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Colossians 2:16-17
says, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you
by what you eat or drink, or with regard to
a religious festival, a New Moon celebration
or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the
things that were to come; the reality,
however, is found in Christ.” (NIV)
The Seventh-day Adventist Church
argues two main reasons why the weekly,
seventh day Sabbath was not being discussed
in Colossians 2.
• First, they say that God gave two types of
Sabbaths in the Old Testament: the seventh
day Sabbath of the decalogue (which they say
is eternal), and the ceremonial Sabbaths of
the yearly festivals listed in Leviticus 23
(which they say ended at the cross). And;
• Second, they
say the seventh day Sabbath was a memorial
of creation so it could not be called a
“shadow of things to come” by the Apostle
Paul.
Both claims are false for the
following reasons:
1. The
Old Testament makes no distinction between
the Law of God and the Law of Moses. The Law
of Moses was the legal code for the entire
Old Covenant (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25;
Ezra 3:2). It was the legally-binding
constitution for the theocratic nation of
Israel.
The Law
was a unit. It was made up of three parts: the Ten
Commandments, the ordinances, and the very
elaborate system of worship that included
the priesthood, the tabernacle, the
offerings, and the annual festivals (Exod. 20-40;
Lev. 1-7; 23). At no time was the Law ever
divided into moral and ceremonial laws.
2. The festivals, new moons,
and Sabbath days mentioned in Colossians 2:16
represent the annual, monthly and
weekly observances of the Hebrew religious calendar.
Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi, one of the
Seventh-day Adventist’s top scholars
regarding the Sabbath issue agrees saying
that is “the unanimous consensus of
commentators” that the sequence implies
annual, monthly and weekly observances.
3. This same annual, monthly, and
weekly, sequence appears five times in the
Septuagint (2 Chron. 2:4; 31:3; Neh. 10:33;
Ezek. 45:17; Hosea 2:11) and every time
it means the days, months,
seasons, and years, of the entire system of
worship under the Mosaic Covenant.
4.
Whenever the Old Testament links the new
moon celebration with the Sabbath, as it
does in Colossians 2:16, it is referring to
the seventh day Sabbath (2 Kings 4:23; 1 Chron. 23:31;
2 Chron. 2:4; Neh. 10:33; Isa. 1:13; 66:23;
Ezek. 45:17; 46:1; Hosea 2:11; Amos 8:5).
5. The New Testament uses the
same annual, monthly, and weekly, sequence
to show the Sabbath was part of the Old
Covenant and not binding on Christians who
live under the New Covenant in Colossians 2:16-17
and Galatians 4:8-11).
6. Leviticus 23
points to all of the sacred days of the Lord
under the Mosaic Covenant. After the
Sabbath, the Jewish feast days are given in
the order of the Hebrew calendar (Lev. 23:4-44).
In Leviticus 23:3, the seventh day
Sabbath is listed along with all of the
other appointed feasts and holy convocations
of the LORD showing that it was part of the
ceremonial requirements of the Old Covenant.
At special times the Sabbath could be set
aside because of greater concerns (see Matt. 12:1-4;
1 Sam. 21:1-6; Matt. 12:5; Num. 28:9-10).
None of the other nine
commandments of the decalogue could be set
aside for any reason.
7. When the
Old Testament refers to the yearly Sabbaths
like the Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:32), it
calls them “a Sabbath of rest,” which the
Septuagint consistently translates with the
compound Greek expression “Sabbata
sabbaton”. Colossians 2:16 only has
“sabbaton”, the same wording that Matthew 28:1
uses for the weekly seventh day Sabbath.
8. It has been argued that since Paul
calls the Sabbath in Colossians 2:16 “a
shadow of the things that were to come”, he
could not be referring to the Sabbath of the
decalogue. But Colossians 1:16 has already
shown that all things were made by Christ
and exist for His sake. Adam himself was “a
pattern of the One to come” (Rom. 5:14). The
Sabbath and all of the festivals recorded in
the Old Testament were instituted to point
back to the mighty works of God in the
creation or in their deliverance from
bondage in Egypt. They also pointed forward
to God’s new creation and act of
deliverance at the end of time.
False teachers in the Colossian Church were
evidently insisting on abstinence from
certain foods and the observance of certain
days according to the Old Covenant laws,
contrary to the gospel. Paul said that those
things were only shadows of what was to come
and have been made obsolete by the coming of
Christ (Heb. 8:13). Shadows are not solid or
permanent; they only exist because some
physical object has cast the shadow. The Old
Covenant ceremonies were merely shadows
pointing forward to Christ; He is the
substance. Now that he has come, the
ceremonial aspects of the Mosaic Covenant
have no further use. They were fulfilled and
brought to an end by Christ’s death on the
cross (Col. 2:16-17; Heb. 8:5; 10:1). No one
has the right to judge anyone regarding
those issues.
9.
In the New Testament, the Greek word
“sabbaton” is translated to mean “Sabbath”
59 times. Seventh-day Adventists believe
that it means the seventh day “Sabbath” in
58 of those instances. The only time they
change its meaning is in Colossians 2:16-17.
They have to do this in order for their
doctrinal system to appear reasonable.
10. The Apostle Paul wrote over
one-third of the New Testament and never
once told his Gentile converts to keep the
Mosaic Law or the Sabbath. None of the other
writers of the New Testament did either.
11. Christians rest in the finished work of
Jesus Christ and the security He offers
those who accept Him as Lord and Savior.
Matthew 11:28-30 says, “Come to me, all who
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For
my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
12. The Jews often spoke of the Sabbath
as a foretaste of the unending Sabbath rest
we will experience in the age to come.
Hebrews 4:9-11 does the very same thing where the
author links the “sabbatismós”
Sabbath rest God wants us to enter into with
the divine rest of salvation offered by
Jesus Christ.
The Complete Word Study Dictionary says,
“the noun sabbatismós, a Sabbath
keeping, is used in Hebrews 4:9 to indicate
the perpetual Sabbath rest to be enjoyed
uninterruptedly by believers in their
fellowship with the Father and the Son in
contrast to the weekly Sabbath under the
Law. It is a divine rest into which the
believers enter in their relationship with
God here on earth and in eternity” [see
σαββατισμός / sabbatismós].
Beware of
the false gospel of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church
Galatians 1:6-9 says, “I am amazed how
quickly you are deserting the One who called
you by the grace of Christ and are turning
to a different gospel— which is not even a
gospel. Evidently some people are troubling
you and trying to distort the gospel of
Christ. But even if we or an angel from
heaven should preach a gospel contrary to
the one we preached to you, let him be under
a curse! As we have said before, so now I
say again: If anyone is preaching to you a
gospel contrary to the one you received, let
him be under a curse!” (BSB)
The
Seventh-day Adventist Church teaches the
false gospel of works-righteousness. There
is only one true gospel and the Seventh-day
Adventist Church has never believed in it or
taught it.
Ellen G. White, the false
prophet of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
taught that you have to keep the seventh day
Sabbath in the last days to be saved;
refrain from eating unclean meats; believe
the human soul sleeps in the grave; live
without Jesus as your mediator, and be
sinless before Christ comes again. As long
as the Seventh-day Adventist Church promotes
Ellen G. White as God’s last day prophet and
teach the Christian Church is required to
keep the seventh day Sabbath to be saved,
they rightly deserve to be defined as
cultic, and heretical.
Colossians 2:16 can only
mean that the weekly seventh day Sabbath was
no longer binding on the Christian Church.
It was a “shadow of the things that were to
come; the reality, however, is found in
Christ” (NIV).
Notes:
I have used Chapter 5 of “Sabbatarianism
Re-Examined by Robert D. Brinsmead”
throughout this article.
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The yearly, monthly, weekly, pattern in Colossians proves it was the weekly
Sabbath
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Yearly
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Monthly
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Weekly
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1 Chronicles 23:31
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feast days
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new moons
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Sabbath
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2 Chronicles 2:4
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appointed feasts
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new moons
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Sabbath
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2 Chronicles 8:13
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annual feasts
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new moons
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Sabbath
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2 Chronicles 31:3
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appointed feasts
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new moon
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Sabbath
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Nehemiah 10:33
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appointed feasts
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new moon
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Sabbath
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Isaiah 1:13-14
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appointed feasts
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new moons
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Sabbath
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Ezekiel 45:17
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appointed feasts
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new moons
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Sabbath
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Ezekiel 46:1-11
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appointed festivals
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new moons
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Sabbath
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Hosea 2:11
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appointed feasts
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new moons
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Sabbath
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Galatians 4:10-11
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seasons and years
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months
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days
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Colossians 2:16-17
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festivals
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new moon
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Sabbath
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(English Standard Version)
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