When the people of Israel came out of Egypt, God gave them The Law in the wilderness at Sinai. Then, before they were about to go into Canaan, Moses in effect set before them a choice between curse and blessings. This choice was to be enacted in a covenant ceremony. The people were to pass through between two mountains with the Law symbolised on one side. From each side, they were to hear blessings and curses pronounced. The blessings were for obedience to the Law and the curses for disobedience. This image forms the backdrop to Paul’s teaching in the next few verses of Galatians 3.
A look at the text (Read Galatians 3:10-14)
Paul refers not just to those who obey the Law but to those who are “out of the Law”, the idea is that they in some way belong to the Law, trust in it and put themselves under its terms and conditions.[1] If you attempt to rely on your good works, then you are under the curse of judgement rather than the blessing of God’s presence. This is because you have subjected yourself to an unattainable standard. The Law requires full obedience to all of its commands and failure to keep them leads to curse (v10). Furthermore, the Scriptures make the same point from the other perspective. Not only do they teach that you cannot be righteous by keeping the Law but they also insist that it is by faith that the righteous live.[2] Paul insists that the Law is not to do with faith, it’s about doing instead of believing (v11).
Paul sets up Habakkuk 2:4 in opposition to Leviticus 18:5. If the first says that the righteous live by faith, the second says that God’s people will live if they keep his commands. Paul understands this to mean that in order to live, you must keep all of the rules without exception, the Law in its totality. This means that all of us were under the curse of God’s judgement. We have all broken God’s Law(v12). That’s why Jesus came. By dying on the Cross, he broke the power of the curse. He did this by becoming cursed for us. Paul quotes Deuteronomy 21:23 to show that by dying on a tree (the cross), Jesus, literally became cursed (v13). Jesus by taking the curse on himself enables us to exchange that curse for blessing. He fulfils the promise to Abraham that in his offspring, all peoples will be blessed. We receive God’s favour because we are in Christ (v14).
Digging Deeper
Is Paul suggesting that Habakkuk and Leviticus contradict each other with Law and Faith becoming competing alternatives within the Old Testament? One seems to suggest that life comes by faith and the other that it comes by law keeping. It is possible that Paul saw law obedience as a legitimate route to life for Jews who were part of the Mosaic Covenant. However, it is more likely here that he is emphasising the impossibility of meeting the Law’s demands. The Law had to be kept in its entirety. You could not negotiate on which regulations to keep. This reflects that whilst the Torah will talk about commandments (plural), there’s also a strong emphasis in Deuteronomy on the Law as one single commandment, summed up as “Love God whole heartedly.” To fail to keep specific rules indicated a falling short of that whole hearted love.
We all fall short then. So, God stepped into history in the person of Jesus. He was crucified on the Cross and so, Paul says that in that way he became cursed because that’s the fate of anyone who dies, hanging from a tree/stake/pole (the word can refer to a tree or part of a tree erected in this way). This is because criminals were either executed by hanging or impalement, or their bodies were displayed in this way post execution. Jesus dies the criminal’s death and so shares their judgement and shame.
These verses sum up the great exchange of the Gospel. Jesus takes our place, he is punished, dies, bears the curse of death and exile on our behalf (penal substitution). In exchange we receive the blessing of eternal life that he deserves as the truly righteous one. His faithful obedience is imputed to us.
A look at ourselves
One of the things that reading these verses should do is cause us to pause and be thankful. They bring home to us exactly what Jesus did for us. Often, we focus on the graphic physical suffering of the Cross in our Gospel presentations but Scripture pays greater attention to the spiritual implications. Get this, the blessed, beloved son becomes shamed and bears wrath. He does that for me and you.
[1] C.f. Moo, Galatians, 202 -203.
[2] Habakkuk 2:4.
Faithroots 