“True biblical ‘freedom’ (Hebrew: chophshî חפשי / Greek: eleutheria ἐλευθερία) is not the ability to do whatever we want, but freedom from sin and bondage to serve God. Bondage (ebed / douleia) represents slavery to sin, fear, and the world. Christ Jesus came to set the captives free — true freedom is found in abiding in His Word, walking in the Spirit, and being released from the chains of sin and religious tradition.”

Freedom

Psa 119:42 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.

Psa 119:43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.

Psa 119:44 So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.

Psa 119:45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.

James called the Torah the ‘law of liberty’

Jam 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

Jam 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Jam 2:11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

Jam 2:12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

Psa 119:44 So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.

Psa 119:45 And I will walk at liberty (רחב ‘râchâb’): for I seek thy precepts.

Liberty

H7342 רחב râchâb raw-khawb’

From H7337; roomy, in any (or every) direction, literally or figuratively: – broad, large, at liberty, proud, wide.

H7337 רחב râchab raw-khab’

A primitive root; to broaden (intransitively or transitively, literally or figuratively): – be an en- (make) large (-ing), make room, make (open) wide.

When are we FREE? When he enlarges/makes free our heart

Psa 119:32 I will run the way of Your Commands, for You shall enlarge (רחב ‘râchâb’) my heart.

Eze 36:26 And I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give to you a heart of flesh.

Eze 36:27 And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments and do them.

Eze 11:19 And I shall give to them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh,

Eze 11:20 so that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments, and do them. And they shall be to Me for a people, and I will be to them for God.

MESSIAH SETS US FREE

Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

His disciples know the truth

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Disciples are those who are yoked to Messiah. The word disciple comes from the Hebrew word למּוּד ‘limmud’ meaning one who is yoked to an elder ox.

H3928 למּד / למּוּד limmûd

From H3925 instructed: – accustomed, disciple, learned, taught, used.

H3925 למד lâmad law-mad’ A primitive root; properly to goad (Mtt 11:29), that is, (by implication) to teach (the rod being an Oriental incentive): – [un-] accustomed, X diligently, expert, instruct, learn, skilful, teach (-er, -ing).

His disciples know the truth because they are walking therein.

Isa 8:16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

Where the Spirit is, there if freedom. When the Spirit is poured out on us, according to Ezekiel, we are led to walk in the Torah

2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

We are set free to serve God
1Pe 2:16 as free, and not having freedom as a cover of evil, but as slaves of God;

Why was Israel delivered from Egypt?

Psa 105:42 For He remembered His holy Word and His servant Abraham;
Psa 105:43 and He brought His people out with joy; His elect with gladness.
Psa 105:44 And He gave to them the lands of the nations; and they inherited the labor of the peoples;
Psa 105:45 so that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. HalleluYah!

Jesus the Messiah has set us free, Christ’s Torah is freedom therefore from the yoke of bondage spoken of in Galatians 5 can not mean the Torah as is commonly taught. The things defined as bondage in the Scriptures are sin, death, the elements of this world, breaking the Torah, and religion.

We are set free from sin and death

Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Just as Israel was set free from the bondage of Egypt to keep the Torah (Psalm 105:45), we are set free from sin to keep the Torah.

Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

There is a “freedom” from the Torah but it brings one into bondage to sin.

2Pe 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

2 Esd 8:56 For when they had taken liberty, they despised the Most High, thought scorne of his Lawe, and forsooke his wayes.

2 Esd 9:11 And they haue loathed my law, while they had yet liberty, and when as yet place of repentance was open vnto them, vnderstood not, but despised it:

2 Esd 9:12 The same must know it after death by paine.

We can be free from sin and servants of God, or free from the Lord and servants of sin.

Rom 6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Psa 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves; yea, the rulers have plotted together against Jehovah and His Anointed, saying,
Psa 2:3 We will break their bands in two, and throw off their cords from us.

The Israelites were “loosed” to make a golden calf
Exo 32:25 And Moses saw the people, that it was unloosed (KJV naked), for Aaron had let it loose for a derision among their enemies.
Exo 5:4 And the king of Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron, why do you loose the people from their work? You go to your burdens.

This is the same word used in Proverbs 29 of the people who perish from no vision, the remedy is keeping the Torah

Pro 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained (KJV perish). But blessed is he, the one keeping the law.

This word is also translated as refusing or casting off, naked or bare.

Pro 8:32 And now listen to me, O sons, for blessed are those who keep my ways.
Pro 8:33 Hear instruction, and be wise, and do not refuse it.
Pro 15:32 He casting off correction despises his own soul, but he who hears reproof gets understanding.

How was Israel loosed? They “loosed” themselves from the Torah and were made naked. Please notice that Israel was still worshiping God, but they were doing it in a lawless fashion.

Exo 32:7 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, Come, go down, for your people whom you caused to go up from Egypt are corrupted;
Exo 32:8 they have quickly turned off from the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a casted calf and have bowed to it, and have sacrificed to it. And they have said, These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Exo 32:9 And Jehovah said to Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people.

Paul uses a play on words in his letter to the Galatians about Mt. Sinai & the Golden calf bringing bondage, even though it made Israel “loosed”. The slavery at Sinai was not brought about by the Torah. It was brought about by the golden calf.

Gal 4:21 Tell me, those desiring to be under Law, do you not hear the Law?

Gal 4:22 For it has been written, Abraham had two sons, one out of the slave woman and one out of the free woman.

Gal 4:23 But, indeed, he of the slave woman has been born according to flesh, and he out of the free woman through the promise,

Gal 4:24 which things are being allegorized, for these are two covenants, one, indeed, from Mount Sinai bringing forth to slavery (which is Hagar,

Gal 4:25 for Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, and she slaves with her children),

Gal 4:26 but the Jerusalem from above is free, who is the mother of us all;

Gal 4:27 for it has been written, “Be glad, barren one not bearing; break forth and shout, the one not travailing; for more are the children of the desolate rather than she having the husband.” Isa. 54:1

Gal 4:28 But, brothers, we are children of promise according to Isaac.

Gal 4:29 But then, even as he born according to flesh persecuted the one according to Spirit, so it is also now.

Gal 4:30 But what says the Scripture? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for in no way shall the son of the slave woman inherit with the son of the free woman.” Gen. 21:10

Gal 4:31 Then, brothers, we are not children of a slave woman but of the free woman.

Paul’s reference to Mt. Sinai could be speaking of the Oral Law as well.

“They used to call the wise men by the names Sinai, and a rooter of mountains, because they beat and brake the rocks in pieces, the traditions, that are difficult and deep

Tzeror Hammor fol. 39.3 & 126.4

The Golden calf=bondage

The Golden calf=religion

In Genesis 21:9 Ishmael mocked Isaac, this word mocked is the same word as “rose up to play” in Exodus 32:6

Gen 21:9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, he whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.

Exo 32:6 And they rose early on the morrow, and they offered burnt offerings and brought near peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

H6711

צחק

tsâchaq

BDB Definition:

1) to laugh, mock, play

In Galatians 4 Paul compares Ishmael/works/religion and Isaac/faith/Word

In Exodus 32 in the account of the golden calf incident, צחק ‘tsachaq’ is used for “rising up to play” which connects back to Ishmael “mocking” Isaac. Ishmael therefore is associated w/ the golden calf. During the golden calf incident, it is said that Aaron made Israel naked which means to be loosed. They were loosed from the Torah according to Exodus 32:8 thereby entering into bondage to sin.

Gen 16:12 And he shall be a wild ass of a man, his hand against all, and the hand of everyone against him; and he shall live before all his brothers.

TSK

wild: The word rendered “wild” also denotes the “wild ass;” the description of which animal in Job_39:5-8, affords the very best representation of the wandering, lawless, freebooting life of the Bedouin and other Arabs, the descendants of Ishmael.

Isaac is also associated with laughter as that is the meaning of his name. Laughter is also associated with being freed/loosed from bondage when we are restored from our captivity. Isaac represents Jerusalem above.

Psa 126:1 A Song of Ascents. When Jehovah turned back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream.
Psa 126:2 Then our mouth was full of laughter, and our tongue with joyful shouting; then they said among the nations, Jehovah will work great things with these.

In Galatians 4 Paul is making word plays on the meaning of the word freedom. This is freedom from sin and bondage which brings us into the family of God. There is also freedom from God that brings us into bondage to sin.

Ancient Hebrew meaning of the word free

There are two different types of freedom in the Hebrew. There is freedom within the confines of the family, and there is also freedom from family and masters. We can choose to be free from our Lord and slaves to sin, or we can choose to be free from sin and death and servants/sons to our Lord. Those who want to be free from the Torah are free from righteousness, but slaves to sin.

Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

Rom 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.

Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

The Torah is only bondage to those walking in the flesh, it is a stronghold and place of refuge to those walking in the Spirit

Pro 10:29 The way* of Jehovah is strength (stronghold, place of refuge) to the upright, but ruin (object of terror, a breaking) is to doers of iniquity.

The Biblical definition of the way of God is the Torah.

There are a handful of Hebrew words that are translated as freedom/free/liberty in the Scriptures.

The first is חנּם ‘chinam.’ It comes from the root חן ‘chen’ which is commonly translated as grace. Literally it means a camp.

H2600 חנּם chinnâm

BDB Definition:

1) freely, for nothing, without cause

A similar Hebrew word is translated as freedom. דּרור ‘deror’ meaning a free flowing or liberty. This comes from the root דּר ‘dar’ meaning a generation or the circle of the family or the cyclical process of life.

H1865 דּרור derôr

BDB Definition:

1) a flowing, free run, liberty

1a) flowing (of myrrh)

1b) liberty

H1865

Another Hebrew word translated as freedom is חפש ‘chapash.’ It means freedom from a master. This is the freedom that we have when we disregard the Torah.

Another Hebrew word translated as freedom is נקה ‘naqah.’ It means to be drawn close, as in an infant drawn to its mother’s breast. It suggests an innocence. This is the freedom of those who are freed from the bondage of sin.

BONDAGE

The Torah is only bondage to those walking in the flesh, it is a stronghold and place of refuge to those walking in the Spirit

Pro 10:29 The way of Jehovah is strength (stronghold, place of refuge) to the upright, but ruin (object of terror, a breaking) is to doers of iniquity.

The Scriptures NEVER speak of being in bondage to the Torah.

Bondage to the nations of the world

Exo 2:23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.

Exo 6:4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.

Exo 6:5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.

1Ma 2:7 He said, Woe is me! wherefore was I born to see this misery of my people, and of the holy city, and to dwell there, when it was delivered into the hand of the enemy, and the sanctuary into the hand of strangers?

1Ma 2:8 Her temple is become as a man without glory.

1Ma 2:9 Her glorious vessels are carried away into captivity, her infants are slain in the streets, her young men with the sword of the enemy.

1Ma 2:10 What nation hath not had a part in her kingdom and gotten of her spoils?

1Ma 2:11 All her ornaments are taken away; of a free woman she is become a bondslave.

Bondage to sin

Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

Psa 38:4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

Pro 5:22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

Act 8:23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.

Rom 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Rom 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

2Pe 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

2Pe 2:21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Bondage to death

Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Bondage to the elements of the world

Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Gal 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Gal 4:8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.

Gal 4:9 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?

Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. {Deu 8:10; Lev 19:26}

Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men {Mtt 15; 23; Gal 1:14}, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Breaking Torah brings bondage

Isa 42:22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.

Isa 42:23 Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come?

Isa 42:24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.

Religion

Mat 23:4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Luk 11:46 And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.

Act 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?