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The bottom line is: Christ didn't have to "verbalize" the Sabbath commandment; He showed us by His actions that we are to keep the seventh day Sabbath, because He Himself kept it - as shown in our article Open Letter to Christians which reads, in part:
You won't find anything in the Scriptures that references the changing of the Sabbath to Sunday. Some argue that Constantine was responsible for changing the Sabbath because he hated the Jews. No matter who instituted Sunday worship, in Yeshua's time, both Jews and Gentiles alike, regularly attended the synagogue for worship on the seventh day, and the fact that interested Gentiles in Antioch requested further instruction of Paul "on the next Sabbath" is irrefutable evidence that no separate Sunday (1st day) meetings were being held there by those early Christians: The Gentiles were willing to wait an entire week, till the next Saturday, for a meeting because they knew that Paul and his companions did not normally meet for worship on a Sunday. Acts 13:42-44 tells us that, on the next Sabbath (Saturday) almost the whole city arrived for the meeting. Furthermore, the fact is, neither the Father nor the Son has ever claimed the first day as His own in any higher sense than He has each or any of the other laboring days. Neither of them has ever placed any blessing upon it, or attached any sanctity to it. The Bible tells us God expressly reserved the seventh day to Himself, placing His blessing upon it, and claimed it as His holy day. (Genesis 2:1-3.) Moses told Israel in the wilderness of Sin of the sixth day of the week, "Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord." Exodus 16:23.
You won't find anywhere that shows He somehow changed the Sabbath day. People can worship any day they want, but the Sabbath - a day of rest - is the seventh day (what we know as Saturday) as God commanded - who said it would be celebrated FOREVER:
Exodus 31: 13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you."
Exodus 31: 16 "Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'"
"Forever" hasn't ended yet, and the "Children of Israel" includes anyone who believes in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - Yeshua HaMashiach/Jesus Christ....
Christians like to insist that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday because "that's when Jesus rose" - which is absolutely NOT true, as shown in our article On what day was our Savior resurrected?
Please read the following articles on our site: Torah put in simple terms, Living Torah, Challenging the website Berean Call and Challenging Mainstream Christianity.
Your friends are the typical Christians who have misunderstood the writings of Paul, and refuse to realize that God gave us several "forever" commandments. If they had scanned further up in Colossians 2, they would have seen that Paul was talking about the traditions of men - as is amply explained in Yashanet's article, part of which we are posting below:
Example #1 - Colossians 2:16-17
Let's examine a passage in the New Testament, one often used by Christians to show "we are no longer under the Law," which is Colossians 2:16-17. First the translation from the Revised Standard Version:
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
Here is the same verse from the Good News Bible in Today's English Version:
So let no one make rules about what you eat or drink or about holy days or the New Moon Festival or the Sabbath. All such things are only a shadow of things in the future; the reality is Christ.
And finally, from the New American Standard Version:
Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day -- things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
Most will agree that in this passage, "food and drink" mean the kosher laws, "festivals" means God's appointed times, and sabbaths means the Friday to Saturday evening Sabbath, all of which can be found in the Tenakh, particularly in the book of Leviticus. I would suggest that a concern of much of the letter to the Colossians is one of warning against following false teachings (Col. 2:4-8).
If we were to take verse 2:16-17 and read them apart from any context, they could very well sound as if Paul were saying to people something like this; "Don't let anyone tell you that you're suppose to do these (Jewish) things -- they aren't what's important as they are only a shadow of what is really important."
Let's take another look at the same verse, only this time we will do two things different.
First, we will delete a single word, the word "only," (or in the other case, the phrase "a mere.")
Second, we will read these verses with two facts in mind:
a) Paul is writing to gentile believers coming from an anti-Semitic pagan background. Of these new believers, there are some that don't have any respect, or see any need for the "Jewish part" of their faith. This group may be pressuring those who are holding on to their Jewish roots.
b) Paul, as a trained rabbi and Pharisee, and as a believer in Yeshua, believes that the things written about in the Tenakh (Old Testament) are there for a reason, and in fact present a picture of what is to come one day. (i.e., the earthly temple looks ahead to heavenly one, the weekly Sabbath points to a Sabbath rest in the Millennium, Moses as mediator of the first Covenant, points to Messiah, mediator of the renewed Covenant, etc.)
With all this in mind, we read again:
So let no one judge you in food or drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon, or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
If you remove the word "only" (or "a mere" ) and read it in the suggested context, you get a totally different message. What Paul's message now says is, "Don't let anyone judge you new gentile believers about the fact that you now keep the (Jewish) Sabbath, festivals and eat kosher, as these are indeed a picture of the wonderful things to come."
By changing one word and considering some pertinent background information, you get an interpretation that is completely the opposite of what Christian Bibles and commentaries portray.
So now what?
Let's start with this word - only (or "a mere" ) - as it definitely sways how one would view how the words before it -- let no one judge you in food or drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon, or sabbaths -- with the words that come after it -- a shadow of things to come.
Does anyone have the right to add or delete such a critical word that can alter the meaning of a text so substantially? Of course not! But here's the rub (as Shakespeare would say) -- the word "only" (or "a mere" ) is NOT in the Greek text. It has been added by Christian translators to those translations.
Why? To make the verse "fit" into Christian doctrine developed over the past 1900 years. Words are added to make the verse sound as if Paul were opposed to new (gentile) believers following Torah after their conversion. And though not all Christian Bibles add these words to the text, Christian Bible commentaries teach that Paul is opposed to the Colossian believers following Torah as a lifestyle after they are saved. This is not, however, a position that can be maintained without altering this and other texts and ignoring much else of what Paul said and who he is.
This raises some important questions. Who exactly is Paul? Did his conversion experience make him forget everything he was ever taught? Was everything he learned prior to that all wrong? What message is he trying to get across in this and his other letters? Do his various epistles in fact have very different messages for very different situations? What are the different problems he addresses in these letters and what is his foundation for how to deal with them?
You asked: Will Christians who accepted Christ with faith but believe a lot of what you said was false teachings because they didn't know any better, or who could not read the scriptures themselves (i.e., the slaves could not read and had to rely on someone telling them) or do not have the historical understanding to gain perspective on the scriptures be condemned?
Our response: No, those who genuinely did not know will NOT be condemmed. A God who is merciful enough to send His own Son to die on our behalf surely won't hold it against those who truly didn't know. Furthermore, their simple belief in Messiah Yeshua is their ticket to heaven; not "works". For those of us who DO understand that Torah was never abolished, yet still choose to ignore it (i.e., the Sabbath, the feasts, being kosher - being Torah observant in general) we risk being considered "lukewarm" and being spit out of Yeshua's mouth....
Most Christians we know have refused Torah. We simply tell them God gives us a choice to do things HIS way, or Satan's - there's no gray area. They will get their chance to take it up with God on Judgment Day.
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