davidbu@tekigm2.men.tek.com (David Buxton) (10/05/89)
Let's look closer at that text in Colossians 2:14-16 to get the real
picture. After describing the "blotting out" and "nailing" of the
ordinances, Paul wrote, "Let no man THEREFORE judge you in meat, or
drink." The word "therefore" means "based on what has just been said, we
must come to this conclusion." In other words, he was saying, "Based upon
the fact that the ordinances have been blotted out, THEREFORE let no one
judge you in meat or drink."
Now we begin to see clearly which law was under discussion. Is there
anything in the ten commandments about meat and drink? Absolutely nothing.
Is there anything in the ceremonial law about meat and drink? Indeed, much
of its content had to do with prescribing certain meat and drink offerings
for sacrifices.
But let us read the rest of the text before us: "Let no man therefore
judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new
moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but
the body is of Christ" (Col. 2:16,17).
Question: Could these sabbath days be talking about the seventh-day
Sabbath of the ten-commandment law? No. Because they are clearly defined
as "shadows of things to come." Please keep in mind that the weekly
Sabbath was instituted by God before sin came into the world. THERE COULD
NEVER BE TYPES OR SHADOWS BEFORE SIN EXISTED! All the shadows were
introduced because of sin and pointed forward to the deliverance from sin
through Christ. For example, all the lambs slain represented Jesus, the
true LAMB, who would die for the sins of the world. If sin had not entered
the world, there would have been no need of a Saviour, and therefore, no
lambs or shadows pointing to a Saviour.
So these "sabbath days which are a shadow" could not possibly be referring
to the seventh-day Sabbath. But what other sabbaths could they be talking
about? Were there "sabbaths" other than the weekly Sabbaths? Yes, there
were yearly sabbaths which had absolutely nothing to do with the seventh-
day Sabbath of the decalogue. And they were definitely a part of the
"ordinance" system which ended at the cross.
For proof of this, let us go back to the law of Moses and read about these
annual feast days which were shadowy sabbaths. "Speak unto the children of
Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall
ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation"
(Lev. 23:24). Again we read, "Also on the tenth day of this seventh month
there shall be a day of atonement. . . It shall be unto you a sabbath of
rest" (Lev. 23: 27,32).
As you can clearly see, these annual sabbaths fell on a different day of
the week every year, and God specifically explained that they were not to
be confused with the weekly Sabbath. "These are the feasts of the Lord,
which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made
by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice,
and drink offerings, everything upon his day: BESIDE THE SABBATHS OF THE
LORD" (Lev. 23:37,38)
Now we can understand what Paul was referring to in Colossians when he
wrote about meat and drink and sabbath days which are shadows. There were
certain prescribed offerings for each of those yearly feast days, and they
were shadows pointing to the future sacrifice of Jesus. But the Bible says
these were "BESIDES THE SABBATHS OF THE LORD," or the seventh-day Sabbath.
Now it is fully established which law was blotted out and nailed to the
cross. At the moment of Christ's death, the veil of the temple was ripped
from top to bottom by an unseen hand (Matt. 27:51). The most holy place of
the sanctuary was exposed where the sprinkled blood recorded all the sins
of the people. But no more blood needs to be sprinkled; no more lambs
needed to be slain; the true Lamb had come to which all those sacrifices
pointed. From henceforth, it would be denial of the Saviour to bring
animals. It would be denying that he was the fulfillment of all the
shadows and types. Therefore, it would be "against us" or "contrary to us"
to continue observing that mosaic law.
To clarify this issue further, let's ask a very simple question or two. On
the day before Jesus died, would it have been disobedience for a man to
refuse to bring a lamb in order to have his sins forgiven? The answer, of
course, is yes. Another question: Would it have been a sin to refuse to
bring that lamb, THE DAY AFTER JESUS DIED? No, because the true Lamb had
died, the veil had been rent, and the ordinances blotted out. A law had
been abolished by being nailed to the cross--the ceremonial law of Moses.
Paul referred to the same law in Ephesians 2:15, "Having abolished in his
flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances . .
"
Now let's ask another question: On the day before Jesus died, was it a sin
to steal? Undoubtedly it was. On the day after He died, was it a sin to
steal? The answer is yes; it was just as wrong as the day before He died.
Obviously, all the blotting out of ordinances, types and shadows did not
affect the great moral code of the ten commandments in the slightest
degree--they all applied afterward as much as before Christ died.
There are Christians today who still insist that the yearly sabbaths should
be observed along with the weekly Sabbath. If such is required, then what
were the sabbath days which were blotted out and nailed to the cross? And
what was the "holyday" mentioned by Paul as being abolished along with
those "sabbath days which were shadows of things to come?" The Greek word
for "holyday" is heorte which is also used to designate one of the yearly
festivals of the Jews: "after this there was a feast (heorte) of the Jews;
and Jesus went up to Jerusalem" (John 5:1). This is unquestionably one of
the holy days that Paul spoke of as being abolished. In contrast, the
weekly Sabbath is never referred to as a "feast," neither is it ever
connected to the Jews by such terms as "sabbath of the Jews." It is only
designated as the "sabbath of the Lord."
I deleted a few sentences and paragraphs, and a tad bit of tinkering.
from
FEAST DAYS & SABBATHS
Are they still binding?
by Joe Crews
Copyright 1989
Amazing Facts, Inc.
P.O. Box 680 Frederick, Md 21701