Depends on what the meaning of "is" is

The tiny little word is can change the whole meaning of a sentence. We've heard it before. Remember Bill Clinton? But let's forget Bill and turn to the text:

"But the body is of Christ."

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 of Christ. Colossians 2:16, 17

I have read two explanations of "the body is of Christ." The first explanation, in short, is that the shadowy things are not substance, the substance is Christ. I believe that Christ is the substance of everything in regards to our salvation, but is that what this text is saying?

Italicized words in the KJV and some other versions indicate that the word is supplied and not in the original text. Without is, verse 17 says, 

"Which are a shadow of things to come, but the body of Christ."

This sentence fragment requires context, includes verse 16, and leads to the second explanation. The entire sentence, without intervening phrases and clauses, says,

"Let no man judge you...but the body of Christ." 

Paul often exhorts the believers, the church, to work together as a body, that each member of the body has its own purpose, etc. It makes sense that when the believers were being judged by the Greek ascetics of the time, who were so rigorous in their matters of diet and practice, that Paul would say to them, "Don't let these people who are not part of the body judge you. Let the body of Christ, the church, be the ones you pay attention to."

I can accept both explanations, as they are not contradictory, but I believe the second explanation is more likely the meaning Paul had in mind, given his focus in his letters to the churches.

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As a matter of interest, the following verses show where Paul refers to the church as the body of Christ:

Romans 12:5

So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

Ephesians 3:6

That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

Ephesians 4:12

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Chr

Ephesians 5:23

For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

Colossians 1:24

Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:

A shadow of things to come

"A shadow of things to come," is to many another proof that the holy days are in the past, have been fulfilled, and are no longer important to the believer, that, in fact, observing them is rejecting Christ.

Let's look at Colossians 2:17 more closely.

16. Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.

17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Have you considered the present tense of the word are? The verse doesn't say were, meaning in the past, over and done with, though some recent Bibles have been translated that way. Are instead of were, shows Paul's understanding that the holydays, new moons, and sabbaths, are not in the past. They are still looking forward to a future fulfillment.

Many of those who observe Sunday as their weekly holy day, instead of the seventh-day Sabbath, say that the Sabbath is only a memorial of creation. Even Sabbath-keepers make that point, that they are keeping the Sabbath as a memorial of God's creation. Even the Sabbath, in this point of view, is a shadow looking backwards!

These same Christians will likely say that observing a feast, Passover, for example, is turning our back on Christ, because Passover has been fulfilled through Christ's sacrifice. They will observe the Last Supper/Communion service, which is the Christian Passover memorial, but to do it on Passover or to call it Passover instead of Easter, that strikes them as outright unChristian!

My studies have shown me that the feasts are absolutely Christian. They are God's timeline of His plan of salvation. a picture of the Gospel of the kingdom. We can celebrate what He has done for us for eternity!

The Feast Days have future fulfillment. Passover and Unleavened Bread shows how God's people are freed from sin and death. Pentecost shows a future, more complete, understanding of God's law and the Latter Rain of the Spirit. Trumpets depicts the warning, gathering-in message, going to all the world. The Day of Atonement has no past fulfillment, only future, and Tabernacles point forward to when we will all gather together to live with our Saviour. Observing the feasts, which have never been abolished in Scripture, is a deeper, closer understanding of the truth and love that Jesus has for us.

Some will want to separate the Sabbath from the rest of the feasts. Let's look at the weekly Sabbath. Not only is it a memorial of creation, a sign between God and His people and listed with the other feast days in Leviticus 23, but it is also forward-looking, pointing to the rest we have in Jesus.

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Hebrews 4:9,10

This verse shows how the Sabbath rest is an object lesson of the rest we are in because of the work Christ has done for us. The Sabbath-rest remains as a celebration and object lesson throughout eternity.

From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says the LORD. Isaiah 66:23

Christ said he did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it. If fulfilling means abolishing, it is the same as destroying, exactly what He said He did NOT do!

Blog name and purpose

Just because I have not been writing for a couple weeks doesn't mean I haven't been thinking. This is the first blog I have kept in which I have no recent readers, and I am learning that readers motivate me to write. I think the readers I had here got discouraged during my very long absence, with good reason.

I've been thinking on the name of this blog. At first, several years ago (when I had readers) it was Yeshua Is My Salvation, then I changed it to Morning by Morning, from a favorite text, "Morning by morning He wakens me and opens my understanding to His will." Isaiah 50:4. For a short while it was Christians and Feast Days, then it was Appointed Times, for a short while it was Salvation Timeline, then Appointments, and now it is These are My Feasts! Perhaps some day I'll find exactly the right title.

The reason for all the changes is that I've been looking for a name that depicts the purpose of the blog, not just part of it, but is not too bland. "Appointments," I think, is on the bland side and not descriptive enough.

I've been studying topics that are of interest to me and that have come up as issues among some of my friends. I've seen some of these topics cause a lot of friction between people, causing distance between friends and family members, and even loss of church membership. The topics I've approached so far are the true name (must use, or not?), the trinity (yes or no), and the appointed times (feast days). It's not just hearsay that these topics have caused friendships to end. I've experienced it myself. I told a friend who called me regularly, a couple times a week, that I was studying about the trinity, that I had doubts as to whether it was a biblical doctrine. That was all, just one sentence. That friend asked me no questions, didn't ask me to explain myself, and never called or spoke to me again. I was astounded! This is the main reason for my current anonymity, though I may change that soon, for we are to give the trumpet a certain sound, and hiding behind a blur doesn't help.

People often ask me, "Do you think you have to believe these things in order to be saved?"

My answer is, "You only have to believe on Jesus to be saved. That's what the Bible tells us." A major emphasis on commandments and what we should and should not do in order to be saved is a false focus, because what we do does not save us. It is legalism. When Jesus enters us through His spirit, He lives through us, and our lives become what He wants us to be. It's His job, not ours. We invite Him in; He lives in us.

I have thought that it would be great if I could include Love in the title somehow. Still thinking.

Jesus said,

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. - Matthew 22:37-39

So why do I bother about some of these other topics?

The Bible is here for us to learn more, to show God's hands-on approach to loving and saving humanity, to make our spiritual lives deeper and richer.

New learnings that have made my journey more meaningful include knowing that Jesus' given name was Yeshua, which means Salvation. It sent a delicious chill down my back when I learned that our Creator is the embodiment of Salvation! I still use the common name, Jesus, because in conversation everyone will know who I mean.

Another deepening of my Christian walk was learning the significance of the Feasts, also called Holy Days, God's Holidays, Appointed Times, or Moedim. These annual sabbaths are God's Salvation Timeline.  I don't mean that they are a schedule of date and time of Jesus' return, but they show how we have been saved, from His death on Passover, to His spirit being given to His followers at Pentecost (and will be again), to the last Trump when He returns and takes us home to tabernacle with Him. The Jews had this gift for centuries, but only in hindsight were they able to recognize the significance of the yearly rites and ceremonies of the tabernacle. I believe that the rites and ceremonies came to an end at the death of Jesus, but that significance of the timeline remains. I plan to study and share this topic in a future post.

He built the timeline when He planned the salvation of the world before it was created. At creation He put lights in the heavens to signal the object lessons (tabernacle services) that the people would participate in yearly -- of His work of Salvation.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years. Genesis 1:14

The object lessons of the appointed times were further enhanced by events He put into place to happen exactly at the times He scheduled. These historic events, -- Jesus' death at Passover, for example -- don't mean they are fully fulfilled or that a partial fulfillment means they no longer have significance to those of us who look forward to His reappearing.

As I learn of His love for me through participating in celebrating His Holy Days, I am so much the richer for having put that focus on Him!