What are the Sabbaths in Colossians 2:16, 17 shadows of ?
What are the Sabbaths in Colossians 2:16, 17 shadows of?? and what are the "things" to come in verse 17 referring to??
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Permalink Reply by Kay Wolfe on -
Thank you for responding. Mark Finley gives quite a detailed explanation. Yes, I agree that these "shadow" Sabbaths are Sabbaths "besides the Sabbath of the Lord". However, in Leviticus 23 all of the feast days are not termed, "Sabbaths", as stated in his explanation.
In fact, the day after the Passover is called a "Sabbath" in Leviticus 23:11. The Passover is not. The Wave Sheaf was to be celebrated "on the morrow after the Sabbath". The first fruits or Day of Pentecost was to be celebrated on the morrow after the 7th Sabbath "shall ye number 50 days" (verse 15-21), so it also was not a Sabbath.
The entire system of ceremonies was prophetic. Therefore, when God commanded them to observe a "Sabbath" even though it fell on another day of the week, or a "shadow" Sabbath, we are safe to assume that these "shadow" Sabbaths were "shadows" of something, or represented something when the feast day would be fulfilled. We have the fulfillment of the spring feasts by the Messiah in 31 C.E. --Passover, etc. to study, to find just what they were prophetic of. The point of my question--what are these "shadow" Sabbaths, shadows of?
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Permalink Reply by Kay Wolfe on
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John, I do appreciate Ian's response. Your statement, “Help us by stating the answer(s) and we'll validate from the WORD and the SOP! gives us the only criteria that anyone should ever use to determine truth. Historical evidence, etc, may be used when it agrees with the WORD and the SOP.
Thanks for stating this.
Yes, Mark Finley's explanation, that Ian posted, gives a detailed separation of the weekly 7th-day Sabbath from the “shadowy” or ceremonial Sabbaths dispersed throughout the spring and fall feast days. I agree with this.
“All the ceremonies of the Jewish law were prophetic, typical of mysteries in the plan of redemption.” 6BC 1095
"The whole system of types and symbols was a compacted prophecy of the gospel,..." AA 14.
The point that I was making was in regard to the “shadowy” Sabbaths within the feast system. Being this system is prophetic, each detail within it represents something prophetic, (or is a “shadow” of some reality). To blanket all of the “holy days” of the old sanctuary system, as “shadowy” Sabbaths is a wrong premise. If one's premise is wrong, how can one arrive at a correct conclusion logically?
The text in Colossians 2:16, 17 separates these special days of the old sanctuary system into different categories, “holy day”, “new moon”, “Sabbath days”. Granted sometimes a “shadow” Sabbath and a holy day are on the same day, sometimes they are not. To explain, look at the feast days occuring in the spring. We cannot place any of the days of the old sanctuary system in these different categories in opposition to the plainly spoken WORD.
Passover, the 14th day of the month, is not termed a “Sabbath”. The very next day, the 15th day of the month, which is, also the first day of the Feast of Unleavend Bread, is listed as a shadow “Sabbath” in Lev. 23:11. The Wave Sheaf , the 16th day, is scheduled to occur “on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it”. Lev. 23:11. The 7th day of Unleavened Bread, the 21st day, is, also, not listed as a Sabbath, as the very next day, the 22nd day is the first Sabbath in the 7 Sabbath count to the day before the Day of Pentecost (Feast of Weeks) “Even unto the morrow after the 7th Sabbath shall ye number 50 days” Lev. 23:16.
Therefore, to summarize, the WORD shows the Passover was scheduled to be observed on the day before the shadow Sabbath, the first day of Unleavened Bread on the shadow Sabbath, the Wave Sheaf offering was to occur the day after the shadow Sabbath, and the 7th day of Unleavened Bread was to occur on the day before the 1st shadow Sabbath in the 7 Sabbath count to the day before the Day of Pentecost. Pentecost itself was to occur on the day after the shadow Sabbath.
To many, these details of the old sanctuary system may seem unimportant and inconsequential, but they are not, if we would understand the prophetic significance in event and timing.
To repeat from my previous post--the Messiah gave us the interpretation by His fulfillment of the feasts relating to His first advent.
“These types were fulfilled, not only as to the event, but as to the time.... In like manner, the types which relate to the second advent must be fulfilled at the time pointed out in the symbolic service.” The Great Controversy p. 399.
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Permalink Reply by Kay Wolfe on
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John, if I gave you the bottom line, I don't think you would be able to understand the "why" it is truth. So I am trying to show the logical evidence, so that you can see intellectually as well as with your heart. So you could call this the lo--ng answer.
None of us are able to interpret what the "shadow" Sabbaths are shadows of. The Messiah is called the "True Interpreter".
"The true Interpreter must come. The One whom all these types prefigured must explain their significance." Desire of Ages, 33.
He is the only one qualified to interpret the "shadow" Sabbaths. So we need not look anywhere else but to His interpretation in His fulfillment of the types relating to His first advent, which He plainly revealed.
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Permalink Reply by Kay Wolfe on
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John, your question , “How is this MORE relevant than the BLOOD of Jesus atoning for my sins?”, is not even relevant to this discussion. We can not compare the different aspects of God's plan of salvation in that way, and no one here is doing that. The Messiah said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Did you realize that the Messiah designed this whole plan of salvation, both in the events and in the exact timing of the events? This discussion of the “Sabbath” days, which are a “shadow” of things to come, involves the timing aspect of some of the main events of God's plan of salvation.
Your question was, “What should we as God's people be DOING?”
God's people need to prepare to receive the Latter Rain under which they will go forth to proclaim the Sabbath more fully, and this study gives enlightenment enabling them to do just that. Notice the following statement.
“And at the commencement of the time of trouble, we were filled with the Holy Ghost as we went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully.” Sketch of Christian Experience & Views, p.17.
Please pay very close attention to this statement from the prophet, showing how little we realize, as a people, about the great significance of the Holy 7th-day Sabbath.
“I saw that we sensed and realized but little of the importance of the Sabbath, to what we yet should realize and know of its importance and glory. I saw we knew not what it was yet to ride upon the high places of the earth and to be fed with the heritage of Jacob. But when the refreshing and latter rain shall come from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power we shall know what it is to be fed with the heritage of Jacob and ride upon the high places of the earth. Then shall we see the Sabbath more in its importance and glory. But we shall not see it in all its glory and importance until the covenant of peace is made with us at the voice of God, and the pearly gates of the New Jerusalem are thrown open and swing back on their glittering hinges and the glad and joyful voice of the lovely Jesus is heard richer than any music that ever fell on mortal ear bidding us enter. [I saw] that we had a perfect right in the city for we had kept the commandments of God, and heaven, sweet heaven is our home.” Mar 245
This is not, as you say, a “recycling the truth among ourselves”. It is truth that we, as a people, have not even grasped, and yet it is essential for those who will “proclaim the Sabbath more fully” under the Latter Rain.
You said, “How will they KNOW if we don't GO?” I agree 100 %. But, How can we GO, if we don't KNOW?
It is not “conjuring up new light”, as you stated. The Messiah gave the interpretation in His explanation to the disciples when He “began at Moses”.
“And he said unto them, These [are] the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and [in] the prophets, and [in] the psalms, concerning me.
“Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
“And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:” Luke 24:44-46.
After creating the world, the Messiah rested on the 7th day Sabbath, and after His work of redeeming the world through His blood, the Messiah rested, again, on the 7th day Sabbath.
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Permalink Reply by Kay Wolfe on
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John, the 7th day Sabbath is the only Sabbath that is not a “shadow” or a “type” or a “prophecy”.
“There is no shadow in the precepts of the decalogue. The ten commandments are not a type.” RH July 5, 1890
“In Eden, God set up the memorial of His work of creation, in placing His blessing upon the seventh day. The Sabbath was committed to Adam, the father and representative of the whole human family. Its observance was to be an act of grateful acknowledgment, on the part of all who should dwell upon the earth, that God was their creator and their rightful sovereign; that they were the work of His hands, and the subjects of His authority. Thus the institution was wholly commemorative, and given to all mankind. There was nothing in it shadowy, or of restricted application to any people.” FLB 32
The Sabbaths in Colossians 2:16, 17, are “shadows”. We already know that one shadow cannot make another shadow. It is an absolute impossibility that a shadow creates another shadow. It has never happened and it never will. These “shadow” Sabbaths were Sabbaths besides the “Sabbath of the Lord”.
“Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, ….., ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day [shall be] a sabbath, and on the eighth day [shall be] a sabbath.” Leviticus 23:38, 39.
“One day as Elder Corliss stepped out of a train, the guard [conductor] stopped him with the request that he explain Colossians 2:16. They stopped, and as the crowd rushed by, the explanation was given, and from Leviticus 23:37, 38 it was shown that there were sabbaths besides the Sabbath of the Lord.” Review and Herald, January 7, 1896.
According to the Messiah's interpretation of the types relating to His first advent, the Holy 7th-day Sabbath was the Sabbath that the “shadow” Sabbaths were patterned after. In other words, the “shadow” Sabbaths were prophetic of future Holy 7th-day Sabbaths. At the time of the crucifixion, the “shadow” Sabbath that was observed the day after the Passover, occurred on the 7th-day Sabbath, both Sabbaths coincided, making that Sabbath, a “high day”, (John 19:31) because the type and the antitype occurred on the same day. The type had been fulfilled that day.
Always remember the old covenant is the type and the new covenant is the antitype.
This interpretation of the Sabbaths by the Messiah is God's prophetic code revealing His timeline. Understanding the implications of this code will enable God's people, under the Latter Rain power, to “proclaim the Sabbath more fully”.
To show the implications require a longer answer. -
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Permalink Reply by Watchdog on -
Col 2:17(KJV): Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Col 2:17(KJV1611): Which ARE a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.
Col 2:17 (NIV): These ARE shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Col 2,17 (RSV): These ARE only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
Paul wrote AFTER the crucifixion!
He says that they ARE a shadow of things to come! FUTURE...
Question 1: When all the FEASTS were nailed to the cross, why were the early christians together at PENTECOST?
Acts 2:1.2:
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Pentecost in the OT is called the Feast of WEEKS - according to Lev. 23:15.16
And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Deut. 16:10.16:
And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
Question 2: When all the feasts are nailed to the cross, why did PAUL, (the author of the epistle to the Colossians) invite the congregation in Corinth, to keep the feast of unleavened bread?
1. Co. 5:7.8:
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG IN OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING!
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Permalink Reply by Kay Wolfe on
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You make a very good point when you refer to Paul writing this to Colossians after the crucifixion.
Acts of the Apostles, p. 14,
“The whole system of types and symbols was a compacted prophecy of the gospel, a presentation in which were bound up the promises of redemption.” AA 14,
The plan of redemption is still on-going, it is not completed as yet. Therefore, the holy day, the new moon, and the Sabbath days, that Paul mentioned, have prophetic significance of things yet to come.--
FUTURE.
In answer to your first question, the old covenant with its rehearsals under the old sanctuary system was nailed to the cross.
Colossians 2:14 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”
That was symbolized in the veil being torn from top to bottom revealing the way into the Most Holy Place through the Messiah. BUT the significance of each and every symbol and detail of that system was not nailed to the cross. The Messiah had specifically instructed His followers to remain in Jerusalem until they received the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit power, which they had prepared for, and expected on the Day of Pentecost.
Acts 1:4-8 “And, being assembled together with [them], commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, …. And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:”
Acts 2:1-4-”And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,...”
This clearly shows that the fulfillment of the types of the old covenant would occur on the exact same day as the feast had been kept.
In this we can see that the old covenant was a prophecy of the new covenant. The old covenant gave the events in God's plan of salvation and the exact day and hour when each event would occur. The timing was extremely precise in both covenants, one foretelling the time of the event in the other.
Your Question 2 gives the text from 1 Corinthians 5:7,8, in which Paul admonished them to keep the feast and then instructed them how to keep it under the new covenant or we might say to keep it in
reality.--”not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. You will remember that the Feast of Unleavened Bread was 7 days long, in which time nothing mixed with leaven could be eaten, nothing in the home could contain it—the leaven must be put out.
Why was this feast observed for 7 days?
“The number 7 indicates completeness, and is symbolic of the fact that the messages extend to the end of time” Acts of the Apostles, 585.
The leaven is a symbol of sin and wickedness. The number of 7 days for this feast would indicate that under the new covenant, this feast is kept until the end of time. Sin is put out of the heart and out of our homes until the end. This is a continuing work.
“The ceremonial law was given by Christ. Even after it was no longer to be observed, Paul presented it before the Jews in its true position and value, showing its place in the plan of redemption and its relation to the work of Christ; and the great apostle pronounces this law glorious, worthy of its divine Originator. The solemn service of the sanctuary typified the grand truths that were to be revealed through successive generations.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 367
We have a problem. We have nailed the meaning of the old covenant to the cross, along with the old covenant.
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Permalink Reply by Kay Wolfe on
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Watchdog, by my post to you I did not mean to imply that there should not be any more observances of God's appointed times. The Messiah changed the manner in which the Passover feast should be observed before He ascended to heaven.
"For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come." 1 Corinthians 11:26.
"Christ was standing at the point of transition between two economies and their two great festivals. He, the spotless Lamb of God, was about to present Himself as a sin offering, that he would thus bring to an end the system of types and ceremonies that for four thousand years had pointed to His death. As He ate the Passover with His disciples, He instituted in its place the service that was to be the memorial of His great sacrifice. The national festival of the Jews was to pass away forever. The service which Christ established was to be observed by His followers in all lands and through all ages." Desire of Ages, 652
I think the main reason that we have lost the knowledge of the prophetic significance of the old covenant was that we do not hold "holy convocations" on God's appointed times to explain the tremendous prophetic significance that the old covenant had, including the meaning of the "shadow" Sabbaths that were dispersed among the various feast days.
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Permalink Reply by Kay Wolfe on
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John, God instituted the 7th day Sabbath as a memorial of His creative work in creating the world. If it had always been observed, there would never have been an infidel in the world. See CTr 15.
"Shadow" Sabbaths are the prophetic code He gave us to understand the timeline for the events in the plan of salvation, the code, which He revealed to His disciples by His fulfillment of the types relating to His first advent. No, knowing them or not knowing them doest not change the timeline, but they were given to help you understand the timeline.
Remember, "ALL SCRIPTURE is profitable...."
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Permalink Reply by Amish on -
Seems some want to make this more complicated than it is. Certainly, there are many who fail to understand what exactly was nailed to the cross.
The relevant text is actually v.14 where it clearly says "ordinances". This is the only proper English translation from the Greek "dogma" and means the mosaic laws (ordinances), in (Ez.45:17).
The ordinances were a shadow of the coming Messiah. That is the sacrificial system was symbolic of God who forgives sin, and that God would come to earth as the Messiah.
Heb.10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Gal.3:24 Wherefore the [ceremonial] law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
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Permalink Reply by Rob on -
Ian . I would not call these other sabbaths yearly sabbaths, they were "sabbaths referenced by the moon", ...for example Le 23:24 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 . You can call it a "ceremonial sabbath" which is better even though the word ceremonial does not exist in the BIble as a word. The "moon sabbaths" or "ceremonial sabbaths" were to do with Jesus having saved them, or as a memorial to having saved them, in the incomplete and complete sense of salvation.
Kay you ask "The point of my question--what are these "shadow" Sabbaths, shadows of?" A good question
Amish, the Greek word dogma does not mean ceremonial law ...look up every word in the Bible and follow the term to the Hebrew with cross references....A dogma is a human decree or man made ruling. No where in Scripture does it say "ceremonial" was abolished....the word itself does not exist in Scripture. Some Hebrew theories of faith about verse 15, say Jesus abolished the curses from the torah. I welcome theories of faith, and until something better comes along, your idea is fine as a theory of faith....but the word "dogma" is a man made decree from my humble study of the word....
The cartoon Amish says the ceremonies have no further meaning beyond the cross is also incorrect.
In Isaiah 66:23 states the ceremonial laws still run into eternity And Rev 21:22 says the inner sanctuary remains throughout eternity.
Now to your point Kay
In Colossians 2:16, the term sabbath Greek is unfortunate, as the Hebrew have two words for sabbath (1) and (2) . The difference between these words in Hebrew is the shabbathown is the "secure ongoing ceasing" meaning the ceremonial sabbath is an ongoing sabbath, whereas the other sabbath is a weekly sabbath, a 24 hour period of time only. This idea of "secure ongoing sabbath" is the idea that when Jesus saves you, his salvation in you is secure and ongoing. it is also called a shadow because the secure ongoing system of salvation was not ratified until Jesus paid the price for this secure ongoing sabbath concept, the shabbaothown of the Lord, with His death on the cross.
I could go on and do a study of shadows in the entire Bible to see the idiom of this phrase....but the word shabbathown tells us what it means already from the root and I have shown a basic application.
The only problem now is the Greek , a reference to the weekly sabbath "shabbath" or the "secure ongoing sabbath - the "shabbathown" ?
Have a look at the context .....of the new moon , or of the sabbath days: the word moon next to sabbath in the plural suggests to me its a reference to shabbathown.
Hope that helps.....
Shalom
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Permalink Reply by Amish on
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Rob and his bogus Bible claims: "the Greek word dogma does not mean ceremonial law ...A dogma is a human decree or man made ruling."
Col.2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Greek "Dogma" could be translated English "decree" depending on context. This passage gives the context by then naming the ordinances nailed the cross. "Handwriting" is also translated correct. The law of Moses was writien by hand in a book.
2 Chronicles 33:8 Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.
"Dogma" also found correctly translated in Eph.2:15 "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances;" That is the law of Moses.
Context vindicates the KJV translators every time!
Which ordinances were abolished? (nailed to the cross)
Col.2:16 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:
This is a repeat of the mosaic law of ordinances as found in Ez:
Ez.45:17 And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel.
Rob continues: The cartoon Amish says the ceremonies have no further meaning beyond the cross is also incorrect. In Isaiah 66:23 states the ceremonial laws still run into eternity And Rev 21:22 says the inner sanctuary remains throughout eternity.
Is.66:22,23 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
Rev.21:21-23 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
No temple. No moon. But the saints do come to the New City every Sabbath (weekly) and once a month (new moon). This is exactly in keeping with Col.2:17 "a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." No temple after the cross. Jesus was the final sacrifice.
Mat.27:50,51 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;
No "theories" just some who deny what is written. It's why we have so many different denominations in the world today!
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