There is one creator of Heaven and earth. There is only one living God. Who is He and why should we care?
Let’s see what Paul says and see if he can shed some light for us.
Choices: Follow YHWH or follow pagan gods?
What are pagan gods? Anything we focus on that is not the one true God, The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, YHWH, our God who told Moses His name is: I AM!
The Apostle Paul, a well known Jew, prior to his ministry used to persecute Jewish believers, was called by YHWH to spread the Good News to the Gentiles after Yeshua died for our sins. As with anything, scripture is often misinterpreted. So naturally, Paul is a target for his words to be misread. It’s all in interpretation, right? Paul has always been misinterpreted by those who want to add to YHWH’s word. There is one particular verse that tells us something in Colossians 2 that is such a controversial verse.
Colossians 2
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. This verse is often used as “proof” that YHWH’s feasts are to no longer be observed, despite Messiah keeping them and Paul keeping them long after Messiah had ascended – We can go to the Torah and find truth to back up what Paul said, why? Because Paul was teaching what Yeshua taught, Yeshua was teaching what YHWH said through Moses, The Torah.
The New Testament didn’t exist til many years after Yeshua died and after the disciples were gone. When there is a question about something said in the New Testament, refer back to the Torah for clarification. In this case, as for what is clean to eat, and what feasts to observe, YHWH said that “it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” Leviticus 23
When we read the entire Bible for ourselves, beginning in Genesis and studying the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) we can see the truth, the correct interpretation because our Ruach, the Holy Spirit, shows us the truth. So knowing that the interpretation of that scripture contradicts YHWH’s Word, let us look at it from another possible angle that will help you relate to it in real-time. I came across this information online; not sure of the original source but it is worth sharing for thought.
Paul was encouraging new Gentile believers, right? Now we know that they were previously taking part with multiple god worship, in accordance with the custom and culture they lived in. Suddenly, they stop their pagan worship and begin worshipping the one true God, YHWH. Let’s say, they get a medical issue and friends urge them to go to the temple and offer a sacrifice to a pagan god for healing and they refuse, letting their friends know that they only have one God now. Then they have a bad harvest and are told they should have made sacrifices to the pagan goddess for the earth and they reiterate, “no, I worship the one true God now.” So now they’re already acting very strange in the eyes of their friends, going against worldly logic, and to top it off they start keeping the feasts that the Jews keep. They are not trying to be Jewish, they only want to obey YHWH and follow the Torah as YHWH instructed for all His followers. Regardless, they’re going to get judged, harshly, by those close to them, as well as, by those not so close to them. They’re going to hear it. A lot of “it”: Reasons why they shouldn’t do that, reasons why they are abandoning their gods, and why this is foolish, etc.
Be aware, when you come into this way and start obeying the Father and following the example of Messiah, the pressure from those who are not doing so increases exponentially and it doesn’t let up. Therefore, encouragement from those walking this way is very helpful.
If I sound like I’m speaking from personal experience it is because I am.
Now, as for what is clean to eat,
Colossians 2
Do you remember what was going on with the whole “do not taste, do not touch” thing? The Pharisees had placed additional regulations on meat sold in the marketplace and determined that if it wasn’t slaughtered in a manner they approved of it wasn’t clean.
(We’ve already established that only clean animals were considered food so we need not specify what type of meat as it would not have been considered food to begin with were it not what YHWH has deemed food).
So here we have the full story from Paul. Many of us have been taught Colossians 2:16 not to let anyone judge you for not keeping the Sabbath and feast days but Paul is actually encouraging folks not to let people judge them FOR keeping the Sabbath and Feast Days.
Then he goes on to tell them not to let anyone cheat them of their rewards in walking in accordance with Messiah by adding manmade laws on top of it (don’t touch, etc). The body of followers of Messiah should not be concerned with judgments made towards us from people outside of the body of believers or even from within the body of believers when such judgments are not Biblically based.
Paul is saying not to let lawless idol worshippers judge us nor Pharisees who hold up their doctrine as if it were commandment. They judge us according to their ways; YHWH’s ways are foreign to them.
That’s just my thoughts on this.
Always Test it. (1 Thessalonians 5:21) If it doesn’t match up with Scripture, toss it.
Please go to your Bible and study the entire story for yourself. See what His word says for yourself and what He wants to show you. I always check several versions to allow the Spirit to show me the difference and truth. I recommend you do the same.
Enjoy pondering that thought today!
God bless you