Do Paul's words about food, special days, and shadows mean that Shabbat and YHWH's appointed times no longer matter? Let's open the Scriptures together.
Shalom, friend.
If someone sent you here, it's probably because Romans 14 or Colossians 2 came up in a conversation about Shabbat or the biblical feast days.
And that's a good conversation to have.
These are two of the most frequently quoted passages on the subject. They're also passages that deserve more than a verse pulled out of context.
We're not here to win an argument or condemn those who understand Scripture differently.
We're here to ask an honest question:
What was Paul actually addressing, and how do his words fit within the whole counsel of Scripture?
Let's read slowly together.
Romans 14: What Was the Disagreement?
Before we get to Romans 14:5, we need to read how the chapter begins.
Paul opens by telling believers to welcome those whose faith is weak without quarreling over opinions (Romans 14:1).
Then he gives an example.
One believer feels free to eat everything. Another eats only vegetables.
The discussion begins with differing convictions about food, eating, and abstaining.
Paul's concern is how believers are treating one another in these disagreements.
One group is not to despise the other. Neither is to pass judgment on someone whom God has received.
Now look at verse 5.
Paul describes one person esteeming a particular day above another, while someone else regards the days alike. He instructs each to be fully convinced in his own mind.
And here's the question worth asking:
Which days was Paul talking about?
Could These Have Been Fasting Days?
In the first century, certain days were observed for voluntary fasting.
In Luke 18:12, Yeshua describes a Pharisee who fasted twice each week.
An early Christian writing called the Didache also discusses customary fasting days, mentioning Monday and Thursday in contrast with Wednesday and Friday.
These examples show us that religious communities distinguished certain days for fasting apart from the weekly Sabbath.
Some interpreters therefore understand Romans 14:5–6 in connection with disagreements over fasting and abstinence.
That is a reasonable possibility, especially because Paul connects observing days with eating and abstaining in verse 6.
However, Romans 14 does not explicitly identify the disputed days as fasting days. Other interpreters understand the passage more broadly, including Jewish festival observance.
We should acknowledge that distinction rather than claim certainty where Paul hasn't supplied it.
But Notice What Paul Doesn't Say
He never specifically names the seventh-day Sabbath in Romans 14.
He doesn't quote the Fourth Commandment or declare that Genesis 2:3 no longer matters.
And he doesn't explicitly state that YHWH's appointed times have been abolished.
Instead, he repeatedly warns believers against despising or judging one another.
That matters because Scripture has already established the seventh day in a very particular way.
Genesis 2:2–3 tells us YHWH rested on the seventh day, blessed it, and sanctified it.
Exodus 20:8–11 commands Israel to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
And Leviticus 23:3 places the weekly Sabbath at the beginning of YHWH's appointed times.
These passages deserve consideration alongside Romans 14.
For us, the question remains: Should an unnamed reference to differing days be used, by itself, to overturn a day Scripture explicitly identifies as holy?
We don't believe it should.
That doesn't resolve every New Covenant question about how the Sabbath applies to Gentile believers. Christians have reached different conclusions about that.
But it does mean Romans 14:5 should be interpreted carefully, rather than treated as a statement that settles the entire question.
And we should not overlook Paul's central instruction: treat one another with love, humility, and patience.
Colossians 2:16–17: Who Is Doing the Judging?
Now let's turn to another familiar passage.
Paul instructs the Colossians not to allow anyone to judge them concerning food, drink, festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths.
He then describes these things as a shadow, with the substance or reality belonging to Messiah (Colossians 2:16–17).
These verses are often presented as proof that believers should no longer observe the biblical appointed times.
But before reaching that conclusion, we need to examine the people Paul was writing to and the warnings surrounding his words.
Who Were the Colossians?
The congregation at Colossae appears to have been predominantly Gentile.
Paul speaks about the mystery of Messiah among the Gentiles (Colossians 1:27), and he addresses believers who had formerly been separated from God and describes their former uncircumcised condition (Colossians 1:21; 2:13).
These were people who had come to faith in Yeshua.
And Paul was warning them against teachings that threatened to draw their attention away from the sufficiency and authority of Messiah.
Look at Colossians 2:8.
Paul warns against teachings rooted in human tradition rather than Messiah.
Then, after discussing festivals, new moons, and Sabbaths, he returns to the same concern.
In verses 20–23, he challenges restrictive regulations about handling, tasting, and touching, identifying them with human commandments and teachings, self-imposed religion, and severe treatment of the body.
The surrounding passage is clearly concerned with humanly imposed religious regulations.
That is important context.
But Was Paul Telling Them Not to Keep Shabbat?
Here's something worth noticing.
Paul does not explicitly command the Colossians to stop observing the Sabbath or the feasts.
He tells them not to allow others to judge them regarding these matters.
I understand his warning as opposing the imposition of human rules and religious judgments, rather than issuing an instruction to abandon YHWH's appointed times.
Other Christians understand Paul to be teaching that these observances are no longer obligatory because of Messiah's work.
The text doesn't tell us precisely how each member of the Colossian congregation observed these days, or exactly what every critic was demanding.
So we should be careful not to claim more than the passage reveals.
But one thing is unmistakable:
Paul wants their confidence anchored in Messiah, not in human religious authority.
What Does It Mean That the Feasts Are a Shadow?
This is one of my favorite things to consider.
Paul calls these observances a shadow, and identifies Messiah as the substance.
Think about what a shadow does.
It points beyond itself to something real.
The appointed times carry meaning because they direct our attention to YHWH's works and ultimately to Messiah.
Passover brings us back to redemption and deliverance.
Unleavened Bread teaches us about separation and holiness.
Shavuot recalls harvest and covenant and invites reflection on the giving of the Spirit.
And Shabbat brings us back to the Creator who blessed the seventh day and calls His people to rest.
These connections are meaningful because Scripture gives us the foundation for understanding them.
Colossians 2:17 also uses language about things to come. Some readers understand this as leaving room for future prophetic fulfillment, while others understand the shadow as pointing primarily to what Messiah has already accomplished.
The wording alone doesn't settle that entire discussion.
But it does identify the center of everything:
Messiah is the substance.
For us, recognizing Yeshua as the reality to whom the appointed times point doesn't make those days meaningless.
It makes us want to understand them more deeply.
We do not observe the days as a substitute for Messiah.
We seek to honor YHWH's appointed times because they reveal His purposes and continually direct our attention back to Him.
A Lesson From the Golden Calf
There is another passage that helps explain why we believe the distinction between YHWH's commands and human religious invention matters.
Exodus 32.
While Moses was on the mountain, the people fashioned a golden calf.
Aaron built an altar before it and announced a feast to YHWH (Exodus 32:5).
Think about that.
They used His name.
They declared a feast in His honor.
Yet YHWH rejected what they had done.
The central sin in this account was idolatry. We should not confuse every custom or uncommanded gathering with the worship of the golden calf.
But the account does establish an important principle:
Attaching YHWH's name to something doesn't automatically make it acceptable worship.
That is why Deuteronomy 12:30–32 is worth reading alongside it.
YHWH warned Israel not to imitate the ways the nations worshiped their gods and not to add to or take away from His commands.
Our desire is not to accuse everyone who celebrates differently.
It is to encourage believers to examine the origins, practices, and scriptural foundations of what they observe.
Not everything passed down to us is necessarily wrong.
But inherited customs should always remain subject to the authority of God's Word.
What About Mark 7 and the Traditions of the Elders?
This passage often enters the same conversation.
In Mark 7:1–5, the Pharisees and scribes question Yeshua because some of His disciples are eating without following the customary ritual washing of hands.
The dispute concerns the tradition of the elders.
This wasn't simply about washing dirt from one's hands before eating. It involved questions of ritual purity and established religious practice.
Later rabbinic writings preserve detailed discussions of handwashing, including the Mishnah's tractate Yadayim. The Mishnah was compiled around 200 CE, after Yeshua's earthly ministry, and preserves material from earlier traditions.
So these later writings provide valuable historical context without proving that every later rule existed in precisely the same form in the first century.
What Was Yeshua Correcting?
In Mark 7:8–13, Yeshua challenges the religious leaders for allowing human traditions to interfere with God's commandments.
He gives the example of honoring father and mother, showing how a religious practice could be used to avoid an obligation Scripture had already established.
That's the issue.
Not that every custom is automatically wrong.
But that human tradition must never be given authority over what YHWH has commanded.
Didn't Yeshua Declare All Foods Clean?
Mark 7:19 is frequently translated or explained as Yeshua declaring all foods clean.
There is genuine disagreement about the interpretation of the Greek wording and how broadly the statement should be understood.
Many Christians understand it as removing biblical dietary restrictions. Other interpreters understand Yeshua's words within the immediate dispute over ritual contamination and handwashing rather than as a declaration abolishing the distinction between clean and unclean animals.
The immediate context is certainly about defilement, handwashing, and the source of uncleanness.
And the wider teaching is unmistakable: evil intentions and sinful actions arise from the heart.
Our encouragement is to read the whole passage, including the original dispute, rather than beginning with a conclusion and working backward.
Yeshua's words deserve that kind of careful attention.
So Where Does That Leave Us?
Perhaps you've read these passages for years and understood them differently.
We understand. Many believers we love and respect have sincere disagreements about Sabbath observance, the feasts, and their relationship to the New Covenant.
We're not asking you to settle everything in one afternoon.
We're asking you to keep reading.
Read Romans 14 in full.
Read Colossians 2, including the warnings before and after verses 16–17.
Read Genesis 2, Exodus 20, Leviticus 23, and the Gospel accounts of Yeshua observing Shabbat.
And ask the Father for understanding.
We don't believe obedience earns salvation. Salvation is God's gift through Yeshua our Messiah.
But neither do we believe grace gives us reason to stop caring about what the Father has spoken.
We desire to obey because we love Him.
And we want to distinguish His commands from our own customs, assumptions, and inherited practices.
We are still learning, too.
We have beautiful customs around our own Shabbat table, but we never want to confuse those customs with what Scripture actually requires.
Our hope is that you'll learn to make that distinction as well.
Let Scripture inform our understanding. Let Messiah remain our center. And let love govern how we speak to one another.
Shalom and blessings,
Beth & Daniel
We Be Shabbatin'
From our table to yours.
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