A RABID DEVOTION

There is a zeal for God and country that ravages all compromisers - a devotion that becomes destructive, a patriotism that breeds fanaticism. Paul possessed a rabid loyalty to Judaism that drove him to zealously protect the traditions handed down from his forefathers (Gal. 1:13-14). His misplaced zeal justified his persecution of Christians as enemies of the Most Holy God and corruptors of his national traditions. There are few emotions more unholy than a holy zeal gone rabid.

Paul describes himself as a zealot (Gal. 1:14). He uses the noun "zealot" (ζηλωτὴς) not the noun "zeal" (ζῆλος). A zealot was a zealous person, of course, but the noun also described one of the four political parties in first century Judaism. The Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, and Zealots were known as the four philosophies or philosophical sects. A subset of the Pharisees, the zealots began under the leadership of Judas and Zaddok in revolt against the Roman census of Quirinius. They were passionate about freedom from Rome and that God alone was their master, so they believed that the census violated the Law of Moses. They possessed an indomitable will to suffer and fight for God and freedom believing that God would intervene miraculously to free His people if His people purified themselves for God. (TDNT, 2:884-888).

The zealots looked back to Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron as their hero. Phinehas drove a spear through the Israelite man and the Midianite woman in his tent to appease the wrath of God and stop the plague that had killed 24,000 Israelites (Num.25:1-15). It was the zealots who incited the rebellion against Rome that led to the destruction of Jerusalem. Some of the zealots were known as the Sicarii because they carried small swords to assassinate any who collaborated with Rome. They believed that the end would come and the Messiah would return after the nation suffered horrible woes intended to purify the people. For this reason, the most rabid zealots purified the temple during the siege of Jerusalem but also burned the supplies, including food, in the city to hasten the woes preceding the coming of Messiah. The Sicarii of Masada were the last to hold out against Rome, committing mass suicide rather than surrender to the enemy. (Emil Schurer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ, 2:598-606).

There is no evidence that Paul belonged to the zealots as a political party, but his zeal put many zealots to shame. He describes himself as being an "extreme" zealot for his ancestral traditions (Gal. 1:14). The adjective "ancestral" (πατρικῶν) means paternal (M&M, Vocabulary of the Greek NT, 499). Paul's zeal was for his national heritage. The word "extremely" (περισσοτέρως) means to be zealous to a much higher degree than others (BDAG, 651).  Paul claims that he was progressing in Judaism beyond his contemporaries. The verb "progressing" (προέκοπτον) is in the imperfect tense, indicating ongoing progress. It means to cut forward or blaze a path, and the preposition "beyond" (ὑπὲρ) means to excel or surpass (R&R, Linguistic Key, 501). Paul forged ahead of the most zealous zealots in his passion for God and country. His passion led him to persecute (ἐδίωκον) Christians. The verb is also in the imperfect tense indicating ongoing persecution and means to hunt them down. Paul tried to destroy (ἐπόρθουν) the church of God. The verb was used to describe soldiers who ravaged a city (R&R, 501). Paul rabidly defended his heritage until the gospel radically realigned his values.

Beware of a zeal for God that is not according to knowledge (Rom. 10:2). God saved Paul from the zealot's zeal and transformed his devotion from nationalism to evangelism, from the kingdom of man to the kingdom of God. The Christians he once persecuted, he now embraced. The Gentiles he once scorned, he now loved. The pagans he once avoided, he now evangelized. The gospel of grace changes everything about life!