why does Paul say let no one judge you
in food feast day or Sabbath's let's
start by looking at the text in question
which is Colossians 2 verses 16 and 17
it's important to keep in mind that
Colossians was written to Greek converts
who were living in a pagan culture let's
look at the text 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
a messiah this is an interesting visual
aid that Paul uses here to describe
these things he says they are a shadow
of the Messiah a person's shadow always
goes with you sometimes it follows you
sometimes it precedes you but it's
always right there with you you can't go
anywhere without your shadow and
likewise your shadow can't go anywhere
without you also Paul says they are a
shadow of things to come
this means the shadow precedes the
Messiah their prophetic shadows that
help to reveal the plans of Yahweh the
shadow of the Messiah helps us to know
what the Messiah is going to do next if
you are in someone's shadow then you are
near to that person so if we want to be
near to the Messiah then we must walk in
his shadow if we want to know what he is
going to do next then we must keep our
eyes on his shadow that's why it's
important for us to practice the feasts
so that we'll be near to the Messiah if
you're not familiar with this concept
please consider the following
Messiah died as the Passover lamb on
Passover he was buried sinless without
yeast the beginning of unleavened bread
he was resurrected on firstfruits as the
firstfruits of the resurrection and he
poured out the Holy Spirit on Pentecost
to write the law in our hearts his first
coming was directly connected to the
spring feasts and likewise his second
coming will be directly connected to the
fall feasts he'll return at the last
Trump on the Feast of Trumpets he will
judge the world on the Day of Atonement
and the Feast of Tabernacles is the
wedding feast
Paul also says that the Sabbath is a
shadow of the Messiah this is because
the Sabbath is a shadow of the kingdom
reign of the Messiah think about it
there are six days of work and the
seventh day is the Sabbath well the
earth is almost six thousand years old
and when Messiah returns he will reign
on the earth four thousand years
remember what Peter says but beloved be
not ignorant of this one thing that one
day is with Yahweh as a thousand years
and a thousand years as one day the
Sabbath is a prophetic shadow of the
thousand-year reign of the Messiah
Yahweh gave us his set apart feast days
to make us aware of his calendar
he didn't give them to us so that we
could have a family dinner he was
revealing his future plans to us he was
telling us to mark our calendars because
he has something special planned on
these days now with that in mind let's
read Colossians again let no man
therefore judge you in meat or in drink
or in respect to a holyday or of the new
moon or of the sabbath days which are a
shadow of things to come but the body is
a messiah
Paul says let no man judge you in these
things I've heard many people claim that
Paul was saying don't let anyone judge
you for not keeping the feasts in the
Sabbath however that doesn't make any
sense if the feasts and Sabbath are
prophetic shadows of the Messiah then
it's important for us to keep practicing
them so that we can remain close to the
Messiah so why would Paul be telling
them not to keep them if they're
directly connected to the Messiah also
consider the fact that Paul was writing
to Gentile converts living in colas it's
important to know that colas was very
near Laodicea and both cities were known
for the paganism there were very few
Jews living in that area so who would be
judging these new converts the only
people who might be judging them are the
pagan friends and neighbors who think
their new religion and lifestyle changes
are unusual Paul was basically telling
these new converts now that you are
keeping the feasts and the Sabbath
don't let your pagan friends and fan
judge you for being different now that
you were eating differently
keeping different holidays and resting
on the Sabbath
don't let your pagan neighbors judge you
for being different
instead realize that these things are
prophetic shadows of the Messiah so let
that encourage you to keep doing what is
right