In her zeal to rid Christianity of all Old Testament influence, the church did away with God’s eternal Holy Days using one particular Scriptural passage exclusively–Colossians 2:16,17. Here the Apostle Paul is telling God’s saints: “Let no man judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon or of the Sabbath days which are (all) a SHADOW of things to come, but the body (is) of Christ.” First and foremost, we are not to let any man judge us when we are doing what God has commanded us to do, no matter how unchurchlike it is. Sadly, most of His commands are rejected by the church who judge His people who obey His Word, which means that they are judging His Word, which means that they are judging Him (Rom. 3:4). We cannot stop people from judging us. What Paul is saying is not to let them bother us.

Notice that we are not to let man bother us concerning what we eat or drink or how we observe the Lord’s Holy Days, the new moon or the Sabbath days. Obviously, the early church observed the Lord’s Holy Days as commanded to do so. Decades after her founding, Paul is telling the church to observe those days and activities correctly and not to let scoffers bother them. Today God’s saints are ridiculed by counterfeit Christians for doing what the early church did for the first 300 years of her existence.

Notice that those days and those activities were called “shadows of things to come,” not memorials of past events that are no longer observed. As Paul wrote in First Corinthians 13:12: “For now we look through a glass darkly; but then (after Christ returns), face-to-face; now we know only in part ….”
He went deeper into the difference between serving Him now and living with Him in the future: “For eye has not seen nor ear heard; neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). We prove our love for Him by obeying His Ten Commandment Law (Jn. 14:15). Without obedience, nothing else we do matters (Mat. 7:21-23).

To understand the “shadow” comparison to the real thing, we must recall what a shadow is and how it is formed. For a shadow to exist there has to be a source of light and an object that the light shines upon which produces the shadow. The shadow (image) leads to the object (the reality) that is illuminated by the light. The shadow is a dark image of the reality. Indeed, we do now only see God and His kingdom “through a glass darkly.” BUT WE DO SEE HIS FUTURE KINGDOM IN SHADOW FORM ON EARTH AT THIS TIME. THAT SHADOW IS HIS CHURCH WHICH POINTS TO HIS TRUE KINGDOM. HIS CHURCH (KINGDOM) ON EARTH NOW IS THE SHADOW OF THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM JESUS WAS REFERRING TO IN HIS PRAYER RECORDED IN MATTHEW 6:10. THAT KINGDOM WILL ONE DAY BE ON EARTH. UTIL THEN, COMMANDMENT KEEPERS–HIS BODY–COMPRISE THE SHADOW OF THAT FUTURE KINGDOM/CHURCH.

Bible believers know that Colossians 2:16,17 does not do away with God’s Sabbath and His Holy Days. The first sighting of the moon still marks the first day of God’s month. God’s people continue to observe His Holy Days according to His instructions. Nowhere in the Holy Scriptures are we told to stop doing so. Only in church doctrine do we find such heresy. Notice in Acts 18:21 and First Corinthians 5:8 where Paul is telling the churches to observe Passover (the feast) and how to do so. Notice that he was intent on being in Jerusalem in time to “keep this feast” there.

Relative to the weekly Sabbath (rest), Truth seekers know that the seventh day of the week represents (is the shadow of) the 1000-year time of rest (the “millennium”) that will take place upon the return of Jesus Christ (the Light source) to establish His Father’s Kingdom on earth. Until then, the church will serve as its shadow. God’s children know that we are not to do away with God’s church/shadow.

What about the final statement that “the body (is) of Christ.” Notice that the word “is” is in italics, meaning that the word was not in the original transcript but was added by the King James translators. It should read “but the body of Christ.” The body of Christ is His church (Col. 1:18/ Eph. 1:22-23). Note in Ephesians that God’s true church is “the fullness of Him (Christ).” The true church/body presents to the world GOD IN HUMAN FORM, AS WAS THE MESSIAH HIMSELF. WE MUST BE ABLE TO SAY AS HE SAID, “THEY WHO SEE ME HAVE SEEN THE FATHER.” WE ARE COMMANDED IN EPHESIANS 4:13 TO GROW IN RIGHTEOUSNESS UNTIL WE “COME TO THE MEASURE OF THE STATURE OF THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST.” LET US BE ABOUT WALKING THIS EARTH AS HE DID AS A MAN. BECAUSE HE WAS A MAN LIKE ALL OTHER MEN, HE COULD ACCOMPLISH THIS ONLY BY ALLOWING GOD TO ABIDE IN AND “WALK” (LIVE) IN HIM. LET US DO THE SAME BY ALLOWING GOD TO ABIDE IN AND “WALK” IN US. Read Jesus of Nazareth: God, Man or God-man? Key word–God-man.

Back to the “is” question. What Paul is saying is that we are not to allow man to determine what to do and how to do it relative to the observance of the weekly Sabbath and the Holy Days. But rather, we are to allow the body (church) of Christ, which follows His commands, to teach new believers and to remind others of the ways of the Lord.

Let us rejoice in the precious Truth of God’s Holy Days which lay out His plan of salvation for those who turn to Him in total surrender. It is to such slaves that He has made holy promises as noted in First Corinthians 2:10,11 and Second Corinthians 3:14,16. The Lord’s promise to all who would be His children by obeying Him is that “I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they will be My people.” Read Second Corinthians 6:14-7:1. Notice that Paul is writing to (God is speaking to) the church THEN AND NOW (1:1). Notice in Zechariah 14:16 that during the Millennium people will observe the Feast of Tabernacles. L.J.