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Particulars of Christianity:
305 Liberty in Christ


What is Observing Times?

Liberty in Christ: Extended Introduction
Liberty in Christ: Introduction
Definitions and New Testament Survey
Synonyms for Liberty in Christ
Liberty and Death
Liberty, the Law, and the 10 Commandments
Origin of the Law of Liberty
Liberty and Yet Prohibition
Incorporating Pagan Practices in the Old Testament
"Christianizing" Pagan Practices
What is Observing Times?
Liberty, Bondage, and Righteousness
Liberty and Meat Sacrificed to Idols
Liberty and 1 Corinthians 8
Liberty, 1 Corinthians 10, and Idolatry
Liberty, 1 Corinthians 10, and Your Neighbor
Summary and Practical Applications
Addendum: Romans 14, the Conscience, and Morality



It is very important to note that the phrase "observing times" mentioned in Galatians 4:10 is very crucial proof that Paul is condemning the idea of Christians incorporating the holidays of the pagan into their Christian lives. The phrase "observe times" was a familiar one in the Old Testament where it was used to denote a despised pagan practice. Leviticus 19:26, Deuteronomy 18:10,14, 2 Kings 21:6, and 2 Chronicles 33:6 all mention this phrase "observe times" and associate it with idolatry.

Leviticus 19:26 Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

What is critical about Leviticus 19:26 is that "observing times" is condemned literally in the same breath as eating blood, a practice clearly forbidden by the apostles in Acts 15 and 21. So, even from this one verse we can see quite clearly that the apostles considered the observance of times a pagan practice. And, since the apostles considered observing times a pagan practice, for a Christian to "observe times" would mean that they had incorporated a pagan practice into their worship of God and had, therefore, violated Deuteronomy 12:29-32 where God commands his people not to do unto Him what the pagans do unto their gods.

Deuteronomy 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
...14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

Obviously Deuteronomy 18 follows Deuteronomy 12. Like Deuteronomy 18:10, in Deuteronomy 12, God also refers to "the nations" that the Israelites "goest to possess." And God tells the Israelite not to say, "How did these nations serve their gods?" God goes on in Deuteronomy 12 to say, "Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God." Why weren't the Israelites to do unto the LORD God what the pagans did unto their gods? Because, as Deuteronomy 12 tells us, everything that the pagans "have they done unto their gods" God "hates" and views as an "abomination."

Here, just a few chapters later in Deuteronomy 18, Paul now specifically lists the "observing of times" among those things the pagan nations did, that the LORD God hates. Deuteronomy 18:14 concludes that God does not suffer his people to "observe times." Clearly, by condemning the Galatians for returning to the "observing of times" which they practiced as pagans, Paul is upholding both Leviticus 19:26 and Deuteronomy 18:10,14. In fact, since we know that in Acts 15 and 20, the apostles upheld the ban on eating blood found in Deuteronomy 12:23-28 and we know that Paul upheld the ban on observing times recorded in Leviticus 19:26 and Deuteronomy 18:10,14, which are parallels of Deuteronomy 12:29-32, therefore, we must also conclude that the apostles did uphold Deuteronomy 12:29-32.

2 Kings 21:6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

2 Chronicles 33:6 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Both 2 Kings 21:6 and 2 Chronicles 33:6 associate the pagan practice of "observing times" as "provoking God to anger." Similarly, "provoking God to anger" is associated with idolatry in general in all the following verses: Deuteronomy 4:25, Deuteronomy 32:16-17, Judges 2:12, 1 Kings 14:9, 1 Kings 15:30, 1 Kings 16:2, 1 Kings 22:53, 2 Kings 17:11, 2 Kings 17:17, and 2 Kings 22:17.

What is significant about the phrase, "provoking the Lord to anger" is its similarity to Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 10, where Paul writes, "flee from idolatry" in verse 14, and then with regard to eating meats sacrificed to idols writes the following:

1 Corinthians 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. 22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

Paul's use of the phrase "do we provoke the Lord to jealousy" with regard to the idolatry and the partaking of pagan sacrificial meals is a perfect parallel the phrase "provoke the LORD to anger," used throughout the Old Testament to refer to various forms of idolatry including "observing times." Furthermore, Paul's use of the word "jealousy" instead of anger is not a mistake. Paul no doubt used the word "jealousy" because it was the exact word used by God himself when giving the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20.

Exodus 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Notice that in verse 2, God refers to Egypt as the "house of bondage." No wonder Paul is borrowing this idea of "bondage" and "slavery" with regard to pagan practices in Galatians 4. But more importantly, in verse 5, God declares that the reason the Israelites are forbidden from idolatry is that God is "a jealous God." So, by referring to both "provoking the Lord" and to God being a jealous God in 1 Corinthians 10, Paul is clearly showing the partaking of pagan sacrificial meals is absolutely wrong and equivalent to idolatry, which is why Paul states "flee from idolatry." Clearly, Paul does not want Christians anywhere near pagan practices including eating meat sacrificed to idols and observing times.

Since Paul clearly upheld the ban on observing times from the Old Testament, it is clear that Paul did not consider the "Christianizing" of pagan practices to be part of our new "liberty in Christ." In fact, the exact opposite is true. Paul considered this a return to bondage that he feared could potentially nullify our salvation.

But, in practical terms, what was this observing of times. Well, from Paul's description in Galatians 4:10, we see that "observing times" involved observing regular feast days that were originally pagan on a monthly, seasonal, or annual basis. So, on what grounds did the pagans establish these feast days unto their false gods?

Jeremiah 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs [0226] of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

At this point it is no surprise that this verse begins with God commanding his people not to learn the ways of the pagans, even as Deuteronomy 12 commands God's people not to practice the ways of the pagans unto the LORD God. However, here in Jeremiah we also find the peculiar statement that the "heathen are dismayed at the signs of heaven." And God tells his people Israel not to be "dismayed at the signs of heaven." But what does this phrase, "the signs of heaven" mean?

Well, this is an obvious reference all the way back to the beginning in Genesis 1.

Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs [0226], and for seasons [4150], and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Here on the fourth day, God makes the sun, the moon, and the stars. He sets them "in the heavens" and makes them to be "signs" for "seasons, and for days, and years." Notice that the word for "signs" is the same Hebrew word both in Jeremiah 10:2 and Genesis 1:14. It is the word "owth" (Strong's No. 0226), and it means simply, "a signal or sign." Notice also that the word for "season" in Genesis 1:14 is the Hebrew word "mowÔed" (Strong's No. 4150), which primarily means an "appointed time." And finally, notice that these signs, which the sun, moon, and stars were set in the heavens to mark were set to mark "seasons (times), days, and years." This is exactly the phrase used by Paul in Galatians 4:10, where he writes concerning the Galatians' return to pagan bondage, "Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years."

So, what does it mean to observe times? As both Jeremiah 10, Genesis 1, and Galatians 4 attest, the observing of times was the setting of pagan holy days to serve their false gods according to the movements of the sun, moon, and stars in the heavens. Clearly, Paul did not want the Christian Galatians incorporating into their Christian lives the pagan holidays that were set according to pagan observations of the movements of the sun, moon, and stars in the heavens.

This has been a rather lengthy section to our study of Christian liberty, but what we can conclude from it is clear. First, not only did Paul and the apostles uphold the Old Testament ban against eating blood, but they also upheld the Old Testament ban on incorporating pagan practices into the worship of God that was mentioned right alongside the eating of blood in Deuteronomy 12 and 18, as well as Leviticus 19. And second, when the apostles including Paul, spoke of our "liberty in Christ" they did NOT mean we were now free "in Christ" to incorporate pagan worship practices into our service the LORD God.

But we still have a little more ground left yet to cover. Near to the beginning of this study, we stated that the meaning of the phrase "liberty in Christ" was threefold. We have covered the first two aspects of this already. We also stated that in attempting to find out what it meant to have "liberty in Christ," we were in essence answering the questions of what this liberty made us free FROM and free TO DO.

With regard to the first aspect of this threefold conclusion, we have shown that Paul's use of the phrase "liberty in Christ" in Galatians 2, where some visiting Christians from Jerusalem tried to enslave the Galatians to Jewish dietary Laws, referred to our "liberty FROM" the Law of Moses. However, we have also shown from a whole host of New Testament passages that despite this freedom from the Law of Moses, the New Testament authors considered the 10 Commandments to still be binding on Christians because the 10 Commandments were included in the Law of Christ, which is also referred to in James 1:25 and 2:12 as the "Law of Liberty. " (Acts 15:5-6,19-20,23,29 and 21:25, Ephesians 6:1-3, 1 Corinthians 5:10-11 and 6:9, 1 Corinthians 10:7,14, Ephesians 5:5, Galatians 5:19, Romans 13:9, Revelation 21:8 and 22:15, Ephesians 4:28, 2 Peter 2:4, and James 2:7 as well as Matthew 22:37-40, Mark 12:29-31, and Luke 10:27.)

In this way we established that the first of three aspects of our "liberty in Christ" is that we are free FROM all of the Law of Moses except 9 out of the 10 Commandments (since according to Romans 14 Christians are no longer obligated to keep the Sabbath days.)

With regard to the second aspect of this threefold conclusion, we have shown that Paul's use of the phrases "liberty in Christ" (Galatians 2:4), "Law of the Spirit" (Romans 8:2), and "Law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2) are all synonymous with James use of the phrases "Law of Liberty" (James 1:25, 2:12) and "royal Law" (James 2:8.) Thus, when Paul writes in Romans 8:2 that "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death," Paul is demonstrating the "liberty in Christ" means we are free FROM the legally prescribed punishment of death. In this way we established the second aspect of our threefold conclusion regarding our "liberty in Christ."