The following is a treatment of the entire second chapter of Colossians. I realize it may be a bit long. However, it is necessary to see the whole chapter in context in order to appreciate the flow of the chapter, and why the traditional interpretation of the middle verses lacks merit. Bear with me for a few minutes, and I think you will be glad that you did.

We start off with the introduction to the chapter:

Colossians 2:1-3

For I want you to know how hard I work for you, for those in Laodicea, and for the rest of those who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they may be encouraged, that they may be joined together in love, and that they may have all the riches derived from being assured of understanding and fully knowing God’s secret truth, which is the Messiah!

It is in him that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. I say this so that no one will fool you with plausible but specious arguments. For although I am away from you physically, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing as I see the disciplined and resolute firmness of your trust in the Messiah.

First, Sha’ul extols the place of Messiah Yeshua, who embodies all the wisdom of Hashem. But as quickly as he can make the positive assertion, he realizes the need to introduce a parallel warning. Sha’ul tells his readers to be on the lookout for those with “plausible but specious” arguments. What are these questionable arguments that seem to have captured the imagination of some at Colossae? Sha’ul doesn’t really come right out and specify the deviations. However, we can discern the deviations based on the encouragements he gives his readers.

Colossians 2:6-10

Therefore, just as you received the Messiah Yeshua as Lord, keep living your life united with him. Remain deeply rooted in him; continue being built up in him and confirmed in your trust, the way you were taught, so that you overflow in thanksgiving.

Watch out, so that no one will take you captive by means of philosophy and empty deceit, following human tradition which accords with the elemental spirits of the world but does not accord with the Messiah. For in him, bodily, lives the fullness of all that God is. And it is in union with him that you have been made full—he is the head of every rule and authority.

Here is what I think of as, “Warning, Part I”. Sha’ul tells his readers that there are people out there who are “out to get you”. What methodology do they employ? They use philosophy and deceit. They follow human tradition and “elemental spirits of the world”. To put it in different words, these false teachers are shysters, who will use every trick in the book to gain an audience and win people to their pagan causes. They have no real knowledge of the Hebrew God, or the Messiah he sent into the world.

Colossians 2:11-13

Also it was in union with him that you were circumcised with a circumcision not done by human hands, but accomplished by stripping away the old nature’s control over the body. In this circumcision done by the Messiah, you were buried along with him by being immersed; and in union with him, you were also raised up along with him by God’s faithfulness that worked when he raised Yeshua from the dead. You were dead because of your sins, that is, because of your “foreskin,” your old nature. But God made you alive along with the Messiah by forgiving you all your sins.

Here’s Sha’ul makes use of a common metaphor—circumcision. This is nothing new. The concept of having a circumcised or uncircumcised heart comes from the Torah, in Vayikra/Leviticus 26:41; Devarim/Deuteronomy 10:16 and 30:6. When we come to believe in Yeshua as Messiah, we humble ourselves, as those Torah passages describe, and submit to the Way of Adonai. The sin, which Sha’ul here likens to a foreskin, had made our hearts callous and insensitive. Believing in Messiah takes away that deadening effect, and makes our hearts sensitive to God.

Colossians 2:14-17

He wiped away the bill of charges against us. Because of the regulations, it stood as a testimony against us; but he removed it by nailing it to the execution-stake. Stripping the rulers and authorities of their power, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by means of the stake. So don’t let anyone pass judgment on you in connection with eating and drinking, or in regard to a Jewish festival or Rosh-Hodesh or Shabbat. These are a shadow of things that are coming, but the body is of the Messiah.

And here we have the passage that is so hotly debated. Messianics are routinely told that Colossians 2:14 means, “the Law was nailed to the cross!” However, I believe we need to read the imagery a bit more closely. At issue is the meaning of “xeirographon tois dogmasin”, the phrase here rendered as “the bill of charges” that was against us. Most English translations say something similar to “handwriting of ordinances” or “handwriting of requirements”. Because Christians are comfortable with the idea that the Torah given by God must be destroyed, they quickly come to the conclusion that the subject of this sentence is the Torah.

But I propose another option. Let me illustrate by recalling the story of the crucifixion.

Yochanon/John 19:18-22
… they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ‘ “

Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

Here, we have the original events of the crucifixion, to which Sha’ul is appealing as the basis for his metaphor. In the original events, we see Messiah is crucified. As part of the process, a piece of writing is nailed above his head. What did the writing say? It said, “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews”. What do we call such a piece of writing today? We call it a “charge”! Today, we would label the piece of wood that was nailed to the tree as the “statement of charges”, or “rap sheet”. Notice the reaction of the Jewish leadership. They didn’t like the fact that Yeshua was being charged with “BEING the King of the Jews”. They wanted the charge to be about his personal claims–”He SAID ‘I am the King of the Jews’ “.

Why is this important? Because one has to be careful to distinguish between two ideas when reading this passage. There is a difference between a law and a charge of violating that law. The law remains fixed, for all practical purposes. My list of violations, however, may grow day by day, or be shortened by paying the penalty for a specific infraction.

What Sha’ul has written here is that our list of infractions against God’s commandments has been taken away–purged by Messiah’s death. But there is no reference in this statement to God’s own Torah.

But, if that is so, then what does Colossians 2:16,17 mean?

So don’t let anyone pass judgment on you in connection with eating and drinking, or in regard to a Jewish festival or Rosh-Hodesh or Shabbat. These are a shadow of things that are coming, but the body is of the Messiah.

Remember the warning that was issued back in verse 8? Who do you think was judging the believers in Colossae? Do you think perhaps it was the false teachers, with their philosophy and empty deceits? What do you think they were saying to believers who had been taught to follow the Jewish Messiah, and imitate his way of life? What deceit do you think was being foisted upon the ones who had come to faith as a result of the command to, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, … teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Mattityahu/Matthew 28:19,20)?

I contend that the believers were keeping the festivals, in accordance with Torah and with Messiah’s teaching. The false teachers came to them saying, “Why do you keep those things? Don’t you know the Jewish laws are dead and gone? We have better rules for you to follow!”

The contrast in this passage is NOT between the commandments and the Messiah. Rather, the point in this paragraph is that the commandments are extensions of Messiah. The Torah is, in fact, the protective shade projected by the life-giving tree in the desert. Messiah is the substance, indeed. But referring to his commandments as a “shadow” is a way of strengthening them, not diminishing them.

On the other hand, if we take verses 16 and 17 together, and then use them to contrast what is happening in verses 18-23, we see that we are merely continuing the original warning given in verse 8. In effect, the structure of the chapter is that of an oreo cookie—warning, encouragement, warning. Thus, the chapter ends with what I call, “Warning, Part Deux”…

Colossians 2:18-23

Don’t let anyone deny you the prize by insisting that you engage in self-mortification or angel-worship. Such people are always going on about some vision they have had, and they vainly puff themselves up by their worldly outlook. They fail to hold to the Head, from whom the whole Body, receiving supply and being held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God makes it grow. If, along with the Messiah, you died to the elemental spirits of the world, then why, as if you still belonged to the world, are you letting yourselves be bothered by its rules?—”Don’t touch this!” “Don’t eat that!” “Don’t handle the other!” Such prohibitions are concerned with things meant to perish by being used, and they are based on man-made rules and teachings. They do indeed have the outward appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed religious observances, false humility and asceticism; but they have no value at all in restraining people from indulging their old nature.

Thus, we have the final warning. The false teachers mandated self-abuse and the worship of angelic messengers. They made up rules that suited them, rather than adhering to the teachings of Yeshua. They created restrictions, forbidding their followers to participate in the goodness the Father made to be enjoyed, like good food, or sexual relations. All these things seem very “religious”, but the religion they describe is far removed from the blessings of the Torah. Such man-made observances only serve to tear us down, and fail to provide the richness and the joy that comes from truly following our Father by doing the commandments he has given.

So, we conclude that this chapter is an encouragement to Torah observant believers to remain steadfast in honoring Messiah through their adherence to the divine commandments. While living a life of Torah, they could expect false teachers to come in, trying to deceive them. These false teachers would replace true Torah with their own man-made regulations.

May we be attentive to this message today, as we live out our lives loving Hashem and growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord, Yeshua.