(March 6, 2004)
Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Colossians 2:16-17
This scripture is one which has caused much controversy among promoters of God s word. The controversy is not within any one group but rather between groups. The misunderstanding is so great that not all groups can be right. Some are right and some are wrong. Some believe the truth others believe lies. Some believe Jesus and the word of God while others believe the interpretation of men.
I will attempt to get right to the point and remain brief in my explanation of these verses. At the same time I will try to be thorough as I expound my understanding.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
This passage is talking about Jesus. It identifies Jesus as the creator spoken of in Genesis. It identifies Jesus as the God of the old testament. This understanding is crucial to your relationship with Christ and with God the Father.
Let me deal with the end of this passage, Colossians 2:17, first: the substance belongs to Christ. So let us see what Christ has to say about food and drink, festival, new moon and the Sabbath day.
And YHVH spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the living things which ye may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. Leviticus 11:1-2
Read all of Leviticus 11 to see what Jesus the Christ has to say to the children of Israel concerning what they should and should not eat. These are Jesus instructions not man s.
Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? Luke 11:11-13
Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path. Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
Proverbs 23:19-21
This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD a lasting ordinance. Exodus 12:14
The word festival is translated as feast in various Bible versions. You can read about the Feasts in Exodus 12 and 13 and they are mentioned in other places in both the old and new testaments. You will notice in Exodus 12:14 that it is a lasting ordinance.
Blow the trumpet at the new moon, At the full moon, on our feast-day. For it is a statute for Israel, An ordinance of the God of Jacob. Psalm 81:3
I emphasize, the God of Jacob is our Jesus Christ as we respectfully call Him.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11
As for the first part of Colossians 2:16, remember this:
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Luke 6:37
Also notice that these things are a mere shadow of what is to come. The greater meaning has yet to be revealed. If you cast away the insight which the Jesus gives us through the Bible, considering the shadow as nothing, you will not be given greater insight and will not be part of God s Kingdom.
This is a very brief view of what Jesus has to say about the things mentioned in Colossians 2:16-17. There is a considerable amount of material on each of these topics and you can research them for yourselves if you have the interest. Man has other things to say about these things which are of no relevance except to cause division and to lead astray.
Thou art near, O Lord, And all Thy commandments are truth.
Psalm 119:151
Read all of Psalm 119. It talks about ordinances, laws, statutes and commandments.
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13
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