The Watchman of Zion
presents
JAH'S Festivals Are Still Binding Today!
Colossians 2:16 was written as a warning to the Gentile Messijahnic-Jahzarenes (Saints) at Colosse to protect them from false teachers - teachers who were subtly perverting the message Paul (Saul) taught. Notice what Paul wrote: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink [margin - for eating or drinking sanctified food], or in respect [any part or portion connected with the observance] of an holy day, or of the new [month], or of the Sabbath days” (Col. 2:16).
There is no mention of the abolition of JAH'S Law or His holy days. Nothing is done away in these verses. In fact, it is just the opposite. The very criticism the Colossians were receiving about their observance of these days “proves” they were keeping them. How could they be criticized “with regard to” days they were not keeping?
The once-pagan Colossians never kept these holy days of JAH before! They were heathen prior to conversion. Now that they had learned the Gospel (Jahspel), they were keeping holy the days JAH made holy. And Paul is warning them not to return to or be influenced by their old pagan ways - the ways of those who hated JAH'S Law and His festivals.
“Let no man therefore judge you…” (verse 16) in these matters, said Paul, “but [rather] the body of the Messijah” (Col. 2:17, last part). This verse has troubled many. Yet it should not. Notice that the word “is” in the King James Version is in italics. It does not appear in the original. The original says only, “…but, the body of the Messijah.” What is the body of the Messijah? How does Paul use this expression in Colossians? Turn to chapter 1. In verse 18 we find that the Messijah “is the head of the body, the Assembly.” See also Colossians 2:19.
The true Assembly of JAH is the body of the Messijah. Just as the Spirit of JAH once dwelled in the earthly body of Jahoshuwah the Messijah so now the Holy Spirit dwells in each member of the Assembly and together the members constitute one body, doing the very work the Messijah did. The Assembly is therefore the Messijah's body today! And the Messijah is the Head as the husband is the head of the wife (Ephesians 5:23).
Paul is declaring in Colossians that no unauthorized person is to sit in judgment of a true Jahzarene's (Saint's) conduct. Carnal man should not determine how we should live. But it is the responsibility of the Assembly - the body of the Messijah - to determine these matters! The Assembly is to teach how to observe the festivals - to explain the meaning of self-control in eating and drinking, etc. (1 Cor. 11:27-34).
So these misunderstood verses ought to be translated clearly: “Let no man therefore judge you…but [rather let] the body of the Messijah [determine it].” Let the Messijah's body judge these Assembly matters. See the following scriptures that shall make you aware that the Sabbath and Festivals were not abolished after the new covenant (new testament) was affirmed (Acts 2:1; 12:3-4; 13:42, 44; 16:13; 18:4; 20:6,16; 27:9; 1 Cor. 5:6-8).
What do the scriptures mean by “shadow of things to come”? The shadow is the representation, a sample that gives an idea of what the real thing is to be (Col. 2:17; Hebrews 8:5; 10:1).
Written by the Elder of the Mount Zion Assembly of Jah, David Wray
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