Read Colossians 2:16–19. What Jewish-Christian practices are highlighted here by Paul?
To this day, scholars do not agree on exactly what the issues were that Paul was addressing here. What we can be sure of is that Paul’s epistle itself provides quite a bit of information on what seems to have been a Jewish-Christian divisive influence on this predominantly Gentile church (Col. 2:13). That is, the Jewish believers were pushing things that were not necessary for the members to follow.
Clearly, Colossians 2:16 lists a number of regular Jewish practices that were apparently continued among some Jewish converts to Christianity. But even the elements in Colossians 2:18 fit the same context. Jesus criticized pretensions to humility among the religious leaders (for example, Matt. 6:1, 5, 7, 16). From the scrolls of Qumran, we learn that angels featured prominently in some Jewish conceptions of worship. So, the problems that Paul was confronting in Colossae were most likely similar to those he confronted elsewhere.
Since Colossians 2:16 is so often misunderstood, it is important to consider it in greater detail. Notice these points:
Paul’s use of “therefore” (ESV) signals that this is a conclusion drawn from what he has already said. Previously, the need for literal circumcision was dismissed because it is the inward change of the heart that matters (Col. 2:11–15).
“Food and drink” refer to the meal and drink offerings that the Israelites brought to the temple.
The specification of “a festival or a new moon or sabbaths” (Col. 2:16, NKJV) apparently alludes to Hosea 2:11, where the same sequence of ceremonial days are referred to, which includes ceremonial sabbaths (see, for example, Lev. 23:11, 24, 32).
Crucial to our understanding of this verse is Paul’s own interpretation: that these “are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Col. 2:17, NKJV). These ceremonial days, like the sacrifices, pointed to the work of Christ (see 1 Cor. 5:7, 1 Cor. 15:23). The seventh-day Sabbath, in contrast, was instituted in Eden, before sin, and long before the ceremonial sacrifices of the sanctuary were adopted; therefore, it was not a shadow to be done away with after the Cross.
Although the seventh-day Sabbath is not at issue here, how might you apply Paul’s counsel about not passing judgment on others?
Supplemental EGW Notes
Christ calls upon the members of His church to cherish the true, genuine hope of the gospel. He points them upward, distinctly assuring them that the riches that endure are above, not below. Their hope is in heaven, not on the earth. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness,” He says; “and all these things”—all that is essential for your good—“shall be added unto you.”
With many, the things of this world obscure the glorious view of the eternal weight of glory that awaits the saints of the Most High. They cannot distinguish the true, the real, the enduring substance, from the false, the counterfeit, the passing shadow. Christ urges them to remove from before their eyes that which is obscuring their view of eternal realities. He insists upon the removal of that which is causing them to mistake phantoms for realities, and realities for phantoms. God entreats His people to give the strength of body, mind, and soul to the service that He expects them to perform. He calls upon them to be able to say for themselves that the gains and advantages of this life are not worthy to be compared with the riches that are reserved for the diligent, rational seeker for eternal life.—Counsels on Stewardship, p. 218.
“The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament.” Revelation 11:19. The ark of God’s testament is in the holy of holies, the second apartment of the sanctuary. In the ministration of the earthly tabernacle, which served “unto the example and shadow of heavenly things,” this apartment was opened only upon the great Day of Atonement for the cleansing of the sanctuary. Therefore the announcement that the temple of God was opened in heaven and the ark of His testament was seen points to the opening of the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844 as Christ entered there to perform the closing work of the atonement. Those who by faith followed their great High Priest as He entered upon His ministry in the most holy place, beheld the ark of His testament. As they had studied the subject of the sanctuary they had come to understand the Saviour’s change of ministration, and they saw that He was now officiating before the ark of God, pleading His blood in behalf of sinners.
The ark in the tabernacle on earth contained the two tables of stone, upon which were inscribed the precepts of the law of God. The ark was merely a receptacle for the tables of the law, and the presence of these divine precepts gave to it its value and sacredness. When the temple of God was opened in heaven, the ark of His testament was seen. Within the holy of holies, in the sanctuary in heaven, the divine law is sacredly enshrined—the law that was spoken by God Himself amid the thunders of Sinai and written with His own finger on the tables of stone.—The Great Controversy, p. 433.
The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.