Wondering about Colossians

I wrote this three years ago, very early on in my discovery of the eternal righteousness of EVERY word of God. I was just looking around my blog, hoping to find a link to this study, when I realized I had never shared it. So here it is, in all it’s underdeveloped beauty. I say beauty because it exhibits more humility than what you will generally find in my posts. Unfortunately, I am usually much more sure of myself. Sorry about that, guys. One thing I AM sure of though is that every Word of God is true forever, so that’s where my confidence comes from and why I seem arrogant sometimes. Anyway, introduction/apology/defense over. Here’s the study:

Colossians 2:16, 17: 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: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

These are the verses that keep surfacing in response to what I have been talking about. I am trying to figure out if they mean what everyone says they mean, or if they mean something else. They obviously mean we shouldn’t judge each other. I am not judging anyone just because I would interpret the laws concerning the feast days differently, but I expect the same in return. If I think I should still be keeping feast days, then I have to do it, even if I’m wrong. It would be a sin to rebel against my own conscience. Also, Paul keeps bringing up the subject of love. Personally, this book convicted me because I have to remember that our journey is not about being right about everything; rather it is about Christ (who is our Head) and His body (who are my brothers and sisters).

Ok, so I just read the book of Colossians, and here’s what I have come up with. I need help with this though, so any input would be appreciated. First of all, I read the whole book without looking to see what anyone else’s opinion may be. However, I have 37 years of bias behind me, and a new direction I am leaning, so I don’t know how much good that actually did me.

Chapter 1

4-6 These are new believers.

9&10 They are still learning.

11 A verse for me. I need to be patient and long-suffering towards those with different beliefs.

26 The mystery. Of prophecies? Of the feast days? Either way, all were and are fulfilled in Christ.

Chapter 2

2 Love each other regardless.

8 Traditions of men – this could NOT be referring to feast days or the Law, which were ordained of God. Also, beware traditions of men.

8-14 There is nothing lacking for our salvation. Jesus Christ has taken care of everything. Don’t believe the traditions which say you must do this or that in order to obtain salvation. Don’t fall into following the ordinances of the Pharisees and Sadducees, because their ordinances were nailed to the cross, and Jesus exposed them for what they really were.

16-17 “Are” not “were.” Are they still a shadow of things to come? What things, specifically? Or is that still a mystery?

16 Not required for salvation. Don’t judge the Gentiles, whether they participate with the Jews in their feast days or not.

19 Keep Christ at the head.

20 Rudiments of the world – again referring to the extra laws of Pharisees and Sadducees? The wording here prevents me from thinking that he is referring to God’s perfect Law. It is not something to be despised, but a blessing. If anyone thinks the law is burdensome, just read Joshua 1:8 or Psalm 119. His Law is life – it is liberty. The ordinances were burdensome and not profitable.

22 Commandments and doctrines of men.

23 They denied themselves pleasures and freedoms because they thought they had to. They worshipped their own will-power over the flesh. “Shew of wisdom” – seeming to be wise. “Neglecting of the body.” “Not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh.” I didn’t understand this part, but I am reading a dual-language Bible, and the Spanish says “Pero no tienen valor alguno contra los apetitos de la carne.” I am taking that to mean that these things (will-power, humility -as referred to here, neglect) do nothing to actually help us overcome the desires of the flesh. In an effort to be concise, I will only post my thoughts, and not copy and paste the actual verses. (Although the verses themselves are far more important than anything I happen to think about them.)

Rant: I figure these new baby Christians, Gentiles, it seems, had probably just heard about the feast days and sabbaths and how they relate to their “new” religion (Christianity). Perhaps they were being told that they had to observe them in order to obtain salvation, or perhaps they were trying to observe them like the Jews and were being ridiculed for it. Maybe the Jews didn’t want to share their heritage with barbarians. Or perhaps the Jews were saying, “You have no inheritance with us unless you do the following things: _____,  ______, ______. Or were these believers perhaps being ostracized by society because they wanted to lay aside their own traditions and follow God’s? I am afraid that will happen to me, but I am speaking up anyway. I didn’t talk about it for the first 6 months or a year because I was afraid, – afraid of being ostracized, but more afraid of leading others astray if I am wrong. However, after having read almost the entire Bible again with this new perspective, I am more persuaded than ever. That doesn’t make me right, and I realize that, but I still feel pretty certain. The whole Bible makes more sense than ever before. Rant over.

Chapter 3

5-9 Mortify evil desires, etc. The law also tells us this. How could it be passed away? Paul is saying, don’t mortify your flesh (as in physically harming yourself), but evil. Not your body, but sin. He calls sin out, so we cannot say that it is impossible to sin, only that our sins are covered. The law still points out sin in our lives. “Sin is the transgression of the law.” I John 3:4.

3:11 Christianity is not a separate religion from that of the believing Jews. He is the fulfillment of their religion. We are saved under the same Christ. He is the head of us all.

3:14 Love each other above all.

Chapter 4

I feel like this whole chapter is speaking expressly to me.

From Rose Publications Bible Overview:

“Jesus Christ is sufficient in all things. No power, philosophy, or practice is effective in forgiving us and redeeming us other than Jesus…It is important to be on guard and aware of false teachings, heresies, and idle promises from other religions and philosophies that claim salvation can be found in something or someone else besides Jesus. Unlike Gnosticism that claims to have ‘hidden knowledge,’ God has revealed in the Scriptures everything we need to know…”

One Law

The traditional Gentile Christian says that we are no longer under the Law. Or sometimes they say the Law was never intended for us to begin with. They can’t seem to get their story straight. It’s pick-and-choose. Don’t worry about the Law of Moses – that was given only to the Israelites. Oh, but don’t kill anyone. That’s not right. Keep the 10 Commandments. Those were intended for everyone. Oh, well, except the sabbath day; don’t worry about that one. You know what though? You really shouldn’t get a tattoo or cut yourself. Only rebellious people do that. Oh, and if you commit homosexuality, you’re a reprobate. That’s an abomination. What? So is eating pig? Well, Deuteronomy doesn’t count anymore. Setting up a Christmas tree in your house is okay though. (I know that originated with fertility worship, but God shouldn’t care as long as we use the tree to worship Him.) Forget about the feast days. Yeah, He says they’re perpetual, but since they’ve been fulfilled, it would be sacrilege to keep them anymore. Oh, but you had better pay your tithes!!!!!

No wonder atheists and Jews think we’re crazy.

The Jews that I talk to say that the Law of Moses was never intended for Gentiles at all. But let’s see what their own Torah has to say about that:

“Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 24:22

“One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.” Exodus 12:49

“One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.” Numbers 15:16

“Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.” Deuteronomy 27:26

The above passage is interesting in that it specifically doesn’t mention foreigners. However, it is referring to a future event, one that actually takes place in Joshua 8, after the fall of Jericho and Ai. Read the whole chapter, but take special note of the last verse:

“There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them” Joshua 8:35

Why would it be a sin for a Gentile to disobey Hebrew Laws? Because they are first and foremost Yahweh’s Laws. They are the very definition of righteousness itself.

Psalm 119:142: “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.”

Psalm 119:172: “My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.”

And the righteousness of God did not morph somehow with the coming of Christ: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” I John 3:4

Could our Father be any more clear? All of these apologetics you’ve been reading your whole life are merely that – man’s method of explaining away the things they don’t understand.

We seem to think that God and His righteousness and His Law are three separate things, but they aren’t. Since Jesus is the Word made flesh, we should realize that the Torah and the Messiah are inseparable. All of the following verses relate to the pre-incarnate Christ: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² The same was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

Read the whole chapter to see what I’m talking about.

Food for thought – how would you suggest that a Messianic Jew live? Should he throw out the perpetual commandments? What does “perpetual” mean to you?

What if you are among the ten lost tribes? What if you are Hebrew and you don’t know it? Most of us probably are: Genesis 48:19. What then?

What about an adopted child? Is he excluded from the laws of the family, or is he treated as a natural-born son? Galatians 3:29

Listen, if you really want to know what’s going on, read the entire Bible. Let it challenge your misconceptions, then dig until you find the answers. Then read it again. You will understand more the next time through, and expose the next layer of misconception. Rinse and repeat – it’s an incredible journey!

Conversations

I have had a few really great conversations this week on other blogs, and I thought it would be interesting to share them here.

Note, the following blog posts do not necessarily reflect my opinion. A couple of these conversations were interesting because I disagreed with the author. However, in each instance, the author engaged me with respect, and we had intelligent, enlightening interactions with one another.

I believe it’s important to read and consider things that we may not necessarily agree with. How will we know what we really believe about an issue if we’ve only ever heard one side?

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” I Thessalonians 5:21

The Church Got it Wrong, by William Bouker

“The church would have us believe that the Law of Moses somehow became void.”

Interesting reading. The church definitely needs to see this. You will need to read the comments if you want to know where I stand.

The God of Slavery, by KIA

The God of slavery…again? by KIA

This blogger has written a series of posts about the immorality of slavery, what the Bible says about it, and the Christian response. I think it’s a topic we need to seriously consider. I think we need to read our Bibles to see what it really says instead of merely defending what we think it says. In my opinion, the topic of slavery foreshadows Christ. You will see what I mean if you read through the comments. (My comments are on the second link. I included the first link for context.)

Jesus and His Eternal Rest, by PreacherWin

When I first read this post, I agreed with almost every single word, but I misunderstood the author’s perspective. The conversation that ensued was quite interesting, to be sure! My last comment, however, was never approved for posting. I am assuming that the writer just hasn’t been on his blog lately, or that he wanted the last word. It is his blog, after all. Anyway, here is my last comment for you all to read, just in case it never shows up on his page. Note, you may want to read his article first, the comment section next, and finally my last comment, which follows:

Edited: He responded! I just hadn’t waited long enough, lol. So I’m going to delete my comment from this post. If you want to read the conversation, hop on over to his blog!

Three Days and Three Nights

I read this post and had to share it with you all. I have tried to explain this before: Jesus was crucified and buried on a preparation day for the High Sabbath that always follows Passover, and not on the preparation day for the weekly sabbath. I think it is that misconception alone that accounts for the traditional Friday-Sunday timeline we have today, and the miles of straw-grasping apologetics that have resulted from it.

This post is very clear and easy to understand! Enjoy!

Here’s an excerpt, to give you an idea of what you’ll be reading:

“Did you catch the problem here? John tells us it was still dark when Mary went to the tomb on Sunday morning and found it empty. Jesus was already resurrected well before daybreak. Thus He wasn’t in the tomb any of the daylight portion of Sunday, so none of that can be counted as a day.”

https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/jesus-wasnt-crucified-on-friday-or-resurrected-on-sunday-how-long-was-jesus-in-the

The Miraculous Language

I know next to nothing about the Hebrew language. 501 words, or so my Duolingo app tells me. That’s not very much from a language that has 45,000 words, not including compound words. The Bible alone has over 8,000 Hebrew words in it. Oy vey, I have a long way to go…

I once had a Jewish acquaintance try to dissuade me from studying her language: “It is a lifelong pursuit.” She must have thought I was presumptuous to think I could even begin to understand something that still dazzles the rabbis. And she’s right! It is a bit presumptuous.

As I study, I am discovering that the Hebrew language is mysterious, amazing, and deeper in meaning than I ever imagined. I am persuaded that it would take a thousand years to unravel its mysteries, and even then, I fear I would have barely scratched the surface.

If my efforts are so futile then, why do I insist on pursuing it?

Because it is mysterious, amazing, and deeper in meaning than I ever imagined.

I have always wanted to be able to read the Bible in its original languages. In fact, during 9th grade, I remember memorizing the Greek alphabet symbols, along with their names and sounds. A couple of times, I even wrote phonetically in Greek in my diary so that no one else could read it. But that wasn’t enough.

I wanted so badly to learn more than just the alphabet!  In 10th grade, I went so far as to have my parents purchase a Greek language curriculum and a Greek New Testament. But I didn’t have the drive to complete more than the first few pages. The curriculum collected dust for a few years before I got married and left it behind for my mother to throw away. I hung on to the New Testament for a while, telling myself I’d learn someday, and then finally gave it away to someone who could actually use it.

However, something has changed for me in the last few years. I have discovered that things are not what they seem to be. This thing we call Christianity has at least got the basics right – Jesus Christ, Son of God, crucified to save the world. But that’s about all they’ve managed to keep straight. I’ve discovered that today’s man-made doctrines are every bit as worthless and misleading as they were back when Jesus ridiculed the Pharisees.

Mark 7

“⁶ He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

⁷ Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

⁸ For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

⁹ And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.”

When it comes to sorting out the truth from the traditions, Christians have a lazy go-to excuse: “If it’s not important to the doctrine of salvation, then it’s not worth my time or effort.” The problem with that reasoning is this: it’s the spirit of truth that draws people. If we are running around promoting a bunch of lies, what is to distinguish Christianity from the man-made religions?

For instance, creationism is not a “salvation” issue. However, I know a man who got saved as soon as he discovered how ridiculous the theory of evolution really was. Anything can be a salvation issue if it’s holding you back from seeking the true Creator.

I digress. My motivation for learning Hebrew is pretty simple and compelling:

1. I am tired of depending on modern prescriptions for how one should go about interpreting the scriptures.
2. I am tired of all the lies that are buried under hundreds, even thousands of years of tradition.
3. I want to see what the believing Jews saw in Christ’s day, to know what they knew, to have the proverbial scales fall from my eyes as they did from Paul’s. Torah plus Christ is a wondrous revelation to behold!
4. I want to see how it all fits together – the Old Testament and the New – into one harmonious whole, whose sum is greater than its parts.
5. Most intriguing to me is the miraculous combination of Hebrew letters into their words. I want to learn as much as I can about the language whose words are made up of individual letters whose individual meanings combine to define the word created by them. See the explanation below.

The ancient Hebrew is both phonetic and pictographic. I copied and pasted the following from Jeff A. Benner’s website so you can see what I mean:

The Hebrew word (av) is spelled with two Hebrew letters, (aleph) and the (beyt). In Hebrew, the word “aleph” means “ox” and the original pictograph of this letter is an image of an ox head, which represents the idea of “strength.” The beyt, a Hebrew word meaning “tent” or “home,” is an image of a tent, the home. When the meaning of these two letters are combined we have the “the strength of the tent” and is descriptive of the tent poles which provide strength to the tent. As the beyt can also represent the home, this word also means “the strength of the home,” and is the Hebrew word for “father.”

Begin to look more deeply into this, and you will discover that the Hebrew language is full of words that are constructed like this. It’s beyond amazing; it is miraculous.

Benefits of studying a language I will never have time to master:

As I learn the meanings of a few letters, combinations, and root words, I am finding that I can interpret some of the names and places I come across while reading the scriptures in English. Some of these interpretations lead to a greater understanding of the Creator and His plan.

Take Beer-sheba, a word I have read and heard over and over throughout my lifetime. This time, when I came across it, I had to stop and think. “Beer” means well, as in a water-well, and “sheba” means “seven.” But “sheba” also means “oath.” So Beer-sheba is the Well of Seven or the Well of the Oath. In a miraculous language like Hebrew, where the word is made up of letters whose definitions lend meaning to the constructed word, an indisputable, unbreakable relationship is established between the words “oath” and “seven.” The seventh-day sabbath is God’s first covenant with mankind. It is His oath of rest to us, made on the seventh day of history. Before man ever sinned, God said, “I have already established a way to save you from your sins and a way to allow you to enter into my rest.”

Exodus 31:

“¹⁶ Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.

¹⁷ It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”

These deep meanings and sublime understandings just explode out of nowhere during the course of learning this beautiful language. Some of these epiphanies add to an underlying infrastructure that I am building in my head. I’d like to call it “The Big Picture,” but I can’t quite put any of it into words for you. I just know that it makes me who I am, makes me believe what I believe, and informs my understanding for every verse. Occasionally I find something that conflicts, and then a reassessment of what-I-think-I-know becomes necessary.

On the other hand, I sometimes see something clearly enough that I can articulate it and pass it on. In fact, yesterday I wrote a short blurb about the connection between the Hebrew words for “seven” and “sabbath.”

In conclusion: I won’t ever learn it all, but one could use that excuse to avoid any pursuit. I’ll tell you this much: I am immensely enjoying myself, and I won’t be stopping any time soon.

P.S. If you have always wanted to pick up a second language, Duolingo offers all its languages free of charge. It’s fun, interactive, and addictive. And, no, I’m not getting paid to say so, lol. Just passing its usefulness on to you all. I have been using their Spanish course for years, and I have learned way more from them than I ever did in college. They have both Hebrew and Greek if you would like to gain a deeper understanding of God’s Word.

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Sunday Sabbath?

Did you know that the Hebrew word “seven” [שבע] is built into the word “sabbath” [שבת]? Yeah. God did that on purpose to help seekers unmask the lies about the change to the first day of the week.

Are you aware of what the sabbath signifies? Rest.

Believers, know that rest is coming for us. And it’s coming at the end of all this mess. The end of the week, not the beginning. Who would even want to rest before the work is finished?

“There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” Hebrews 4:9

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