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Ten Commandments, Sabbath or Ceremonial Law?
Colossians 2:16
This verse would have to be the most abused and misunderstood Bible passage in regards to the ordinances of the ceremonial law. So what actually is the ceremonial law, and is it possible for this passage on Colossians 2:16 to refer to the Ten Commandments or just the Lord’s Sabbath as some claim?The ceremonial law with its sacrificial system pointed the people to the coming of Christ. Every time the blood of an animal was shed in the old Jewish temple, it was a reminder to the onlooker that One would come and die for his sin. Hence, John the Baptist pointed to our Lord and declared the significant words, “Behold the Lamb of God.” When Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, the veil of the great temple curtain was torn from top to bottom to signify that the entire ceremonial system was forever finished. No longer do the priests need to offer up sacrifices.
How do the Ten Commandments and this Ceremonial law relate to each other? If a man sinned, he broke LAW No. 1 – the Moral law of the Ten Commandments. So then he brought his offering, according to LAW No. 2 – the law of sacrifices, and he received forgiveness. LAW No. 1 defines sin, for sin is the transgression of the moral law. (1 John 3:4) LAW No. 2 defined sacrifices, the Ceremonial law which was the remedy for sin. When the Israelite sinned, he broke the first law. To secure forgiveness he had to obey the second law. So here are two very distinct laws.
When the One great and perfect final Sacrifice was offered that Friday afternoon and the true Passover Lamb bowed His head and died and cried out, “It is finished”, the now obsolete ceremonial law that pointed the people to His sacrificial death was nailed to the cross. Jesus is now the permanent remedy for when we break LAW No. 1. When we now sin, we genuinely repent and ask Jesus for forgiveness.
While the word ceremonial is spoken frequently of in scripture, the term ceremonial law is not. In the KJV Bible, it is normally translated to ordinances which Strong’s dictionary translates to as being a law of ordinances or ceremonial law. As it was a system of commandments given by God to Israel, there can be no doubt that it was a law which involved ceremonies so it will be frequently called the ceremonial law. Since this law ended at the cross it was only observed by literal Israel.
The key to understanding Colossians 2:16 is found two verses earlier in Colossians 2:14. The key phrase is, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances.” The Greek word for blotting is “exaleipho”, pronounced “ex-al-i’-fo”. Strong’s dictionary gives the definition; “to smear out, that is, obliterate (erase tears, figuratively pardon sin): – blot out, wipe away.” The next keyword in this verse is “handwriting” and the Greek word is “cheirographon”, pronounced “khi-rog’-raf-on” and the definition is, “something handwritten (”chirograph”), that is, a manuscript (specifically a legal document or bond (figuratively)): – handwriting.” And the last and final very important word we need to look at is “ordinances”, Greek word is “dogma”, pronounced “dog’-mah” and the Strong’s definition is “a law (civil, ceremonial or ecclesiastical): – decree, ordinance.”
Did you note the last one? It means “a law”, but what type of law? The two words we should be very familiar with now are “ceremonial” i.e., “ceremonial law” and “ordinances” which comprised the things contained in the ceremonial law.
The Thayer dictionary is even clearer and you will note that it does not say the Ten Commandments. It directly and unmistakably says the “Law of Moses” outright. Thayer Definition: “The rules and requirements of the Law of Moses; carrying a suggestion of severity and of threatened judgment.”
So what was nailed to the cross as Paul explains in verse 14? The “Law of Moses,” which is also called the “Mosaic Law”, the “Book of the Law” and as we have just seen by the definition given by the KJV Bible, the “Ordinances.” There should be no doubt that the ceremonial law is not the Moral law and that Paul has said that we no longer need to observe the holy feast days that were associated with the ordinances as some erroneously teach. This was the whole problem that Paul was addressing as some Jews were still doing this.
The ceremonial law was for Israel alone as the Gospel did not go to the Gentiles for 3.5 years after Jesus died on the cross. This is why there is so much confusion between the ceremonial law and the Ten Commandments. That one and final perfect sacrifice of Jesus ended this whole sacrificial system, thankfully giving us no requirement to obey this law. Since Jesus replaced this law, He has become the remedy for sin, which is the breaking of God’s Ten Commandment law.
So just to make sure there can be no misunderstanding. The ceremonial law was practised when one sinned and that sin was the breaking of the Ten Commandments. So which one of these is a ceremonial law? Which one do we practise if we sinned before the cross? Do we go and commit adultery to make reconciliation for our sin? Or do we take a lamb for sacrifice to the temple priest to cover our sin such as adultery? Note also that our God is “is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33) and did not place a ceremonial, sacrificial law that was practised when we sinned, with a law that when broken was sin. We can rest knowing God is not the author of confusion and all Ten Commandments are moral laws.
Now that we have a clear distinction between these two laws, we can now look at all the verses that such an astonishing amount of controversy occurs over. The verses in contention are Colossians 2:16, Galatians 4:9-10 and Romans 14:5. Since Colossians 2:14-17 is the main area of confusion we will cover that first.
Colossians 2:16 reads “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink [offerings], or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:” And so the belief of some is the fourth Commandment was deleted from stone. What was actually done away with here was the ordinances (ceremonial law). This is clearly seen by noting what Paul said two verses earlier. Colossians 2:14 reads, “blotting out the handwriting (has to be Moses handwriting) of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.” Paul then goes on to say, so “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:“
Luke 1:6 KJV also demonstrates that the ordinances and the Ten Commandments are two totally different things. It states, “And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the Commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.”
And Hebrews 9:1-2 says, “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread; which is called the sanctuary.”
The first Covenant had also the ordinances as well as the Ten Commandments, but the New Covenant has only the Ten Commandments that God now writes in our hearts so it will be our hearts desire to obey Him. God said that the fault with the Old Covenant was the people would not obey it and nowhere does God say that His law lost any Commandments. When God said he will write His law on our hearts, He meant all of His Ten Commandment law.
Did you note in Hebrews 9:1-2 that these ordinances belonged to the Hebrew sanctuary sacrificial system. It was the ceremonial law that was nailed to the cross and “not one jot or one tittle” of any of the Ten Commandments.
The obvious differences between the Ten Commandments and the ordinances of the ceremonial law are that the Commandments were written by God’s finger, written in stone, placed inside the Ark of the Covenant, are love, eternal, for all people and is sin to break them.
The ordinances were in Moses handwriting, written in a book, placed in a pocket on the outside of the Ark of the Covenant, are not love, not eternal, were only for the Jews and were practised because of sin. When that One great and perfect and final Sacrifice was offered that Friday afternoon, when Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” and the true Passover Lamb bowed His head and died, that now obsolete ceremonial law that pointed people to His sacrificial death was nailed to the cross once and for all.
So is the phrase “sabbath days” in Colossians 2:16 referring to the Lord’s Sabbath? Definitely not. Firstly, every Greek scholar will tell you that “sabbaths” is unquestionably plural here, which there were several in the ordinances of the ceremonial law, and secondly, everything in verse 16 belonged purely and solely to the ordinances, which Paul specifically tells us is in verse 14. Paul also exhorts that the contents of verse 16 was nailed to the cross because that is what had to be practised because of sin prior to the cross, and of course why it ended at the cross. Sin is breaking of the Ten Commandments (1 John 3:4) and the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments.
Think very carefully about what God actually calls HIS Sabbath. We find more than once the phrase, “But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God:” It is the Lord’s Sabbath! The ceremonial sabbaths belonged to Israel only and were very significantly called “Her sabbaths” and are never referred to as the Sabbath of the Lord yet alone the Sabbath of the Lord your God. The Sabbath of the Lord was not kept for breaking the Sabbath of our Lord or any other Commandment for that matter. This of course makes no sense at all.
Studying the table below will give clarity between the ceremonial sabbaths mentioned in Colossians 2:16 and the fourth Commandment, the Sabbath.
GO HERE :https://www.colossians-2-16.com/#1
TO BE CONTINUED
GOD BLESS
How do the Ten Commandments and this Ceremonial law relate to each other? If a man sinned, he broke LAW No. 1 – the Moral law of the Ten Commandments. So then he brought his offering, according to LAW No. 2 – the law of sacrifices, and he received forgiveness. LAW No. 1 defines sin, for sin is the transgression of the moral law. (1 John 3:4) LAW No. 2 defined sacrifices, the Ceremonial law which was the remedy for sin. When the Israelite sinned, he broke the first law. To secure forgiveness he had to obey the second law. So here are two very distinct laws.
This is another gimmick coined by the SDA Church stating that Ten commandments (Moral Laws) and Ceremonial Laws are different. For a Jew there are 613 Commandments in the Torah and each one is equally important for him. The 613 commandments include “positive commandments”, to perform an act (mitzvot aseh), and “negative commandments”, to abstain from certain acts (mitzvot lo taaseh). The negative commandments number 365, which coincides with the number of days in the solar year, and the positive commandments number 248, a number ascribed to the number of bones and main organs in the human body.
The list is here in this link https://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm
This is another gimmick coined by the SDA Church stating that Ten commandments (Moral Laws) and Ceremonial Laws are different.
Everything you tell me there is not of much practical use to anyone. That’s my opinion.
I am satisfied with my “gimmick”.FOLLOWING
COLOSSIANS 2:16
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Consider the following three questions:
1) Why didn’t God put His Sabbath with all the ceremonial sabbaths in Moses hand writing if it was to end at the cross?2) Why didn’t God put His Sabbath with the Jewish ceremonial sabbaths that ended at the cross, if His Sabbath was only for the Jews?
3) Why would our omniscient (all knowing) God put His Sabbath in His eternal law of love if it is not eternal or not love?
Observe how every single part of Colossians 2:16 and associated verses do refer to the ceremonial law.
Unfortunately, most modern Bible translations have translated the word meat in verse sixteen incorrectly and most non-Jews get this wrong and this includes some theologians.
Ask some Jews that understand Hebrew. The King James Bible is one of the few translations that does translate these words correctly and is therefore recommended in these studies.
So much gets lost when the translators do not have a good understanding of Jewish culture and terminology. To be referring to clean or unclean foods here would be totally out of context for this passage. But when kept in context, every single point here refers to the various holy feast days and the sacrificial sanctuary system. Further clarification can be found in the book of Hebrews. Note that the context of this passage is undoubtedly the sanctuary service in regards to sacrifices and offerings, of which Jesus Christ became the final perfect sacrifice for us.
Paul is possibly the author of Hebrews and we see that the meat and drink has to be meat and drink offerings by the unmistakable context of this passage in Hebrews 9:7-14 below. The author speaks of meat and drink [offerings] and carnal ordinances which were imposed until the time of reformation, being Jesus Christ who obtained eternal redemption for us and brought an end to the sacrifices prescribed by the ordinances of the ceremonial law once and for all.
This continues to illustrate the perfect context of Colossians 2:16 and as per Colossians 2:14, we see everything described is part of the ordinances of the ceremonial law, which Paul said in this verse was against us and contrary to us, and it was taken out the way and nailed to the cross by Jesus’ perfect sacrifice.
Hebrews 9:7-14 “But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
To be continued
GOD BLESS
FOLLOWING
COLOSSIANS 2:16
As you can plainly see, like Colossians 2:16, nowhere in this passage are clean and unclean foods referred to and nowhere in the Bible where clean and unclean foods are discussed, are there issues of unclean drinks. In fact there is no mention of unclean drinks anywhere in the Bible as they do not exist. What is spoken of in Colossians and Hebrews are references to meat and drink offerings that were part of the sanctuary service and were in the ordinances of the ceremonial law. This is all that can be referred to and when done so fits the context perfectly of both passages as it remains harmoniously in context with the sanctuary service.
Since many Bibles have failed in the translation of meat and drink [offerings] in Colossians 2:16, some try and make meat and drink about dietary laws etc, so let’s clarify further. When Paul says “therefore,” he is referring to what he just spoke of in Colossians 2:14 that was nailed to the cross. So why did Jesus die on the cross? Did He die for the food we eat? Did Jesus die for any type of religious practise that involved eating and drinking? Of course not! Jesus died on the cross for one thing only and that was our SIN. Is this really so hard to understand? It is meat and drink offerings that were practised because of sin. So simple and perfectly in context.
So let’s re-examine Colossians 2:14-17 again to see if everything does actually refer to the ceremonial law by the fact that the context of the passage remains the same throughout. “Blotting out the handwriting”, the ceremonial law was written in Moses handwriting. “Ordinances”, Strong’s dictionary also directly translates this word to ceremonial law, “that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way”, the ceremonial law is now against us and contrary to us, as Christ has become that One and perfect sacrifice for us. “Nailing it to his cross”, and of course now that Christ has become that perfect sacrifice for us, no longer are meat and drink offerings and animal sacrifices and all associated holy days necessary, so the ceremonial law was nailed to the cross. Moving onto verse sixteen, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink”, and as we have now seen were part of the ceremonial law. “Or in respect of an holyday”, these holy days included such days as Passover, Feast of Weeks and many others. “Or of the new moon”, new moon celebrations were also part of the ordinances. “Or of the sabbath days”, Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Feast of Weeks, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles and many others were all sabbath days.
When referred to in plural and the context of the passage is the ceremonial law, then the sabbaths referred to can be nothing else but ceremonial sabbaths. Verse seventeen goes on to say, “Which are a shadow of things to come.” These sabbaths were called a shadow because Passover was a shadow of the crucifixion and Feast of Weeks was a shadow of Pentecost etc. These Old Testament holy day feasts were shadows of what was to come and once those things had come and gone then the shadows also disappeared. Here is one verse from Leviticus that refers to such feast holy days, which involves meat and drink, that is, meat and drink offerings that Paul also refers to in Colossians 2:16. Leviticus 23:37 “These are the feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day”
To be continued ( if God want)
God bless
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