Let us take an in-depth look at the phrase Sabbath days in Colossians 2:16. Some Christians say that this phrase means the yearly Holy Days and not the weekly Seventh-day Sabbath. In studying the word Sabbath through the Bible we come to Leviticus chapter 23 where the Bible states that some of the yearly Holy Days are also Sabbaths. Whenever we see the word Sabbath in the Bible we do not know whether this Sabbath is the Seventh-day Sabbath or one of the yearly Sabbaths except by studying the context. The word days in this phrase is italicized in the King James Version of the Bible meaning that this word is not in the original, but was supplied by the translators. This text should read, “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.” If the word Sabbath in this text referred to the yearly Sabbaths, then Paul would be redundant to mention the yearly Sabbaths twice in the same sentence; therefore, this word Sabbath is a direct reference to the Seventh-day Sabbath. Paul says the same of the Seventh-day Sabbath as he does of the Holy Days, which is not to judge each other in these matters. The New Testament uses this phrase Sabbath days in eight places. Let us take a look at each of these texts. 1. “Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?” (Matthew 12:5) Notice how this text uses the words Sabbath days and Sabbath interchangeably. 2. “And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked Him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days? That they might accuse Him.” (Matthew 12:10) 3. “And He said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.” (Matthew 12:11-12) This text uses the words Sabbath day singular and the words Sabbath days plural interchangeably, showing that they mean one and the same. 4. “And He saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? To save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.” (Mark 3:4) 5. “And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days.” (Luke 4:31) 6. “And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath days?” (Luke 6:2) 7. “Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? To save life, or to destroy it? (Luke 6:9) 8. “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.” (Colossians 2:16) We were taught that the first seven of the above texts were referring to the Seventh-day Sabbath. If that is so then why does not the phrase Sabbath days in the eighth text also mean the Seventh-day Sabbath? We must be consistent in our interpretation. Furthermore, in the first seven texts, the word days in the phrase Sabbath days is not italicized meaning that this word days was in the original writing. Remember that in the eighth text the word days in the phrase Sabbath days is italicized meaning it was added by the translators and should not even be there. Colossians 2:16 says the same about the yearly Sabbaths, or Holy Days, that it says about the Seventh-day Sabbath, meaning that God’s Holy Days and the Seventh-day Sabbath stand or fall together; one cannot separate them. Remember that in Leviticus chapter 23 the Seventh-day Sabbath and the yearly Holy Days are all called feast days. No distinction is made between them in that chapter either. These three divisions of time mentioned in Colossians 2:16, “holyday, new moon, and Sabbath” is a common phrase used throughout the Bible. The Holy Days refer to the feast days in Leviticus chapter 23, the new moon refers to the day the priests were to check the new moon so as to calculate the timing of the feasts, and the Sabbath refers to the Seventh-day Sabbath. The Bible commonly groups these three divisions of time together. (See 1 Chronicles 23:31, 2 Chronicles 2:4, Ezekiel 45:17, and Hosea 2:11) Paul, in referring to these same divisions of time well after the cross, was affirming that these days had never been abolished. Rather than eliminating either the yearly Holy Days or the Seventh day Sabbath, Colossians 2:16 affirms that all of these Sabbaths are still valid after the cross. Why else would Paul have been writing about the Holy Days to the Colossians who were not raised keeping them? The very fact that Paul mentions these days to the Colossians shows that he had taught the Colossians to observe all these Holy Days. “Which are a shadow of things to come.” [Emphasis added] (Colossians 2:17) This text is saying that God’s Holy Days and the Seventh-day Sabbath point forward to things yet in the future. Indeed, as already stated, when these days are studied in great detail one finds that they do point to future events. Page 99 – 101 God’s Holidays by Melody & Richard Drake
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 12:59:21 +0000
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