Sabbaths, Holy Days, and Vegan Macaroni and Cheese

By Kevin Morgan

Seventh-day Adventist Christians who do not interpret Colossians 2 as eliminating the
seventh-day Sabbath have been divided over whether the sabbath days of Colossians 2:16 refer
to the festival sabbaths mentioned in Leviticus 23
1
or to a perversion of sabbaths under Gnostic
angel worship.
2
Ellen Whites account of a chance meeting in Australia is an important support
for those taking the first position.
On every side we hear discussion of the subjects presented at the camp-meeting.
One day as Elder Corliss stepped out of a train, the guard [conductor] stopped him with
the request that he explain Col. 2:16. They stopped, and as the crowd rushed by, the
explanation was given, and from Lev. 23:37, 38 it was shown that there were sabbaths
besides the Sabbath of the Lord.
3

Distinguishing Between Sabbaths
Elder Corliss point, of course, is that Leviticus 23 distinguishes between the Sabbaths of
the Lord and the festival sabbaths mentioned in the chapter.
4
As true as this may be, this
explanation is not completely satisfying because of the apparent redundancy of taking the

1
If you will turn to Lev. xxiii, 24, 32, 39, you will find connected with the feasts and meats, and drinks
and new moons of the Jews, four distinct annual sabbaths, besides the Sabbaths of the Lord. See verse
38. J. N. Andrews to O.R.L Crosier in the Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, May 6, 1852.
While it is true that there were sabbaths besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, this fact does not fully explain
Pauls use of the expression, holy days, new moons, and Sabbath days. Borrowed from the OT (2 Chron.
2:4; 31:3; Neh. 10:33; and Eze. 45:17), the expression designates the complete round of Jewish sacrifices
(Hosea 2:11 and Isaiah 1:13 break the supposed yearly-monthly-weekly order), which were a shadow of
coming things (Heb. 10:1).
2
He is attacking a heresy (incipient Gnosticism is the technical category) as a whole. Included in this
heresy were dietary laws, angel worship, visionary requirement, special knowledge, and Jewish festivals
that lacked a Christocentric focus. Pedrito Maynard-Reid of Walla Walla College, Ministry, March 1994,
p. 2. (Cf. Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath to Sunday, p. 356.) That Pauls counsel of verses 18-23 begins with
the same words, Let no man, would seem to indicate that its description of voluntary humility,
worshipping of angels, and ordinances after the commandments and doctrines of men is a further
qualification of that which Paul did not want them to be judged in verse 16. William E. Richardson, Ph.D.,
offers a possible third option: The Colossian sabbath, kept without Christ (not holding fast to the head
[2:19, NRSV]), is still linked to shadowy Jewish ritualism instead of being a genuine rest in Christ as
described in Hebrews 4:9. Ministry, May 1997, p. 15. Recognizing the Gnostic component of the
Colossian heresy does no violence to the truth that there were sabbaths besides the Sabbath of the Lord.
3
The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, January 7, 1896. Should Ellen Whites only reference to
Colossians 2:16 be taken as the end of the matter? Let no one come to the conclusion that there is no more
truth to be revealed. The fact that certain doctrines have been held as truth for many years by our people,
is not a proof that our ideas are infallible. Age will not make error into truth, and truth can afford to be fair.
No true doctrine will lose anything by close investigation. E. G. White, Counsels to Writers and Editors,
p. 35.
4
Lev. 23:37, 38 does not contrast the Sabbaths of the Lord with annual sabbaths but with the feasts
of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations. Nevertheless, the parenthetical mention of
the seventh-day Sabbath and the omission of the expression a statute forever throughout your generations
in verse 3 do distinguish the creation Sabbath from the other holy convocations/sabbaths in the chapter
as does Eze. 44:24.
Colossian sabbaths as festival sabbaths when such sabbaths would have been included under
holy days and new moons.
5

Adventist author Uriah Smith defends the traditional view:
The term, holy day and new moon are not sufficient to cover all the subjects
which the apostle wished to introduce; namely, the ordinary feast days of the Jew, the new
moons, and the sabbaths connected with their feasts
Why is this so?
1. The passover festival occupied seven days, and the feast of tabernacles, eight.
The first and last days of these feasts were special days. In them the people were to
have a holy convocation, and perform no servile work. They were sabbaths. The other
days of the feast were simply holidays, and were designated by this term, heorte; while
the solemnity and cessation from labor that pertained to the first and last days called for
another title, and they were termed sabbaths.
2. The new moon, noumenia, was another kind of festival, and did not include any
which could properly be called a sabbath; that is no day was a sabbath, or day of rest, on
account of its being the festival of the new moon.
3. The sabbaths here mentioned are those associated with meats, drinks, new
moons, and festivals. But the seventh-day Sabbath never was so associated.
4. The sabbaths here spoken of were, like the new moons and feasts with which
they were connected, shadows of things to come. But the seventh-day Sabbath never
was a shadow; it was instituted before the fall
6

Does Smiths explanation answer the difficulties of the view?
7

Double Identity Days Were Still Feast Days
The fact that certain feast days had a second title, sabbath, does not prevent them from
being feast days (Lev. 23:2, 4, 37). In Leviticus 23, God specifically classifies as sabbaths four
of the seven holy convocations
8
(Lev. 23:24the Feast of Trumpets; 23:32the Day of
Atonement; and 23:39the first and last days of the Feast of Tabernacles), the last two

5
If he meant the ceremonial sabbaths, he was needlessly repeating himself. In that case he would be
saying, Let no one pass judgment on you in regard to a feast day/ceremonial sabbath, or in regard to a new
moon, or in regard to a ceremonial sabbath, a statement neither logical nor likely. Richardson, p. 15. In
all fairness, technically speaking, not all sabbaths were designated feast days. David J. Conklin
<www.666man.net/Colossians_2_16-17_by_David_Conklin/216d.html> points out that 2 Chron. 8:13 lists
the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks, and Feast of Tabernacles as solemn feasts (cf. Exo.
23:14, 18; Deu. 16:16), but excludes Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, which are never specifically
designated as heortes in the LXX OT, but only as sabbaths and solemn assemblies. (The heorte of Psa.
81:3 is likely Tabernacles.)
6
Uriah Smith, Sabbaton in Col. 2:16, pp. 14, 15.
7
The reason Adventist authors have needed sabbatn in the trilogy of feasts, new moons, and sabbaths
to mean something other than the weekly Sabbath is that, in agreement with those who use Colossians to
revoke the Sabbath, they have assumed that Let no man therefore judge you in meat or drink, or with
respect to holyday, new moon, or sabbath days means Dont let any one judge you by requiring you to
keep these celebrations. However, this interpretation goes beyond the natural sense of Pauls counsel,
which literally reads: Do not let anyone judge you in eating and in drinking or in any particular of a feast,
or of a new moon, or of sabbath days. Pauls concern is the superimposed regulations that would lead
them away from dependence on Christ.
8
The seven are: the first and last days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exo. 12:16; Lev. 23:7, 8; Num.
28:18, 25); Pentecost (Lev. 23:21; Num. 28:26); the Feast of Trumpets (Lev. 23:24; Num. 29:1); the Day
of Atonement (Lev. 23:27; Num. 29:7); and the first and last days of the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:35,
36; Num. 29:12).
specifically being called feast days. (To these we can add the first and last days
9
of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread since Lev. 23:3 equates holy convocation and sabbath.)
One New Moon Celebration was a Sabbath
Although it is true that no day was a sabbath on account of its being the festival of the
new moon, there was one new moon celebration that was a sabbathTrumpets (Lev. 23:24;
Num. 29:1).
Smiths Bible Dictionary, p. 714 describes the Feast of Trumpets:
The feast of the new moon, which fell on the first of Tisri. It differed from the
ordinary festivals of the new moon in several important particulars. It was one of the
seven days of holy convocation. Instead of the mere blowing of the trumpets of the
temple at the time of the offering of the sacrifices, it was a day of blowing of trumpets. In
addition to the daily sacrifices and the eleven victims offered on the first of every month,
there were offered a young bullock, a ram and seven lambs of the first year, with the
accustomed meat offerings, and a kid for a sin offering.
There seems to be no sufficient reason to call in question the common opinion of
Jews and Christians, that it was the festival of the New Years day of the civil year, the
first of Tisri, the month which commenced the sabbatical year and the year of jubilee.
Shadows of the Sacrificial System Associated with the Sabbath
As to the assertion that the weekly Sabbath never was associated with ceremonial offerings,
Numbers 28:9, 10 shows that both sacrifices and meat and drink offerings were assigned to the
Sabbath.
10

And on the sabbath day two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals
of flour [for] a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof: [This is] the
burnt offering of every sabbath, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink
offering. Num. 28:9, 10.
11

This being so, offerings were made on the Sabbath, not because the Sabbath was essentially
ceremonial, but because the instructional nature of the sacrificial system required offerings on all
the solemnities of Israel (Eze. 45:17).
Shadow Versus Memorial
The festival sabbaths, on the other hand, were established for the express purpose of
providing an opportunity for making the offerings that were symbolic of Christs work.
These [are] the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim [to be] holy
convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a
meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day. Lev. 23:37.
12


9
Cf. Lev. 23:11.
10
However, the wording of Colossians 2 shows that the controversy in Colossae was not about meat and
drink offerings, but about eating and drinking in an ascetic way with reference to angelic principalities
and powers (Col. 2:18). Does it really make sense that the false teacher of Colossae would be judging the
Gentiles of Colossae for not adhering to meat and drink offerings offered in Jerusalem?
11
Cf. 2 Chron. 2:4; 8:13; 31:3; Neh. 10:33; Eze. 46:4, 12.
12
Cf. vs. 18.
Remove the offerings and you change the essential nature of the festival. Leave the sacrificial
offerings out of the seventh-day Sabbath and it remains the Sabbath.
13
This is because the seventh-
day Sabbath itself was not instituted as a shadow of things to come (Col. 2:17; Heb. 8:5; 10:1),
but as a memorial to the creative power of God.
14
Which of the other holy convocations of Israel
can claim that as a reason for its existence? Certainly not the Passover, for, though it is a memorial
of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery by her Redeemer, it is by its very nature centered
on the sacrifice of a lamb. Yet ever since the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the
sacrificing of animals has ceased. This is why Jews are not really celebrating the biblical Passover
any more and why Jewish atonement on Yom Kippur is no longer based on sacrifice but on alms,
prayers, and good deeds. The conspicuous absence of the lamb on the modern Passover seder plate
is mute testimony that Christ our Passoverthe true Lamb of God (John 1:29)has been
sacrificed for us (1 Cor. 5:7). Rather than invalidating the Sabbath, Christs rest on the Sabbath
following His death adds to its meaning, making it a memorial of both the completion of creation
and the completion of redemption.
15

While the Sabbath Jesus kept can be observed under varied circumstances, the festivals cannot
be observed without major adaptation of the biblical specifications.
16
This reminds me of the vegan
macaroni and cheese I made one time when I was single. Not having any macaroni, I substituted
spaghetti. Not having any cashews for the cheese, I substituted peanuts. It tasted all rightfor those
who like peanut butterbut was it still macaroni and cheese?

13
The commandment to keep the Sabbath makes no mention of sacrifice or offering. Established without
reference to sacrifice, the seventh-day Sabbath predates the festivals and their sabbaths by over two
millennia.
14
One of Pauls prime reasons for warning the Colossians against being judged in feast, new moon, or
sabbaths was that Christ openly spoiled principalities and powers on the cross (Col. 2:15). In what way
could it be said that keeping Gods memorial of His creative power gives honor to conquered
principalities and powers? Cf. Edmund K. Simpson and Frederick F. Bruce, Commentary on the Epistle
to the Ephesians and Colossians (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmens Publishing Co., 1975), p. 244: To
accept the observance of these occasions as obligatory now would be an acknowledgement of the
continuing authority of the powers through whom such regulations were mediatedthe powers that were
decisively subjugated by Christ. How absurd for those who had reaped the benefit of Christs victory to put
themselves voluntarily back under the control of those powers which Christ had conquered! This
statement would only make sense if the observance demanded by the Colossian deceiver was a blend of
Judaism and Gnosticism. God was not subjecting His people to the dominion of angels when he required
them to observe feasts, new moons, and sabbaths within the sacrificial system. He was giving them
symbols that would prepare them for the true lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world (John
1:29).
15
The Sabbath is the day that marks two great events: the completion of creation and the completion of
redemption. So, Sabbath is a day of double celebration and could never be associated with fasting and
lament. Greek Orthodox scholar, George Dragas, Ph.D. (Doctrine and Church History, Holy Cross School
of Theology, Boston, Massachusetts) from transcript of the video, The Seventh Day, part 3, 2003, LLT
Productions.
16
The festivals were tied to the appointed season of the agricultural cycle of Israel (Num. 9:2) and were
to be celebrated in the place that God should choose (Deut. 16:16), i.e., Jerusalem.