be removed too. The universe must be reconciled with YHWH’s original design and that means death must be overcome.
SKIP What good is forgiveness? Forgiveness brings peace with God. Can there be anything more important than that?
MIKE I agree, very good indeed
SKIP A stranger comes forth from the crowd and volunteers to reimburse that victim. Now atonement has been made, but not by the truly guilty party. ……. The offending party is restored
MIKE Sounds good
SKIP Yeshua’s sacrifice before the foundation of the world provides the means to remove the offense by dealing with the guilt,
MIKE How does it deal with the guilt?
SKIP One man cannot die for all men since every man is guilty of his own sin. God Himself must met the requirement and overcome the penalty that would fall on all men.
MIKE Agree, but why would God forgive all men for what Jesus did, which wasn’t intended for all men in my view
MIKE Jesus walked up that hill and did the right thing in his mind/heart primarily for God IMO
MIKE Jesus showed me how important God was to him, and how to “walk in his shoes,” but he has nothing to do with relieving my guilt or forgiving my sins IMO
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
In the 3rd grade my mother taught me
the only prayer I ever use
and it deals with guilt
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day
Our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those
who trespass against us
And lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil
Amen
“It is not enough to have met a word in the dictionary and to have experienced unpleasant adventures with it in the study of grammar. A word has a soul, and we must learn how to attain insight into its life.” How beautiful !!! And so very true.
It is only when we explore the depths of The Word, that we begin to find the endless treasure… Treasure so great, so beyond our finite minds, that a soul desperately hungry for truth gladly gives up all of his earthly treasures to know the truth given to us by our Redeemer!
As it is written…
Luk 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
This is our daily bread.
His Word, is the Manna which brings to us, true life!
Thanks Skip I enjoy hearing from you each day.
Joseph
“It is not enough to have met a word in the dictionary and to have experienced unpleasant adventures with it in the study of grammar. A word has a soul, and we must learn how to attain insight into its life.”
I agree with Joseph. Another great insight by A.J. Heschel.
“Yeshua does not set you free in our sense of the term “free.” He purchases you from someone else in order that you become His slave. Redemption means transfer of ownership!”
Another well-stated insight from Skip. I’m going to try to remember that and use when I am able to talk to someone about freedom.
Skip, I think maybe it is finally beginning to soak in to my dense brain where you have been trying to go with your studies on the cross. Please tell me if I am off base.
It seems that if the problem was only sin, Yeshua wouldn’t have needed to die. That problem was already being dealt with throught the sacrificial system. Death was the problem He needed to overcome. It makes me think of the great section of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians where he talks about the resurrection in chapter 15.
Especially 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 (CJB) “But the fact is that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have died. For since death came through a man, also the resurrection of the dead has come through a man. For just as in connection with Adam all die, so in connection with the Messiah all will be made alive.”. AND the verses surrounding this statement.
I’m thankful that you have kept coming back to this subject. I’m afraid I have had a very limited understanding of what redemption means and what Messiah accomplished for us.
Skip, I have a couple questions. Is there a Hebrew equivalent for “It is finished” in John 19:30? Or have you done any TW studies on that statement? Maybe I missed it. Thanks.
I did a TW on this verse years ago, but I don’t think I talked about the Hebrew equivalent. Obviously, Yeshua spoke the sentence in Hebrew. So, I’ll have to reverse translate. I’ll check it in Delitzsch when I get home next week.
But given my current thinking on the event, his statement is about the reconciliation of the universe through the removal of the defilement of death, not about forgiveness of sin. That would have been accomplished before the foundation of the world.
I think I answered the e-mail that was sent telling me there was a reply to my question, instead of answereing you. :-(( I must have been half asleep. So you probably didn’t get my reply, which was:
Thanks so much Skip, It’s something I have been thinking about even before your current TW. Sometimes I have people try to tell me that everything God accomplished through Messiah for His followers was done at the cross.
I hope you have had a wonderful, productive time on your trips. I appreciate being able to see some of the pictures you have taken. I’ll be praying that you have a good trip coming home and your flights are as easy as possible. I know it’s a very long trip. Blessings to you brother.
“Forgiveness removes their guilt, but it does not remove the penalty for their past behavior. That must be taken away as well. ”
So now that we have peace with YHVH and release from the penalty, is there releif from the consequences anywhere to be seen. That’s really what everyone is asking for!
Just asking since we are in the disecting mode here.
Yeshua’s resurrection is the first fruits of what is to come. We will all experience it at the last day. But now we have the guarantee that it works.
So the second coming is the removal of the consequenses.
Torah will be kept perfectly and the damage I’ve done to myself and others will disappear?
Much like David my poor children and grandchildren suffer greatly for my wretched past that has given them a very twisted view of God. What of them?