I have been looking over some information on Galatians 3:16 for purposes of clarification. But we have to observe the wording of some passages from the Bible to make a clear determination of what the Bible is saying, and what the Bible is NOT saying.
The fallacy that Christians commit when looking at Galatians 3:16 is what is known as a sweeping generalization. It can mean something in one place, but the nonsequitor becomes, that it can mean that everywhere. It can also be viewed as an unwarranted expansion of semantics. Galatians 3:16 is a commonly cited passage by the Christian audience to declare that the Jews have fulfilled their purpose, and God is done with them. Lets take a look at what it says. "16The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many, but "and to your seed,"[a] meaning one, who is Yeshua." The covenants were spoken to Abraham and to Yeshua. This declares one important thing to us...that Yeshua can be the only Messiah. There are Jews who believe that there will be multiple Messiahs within our generations. How funny that we get correction regarding this from one of the most popular students of the most popular teacher, Gamaliel, from the school of Hillel So do we then go further to the conclusion that God is done with the Jewish people? No, because it is only referencing the part of the promises of scripture where this applies. As Paul declares in Romans 11:1-2, "Heaven forbid." As a matter of fact, taking into account the context, this implies only that the promises were being spoken to Abraham and the Messiah. Was the Messiah preexisting? I don't think that the Christians would be willing to disagree with this expression as it applies here. So if we go back to the Tanakh, we can see what Paul is trying to state, and what he is not trying to state about the Torah. I will have to say that this was a verse that I was hardpressed to answer for probably the past week or so, on a personal level, so it required some heavy duty research.
Lets take a look at what this is being applied to. Derek Leman, a Messianic Jew, agrees that what Paul is doing is midrashing. He declares this in his article at his blog that can be found here http://derek4messiah.wordpress.com/2007/01/29/pt-5-thoughts-from-levines-3rd-chapter/. According to the Lexicons, the word utilized by Paul may be plural (spermas). It can refer to one and many, which also ties back into the Genesis accounts. What is Paul clearly trying to do? He is telling those who are following traditional Judaism that the passages so applied to Abraham are also indicative of a singular seed, which is the Messiah. Now lets take a look at what the John Wesley commentary says on this matter. " Now the promises were made to Abraham and his seed - Several promises were made to Abraham; but the chief of all, and which was several times repeated, was that of the blessing through Christ. He - That is, God.Saith not, And to seeds, as of many - As if the promise were made to several kinds of seed. But as of one - That is, one kind of seed, one posterity, one kind of sons. And to all these the blessing belonged by promise. Which is Christ - including all that believe in him. Genesis 22:18 ." http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/wesleys-explanatory-notes/galatians/galatians-3.html
The way Christians utilize this verse is abominable. What many, especially of the Preterist breed I have encountered, take this to mean is that the only person that all of these promises are being applied to is Yeshua. So lets take a look at this passage more clearly as we cross reference scripture. Genesis 12:7 states "7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring [a] I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him." Here it is referring to a singular seed. But not a singular person. The parallel is obvious, but the context forgotten by the Jewish audience that Paul is teaching to. It means both Yeshua and what was later Israel. Now to Genesis 13:15 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring [a] forever. In 15, we observe again the restatement of the passage. It is referring to Yeshua. The Hebrew word here is "ul'zer'akha" which applies to a singular.
16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.
Here is where we run into a problem. Zera is once again utilized. But it is being applied to a plurality of people. So we can't say that it refers to just one specific individual when we get to this passage. That is a contradiction based off of the Christian interpretation.
I want to look even closer at some other passages. The usage of the words is important to grasp here.
Genesis 16:10 - And the angel of the L-rd said to her [Hagar], “I will greatly increase your seed ( , zar’ech) and they will not be counted for abundance.” Here the word for seed is being utilized in the plural sense. And this is in reference to Gentiles. As prophecied, their seed has greatly increased.
Genesis 24:60 - And they blessed Rebecca and said to her, “May you come to be thousands of myriads, and may your seed ( , zar’ech) inherit the gate of his foes.” - Again, this is referring to Jacob and Esau's children, and the nations that develop out of it. Who gets the blessing and the birthright? We can see all of this developing, especially here. Again, zar'ech, the plural, is being utilized. This is one of the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This clearly is referencing who will be established as the nation before God as well.
Lets see some further contexts that are being missed by Christians. One of the most popular that we all should know about is Abraham and Isaac. The aftermath of the event is declared in Genesis 22. Genesis 22:16-17 - 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,That in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed ( , zar'acha) as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and your seed ( , zar'acha) shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Here, another form of the plural of zera can be seen in the form of the word "zar'acha." This is a covenant made between God and Abraham. I have a huge problem with giving up that the promises to Abraham include more than the Messiah based off of this VERY passage. The context may only refer to a plural, so this means through Abraham's actual seeds if you will. So based off of the supersessionistic strategy, we have a contradiction as is being applied to Galatians 3:16. We have to understand the purpose of the Messiah, and the purpose of the Torah.
The purpose of the Messiah is as follows. This will not come as a huge surprise to the Christian audience either. If you accept the Messiah as your savior, you will go to heaven and inherit the land. You will be judged according to this in the book of Life. Most people want to stop here though without looking further at the judgment process. The purpose of the Torah must be remembered and is as follows. The purpose of the Torah is obedience. We follow it out of love for God first and foremost. And our works will be judged according to the book of the Law, clarified in Revelation. But not just there, as we can see in Deuteronomy 30 which states " 6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul." I ask you to find where Paul or Yeshua has preached against this. There is a Book of the Law, that extends all the way through Revelation. Everything you do will be judged according to the Book of the Law. So the purpose of the Torah is to observe the works that are appropriate to follow. As James declares " 8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself,"[a] you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11For he who said, "Do not commit adultery,"[b] also said, "Do not murder."[c] If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
12Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!"
The Torah is not to be a burden to us. Deuteronomy 30:12-14 "12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it." My Jewish brethren, I encourage you to read the fullness of what the Brit Hadashah has to say. The Biblios (Tanakh and Brit Hadashah) never declares that we are to do away with the Torah. I have encouraged many of my Christian friends to show me somewhere in which another talmidim besides Paul teaches against the Torah. Not surprisingly, nothing has turned up (and we have even observed why it merely appears that Paul teaches against the Torah). My Christian friends, I encourage you to see how easy the Torah is to follow, and apply it to your lives. It is not as difficult as you might think.
Thus we can conclude based off of this information alone, that Galatians 3:16 is not referencing what supersessionists believe it to be referencing. Replacement of Israel never occurs.
To anyone further who wishes to declare that Galatians is where the Torah is abolished, lets take a look at that.
Galatians 3:17-21 states "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. 18For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
19What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. 20A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.
21Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not!"
Right here, we may stop because this is exactly what we in the Messianic community believe. The passage in Galatians 3:16 is referencing the inheritance of the land, and how one may inherit the land. One must follow and accept the promise that God gave in relevance to it, which is Yeshua. But does this mean that the Torah sets aside this covenant? Absolutely not. And does this mean that the Torah is opposed to the covenants made by God (that being any and all of them)? Absolutely not! Paul's clarification states that through the covenant was given the Torah, and that the Torah is not opposed to the promises of God.
This is clearly merely a midrash. As we clarified through the Greek and through Scripture, this can not be clarified in the sense that it is describing one person. The references that Paul is talking about clearly define more than one person in the sense that it is describing. And this is why we must avoid cherry picking from the Bible, but rather understand it fully in its context.
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