You Observe Days & Months & Times & Years - Galatians 4:9-10

Let's now move onto the subject of Galatians 4:9-10.

Galatians 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? 10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

To suggest then that to Paul, the Festivals of Leviticus 23: were in fact "weak and beggarly elements" is entirely inconsistent with how religious Jews in the first century viewed the written Law of Moses. Religious Jews loved the written Torah law then, just as they reverence it today.

Interestingly because it is also clear that since their inception, the festivals commanded by God in the Pentateuch were "open" to non-Israelites (proselytes) (Exodus 12:48), if anyone is to suggest that this opportunity for gentile participation in God's commanded Festivals is no longer important/available it is necessary to find scripture which is extremely explicit to this end.

Galatians 4:9-10 represents the strongest argument for those who argue this.

Yet perhaps, if the Jews added all sorts of laws illegally, maybe they added a few extra Holy Days too, and that's what Paul's actually referring to here?

Perhaps we should see if we can find out anything about additional Jewish holy days in the first century. More specifically had any "days and months and times and years" been added by oral Jewish tradition to those commanded by God in what many people regard as the Law of Moses, by the time that Paul had written Galatians?

What do you think?

Post Exilic Feasts

In post-exilic times important historical events were made the basis for the institution of NEW FASTS AND FEASTS. When the first temple was destroyed and the people were carried into captivity, "the sacrifice of the body and one's own fat and blood" were substituted for that of animals (see Talmud, Berakhoth 17 a). With such a view of their importance, fasts of all sorts were as a matter of course rapidly multiplied. (Note that the Day of Atonement was the only pre-exilic fast.) Of these post-exilic fasts and feasts:

The Feast of Dedication or Hanukka (1 Macc 4:52-59; John 10:22; Mishna, Ta`anith 2:10; Mo`edh QaTon 3:9; Josephus, Ant, XII, vii; Apion, II, xxxix)
The Feast of Purim (Esther 3:7; 9:24 ff; 2 Macc 15:36); and
The Fasts of the Fourth [Month] or Fast of Tammuz 17 (Zechariah 8:19; Jeremiah 39:1; 52; Mishna, Ta`anith 4:6),
The [Fast of the] Fifth [Month] or Tisha be-Av (Fast of Av 9)(Zechariah 7:3-4; 8:19; Ta`anith 4:6),
The [Fast of the] Seventh [Month] (Zechariah 7:5; 8:19; Jeremiah 41:1 ff; 2 Kings 25:25; Cedher 'Olam Rabba' 26; Meghillath Ta`anith c. 12),
The [Fast of the] Tenth Month (Zechariah 8:19; 2 Kings 25:1), and
The Fast of Esther (Esther 4:16 f; 9:31) have been preserved by Jewish tradition to this day.

Notice that whilst the Bible records these five fasts as historical events, nowhere does God command them.

Other fasts and feasts no doubt were instituted on similar occasions and received a local or temporary observance, for example, the FEAST OF ACRA (1 Macc 13:50-52; compare 1:33), to celebrate the recapture of Acra ("the citadel") on the 23 rd of 'Iyar 141 BC, and THE FEAST OF NICANOR, in celebration of the victory over Nicanor on the 13 th day of 'Adhar 160 BC (1 Macc 7:49).

Several other festivals are mentioned in the Talmud and other post-Biblical writings which may have been of even greater antiquity. THE FEAST OF WOODCARRYING (Midsummer Day: Neh 10:34; Josephus, BJ, II, vii, 6; Meghillath Ta`anith c.v, p. 32, Mishna,Ta`anith 4:8 a), for example, is referred to as the greatest day of rejoicing of the Hebrews, ranking with Atonement Day. It was principally a picnic day to which a religious touch was given by making it the woodgatherers' festival for the Temple.

A NEW YEAR FOR TREES is mentioned in the Talmud (Ro'sh ha-Shdnah 1:1). The pious, according both to the Jewish tradition and the New Testament, observed many private or semi-public fasts, such as the Mondays, Thursdays and following Monday after Nican and Tishri (the festival months: Luke 18:12; Matt 9:14; 6:16; Mark 2:18; Luke 5:33; Acts 10:30; Meghillah 31 a; Ta`anith 12 a; Bdbha' Qama' 8:2).

The day before Passover was a fast day for the firstborn (Copherim 21:3). In post-Biblical times the Jews outside of Palestine doubled each of the following days: the opening and closing day of Passover and Tabernacles and Pentecost, because of the capheq, or doubt as to the proper day to be observed. New Year's Day seems to have been doubled from time immemorial, the forty-eight hours counting as one "long day."

Many new modes of observance appear in post-exilic times in connection with the old established festivals, especially in the high festival season of Tishri. Thus the cimchath beth ha-sho'ebhah, "WATER DRAWING FESTIVAL," was celebrated during the week of Tabernacles with popular games and dances in which even the elders took part, and the streets were so brilliantly illuminated with torches that scarcely an eye was closed in Jerusalem during that week (Talmud, Chullin).

In summary then.

Extra Days

Regarding extra DAYS, there were many private or semi public fasts such as Mondays and Thursdays. The DAY before Passover was a fast for the Firstborn. There were added feasts, like the Feast of Woodcarrying, The Feast of Acra, the Feast of Nicanor, the Feast of Purim and Hannukah, the Water Drawing Festival.

Extra Months

Regarding extra Months, there were the fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months

Times

In terms of times, we talked about how the Jews doubled the opening and closing day of Passover and Tabernacles and Pentecost, because of the capheq, or doubt as to the proper day to be observed. New Year's Day seems to have been doubled from time immemorial, the forty-eight hours counting as one "long day."

And Years

And finally with respect to Years we have the New YEAR for Trees

Well, we're finally at the end of this review of Paul's letter to the Galatian churches. All that remains to be done is to try to wrap up our work in some sort of conclusion.

Return to the start of Galatians, Paul, The Torah-Law and Legalism a Judianity website ?

Why do many christian theologians believe that Paul kept Nazirite vows & offered sacrifices at the temple, even after the crucifixion, if the Old Testament law is "done away"? One small & predictable change to an "Old Testament" law about circumcising gentile proselytes in Acts, caused massive turmoil in the predominantly Jewish first century church. If most of the other Old Testament laws were "done away"; why then isn't any comparable fuss recorded in the New Testament ?

Let's take a closer look at the Conclusion About Galatians, Paul, The Torah Law etc.
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