"But
when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased
to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles,
..." (Gal 1:15, 16a NIV).
There was a basic foundation built during Paul's rabbinic discipleship under Gamaliel that prepared him in certain practical ways for his Christian ministry to the Gentiles. But none of the things he learned in his B.C. past went far enough to explain why his gospel did not require non-Jews to convert to Judaism in order to be accepted into full "citizenship in Israel" (Eph 2:12). Paul relayed to his Galatian readership what eventually brought forth such a dramatic change in his worldview.
There was a basic foundation built during Paul's rabbinic discipleship under Gamaliel that prepared him in certain practical ways for his Christian ministry to the Gentiles. But none of the things he learned in his B.C. past went far enough to explain why his gospel did not require non-Jews to convert to Judaism in order to be accepted into full "citizenship in Israel" (Eph 2:12). Paul relayed to his Galatian readership what eventually brought forth such a dramatic change in his worldview.
The Apostle claims that he had been set apart from birth for this task of bringing the gospel to non-Jews, similarly to Jeremiah --
"Before I [the LORD] formed you in the womb I knew you [Jeremiah], before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a PROPHET TO THE NATIONS" (Jer 1:5, emphasis mine).
Jeremiah was called by God, "a prophet to the nations," and he was specifically sanctified for divine service to the Gentiles before he was ever born. Paul's certain allusion to Jeremiah (Gal 1:15 literally says "from my mother's womb," not "from birth” as per NIV) buttresses the defense of his ministry in this epistle which he is seeking to present to the Galatian congregations by recalling to his readers' and hearers' biblically literate minds the indisputable right of election which God has in choosing both His vessels of service:
Jeremiah:
"But the LORD said to me, 'Do not say, "I am only a child." You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you'" (Jer 1:7).
Paul:
"Paul, an apostle-- sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father ..." Gal 1:1).
In both cases, the people to whom God directs His mercy through His chosen vessels are the Gentiles / nations. And the conduit is the same: the physical seed of Abraham --
"'If you will return, O Israel, return to me,' declares the LORD.'If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, "As surely as the LORD lives," then THE NATIONS will be blessed by him and in him they will glory'" (Jer 4:1, 2, emphasis mine).
(Cf. Paul: “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify THE GENTILES by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you’"-- Gal 3:8, emphasis mine).
Furthermore, this pre-birth election motif appears in only one other place in the entire [so-called] OT, in a context where God is again providing revelation to the Gentiles / nations.
"Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. He said to me, 'You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.' But I said, 'I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand, and my reward is with my God.' And now the LORD says-- he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength-- he says: 'It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth'" (Isa 49:1-6, emphasis mine).
It seems certain that Paul is also alluding to the above verse since he says, "called me" (καλεσας ... [με], Gal 1:15), which appears only one time in the Hebrew Bible with the verb a 3msPerfect and the object as a 1cs: in -- you guessed it -- Isa. 49:1 (יְהוָה ... קְרָאָנִי, "the LORD ... called me"). Though the LXX rendition of Isa. 49:1 uses a slightly different Greek conjugation than Paul's allusion (Paul is, after all, not quoting), it is still the same root word, with the same syntactic parameters. And Paul's phraseology here is found nowhere else in the NT writings. So "called me" is a unique verbal phrase to the entire Bible, being found in only these two places (Isa 49:1 and Gal 1:15).
(Part #2 to come, of a three-part study)
-Michael Millier
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