Deuteronomy 18:10 - "There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer,"

The observer of the times was a phrase used to refer to those persons who had a superstitious regard for days that were supposed to be lucky or unlucky, as decided by astrology. Such persons were condemned, as our text shows. They were supposed to be able to foretell political or physical changes by the motions of clouds.

I suppose that any of us reading this description would think immediately of the astrologers of today, and the myriads of astrology columns that fill our daily newspapers. Unfortunately, many people are still duped by this kind of pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo and rely on the forecasts of their favorite astrologers to determine their movements for the day. How nice it would be if we could rely on the stars to tell us when to attempt an action, and when to spend the day hiding in bed. But I’m afraid it just doesn’t work that way!