Galatians 4:3-5, 7-11: “…… when we were children, we were in bondage under the ELEMENTS of the world: 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons …… 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 8 Howbeit then, WHEN YE KNEW NOT GOD, YE DID SERVICE UNTO THEM WHICH BY NATURE ARE NO GODS: 9 BUT NOW, AFTER THAT YE HAVE KNOWN GOD, OR RATHER ARE KNOWN OF GOD, HOW TURN YE AGAIN to the WEAK AND BEGGARLY ELEMENTS, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10 Ye observe days, and MONTHS, and TIMES, and years. 11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.” (King James Version)
Remember, nowhere does the Bible describe any of God’s laws as “worldly” or “of the world.” Instead, Biblical references to “the world” usually or often mean the system governed or influenced by Satan and his ministers. Most of the church members in Galatia were gentile Christians who had come out of paganism. Referring to Galatians 4:1-3, they had been raised on and brought up under demon based teachings. When we read in Galatians 4:3 where Paul wrote about the Galatians being “in bondage under the elements of the world” (in bondage under the basic principles or elements of paganism), he was primarily referring to their gentile past, where they worshipped various gods, and participated in celebrations that were pagan. The original Greek for elements means basic principles or elements of any art, science, discipline, or knowledge. Verse 5 refers to the redeeming of those under the ORIGINAL laws of Moses, which DELIVERED or SAVED them from the now abolished automatic death PENALTY PART of the law, NOT the obedience part of the law, for their sins, finally opening the door to forgiveness and salvation. In verses 6-11 Paul is addressing the Gentiles, who came to “know” God only after the appearing of Jesus Christ. Weak and beggarly elements emphasize more just how corrupt, evil, and reprehensible these elements of the world are, referring to pagan beliefs, superstitions, traditions, and practices usually at least partly or wholly inspired by demons.
One needs to recognize that the word “after” is used in verse 9. After means following, succeeding, next, later, or subsequently. Verse 9 says that only AFTER you have acquired knowledge about God, (referring to the Gentiles who came to know God only after the life and death of Jesus) Who is by nature godly of course, and His holy laws, you then RETURNED to your previous WEAK AND BEGGARLY ELEMENTS, paganism, that were not in any way divine or godly.
1 Corinthians 14:33 reveals that God is NOT THE AUTHOR OF CONFUSION, so the “weak and beggarly elements” could not be the Mosaic, Old Testament laws because that description flagrantly contradicts (creating confusion) many, many NT verses describing those divine laws as good, powerful, strong and holy. The Mosaic laws are certainly not weak. Romans 7:12: “Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” (NKJV) 1 Timothy 1:8: “But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully,” (NKJV) Biblical laws are just the opposite of being “weak and beggarly.”
Repeating for emphasis to make sure you get the point, if you think that “the weak and beggarly elements” refer to the Old Testament laws, then not only just a “red flag” should appear, but an “almost blindingly bright, pulsating, red flare” should streak skyward after reading the words “you served those WHICH BY NATURE ARE NO (NOT) GODS,” implying that those gods are not really real, like the one really true God. The “weak and beggarly elements” is just a different description of idolatrous, man concocted paganism practiced BEFORE the acquisition of knowledge about God, which of course also implies knowledge about God’s laws when the godly knowledge was acquired. Verse 8’s “which by nature are no gods” conclusively reinforces the point that verse 9’s “weak and beggarly elements” CANNOT be Old Testament, Mosaic laws because divine OT laws DO “serve those which by nature ARE gods,” or, in reality, involves serving one true God. In other words, again, whatever the “weak and beggarly elements” were, they were not divine (were not created by God) since verse 8 reveals that they did not involve anything that was godly. Old Testament laws definitely are divine since they were created by God, so these “weak and beggarly elements,” one more time for emphasis, OBVIOUSLY COULD NOT be referring to the Old Testament laws, which are quite divine. The context of these verses involves a pagan belief system PRECEDING “knowledge of God.” Old Testament festivals (God’s holy days) REQUIRE “knowledge of God.” The Galatian Christians were Gentiles returning to what they had come from (verse 9). They were going back to pagan, astrology like observances.
Also, God NEVER DID make any month holy or to be observed in any way, and He condemned the observance of “times” in Deuteronomy 18:10, so Galatians 4:10 COULD NOT refer to Biblical festivals and Holy Days. These “days and months and seasons [times] and years” were man made, man concocted pagan days, months, seasons, and years, which could have been similar to astrology today. Verses 8 and 9 of Galatians 4 refer to the PAGAN practices of the Galatians BEFORE they knew the laws in the OT. They are then shown to be going back to the “weak and beggarly elements.”
To study the above verses that may initially seem to say one thing but actually say another thing, use the most literal Bible translations available. Too many popular translations stray so far from the original Greek that, to protect the public from salvation jeopardizing verses, they should not only be banned, but BURNED UP.
Despite what many verse skipping, mainstream “Christians” and even some biased, anti-law leaning, rogue translators say, a rational, honest, open minded person is forced to conclude that far too much reasonable doubt, which is overwhelming, exists to conclusively prove that Galatians 4: 8-11, the weak and beggarly elements, refer to the laws of Moses.
For further study visit one or more of the following three international, law keeping churches recommended on the INTRODUCTION page, cogwa.org, lcg.org, or ucg.org then select Contact to ask online for an explanation of the “weak and beggarly elements” in Galatians 4:3-11.