Dual Fulfillment of Gal. 3:16?

[Guest]

Steve,

I am having trouble reconciling Paul's statement in Gal 3:16 that the promise of Abraham's "seed" in Gen. 15:5 was not the physical descendants of Abraham, but was Jesus. My problem comes in verse 13 of Gen. 15 where the Lord says,

"Know for certain that your descendants (seed) will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years." (NASB)

You can probably imagine my argument before I state it, but it seems that Paul would be incorrect in his reference to Christ being the fulfillement of verse five since there is no way that He was oppressed and enslaved for four hundred years (since it would seem given the context that "descedenants" in vs. 5 are the same ones as in vs. 13). Also, modern translations translate "seed" as "descendants" and not "descendant" in vs. 5 and 13, which would not seem to line up with Paul's statement as well.

Now of course I do not believe Paul was incorrect, but it makes me wonder if this is one of those situations where their would be a dual fulfillment, and the fact that it is a dual fulfillment is something we deduce based on the whole of Scripture.

But that view, I would think, would bring up a significant problem since Paul is emphatic that,

"He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as {referring} to many, but {rather} to one, 'And to your seed,' that is, Christ."

But the idea that God is "referring to many" seems pretty clear in the context of Gen. 15! Ahhh! Help!

Any insight would be greatly appreciative. Thanks and blessings in Jesus!

Ryan

[Guest]

Hi Ryan. I just wanted to chip something in here. Believe it or not, this kind of Scriptural interpretation is very common, even today, amongst the Jews. They look at one word or one phrase and build a whole edifice of interpretation into it.

But as you said, Paul wasn't wrong. In fact, it was common to look at the "promised sons" as being in the plural as well as the "promised Son" in the singular, in the first century.

Psalm 24 is a good example of where these two interpretations have been mixed together. In verse 2, we have God "founding the earth upon the seas and establishing it upon the rivers." This sets the time setting at Creation, since God brought up the dry land out of the waters in Genesis 1:9-10 and planted the Garden of Eden at the head of four rivers in Genesis 2:10.

In the next few verses, the psalmist asks the question, who can ascend the hill of the Lord or stand in His holy place? In other words, who can re-enter the Garden of Eden, from which mankind has been cut off because of sin? Only the promised Son, the forgiver of sin who can crush the head of the Serpent, can! See Genesis 3:14-15.

Nevertheless, in verse 6, the psalmist concludes that the descendants - plural! - of Jacob, of those who seek God's face, can.

Verses 7-10 once again conclude that the promised Son will be in the singular, and will be the Lord Himself.

Interesting, innit?

Damon

[Guest]

Hi Ryan,

If you are considering the spiritual fulfilment of Genesis 15:13 in the person of Jesus, I think the reference to be considered would be Matthew 2:13-15.

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1, whose immediate meaning would refer to the Israelites at the Exodus from Egypt. Matthew takes the spiritual meaning of Hosea's words to refer to this particular incident in Jesus' life.

Furthermore, if the promise is projected to us (as the numberless stars in Genesis 15:5), then Egypt is probably a type of this sinful world.

[Guest]

While I agree that the fulfillment of the "seed" is Christ I would also point out that individual Christians are also one in Christ. Like when Saul was persecuting Christians Jesus said 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me'? We are all small parts of the one body of Christ.

[Guest]

I appreciate all of your comments. I'm still working through it and can trust the Lord will reveal it to me as I seek Him and study the Scriptures. Any other comments are appreciated. Blessings in Jesus.

Ryan