Heathen Festivals

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Oct 16, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 39.

Heathen Festivals.

"Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain." Gal. 4: 10, 11.

THE festivals here referred to are those instituted by the heathen in honor of their gods. The context clearly shows that they were celebrated in memory of, or pertained to, their idolatrous worship. The apostle cannot refer to days of divine appointment, or that had reference to the worship of the true God, such as the Sabbath of the Lord, which was a memorial of the God that created all things.

Paul was afraid that the continued observance of those Roman festivals would prove a snare to them, because it would perpetuate in them a respect for human customs and idolatrous ordinances.