What Does Colossians 2:16-17 Mean?

by Stephanie A. Mayberry

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. – Colossians 2:16-17

This verse is used by many well-meaning Christians to “prove” that there are no “unclean” foods – that the dietary laws are no longer valid, and that any day can be the “Sabbath.” They use it to try and show that when Jesus fulfilled the law He did away with it.

But that’s all wrong.

Let’s break that down and see what it really means.

Who was judging…and what?

Well, based on the letter, there were some Colossians who were judging their fellow believers. Based on the letter, we can reason that it has something to do with food and drink, holy days, and Sabbath.

But what was the problem?

I won’t bore you with the breakdown from Greek and Hebrew, but if you are interested you can explore that further on your own. I am just giving the high points here.

The Bible says study to show YOURSELF approved, not profit from someone else’s study so that you don’t have to study yourself.

The verse is not referring to certain foods and drinks, but rather the ACT of eating and drinking.

See, the Pharisees had a bunch of man made laws that were just exhausting. They created their own laws and placed themselves above God. Several of their laws centered on fasting, requiring fasts, on specific days including the Sabbath and holy days.

The feasts are and have always been, well, feasts (except for Yom Kippur). They are a time of celebration and eating and merriment. Fasting on those days is not how it is demonstrated in scripture – and they knew that.

They were also teaching people to worship angels – in other words, they were teaching demon worship.

The Pharisees were imposing their own will, their own traditions, their own laws onto what God had commanded. They were requiring self-denial and fasting, a man made tradition, thus judging the Colossians in meat and in drink.

Wait! How do we know that God did not intend for us to fast on the Sabbath?

Glad you asked!

What if what you’ve believed is wrong?

If you go back to Moses and the Israelites, you will see that on preparation day (the day before Sabbath) He provided a DOUBLE PORTION of Manna (Exodus 16:22-26). Why would He do that if He didn’t want the people to partake of the food on the Sabbath?

Paul wasn’t telling the Colossians to do away with God’s Sabbath, feast days, and dietary laws, He was telling them to do what GOD says, not what man says. He is sending them back to Torah, back to basics, to get back in God’s order.

He is telling the Colossians that they should not listen to the Pharisees who are trying to force them to follow man made laws regarding which days to fast, including Sabbath and holy days.

He is not saying you can choose any day you like to be your Sabbath – far from it.

We are to keep the Sabbath and the Feast days because they are a type and shadow of what is coming and what has passed.

Present tense – right now.

They point back to the death, burial, and resurrection of Messiah and point forward to His return.

The Torah is forever.

What God commanded in the Torah is to be carried out forever (Psalm 119:151-152).

This is reiterated by Yeshua in Matthew 5-7.

Nowhere in scripture is it even hinted that anyone needed to change God’s rules, His law.

By rejecting Torah, you become a law unto yourself so that even God cannot judge you. You are placing yourself above God, that you have no obligation to God regarding matters such as unclean foods and keeping Sabbath.

If you love Him, you will keep His commandments.

Basically, when you say that Colossians 2:16-17 means you can eat what you want and you can choose whatever day to observe Sabbath, what you’re really saying is that no one, not even God Almighty cannot pass judgment on you regarding eating and drinking, Sabbath, or the Biblical feast holy days – and you shouldn’t let them.

Does that seem a little upside down? That’s because it is.

God’s law still stands. Certain foods are still unclean. The Feast days are still relevant and are to be observed. And the weekly Sabbath still stands.

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