I believe we are ready to begin our study portion of today’s broadcast and I’m looking forward to sharing this one with you.

How many of you, when you start learning about the blessing of the Hebraic roots, or maybe you’re just new, just getting your feet wet in the Hebraic roots, you find maybe it’s interesting, and exciting and it’s a more biblical way of looking at things, and then you go to share with it your pastor?

Or you go share with your friends or family, and they open up the Bible and they show you this passage right here:

Colossians 2:16 – So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,

17 – which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Messiah (Lit. body of Messiah).

Or “Christ” as they would have in their translation.

And it kind of took the wind out of your sails, and you’re like what does this mean?

Or, you are looking at this and you say you know, “but everything else in the New Testament pretty much points to the idea that we should be keeping the Law.”

And so, they would come to you, especially Pastors will use this verse, and say “See there, those were just shadows, those were shadows of Messiah and the real substance, the reality here is found in Christ, or in Messiah; and you’re living in shadows . . . that’s Old Testament, and we’re experiencing the reality now.

“The Messiah has come, we don’t need those old celebrations and ceremonies, now we have the real deal.”

And you look at that and you go huh? . . .

And there are people who have been excited about what they learned in Hebraic roots.

And when they look at that scripture they’re just thinking, “Well, well maybe the way things are done is correct. I mean, here I am getting excited about keeping feast days and I want to keep these festivals.

“And, yeah, I guess Messiah did say he fulfilled everything, he said it’s finished, and these are just shadows; But we have Messiah now . . .”

And then they go back into traditional Christianity.”

But I want you to know, our Father calls us to study, he calls us to examine, he calls us to search the scriptures diligently to find out whether these things are so. And so, we’re going to do that.

We’re going to do that today and see what exactly is going on here; what is meant in these verses of Colossians chapter 2.

Our study title today is “Colossians 2: Philosophies vs. Torah and Messiah.”

I will point out to you today . . . I want to make a bold statement, that Colossians 2, verses 16 and 17, do not teach that it’s okay to transgress the Commandments and the Law regarding feast days, and sabbaths and so on.

But, on the contrary I will point out today, by the end of the study, these verses actually prove that the people in Colosse, the town that Paul was writing to, will actually prove they were keeping those festivals, and new moons and sabbaths.

So, we are going to do just the opposite of what most of traditional Christianity theologians would do. And we will look at everything in context and we will demonstrate that we can actually use this verse right here in Colossians 2 as a proof text that we should be keeping these things, which they call “ceremonial laws.”

So, first of all I want to start off with some context and some background.

First of all we need to take note here that, while Paul, if he was actually saying “Don’t let people judge you for not keeping these festivals”, if that’s what he was saying; that kind of seems to contradict his actions.

We look in the book of Acts, chapter 18 in verse 20 says:

Acts 18:20 – When they asked [him] to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent,

And so the Ephesians here, he’s telling them he wants to keep the feast that’s coming up in Jerusalem. Now why is he keeping festivals if it’s not necessary for us to keep festivals? In Acts chapter 25 verse 7:

Acts 25:7 – When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove,

that’s something else, he observed not only the laws of Caesar here, but the Law of the Jew, the Messiah, the Mosaic Law, the Torah. So he was an obedient servant to the Law.

Now how many of you, when you have pointed this out to your family and friends, or maybe a Pastor, they’ll say “well you know, Paul was Torah observant but he needed to do that because the Jews. He was afraid if he was to stop keeping the Law he would not be able to reach the Jewish people.

And so, he was only keeping these things, you know, “to be as the Jews, I’m a Jew, to the gentile, I’m a gentile.” He was only doing this stuff just to appease them, and make them happy.” Does this sound familiar?

In my mind, if Paul’s doing this, he would be going against what many thought was his own advice; “Don’t let anyone judge you for not keeping these things.”

So, with that line of reasoning already he’s contradicting, according to popular interpretation in the book of Colossians chapter 2, where he says “Don’t let anybody judge you for not keeping these festivals.”

So why would he worry about people judging him for not keeping the festivals, sabbaths and so on?

And if it was really true that he was just trying to appease the Jewish people, he would have been acting deceitfully. Because once the Jews founds out that the Messiah had abolished the Law, if this was really the case . . .

It would have been like Jacob who woke up after he thought he was married to Rachel and actually it was Leah. You think that he is presenting this Torah-keeping Messiah to them and all of a sudden, oh yeah, by the way, you don’t really have to keep these things now. And all of a sudden he is a Messiah that does away with the Law.

I don’t believe that Paul was like Laben who deceived Jacob 10 times. I don’t think deceit is ever a characteristic that we carry with the good news of Messiah. I don’t think lies, or presenting a little different angle that’s not really true . . . trickery really is characteristic of the bad news, the Devils news, right?

So, I wouldn’t be one to accuse Paul of using deceit to try to present the good news to somebody. We are supposed to be carriers of truth.

In this case, he would have been intentionally misleading the Jewish people into thinking that the Messiah upheld the Law, if it was true, that Messiah didn’t uphold the Law.

And so, I don’t buy that, and I hope that you don’t buy that either. I think he was keeping these words because it is expected that one would keep those things, even after we come to faith in Messiah. It is the false traditions of men that carry empty deceptions.

And in fact in that very chapter of Colossians, chapter 2, it says this:

Colossians 2:8 – Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Messiah.

So we have 2 contrasts, we have things like philosophies, theories of how things are and then empty deceptions. And what Paul would have been bringing forth in his actions by keeping the Law and acting like the Messiah never did away with the Law, if it was really true he didn’t do without the Law,

then he would have been practicing the very thing Colossians 2 speaks against, deceit. Because you see, the truth is, if the Jewish people had found out that Yahushua came along and had abolished any part of the Law, they are actually required, they are required by Yahweh in the Law and in the Prophets, they are required by Yahweh to reject Him;

if indeed he did away with the Law. Because Isaiah Chapter 8 in verse 20 says this:

Isaiah 8:20 – To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them.

That is what the Jewish people had been told. And so if there would be someone coming along in the future, to say “no, not to the Law and testimony, I’ve got a new law now, the olds done away with. Don’t pay attention to that old testament stuff, I’ve got the new law and it’s contrary and different to what the old law says.”

If they were presented with a Messiah who had done that, according to Isaiah chapter 8, verse 20, they are to look at that person and say “there is no light in them.” That’s what it says.

I didn’t write the mail, I’m not Isaiah . . . Yahweh inspired this. To the Law, if it’s not according to the law and the testimony, if they don’t speak according to this word, that’s the law and the testimony, it’s because there is no light in them.

And so, Paul would have been really being deceptive at the point, right? If he was just doing these things to appease the Jews and make them think he is not a Torah-abolishing Messiah.

In fact, in Deuteronomy, chapter 13, the Law itself says this:

Deuteronomy 13:1 – If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,

2 – and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, `Let us go after other gods’ — which you have not known — `and let us serve them,’

saying, “let’s be disobedient”

In other words, if this happens where a Prophet comes along and does this sign or wonder and says “here let’s disobey the Law and where it says let’s go worship other gods”

Deuteronomy 13:3 – you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for YAHWEH your Elohim is testing you to know whether you love YAHWEH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul.

4 – You shall walk after YAHWEH your Elohim and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.

“you shall”, this is the admonition:

So, this is a test. If anyone comes along and says “you can walk differently than the way Yahweh your Elohim has commanded you to walk”, then they are required to “not listen;” we are required to “not listen.”

You know what, this right here, this test that Yahweh says He will do it; Yahweh says He will test them, whether they will obey His voice or the voice of man. He says, He will test them.

And what I’ve found is every person in this world who comes to the faith of Yahweh and Messiah will be approached with this same test. Everyone! Every single one of us will face that test.

Will we obey Yahweh or men? Because if we obey men, He says “You don’t love Him.” Yahweh’s testing you to see whether or not you love Him.

Two studies ago, I did a study on “For the Love of Yahweh.” And this is what Yahweh wants to know “do we love Him first?” You know, and that’s the danger of tradition.

Yahushua faced this test. He could have been the most powerful Pharisee of all! He could have been the best Pharisee around! But He rejected them. In fact, they became his most powerful enemies. Because He was for the things of Yahweh, He was for the things of the Father.

The Apostles faced a test as well . . . in Acts, chapter 5, verse 28 they said to the Apostles:

Acts 5:28 – saying, Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!

29 – But Peter and the [other] apostles answered and said: We ought to obey Elohim rather than men.

They were afraid that the people would consider the Sanhedrin guilty of having murdered a man; they feared man. And they didn’t want them to be teaching in the name of Messiah.

chose not to obey man and fear man and that was a major difference between the Apostles and the men there in the Sanhedrin; between the Disciples of Yahushua and the Pharisees who love the praise of men more than the praise of Elohim, and many other people in his generation and that’s the danger of tradition.

Matthew 15:9 – And in vain they worship Me, Teaching [as] doctrines the commandments of men.’

So our worship of Him, according to what our Savior taught us, our worship of Yahweh can be vain . . . no use, in vain; if our focus is on men.

That’s where the enemy comes in. See he’s been trying to get men to disobey the word of Yahweh since the Garden of Eden. “Hath Elohim said?” “Did He really say, ‘not eat the fruit’?” “Oh you won’t suffer consequences!” “You will not surely die” and so we’ve got to understand this is his fingerprints or his claw prints . . . that same element.

And so, when someone comes along and says “the word of Yahweh back then is of no effect,” we better make sure that’s not the enemy speaking “Hath Elohim said”, and if someone says “Oh, you can disobey those words back there in the front of the book, and you will not surely die, you have Messiah now, so you are free to disobey those things.”

We’ve got to be aware of Satan’s devices because that’s the world he operates in; get you to doubt the word, number one; and then if you disobey the word, nothing will happen to you, number two. Right there, first thing, first words out of, first deception, first lie in the Bible.

So, the Proverbs, they warn us and they tell us:

Proverbs 30:4 – Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What [is] His name, and what [is] His Son’s name, If you know?

This is an Old Testament text, talking about Messiah, the Son. And, look what comes next after this, very interesting. After asking “What’s His name and what’s His son’s name?” it says:

Proverbs 30:5 – Every word of Elohim [is] pure; He [is] a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

6 – Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.

Do not add to His words. And what do we have in our modern Bibles today? We have, people taking his name out, and His Son’s name, changing his Son’s name, and putting other things in there. Do not add to his words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. Little warning there, huh? Traditions of men.

Daniel 13:1 –

Daniel 13:4 –

And so, they were commanded to reject any prophet who would turn them away from the commandments, from the voice of Elohim. That was what they were commanded to do. And they were told to instead keep His commandments, obey His voice, serve Him, hold fast to Yahweh.

And you know what, brothers and sisters, I have compassion on the Jewish people; I have compassion. Because the big reasons why many of them do reject the Messiah has been presented to them in traditional Christianity, the reason why here’s this miracle worker doing signs, doing wonders and then telling people to disobey the commandments;

“I’ve got a new Sabbath now, I’ve got new holidays now.”

And so, my heart goes out to them because they have not really been presented with the accurate portrayal of the Messiah. The One that said:

Matthew 5:17 – Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

Now, someone says “oh, well, there it is He fulfilled the Law, therefore, we don’t do it.” Now, wait a minute. He said He didn’t come to destroy it; that means it still stands, it’s still there, it’s still valid, still applicable. Paul said, “we don’t make void the Law through faith; rather, we establish the Law through our faith.

And so, as I am looking at this, let me ask you a question: If I asked my son to bring me a glass of water, and he did it, and he brought me the glass of water, and I said, “Thank you son,” what did my son just do? He fulfilled my commandment, right? He fulfilled my word.

I asked him to bring me the glass of water and he brought me the glass of water and he fulfilled my word, right?

And so, the Law says do this, and so when the Messiah did it, what does it mean when He fulfilled the word of His Father? It means He did it, right? He obeyed it, he obeyed the voice of His Father.

And so, fulfilled does not mean — do away with; fulfilled does not — mean erase; fulfilled does not mean — set aside; it means to do it. To make sure that Yahweh’s words are not empty words in the heart of one; but words that are fully filled, fulfilled.

And so, the idea that fulfillment means do away with it, is actually contrary to the meaning of the word. And so, when people ask me what parts of the Law did the Messiah fulfill, in a sense of what parts of the Law do we not have to do anymore; that concept, that does not come from the Scriptures.

That concept comes from philosophies. That philosophy comes from the vain traditions that we’ve inherited; that perspective.

And so, what we have today is the setting aside of certain elements of Yahweh’s Law like the Feast Days. And so, this void is sitting there and so these other festivals take its place.

Instead of the Tabernacles, instead of Passover, now we’ve got Easter, we’ve got Christmas and the festive atmosphere of that and all these other things that is nowhere found in the pages of scripture.

And all the while, we get condemned for observing festivals that are in scripture, while others would justify themselves for keeping holidays that are nowhere found in scripture. We see how things are working? That whenever Yahweh’s word is taken away, there’s always mans word ready to stand there to take its place every time.

And so, I want to show you an example of this, this actually happened in the days of the Kings of Israel. There was a prophet who fell into a trap of thinking that Yahweh’s word didn’t matter anymore. But first I want to look at Jeroboam. In 1 Kings, chapter 12, verse 26 it says:

1Kings 12:26 – And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the kingdom may return to the house of David:

27 – If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of YAHWEH at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.

as he is established now, Jeroboam is becoming the King of Israel, the Northern tribes, he’s afraid that he’s going to lose his position as King; he’s afraid he’s going to lose his life.

He was afraid of losing his life and losing his political position. And so what he told them was this . . . counsel of men.

1Kings 12:28 – Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!

29 – And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

30 – Now this thing became a sin, for the people went [to worship] before the one as far as Dan.

Doesn’t this sound a little familiar? I mean, I’m listening to the words here of what he said, “it’s too much,” “it’s too far,” “it’s too hard to do the Law that Yahweh has commanded.” “Here, let me make it easier for you.” “I’ll have you come to Bethel, that way you don’t have to travel so far down there to Jerusalem.

And these other idols here will be your gods.” “Oh, it’s too hard to do what Yahweh’s commanded, the Law is a burden people, take it easy now, let me show you what you can do instead.” Yahweh’s Law is a burden, we hear that all the time don’t we?

It’s too hard, no one could possibly keep all those laws, 613 commandments, whew, who could keep all those things? It’s just too hard. We’ve heard that before . . . I think most of us have. Umm, but you know there’s over 1,000 laws in the New Testament? Really!

Dicks Annotated Reference Bible, look it up, he’s got 1,000 commandments, I think it’s a 1,000 and some other, I forget; it’s over 1,000. And so, the idea, because of quantity, is difficult, it’s not true. But the point is that, here we have someone saying the Law is too hard, let’s try this instead.

Now this thing became a sin, obviously.

1Kings 12:31 – He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

32 – Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that [was] in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made.

so replacement leaders in Israel . . . not the seventh month, that is the biblical holiday; but the eighth month . . . his golden calves came back. And so, he brings back the golden calves, I don’t know if they were golden or not, but they were calves. He initiated this eighth month festival; people like keeping festivals,

they like holidays. And he knew that there had to be a holiday somewhere, so he says “Ah, well, you know, keep working on your harvest, and when the eighth month comes around, then we’ll gather at that time. And so, for political purposes, he did these things.

1Kings 12:33 – So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.

You see, Israel should have cleaved to what the Law had told them. They should have listened to what Yahweh had said in Deuteronomy 13 when He told them He’s testing them. Whether they will keep His commandments or not. But they went after the alternative holidays,

they listened to the voice of men rather than the Torah, rather than the Law of Yahweh; and by that, they went astray.

Now why do we think today, that if we present a Messiah who does away with the Law, saying that it’s too much of a burden for them, and that creates additional holidays, substitute holidays, for the one’s that are biblically commanded,

why would we expect Israel to now accept this Messiah who did the very thing that Jeroboam did, except the golden calves or the calves? It’s alternative worship system that’s in place. But that’s what’s happened, we experienced, um, here’s this eighth month Festival that Jeroboam set up, and what do we have right after Tabernacles?

We’ve got Halloween. You know, we worship the one we serve and then the world worships this death, and morbidity, and anything that’s gross . . . you know. Then gives that all kinds of honor and esteem. And for those that don’t participate in that,

there’s an alternative festival sometimes right about a month after Tabernacles cause sometimes Tabernacles actually runs into October, late October. But right after Tabernacles, in fact, by the way, next year, Tabernacles will be October 10th through the 17th, in case you are wondering.

But, the Thanksgiving festival pops up, an alternative to the Feast of Tabernacles, sometimes in the eighth month, sometimes not quite eighth month, might be ninth month in Yahweh’s calendar. But, my point is this, I don’t know if it’s ever eighth month, but actually it can’t be eighth month, come to think of it.

And here is an alternative to the Feast of Tabernacles. There’s this void left, we want to give thanks for the harvest that Yahweh’s given us; but there’s nothing. So Christianity and Abraham Lincoln, they produced this day of Thanksgiving. I can’t say it’s wrong to be thankful;

it’s not wrong to come together and have a meal and give thanks to Yahweh.

But, you know if it’s a substitute, for the true Thanksgiving festival, that is the Feast of Tabernacles that Yahweh ordained, that’s where I think we have a little problem there. Maybe a big problem. And Yahushua had a problem with this:

Mark 7:9 – He said to them, [All too] well you reject the commandment of Elohim, that you may keep your tradition.

And that’s what’s happened, the tradition has developed out of the void left from rejecting the commandment of Elohim to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. But you know what, if you read Zechariah 14, read the full chapter of Zechariah 14, when Yahushua returns, obviously new coming time period, right?

He returns and sets up his right on the earth, guess what people are doing? It’s a future event, after He sets His feet on the Mount of Olives, they are keeping the Feast of Tabernacles; not Thanksgiving, not Christmas, not Halloween. They are keeping the Feast of Tabernacles. And those who don’t keep the Feast of Tabernacles,

when Messiah returns, they will suffer, they will not have rain. So, for this reason, what Jeroboam had done, this man of Elohim, this prophet came along, and warned him and said:

1Kings 13:1 – And behold, a man of Elohim went from Judah to Bethel by the word of YAHWEH, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

we are in the next chapter, chapter 13.

1Kings 13:2 – Then he cried out against the altar by the word of YAHWEH, and said, O altar, altar! Thus says YAHWEH: `Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.’

3 – And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This [is] the sign which YAHWEH has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.

4 – So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of Elohim, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, Arrest him! Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself.

1Kings 13:5 – The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of Elohim had given by the word of YAHWEH.

6 – Then the king answered and said to the man of Elohim, Please entreat the favor of YAHWEH your Elohim, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me. So the man of Elohim entreated YAHWEH, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and became as before.

7 – Then the king said to the man of Elohim, Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.

1Kings 13:8 – But the man of Elohim said to the king, If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place.

9 – For so it was commanded me by the word of YAHWEH, saying, `You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’

10 – So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel.

Now what’s interesting is, still all this, Jeroboam did not repent . . . did not repent. Just like the Pharisees and Scribes in Yahushua’s day, they’re sitting here watching a withered man’s hand get restored — a withered hand on a man getting restored, and yet they won’t repent of the traditions of men and cleave to the commandments of Elohim.

Here’s Jeroboam — the same thing — the same thing. And now catch this; Yahweh tested Israel through this, right. He said He would in Deuteronomy 13. But watch, He’s not done testing yet. Yahweh’s going to test the man of Elohim.

1Kings 13:11 – Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of Elohim had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.

12 – And their father said to them, Which way did he go? For his sons had seen which way the man of Elohim went who came from Judah.

13 – Then he said to his sons, Saddle the donkey for me. So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it,

1Kings 13:14 – and went after the man of Elohim, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, [Are] you the man of Elohim who came from Judah? And he said, I [am].

15 – Then he said to him, Come home with me and eat bread.

16 – And he said, I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place.

1Kings 13:17 – For I have been told by the word of YAHWEH, `You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’

18 – He said to him, I too [am] a prophet as you [are], and an angel spoke to me by the word of YAHWEH, saying, `Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ (He was lying to him.)

19 – So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

He was lying to him.

1Kings 13:20 – Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of YAHWEH came to the prophet who had brought him back;

21 – and he cried out to the man of Elohim who came from Judah, saying, Thus says YAHWEH: `Because you have disobeyed the word of YAHWEH, and have not kept the commandment which YAHWEH your Elohim commanded you,

22 – `but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which [YAHWEH] said to you, Eat no bread and drink no water, your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’

1Kings 13:23 – So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back.

24 – When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse.

Wow! What’s the lesson here? I mean this is a great tragedy. What’s the lesson here? In many ways, this prophet’s actually being tested to see if he is guilty of the same kind of thing Jeroboam was guilty of. Proclaiming that Yahweh’s commandments have changed and you don’t have to obey them anymore. That’s what Jeroboam was teaching.

Hey, come up here, eighth month, different feast, different time, and now the prophet who came with the word of Yahweh, he was told specifically to do something a certain way and Yahweh tested him to see if he was also guilty of the same mentality. It turned out he was and that’s a sad thing to behold. See, we all get tested in that;

whether we will obey the voice of Yahweh or the voice of man; we all get tested like that. Not just children, teenagers going through high school face peer pressure; we all face peer pressure.

But you know this is a testimony to Jeroboam too, you know – because I am sure Jeroboam would have heard about this story of what happened to the prophet who thought he could disobey Yahweh’s words and change them. But still, Jeroboam would not repent to the best of our knowledge.

And so, brothers and sisters listen, when traditional Christianity tells you that the Messiah changed everything, don’t believe it. When they say he abolished the feast days, when they say now the church has their own holidays that we do instead, don’t believe them. Yahweh does not change.

When Paul is being presented as a man who pretends to observe the law, but then teaches a Messiah that doesn’t teach the law, that’s an awful thing to say about him. We’re not called to use deception, were called to speak the truth.

And so, anything that is contrary to what the word of Yahweh has spoken, cannot be true. To the law and testimony, if they speak not, even if Paul himself had not spoken according to the word, the law and the testimony, he was required by the words of the prophets to reject them . . . to be rejected.

Now he never did. Paul never spoke against the law or the testimony; contrary to what you may have heard. He said:

Colossians 2:8 – Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Messiah.

He was against traditions of men, he was against deception. Now notice he speaks of the danger here of being lead away with philosophies. We have philosophy today that states that once a person accepts the Messiah they don’t have to obey Yahweh’s law anymore because Messiah died to set us free from the law.

And so, anyone trying to keep the commandments are “estranged from the Messiah” and under a curse according to this philosophy. But this philosophy is not based on the law itself, the law’s not going to abolish itself. That’s confusion!

This is based on traditions of men and the worldly idea that Jeroboam had; that the prophet who warned him also embraced. This philosophy is based on the thought that Yahweh goes back on His own word and no longer wants us to keep His word.

Now that philosophy itself doesn’t make any sense if you think about it. I mean, why would Yahweh create a standard of righteousness He expects everyone to follow, only to dismantle it later? Is Yahweh a respecter of persons?

Will He require a person who lived in 29AD to have kept all the law and then 49AD those who break the law . . . go right ahead, I don’t have a problem. I mean, what hour, what minute and what second did everything change? The minute Messiah died? The minute He rose? I mean, when did this all change? Maybe it didn’t.

Maybe it’s not the law He did away with. Maybe it’s our sin He did away with. See, He didn’t come to do away with the law, He came to do away with our sin. Our sin is the transgression of that law. That’s what sin is.

1John 3:4 – Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

That’s what it is. And so to say that He did away with those laws is to say you’re free to sin now. Doesn’t make any sense. And furthermore, another thing that doesn’t make any sense is unbelievers are supposed to be under the law, right?

If unbelievers are under the law, there being expected to keep the law or they’re going to be sent to the lake of fire. You mean to tell me they are held to a higher standard than we are? Yahweh expects more out of an unbeliever than the believer?

Do we really believe He will send people to hell for not keeping the festivals if they don’t have Messiah, then not send people to hell because they willingly disobeyed His word regarding the festivals? I mean, it doesn’t make any sense . . . that idea here.

I’m not saying that if everyone who didn’t know that we should keep the festivals is going to hell . . . I’m not saying that. But do we see how it doesn’t make any sense? Just the philosophy itself is nonsense?

Messiah, he went through blood, sweat and tears and all these things and died for our sins . . . for our sins, right? — because we transgressed that law. That’s why He had to die for us in the first place, and then come along later and say ah, well, I did all this so you don’t have to keep the law anymore. What??

It’s our sin He took away; not the law. Sin is still, New Testament verse here, the transgression of the law.

And so, we are all guilty of that, and every one of us have sinned.

1John 1:10 – If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

If the law is done away with, there’s nothing to convict us of sin. There’s no word anywhere to say that’s a sin, because sin is the transgression of the law.

Hebrews 4:15 – For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all [points] tempted as [we are, yet] without sin.

He never broke the law one time; not once.

And so, it’s our sins that He did away with and needed to be done away with. He needed to bear our iniquities . . . what are our iniquities? Our iniquities are our transgressions of Yahweh’s law. And, Yahushua endured this willingly. (Isaiah 53:5 put up on screen)

Some people act as if when Messiah came, okay, well guys, tell you what, that law thing, you can kind of relax now, you know just, you know, don’t worry about it . . . don’t worry about it. My blood covers everything. I’m not really concerned about your works anymore.

Just have faith in me, believe me, believe that I died for your sins and everything will be okay. I’m not concerned about your works so much anymore, that was Old Testament time. Really??

The book of Revelation: Yahushua’s talking about the assemblies that are there and He goes “I know your works”, Revelation chapter 2, verse 2:

Revelation 2:2 – I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;

Revelation 2, verse 9, “I know your works”

Revelation 2:9 – I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and [I know] the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but [are] a synagogue of Satan.

that’s the one in Smyrna, the one in Pergamum, “I know your works,”

Revelation 2:13 – I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne [is]. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas [was] My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

Thyatira, “I know your works”

Revelation 2:19 – I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and [as] for your works, the last [are] more than the first.

Sardis, “I know your works”

Revelation 3:1 – And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, `These things says He who has the seven Spirits of Elohim and the seven stars: I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

2 – Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before Elohim.

Philadelphia, “I know your works”

Revelation 3:8 – I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

What’s He concerned about? Laodicea, “I know your works”

Revelation 3:15 – I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.

You think He’s not concerned about our works? He said it to all seven of them. And He warned many of them, unless they repent, they’d be in a heap of trouble.

Now, who would rebuke the Messiah for focusing too much on works . . . anyone? Anyone want to raise their hand on that one? I wouldn’t . . . I wouldn’t want to. I wouldn’t want to rebuke the Messiah!

You see, when we repent, and we are baptized in Yahushua’s name, that’s a demonstration of repentance and our acceptance of Him and receiving of His love. But repentance, it should always be accompanied by works; because if there’s no works, there’s no repentance. Faith without works is dead. If there’s no works, there’s no faith either.

So, we don’t continue willfully, purposely disobeying things written in the law so that grace may abound. Paul said:

Romans 6:1 – What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

2 – Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

Should we continue transgressing the law so that grace may abound? We died to sin, not to the law. I mean, we’re not, I should say we are dead to the law in the sense that the law cannot condemn us; but the law is not dead to us. It’s living, powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword.

As a natural response to Yahweh’s love, we do not want to go back to our old ways. 2 Peter 2:22:

2Peter 2:22 – But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to his own vomit, and, a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.

So beware of any wretched doctrine and philosophy of men which teaches us, ah, well we can return to transgression of the law, that part is done away with. We can return to the vomit now. We can go back to the mire, no problem. Messiah, you know, He covers you on that. That’s not our mentality.

Yahushua says:

John 14:15 – If you love Me, keep My commandments.

16 – And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever —

17 – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

It’s not until we are willing to keep the commandments that we are going to receive the Spirit of Truth to teach us more truth. So we have to walk in the truth we are given and then we will be given more of His Spirit of Truth.

So, someone says see there, it says “My commandments.” Well, isn’t Yahushua the word made flesh that dwelt among us; I think we read that in John 1:1, right and John 1:14? He the word, not just Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. He’s the word in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and the others, right?

So, it’s all His word; He is the word. And so, there’s no tension here between Father and Son. The Father saying one thing, the Son saying the other; that doesn’t exist, they are One. They are One will, One thought, One purpose; they’re not against one another. And I would not be one to try to put variance between them.

So, Yahweh’s commandments are Messiah’s commandments; Messiah’s commandments are the Father’s commandments. Let’s look at this, Colossians 2:

Colossians 2:8 – Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Messiah.

He’s contrasting two things here, he’s contrasting: 1) the things that are not according to the Messiah, versus; 2) the things that are of the world — that are of tradition — that are about philosophies — that are empty deceit . . . things that would cheat us. Those are the two things he is contrasting.

Don’t we see that right now? Right off the bat, Colossians 2:8, do we see that?

So, if it’s according to the word, if it’s according to scripture, it’s going to be according to Messiah, because Messiah even said:

Matthew 4:4 – But He answered and said, It is written, `Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of Elohim.’

Colossians 2:9 – For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Elohimhead bodily;

10 – and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

That is in Messiah. We don’t need extra stuff, we don’t need traditions, we don’t need philosophies, we don’t need extra stuff. We are complete in Messiah, we don’t need things that are not according to Messiah.

And, one of the things that’s common to pagan religions is this fear of principalities and powers, this fear of demons. There’s the witch doctors and different things in paganism that, you know, people are basically being tormented by the Devil. And what he is saying here is we’re complete in Messiah, He’s the head of all those things.

He is . . . no one is above Him or equal to Him.

This Halloween celebration that happened about 10 days ago, a lot of the practices; going around trick or treating and all these different things, originated from people doing things, these things because they were afraid of the demons and what they were going to do to them; so they would appease them.

So, Messiah is the head of all principality and power; we don’t need theses other things. We’re complete in Him. We don’t do anything that’s not according to Messiah. We don’t heed any doctrine that’s not according to Him.

Colossians 2:11 – In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Messiah,

In Messiah. So we have this circumcision of Messiah happening which is a putting off the body of the sins of the flesh; that’s the circumcision of the Messiah. Circumcision therefore, is that a tradition of men that’s not according to Messiah? No, it’s a Biblical principle. And Yahushua is clearly seen in the scriptural observance of circumcision.

In Messiah, we are spiritually circumcised, casting away the sins, casting away the flesh from us, and that’s called the circumcision of Messiah. And so circumcision doesn’t qualify as a doctrine of men that’s not according to Messiah. The very principle of circumcision is a example of what we have in Messiah.

So, we can’t say well circumcision is according to traditions of men, according to principles of the world, according to philosophies and vain deceit. No, those things are all . . . this is being pictured in Messiah. And so it’s all about Messiah, right?

So, what we have here in (just a minute here, I’m trying to get to the right screen) Colossians 2 are contrasting things, they are Colossal Contrasts if you will: things that are according to Messiah — here we have circumcision which is picturing Messiah’s work.

Things that are contrary to Messiah: philosophies, vain deceit, dogmas of men.

Colossians 2:11 – In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Messiah,

12 – buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with [Him] through faith in the working of Elohim, who raised Him from the dead.

So, we are buried with, we’re in a tomb with Him through baptism and then we are raised with Him. As He rose, we are also risen. And, as the old man is buried, we’re now a new creation; therefore, we don’t go back to the old things; philosophies, traditions, commandments and doctrines of men.

Now, who is he writing to? He’s writing to Gentiles in the city of Colosse, right, that’s who he’s writing to. So, what are the traditions and philosophies that the Greeks were following and the Roman’s and such? They were not . . . didn’t have anything to do with festivals, didn’t have anything to do with circumcision, right?

Didn’t have anything to do with those things. So, and many of us were involved in . . . before we became believers, involved in things that were not Biblical; that were contrary to Messiah.

Colossians 2:13 – And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

That’s a bad thing to be . . . you know, we’re dead, we’re dead in our trespasses, we’re dead in the uncircumcision of our flesh and Messiah has made us alive together with Him, forgiven us all of our trespasses. Trespasses of what? What are we trespassing? It’s the law that we are trespassing, right? It’s the law of Yahweh that we are breaking;

that we needed to have, that made us dead and we needed to be made alive.

Colossians 2:14 – having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

The tree, or staros or the stake. What is this “ordinances?” Did Yahweh take away His ordinances so that we could be forgiven? When we are forgiven of our sins, those old traditions and doctrines, and ordinances and traditions of men; those are what’s taken out of the way. Because those are the sinful, wicked things that lead men astray.

And they have no power over us any longer if we are in Messiah, right? Because Messiah is head of all principality and power. So he is writing to the Colossians and these ordinances of men enslaved them into thinking that they had to do these things in order to be free from the power of the Devil.

Now, this word translated “ordinances”: I want you to notice, in the Greek it’s actually the word “Dogma.” Now what kind of dogma is he talking about? And what is dogma?

The Strong’s Lexicon, the word “dogma” says “a law”. Now they have civil, ceremonial or ecclesiastical, alright? We have to understand something, I am not against using Strong’s Concordance, I’m not against using Strong’s Lexicon. But we’re talking 1800’s was the time period when the Strong’s Lexicon was written.

And, we also have men writing the Strong’s who had certain view points as well. This word “ceremonial” law is nowhere found in the Bible; nowhere does it talk about ceremonial law, not one verse in the Bible has any discussion of ceremonial laws, nowhere.

And, we also have men writing the Strong’s who had certain view points as well. But the word “dogma” we see in Friberg Lexicon as “a fixed or authoritative decision or requirement decree, command, a fixed rule or set of rules law, ordinance.” The LS Greek Lexicon says “that which seems to one, an opinion, a dogma, a public decree, an ordinance.”

The word “nomos” in the Greek is translated “law” 197 times. And so, nomos and dogma are two different words; therefore, they must mean two different things. And “dogma,” when you look at the context of how that actual word is used, it’s always talking about decrees of men, decrees of Caesar, decrees of different kings . . .

it’s talking about decrees of men. Here’s an example, Luke 2, verse 1

Luke 2:1 – And it came to pass in those days [that] a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

Acts 17:7:

Acts 17:7 – Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king — Yahushua.

“dogmas,” that’s what it has in the Greek there.

Now there’s one place where someone might say well this is talking about the laws of Yahweh:

Acts 16:4 – And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.

This is talking about the Acts 15 ruling here that the Apostles handed down. Now a lot of people will look at that and say well you see, that Acts 15 ruling, they were trying to decide how much of the Law of Moses had to be kept. And there were only 4 decrees from the Law of Moses that they were required to keep if they were Gentiles.

And so that proves that this word here “decrees” is talking about the words and the Law of Moses. Ahh, but wait a minute. What were the 4 decrees? What were the 4 things that they were giving the Gentiles to follow?

They had to do with, he said “flee”, they could not be practicing sexual immorality, right? Is that from the Law of Moses? Was that a new thing when Moses came along, “sexual immorality?” Was that a “dogma?” No, Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of sexual immorality.

And then, “refraining from blood,” the refraining from blood. Wait a minute, is that from the Law of Moses? No, Noah was told you could eat the flesh of animals but do not eat the blood. Pour the blood out on the ground; that’s before the Law of Moses. “From things strangled” and “from idolatry”?

Things strangled are things (the meat) that still has the blood in it. And idolatry obviously was never permitted anytime in history. So, the idea that these “dogmas” here (in Acts 16:4); is he saying that, does it make any sense that he abolished the Acts 15 ruling? No, he did not abolish the Acts 15 ruling.

So, what is “dogma?” What are “decrees?” What are these things? They are sentencing, they are rulings of men and yes, the Acts 15 ruling was a ruling set forth by the Apostles. And the rulings can be righteous rulings,

they can be according to the law, they can be righteous and good; but nonetheless, it was a decision that was made and decreed by the men in Jerusalem. Yes, it was Biblical. But yet, it was still an ordinance of man.

And because it was decreed, they sent it out to all the different assemblies, it was a letter they sent out to all the different assemblies.

So, yes, it’s still a decree of men, but it’s a Biblical decree of man. And that’s fine, nothing wrong with that.

Alright, so, nonetheless the dogmas have to do with decrees of those who are in power . . . Caesar; and in this case the Apostles. They were given authority, they had the keys to the kingdom. Alright.

Now, when we look at Colossians 2:14 and what actually is being written here, it says that Yahushua, through this process, has wiped out the handwriting of dogmas that was against us.

Now Yahweh’s law is not against us; Yahweh’s law is for us; it’s not against us. It’s all for us, it’s for our benefit. And so we can’t say Yahweh’s law’s against us when Yahweh told Israel. He says “these things I write to you for your own good.”

Colossians 2:14 – having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Was the law nailed to the tree? Or was Messiah, when Messiah was hanging on the tree, was Yahweh looking at a perfectly righteous man at that time; no He wasn’t. When Yahushua died on the tree, He wasn’t looking at righteous man at that time. You know what He was looking at . . . a sinful man. Because Yahweh had laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Right?

Isaiah 53:6 – All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And YAHWEH has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

And so when He was hanging on the tree, it was all of our sins that were there with Him. And that’s why 2 Corinthians 5:21:

1Corinthians 5:21 –

And so it was our sin that was nailed to the tree. Because Messiah was nailed to the tree and our sins, our iniquities were laid on Him, right?

And so it is the sinful doctrines and dogmas and traditions and philosophies and vain deceit of men . . . all those sinful things, including other sins that we may have practiced that was actually nailed to the tree.

Colossians 2:13 – And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

14 – having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

The sins, those things were all nailed to the tree. This is context. It is the philosophies, and handwriting and things that were written by man that is done away with. Things that were inspired by Yahweh, why would he do away with His own thing He wrote Himself? Why would He do away with the commandments that He commanded?

Doesn’t make any sense to me. So we are forgiven of our sins, we are set free from traditions and doctrines and ordinances of men. Now what ordinances and doctrines is he talking about? We’re going to get to that.

First of all it says:

Colossians 2:15 – Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

They have no power over us. We are set free! Sorry, we had an internet outage. (from 1:16:02 – 1:20:20 on the video).

So he triumphed over these principalities and powers that men feared in these other religions. And because of this, because he disarmed the enemy, he says this:

Colossians 2:16 – So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,

17 – which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Messiah (Lit. body of Messiah).

It has “is” in italics. Now, I want to point out first of all, start with this “judging.” If someone is judging me for the food or the drink or the festival or the new moon or the Sabbath, it could be one of two reasons: 1) they’re judging me because I keep these things; or, 2) they’re judging me because I don’t keep these things, right?

Either they’re judging me because I’m obedient: I’m keeping the festivals, I’m keeping the Sabbath, I’m keeping the new moons and so on. Or, they’re judging me because I’m not, or because I am. Which one is it? Well the answers seem to me to be pretty clear because all we have to ask is “which is it, according to Messiah?”

Right? That was the original question: whether something is according to the Messiah, or not. And so the question is: is it contrary to Messiah or is it according to Messiah? Because that is the preface of the whole thing he is talking about here. Well, to me the answers pretty clear. It is according to Messiah.

The festivals for instance is according to the Messiah, they talk all about Messiah. Yahushua is the Passover lamb; it’s all about Messiah. And it says, notice another thing here:

Colossians 2:16 – So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,

17 – which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Messiah (Lit. body of Messiah).

“which are,” that’s present day, currently are these festivals, new moons and sabbaths. These things are today a shadow of the things to come. He never says “they were back then a shadow of things coming.” He says “these are a shadow of things to come” indicating that these are presently in force. They are presently being observed.

They are presently being done. And they presently are a shadow of things yet in the future. “But the body is of Messiah.” Now this word “is” doesn’t make any sense. “But the body is of Messiah.” I don’t get this. Does this make any sense to you: “The body is of Messiah?”

Alright, it doesn’t make any sense to me so I’m just gonna scratch out this word “is” for a moment here and read it without the word “is.” “But the body of Messiah.” Now I’ve heard that phrase before. It’s found a number of times throughout the Scriptures. But for some reason, the New King James, they put “substance” of Messiah here.

The New King James has “substance.” Then the NIV has “reality however is found in Christ.” Now in every other instance, in every other case, this word in the Greek is translated “body.” Only in this one verse, I think one more, do they choose to change it from “body” to “substance” or “body” to “reality.” Why is that?

Now the other cases where it’s not translated “body” in some versions are here:

Revelation 18:13 – and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.

“Bodies and souls of men”, but would translate “body” correctly there.

Colossians 2:16 – So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,

17 – which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Messiah (Lit. body of Messiah).

So, what is the accurate understanding here? Let’s take the word “is” out. Let’s take the word “is” out of here and read this in fullness.

Now does it make sense? In other words, don’t let anyone judge you regarding these festivals, and new moon and Sabbath and things like that; don’t let anyone judge you except the body of the Messiah. No one else should judge you.

Because only we are qualified to make judgments. Now that makes sense. 1 Corinthians 5:12 says:

1Corinthians 5:12 – For what [have] I [to do] with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?

So we are permitted to judge one another. Not condemn type judge. but make judgments regarding the body. And so when we’re looking at this, don’t let these outsiders who promote their philosophies and their vain deceit and their traditions of men and their decrees and their dogmas and their doctrines;

don’t let them judge you for keeping the festivals is essentially what he’s saying. Don’t let anyone judge you in these areas . . . only the body of Messiah is qualified. So, he goes on to say:

Colossians 2:18 – Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in [false] humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

19 – and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase [that is] from Elohim.

Those who are judging them, right? Those that are judging them for the festivals, new moons, sabbaths and so on. These are the doctrines and dogmas of men — worshiping angels, false humility, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind and not holding fast to the Head.

See the contrast here once again. These are the things according to the traditions of men. According to the principles of the world. According to things that are not according to the Messiah. They’re not holding fast to the Head of the body.

This word right here is translated “body” is the same exact word is translated “body” in Colossians 2:16 & 17. Same exact word in the Greek. No difference. So why would they translate it “reality” here and “substance” here:

Colossians 2:16 – So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,

17 – which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Messiah (Lit. body of Messiah).

and then later when they want to flip it around translate that same exact Greek word “body” here:

Colossians 2:18 – Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in [false] humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

19 – and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase [that is] from Elohim.

Why? Because it didn’t make sense to them the other way. Why? Because they couldn’t fathom what I just presented to you. Don’t let anyone judge you regarding these new moons, and festivals, and Sabbaths and so on except the body of Messiah. No one else is qualified.

So once again, we are contrasting two things: up here, the top verse, verse 18. Philosophies and doctrines of men and dogmas and traditions and commandments of men involving false humility, worshiping of angels. Verses here (verse 19) — things that have to do with the body of Messiah.

Commandments of Yahweh have everything to do with the body of Messiah. He is the living word, right? He is the living word that became flesh and dwelt among us. And so, if it’s from the scriptures, if it’s from the law, if it’s from the Torah; it is according to the body of Messiah. Because His body is His flesh, right?

And His body is His flesh and He is the word that became flesh. And so we have things that are according to the word: festivals, new moons, Sabbaths and so on that are being contrasted with the things that are not of the word. False humility and worship of angels.

And so the context here, the context here of Colossians chapter 2 is not the abolishing of Yahweh’s law. The context of Colossians 2 is Yahweh’s law versus the commandments and doctrines and dogmas of men. They are not in agreement with one another.

They are contrary to one another and that’s what Paul’s trying to communicate to those in the city of Colosse. So, the things that are according to the Messiah: circumcision pictures Messiah’s work; separation of clean and unclean. He cleanses us from all sin.

Sabbath and feast days are according to Messiah because He is pictured in the festivals, right? He is our Passover lamb. The Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost. He will return at the last trump.

He entered the Holy of Holy’s for us, the day of Atonement and so on. Then we’ve got the new moons. Yahweh’s timetable for all the festivals are according to when the new moons are placed. That’s all according to Messiah as well. It has to be according to Messiah because He is the word, became flesh and dwelt among us.

The things that are contrary to Messiah: dogmas of men, worship of angels, do not touch/do not taste/do not handle — he’s going to get into these things, false humility, neglect of the body (asceticism). I missed a verse there. Excuse me just a second, I will post the next verses up here. Colossians chapter 2, in verse 20:

Colossians 2:20 – Therefore, if you died with Messiah from the basic principles of the world, why, as [though] living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations —

21 – Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,

22 – which all concern things which perish with the using — according to the commandments and doctrines of men?

Colossians 2:23 – These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, [false] humility, and neglect of the body, [but are] of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

This word right here “regulations” is from the Greek word “dogmatizo.” It’s actually “dogmatizo” which means “subject to regulations.”

According to what? Commandments and doctrines of men, right? “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle” — these are not from the Torah. There are commandments like this in the Torah. But he is saying these are not from the Torah. These are from commandments and doctrines of men as if we were living in the world.

Well, was the world observing the law? Of course not! They’re not observing the law. There it is: the false humility, neglect of the body . . . so these are commandments and doctrines of men. Once again, being contrasted with Yahweh’s word — with Messiah — with Yahweh’s commandments.

And that’s why he’s saying “don’t let these lawbreakers judge you who are seeking to be a law-keeper.” If we are a law-keeper then we are one who is walking as Messiah walked. We are walking according to Messiah because He kept all of these things.

Colossians 3:1 – If then you were raised with Messiah, seek those things which are above, where Messiah is, sitting at the right hand of Elohim.

2 – Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

3 – For you died, and your life is hidden with Messiah in Elohim.

And so that is the admonition here. That we would cleave to the things of Messiah and walk away from the things that are contrary to the Messiah; because we have died, our life is hidden with Messiah in Elohim.

And so, what Colossians 2 actually does is uphold the law if we look at it in right context. The clear context, the whole context is the commandments and doctrines of men that are not according to the Messiah versus Messiah and the commandments and doctrines that are found in the Holy word of Yahweh.

And so it’s impossible for Paul to have been saying don’t let anyone judge you for breaking the law because that would have been people who were doing things according to the Messiah, the way the Messiah walked.

1 John 2:6, it says there in 1 John 2:6, that we are to walk as He walked and He did all of these things. But He never subjected Himself to the traditions of men. He never let someone come along and say no . . . Yahweh’s word is of no effect now, you can do other things over here. You can submit yourself to these pagan festivals.

You can do these other things that are rooted in idolatry. He never subjected Himself to those things; and therefore neither should we.

And so in conclusion, Paul was saying we should beware lest anyone spoil us through commandments and philosophies and doctrines of men. Because Messiah took them out of the way. He nailed them to the tree because they are sin. They are sinful principles, commandments and doctrines. Philosophies are all sinful things.

And He became sin for us and He was nailed to the tree. And because of that, we should not let anyone judge us for cleaving to his doctrines, to the things that are according to the Messiah.

Therefore, we should hold fast to the head of the body, namely Yahushua from whom we are nourished and we do not subject ourselves to pagan ordinances and commandments of men. For although they have an appearance of wisdom, they are of no value.

And so we set our minds on the things which are above. Not on the things of the world.

Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you for keeping the things that the world rejects — the holy days — the festivals — the Sabbaths, for observing His laws. Because the rewards from Yahweh are toward the obedient, not toward the disobedient. So we need to be wise.

Psalms 119:1 – ALEPH. Blessed [are] the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of YAHWEH!

2 – Blessed [are] those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!

I do not believe these verses are lies. I refuse to believe that these verses are lies!! We are blessed and we are undefiled when we walk in the law of Yahweh. When we walk as Messiah walked then we are blessed and we are undefiled.

It is the doctrines of men that are lies and vain deceit. And so what we need to do is we need to seek Yahweh and His ways. His doctrines. His understandings. His laws. His commandments. His ways of love.

Jeremiah 29:13 – And you will seek Me and find [Me], when you search for Me with all your heart.

As we seek Him and find Him, we will find Him if we seek under one condition — with our whole heart. Not with half-hearted Jeroboam mentality.

Seeking to live by every word that comes out of the mouth of Yahweh. Not gauging ourselves by what others do; but by what Messiah has shown for us to be an example for us to walk in. Because Yahushua kept the Torah perfectly. Fully.

Therefore, we examine our walk in light of His law. In light of how Messiah lived. Being doers of the word. Rejecting vain philosophies that take away the commandments. And we hold fast to the head of the body. The head directs the body. Messiah Yahushua: the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

When I proclaim that we should keep His word in the Old Testament; I’m saying: I’m pointing to Messiah because I am saying this is how He walked. Walk like Him. It’s when we do that that Messiah is truly manifested on the earth today.

And He will be that living word being demonstrated to everyone, including our beloved friends in Israel who so desperately need to see an obedient Son, an obedient Messiah who did not do away with the laws. Who did walk according to the law and to the testimony because there was light in Him. And in fact, He was the Light of the World. And He is!!

And He wants us to let the light of His word — He wants to let the light of His example flow through us. He who is the same yesterday, today and forever. He wants to do in us what He did yesterday. He wants to do it today. Because when you look in Zechariah 14, we’ll be doing it forever. Feast of Tabernacles.

If they were nailed to the tree, then why are we keeping it in the future? So let’s keep these things and enjoy the blessing of them. And eat from the fruit of Yahweh’s ways. And I can tell you, as one who has been walking to the best of my ability, through the strength He gives me, in these ways . . . they are a blessing.

They are really a true, true blessing. They are a light to Israel. They’re a light to our Jewish brothers. And now that we have more and more people who are receiving these things; more and more Jewish people are coming to the feet of our Savior. They’re being told the truth about Him. He never did away with the law.

In fact, Isaiah 42 says He came to magnify it. If that’s what He came to do, then that’s what I want to do.

So as you do so, my brothers and my sisters, may Yahweh bless you and may Yahweh have mercy on us all.