I was not looking for this, but a friend desired my position on Col 2 and the Sabbath. So I wrote:
So, he wrote back this rebuttal:
I really don't have time to engage a topic. But, what is the best way for me to reply? I have not brought up this issue, but he wants to talk about it deeply. So, I feel constrained to defend my views.
Was my first written response in error?
Is his rebuttal right?
1. Feast days, 2.New moons, and 3.Sabbaths:
New Covenant Theology adherents often put forth Colossians 2:16 as a proof against the abiding obligation to maintain a “Christian Sabbath” – called “The Lord’s Day” in the New Testament. After all, both Romans 14 and Colossians 2 tell us not to honor one day above another. Therefore, the first day of the week has no special place among our worship. It seems pretty cut and dried, right?
Wrong! Colossians 2 and Romans 14 are not adequate proofs to prove the abrogation of the 4th Commandment. The sabbaths spoken of in Colossian 2 are part of the ceremonial law and not the moral law.
The Jewish ceremonial calendar had many New Moon and sabbaths other than the weekly Sabbath. Colossian 2 speaks of these special ceremonial “holy days” - not the weekly Sabbath, which is part of the Decalogue (God’s summary of his moral law).
This is vital! The phrase used in Colossians 2:16, “feast days…new moons…sabbaths,” is a technical phrase. It is a specific phrase relating to the ceremonial laws of the Old Covenant. It is specifically used in the OT, to designate specific ceremonial events - and is nowhere used in reference to the weekly Sabbath. By using this phrase in Colossians 2, Paul is clearly referring to the ceremonial Sabbaths and not the Sabbath that is commanded in the Decalogue.
Hosea 2:11, clearly referring to the ceremonial aspects of the Old Covenant, contains this same three-part formulation of “feast days, new moons…sabbaths” that is also found in Colossian 2:16. This three-part phrase refers to the special feast and Sabbath days in the Jewish calendar. It is not referring to the weekly Sabbath. Likewise, I Chron. 23:31; 2 Chron 2:4; 8:13; 31:3; Nehemiah 10:33, and Isaiah 1:13-14 all contain this common phrase, again clearly referring to ceremonial law and not the weekly Sabbath.
So, he wrote back this rebuttal:
All of the passages you have quoted above can be interpreted to be speaking about the ordinary weekly Sabbath. Rather than being a redundant technical phrase, it makes the most sense that they are referring to special Jewish days that happen yearly, monthly, and weekly. If you read Numbers 28-29 you’ll even see God giving Israel specific instructions regarding the sacrifice of lambs for the daily sacrifices, the weekly sacrifices on the Sabbath, the monthly sacrifices during the new moons, and at the yearly feasts. This is the interpretative framework for understanding all the passages you referenced above. Read all of them in their context with Numbers 28-29 as their background.
1 Chron. 23 passage in its context beginning with v. 27. David, being a King in Israel who had personally copied the Torah, is giving the Levites instructions as to their regular duties as ministers. In verse 30 he tells them, “And they were to stand every morning, thanking and praising the LORD, and likewise at evening...” This was their daily duty. Then, in verse 31 he tells them they are also to do this same thing weekly, monthly, and yearly when burnt offerings are offered: “and whenever burnt offerings were offered to the LORD on Sabbaths, new moons, and feast days, according to the number required of them, regularly before the LORD.” Notice it says “regularly.” God had established a regular pattern for which burnt offerings would be given (cf. Num. 28-29). These happened daily and on special days weekly, monthly, and yearly. The passages you referenced in 2 Chron. 2:4; 8:13 show the exact same thing.
Look at the passage you referenced in 2 Chron. 31:3, “The contribution of the king from his own possessions was for the burnt offerings: the burnt offerings of morning and evening, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed feasts, as it is written in the Law of the LORD.” Where is it written in the Law of the LORD (i.e. the Torah)? It is found in Numbers 28-29 which make it clear that the ordinary weekly Sabbath is being spoken about.
Also, if you’ll notice in Isaiah 1:13-14, Sabbath is even in the singular, which according to your own logic in interpreting Col. 2:16 obviously is speaking about the ordinary weekly Sabbath.
Brother, it seems careless to say that this phrase is “nowhere used in reference to the weekly Sabbath.” I’m going to repeat my argument from the letter:
I believe that Paul is speaking here about the ordinary weekly Sabbath and not a special festival because there are multiple times in the Old Testament where the plural Sabbaths is used to describe the ordinary weekly Sabbath (Leviticus 19:3; Ez. 20:12,13,16, 20, 21, 24; 22:8, 26). So, in essence Paul is saying that no one is to judge anyone else because they don't observe the special days that happen yearly (festivals), monthly (new moons), and weekly (Sabbaths). In the Old Testament, again and again, you see the Lord talking about the yearly, monthly, and weekly days in this exact same way (1 Chronicles 23:31; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 8:13; 31:30; Nehemiah 10:33; Hosea 2:11).
I really don't have time to engage a topic. But, what is the best way for me to reply? I have not brought up this issue, but he wants to talk about it deeply. So, I feel constrained to defend my views.
Was my first written response in error?
Is his rebuttal right?