Chapter 1
V1 Paulus is Latin for little or small. The second century apocryphal writing ‘The acts of Paul and Thecla’, describe Paul as a small, bald-headed, crooked-legged man whose eyebrows met and whose nose was hooked. I personally believe that he went by this name to describe his stature in the spiritual world, whereby having been a persecutor of the early believers, prior to his Damascus conversion, he counted himself least amongst the apostles and undeserving of Elohim’s grace cf 1 Cor 15:9. Besides, if he was bald headed as the apocryphal writing claims, why would he have shaved his head in Acts 18:18. Let us use scripture alone in our commentaries and not be misled by some of this extra-biblical literature.
Apostolos/delegate sent forth with orders. Orders are from Yeshua, and Elohim the Father not our own concocted orders. We must not corrupt the gospel freely given to us slaves of Yeshua to share with lost souls. It is not our gospel, but that of our Master Yeshua and His Father Yehovah Elohim. Paul was specifically chosen by Yeshua and The Father cf Acts 9:15 unlike Matthias of whom we never hear of again in Acts 1:24-26.
Also note Elohim the Father raised Yeshua from the dead. However, we also know that this was in Tandem with the other members of the triune Elohim-head cf Jn 2:19, Jn 10:18, Acts 2:24, Romans 8:11
V2 And all the brethren/adelphos which are with me. Brethren in the NT always refers to brothers of the same parents or of the same national ancestor i.e. Israel/Jacob. Paul’s salutations are hence from himself and the Jewish believers, to the ecclesia of Galatia. The term church is totally different in word and meaning from the original Greek word ecclesia. Church is derived from kuriakon in Greek which was borrowed by the Germanic and Slavonic languages e.g. Scottish kirk, German kirche, Swedish kyrka, all pertaining to a building of worship as opposed to a congregation. Hence in Matt 16:18 we get the wrong idea of church meaning building, but had it been translated as ecclesia then we would not remotely identify it as a building but rather the congregation or assembly of Messiah i.e. a body of souls.
V3-5 As in v1 Paul again, as he does throughout his epistles, presents Father and Son as 2 separate entities, the Father always being referred to as Elohim and the Son as the Master/Lord/ Yeshua the Messiah. The grace/charis which is mercy and compassion from Elohim always precedes the subsequent peace/eirene which we have in the knowledge and hope of salvation to come.
V4 cf Col 1:13-14. V 4 clearly states that Yeshua gave himself for our sins to DELIVER us from this present evil world. Yeshua is indeed our Saviour, but there are steps in the process. Deliverance from Satan and his evil world is the very first step. Salvation is the very last which occurs in the afterlife as a reward for having persevered to the end throughout one’s Christian walk on earth cf 1 Pet 1:5,9.
V6-7 Another-it is unfortunate that in English this is not a specific term but broad in its sense. In the Greek there are two words for another: allos and heteros. a. Allos depicts a numerical difference for example another of the same kind/genre whereas b. Heteros depicts a qualitative difference i.e. another of a different kind/genre. The word removed in v6 is the Greek word metatithemi which means to transpose or transfer, kaleo is Greek for called meaning invited like to a banquet and heteros is the Greek for another used in this verse. Hence verse 6 is better read as ‘I marvel that ye are soon transferred from Him that invited you into the grace of Messiah unto a different kind of gospel.’ The implication is hence of the Galatian ecclesia abandoning the gospel of Torah truth in the Spirit of Messiah, for something totally alien.
V7 The word ‘another’ is ‘allos’, meaning that the gospel which the Galatians had turned to was not another of the same kind i.e. of Torah truth, but one perverted by corrupt peddlers of the gospel.
Excluding 1 Tim and Titus, this is the only epistle of Paul’s that had a salutation that lacked commendation. He clearly was greatly perturbed by the apostasy of the Galatian ecclesia.
V8-9 Paul’s usage of ‘we’ refers to him and the Jewish brethren of verse 2. Despite the current church age’s conviction that Paul’s teachings did away with the Torah, it would have been impossible for his Jewish brethren to have taught so cf Acts 25:7-8. Additionally, it would have been impossible for the angels of Elohim to have taught so either as they were, and still are obedient to Torah of which the earthly motions of it are a pattern of the heavenly cf Exo 25:9,40; Heb 8:1-5.
It is frightening that many preachers are accepting these curses laid against such anti-Torah teachings, of which the angels of Satan have achieved a pretty incredible result in perpetuating throughout the ages post Messiah’s ascension. We currently have religions based on apparent angelic instructions upon their originators such as Islam, whereby Muhammad claims to have received revelation from the Angel Gabriel; Mormonism has Joseph Smith claiming revelation from the angel Maroni; Ellen G White of the SDA claimed being in touch with an accompanying angel(present truth pg. 21-22), Jehovah’s witnesses even worse believe that Michael the archangel is the Son of Elohim Himself. Countless Pentecostal and charismatic pastors of today profess communication with angels, which may account to some degree for the greatly flawed prosperity gospel, which definitely is another/heteros gospel.
V10-12 Paul categorically states that his conduct and conversation is not for self-glorification, nor seeking of superfluous accolades and flattery from mankind, which would only serve to disannul him as a bondman/slave/doulos of Messiah. Servant is a word that does not give the full sense of the word doulos. A slave is one who has no rights and does as his master instructs him, and hence has nothing to boast about cf Josh 14:7 where the KJV translates ebed as servant instead of slave. Moses like Paul was a slave of Elohim, totally subject to Yehovah’s every command. See Rev 15:3 where doulos again is slave. David was also Yehovah’s slave Ps 89:3 ebed/bondman/slave.
Elijah too was a bondman of Yah 2 Ki 10:10. All prophets were slaves/bondmen of Elohim Rev 10:7 doulos. It is again characteristic of modern-day Christendom for preachers, pastors, and teachers to seek fame and glory through what usually is another gospel being preached anyway, for if they knew the true gospel, they would be wise and cognizant of the greater need to serve the congregation than feed off it to meet all their fleshly desires cf 2 Cor10:1
V12 Paul indeed had revelation from Yeshua Himself cf 2 Cor 12:1-4
V13-14 Paul further has witness to his statement of truth revealed from Messiah directly, by his very past life which was hell-bent on exterminating the very truth itself. As a Pharisee of Pharisees Phil 3:5, Acts 23:6, he followed Judaism/judaismos v 13 with the greatest of zeal, taught at the very feet of Gamaliel the most revered Pharisee in his time Acts 22:3; 5:34. He had a fervent and passionate hatred for Yeshua’s gospel truth that as a young man he oversaw the murder of Stephen and persecuted the early believers relentlessly Acts 7:57-58; 8:1,3-4; 9:1-4.
V14 Paul was so caught up in the lie of the traditions of his fathers, that he actually felt that he was following the will of Elohim. It is very dangerous to interpret scripture, as many false doctrines arise which lead to delusion and further apostasy as a vicious cycle is set up in this respect. Many Christians of today are trapped in beliefs that commenced soon after Yeshua’s ascension, as men crept into the ecclesia unawares peddling another/heteros gospel alien to Torah truth cf Jude 1:3-4; 2 Pet 2:1-3; Rev 2:14-15.
The Roman Catholic church history has partly fulfilled John 16:2, but this shall be manifest again as we approach the closing stages of this present age prior to Yeshua’s second advent. Scripture must never be interpreted but rather be believed and taken at face value, being compared with other scripture as witness to its truth. The moment one interprets it and puts a spin to it, Satan and his hordes of demon forces feast upon such a mind leading to even greater delusion cf Isa 28:7-14.
V15-16 cf Jer 1:5-Elohim knows us before we are born. Being outside the limitations of the realm of time, which is our fourth dimension, Elohim can see the past, present and future pretty much as a pilot in a helicopter above a winding marathon race, unlike the competitors, can see those in the front, middle and back of the race at any given time. We are not predestined to become a specific character in life be it good or evil. Rather we wilfully choose who we become.
Time clearly is a dimension we live in through which our spiritual characteristics are moulded, but this does not confine Yehovah’s omnipotence whatsoever in knowing who we shall become before birth. Hence despite Paul’s terrible persecution of the early ecclesia, Yehovah knew that he would be destined to become probably the greatest of the apostles that ever lived in furthering the cause of the gospel of His Son our lord and saviour Yeshua haMashiach. Cf 1 Pet 1:2; 2 Thes 2:13-The Holy Spirit sanctifies us and separates the elect before birth. Revelation comes later Gal 1:16
17-23 a synopsis of Paul’s conversion and journeyings is as follows:
a. Road to Damascus-saw Yeshua’s glory Acts 9:3-4
b. Arabia
c. Damascus-3 years Acts 9:19-25
d. Jerusalem-saw Peter for 15 days. Also saw James brother of Yeshua Acts 9:26-29
e. Syria and Cilicia-several years Acts 9:30;
f. Antioch-with Barnabas-1 year. Acts 11:25-30. Disciples called Christians for first time. There are a number of Messianic and Hebraic roots who refuse to use the appellation of Christian/Christianos in Greek as they claim that this was used by a sect of pagan worshippers of Serapis, before Yeshua’s first advent. However, Acts 11:26; 26:28 and 1 Pet 4:16 are 3 witnesses that disprove such teachings against usage of the word.
g. Jerusalem-accompanied by Barnabas and Titus-14 years later-Acts 15:1-29
h. Antioch-Acts 15:30-38
i. Syria and Cilicia with Silas Acts 15:40-41