19:13   The rebellion of the people at this time would possibly the first time that the people had to deal with death in the wilderness. It certainly was the first time that they had to deal with large numbers of dead bodies. So the red heifer was introduced and must have been in great use at the border of the land before the people were turned back into the wilderness.

We have a female animal sacrificed (others have already mentioned this was rare) which perhaps refers to how Christ was uniquely born of a woman or perhaps it refers to how we, as the bride of Christ, are to take up our cross and follow him Matt 16:24. Num 19:2-12 - we have the color red which reminds us of  blood, scarlet sins becoming white as wool (Isa 1:18), Esau was "red" and David was "ruddy" [both these Heb. words (122,132) are variations of the same Heb. root "adam" (119)] so perhaps there is the suggestion that something more spiritual would follow; the animal was without defect or blemish like Christ, but we also have the animal not under a yoke suggesting the work of salvation is grace by another so it could point to the future Christ or also point to the bride of Christ; Christ was sacrificed just outside Jerusalem much as this heifer was sacrificed just outside the camp; God watched His son Christ sacrificed just as the priest Eleazar (help of God) watched the heifer burned; wood was put on (just as with Christ) and scarlet wool (perhaps suggesting white purity taking on sin/sacrifice) was put on not unlike the robe put on Christ and purifying hyssop was offered (John 19:29); v9 ashes were put in a ceremonial clean place for the purification of sin (might this clean man echo Joseph of Arimathaea?); v10 this sacrifice was a lasting ordinance for all followers both Jew and Gentile; v12 we have the suggestion of purification by water (perhaps an echo of baptism, washing of our sins, a burial in Christ), and we have mention of the third day which could represent the resurrection/purification of Christ along with the 7th day possibly indicating the resurrection/purification millenial day of rest/purification to come for followers of Christ. So perhaps here we have an example of how Christ fulfilled and made complete the law which pointed to him ( Matt 5:17 ) and/or how we are to take up our cross and follow Christ.

19:12  Notice that the man who did not purify himself the third day (answering to the day of the resurrection of Jesus) was not clean on the seventh day (answering to the day of his death before the kingdom typified by the eighth day). So an unwillingness to avail oneself of the salvation available through Jesus means that there will be no resurrection to glory.

19:10 Just as the ashes of the heifer were for the purification of both Jew and gentile – stranger – the blood of Christ can cover the sins of any. There was no intrinsic virtue in the ashes. It required faith to believe in their efficacy – just like the blood of Jesus.

14:4  It is pleasant to have everywhere clean and tidy. However, the Proverbs teach that a certain degree of mess is inevitable if work is being done. Whilst this might seem to be such an obvious point to make there Isaiah a tendency in human nature to like to have everything clean and tidy – not possible when work is being done.

14:6  The ‘scorner’ seeks ‘wisdom’ within the framework of his own understanding and therefore is unable to find it. The ‘scorner’ is one who will not listen to the instruction of God but would rather think he can work things out for himself and then fit God’s revelation into his own world view.

14:11 The house of the ‘wicked’ which is overthrown is actually destroyed by the inhabitant of the house! The inhabitant is a ‘fool’ – Prov 14:1 Godlessness is actually self destructive.

v15 the simple or silly/foolish as it can be rendered takes us to 2Tim 3:6-7 silly (foolish) women who are easily led with many lusts, and Matt 25:3,8,11,12 shows to where this foolishness leads.

The Jews at Berea show to us the mind of the prudent man and the antidote to foolishness Acts 17:11 where they searched the scriptures daily to check that what was exhorted to them was correct to the scriptures.

14:12 Man always thinks his ways are right. Of course we do. However death is the consequence of sins thinking – Rom 6:23

14:17,29 It is all too easy to allow immediate feelings to cloud one’s judgement. Better it is to sit back and take stock before making any comment. The more angry one is the more important it is to sit back and reflect upon one’s actions.

5 v.14 In saying that the whole law is fulfilled in 'thou shalt love thy neighbour ...' Paul is appealing to the teaching of Jesus Matthew 7:12 Matthew 22:38-40

6:2 and 6:6 seem to contradict each other. However they do not. We are to share the burdens of those who are overtaken in a fault. However the one who has been overtaken still has to bear his burden, even though he is able to share it with those who help. 6 v.9-10 continue the theme of bearing burdens by stressing that it is to be an ongoing activity.

5:1 So being free don't follow the Law is the argument that Paul is developing.

6:3 The man who 'thinks himself to be something' actually does not have humility. We should think of others as better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3)

5:18 'led of the spirit' quotes Matthew 4:1 - the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. In seeing this link we realise there is nothing mystical about our being 'led'. Just as Jesus, full of an understanding of Scripture, went into the wilderness we likewise should be 'led' in our lives by our understanding of Scripture.

6:12 In observing that the Judaisers wanted the gentile brethren circumcised we learn their true motives. It was not a desire that the gentile might be saved. Rather it was that they wanted to avoid persecution. So maybe we gain a little insight into a reason for persecution of the first century ecclesia. The Jews objected to gentiles becoming associated with the Jews without being circumcised.

5:3 It is not being circumcised that was the problem. A Jew who accepted the gospel could not help the fact that he had been circumcised. It was the placing of confidence in circumcision that was the problem as can be see in verse :4.

6:1-2 It is evident that the ‘burden’ of our brother that we are to ‘bear’ is their shortcomings. So rather than finding fault with our brother we should recognise, because of our own failings, that he does not want to have the ‘fault’ we have seen.

6:2; 5 Paul in these two verses is writing about two different types of burdens. In the second verse the Greek word is BAROS (922), which suggests a heavy weight, a weight that can only be lifted with the help of others, when we can help our Brother with such a weight, we should of course be there to assist him. On the other hand, the burden of V,5 comes from the Greek word PHORTION (5413) which is a task or a service, it is an individual burden, a type of burden which must be born by the person involved.

a) In Gal 6:2,5 there appears to be a contradiction in the AV. We must carry each other’s burdens, then, we must carry our own burdens. When we look in the concordance, these two words for “burdenâ€� are different. The first one means a physical weight. In these things we must help each other whenever possible. But the second one means a responsibility. This means that we cannot save anyone else, (of-course we cannot even save ourselves!) Everyone has his/her own responsibility.
b) There’s a marvellous lesson in Gal 6:10. We should help anyone, if possible, whenever we can UNLESS it interferes with our helping our Brothers and Sisters in the Truth.  “The Household of Faithâ€� must come first.

5:16 ‘walk in the spirit’ The ‘spirit’ in which we are to ‘walk’ is the ‘spirit of Christ’ – that is we have to walk in a way which is informed by our understanding of how Jesus thought and behaved.

5:9    Paul makes the same point to the brethren and sisters in Corinth – 1Cor 5:6– whilst the problem in Ephesus was the influence of those who would take the liberated brethren and sisters back to observing the law of Moses it has an application for us today. We cannot ‘dabble’ in sin. Once we give n to a temptation we are on the slippery downward slope.

6:1 'restore such an one in the spirit of meekness', the first time the Greek for 'restore' is used is in Matt 4:21 where we find James and John busy 'mending' (same word) their nets (due to Luke 5:6-10) when they are called by the Lord Jesus Christ.  We can picture them bent over mending their nets with great care and focus to ensure that any fish they should catch did not escape, this shows us the great care and attention to be applied when working to restore those who are overtaken in a fault.  The fishermen took great care over their nets so that after they had toiled they did not lose any fish caught, we have been drawn out of the sea of the nations like each one of our brethren and sisters.  Great care is to be taken in restoring any overtaken so that they are not overwhelmed and sucked back into the world and lost.

Abram shows example of restoring a brother and the careful actions taken, see 2009 comments on Genesis 14:14.

A child's plastic kitchen toy

Like the Galatians, we might at times seek the safety net of rules and regulations. And when we do, this is ok. Life is full of ups and downs, and our faith swells and recedes too. When we lack faith, regulations can make us feel more safe because we can measure our progress by them. But at some stage we must leave this safety behind and go on to a more mature way of life. This maturity is shown by forming opinion, judgements, and taking decisions based on an internal struggle between right and wrong. This internal process is called being "led by the spirit" by Paul in both Galatians (5:16-25) and Romans (7:14 - 8:9).

Ultimately, this more mature way of thinking is the only way to life through Christ; and although we may fall back on laws and regulation from time to time, we should do so in recognition that this is mere child-like behaviour. Jesus never condemned child-like behaviour, and neither should we, but problems may arise when the childlike try to make others childlike with them (5:7-10). This is as ridiculous as a grown up being reprimanded by his or her child for cooking on a gas stove, and being compelled to cook with the child's plastic toy. But this was the situation Galatia was faced with (3:3).

6:17 Circumcision left marks in the body of the man who had been circumcised. Clearly there were those who boasted that they carried the mark of circumcision. Paul counters this with the clear comment that his body had been mutilated through the punishments that he had received for his faith – the beatings and stoning had left their mark and it was those which Paul presented as evidence – not the circumcision, even though he had been circumcised.