Colossians 2:16-17 Things to Come CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
The hard part of this passage is that the things to come are actually things that are from the Old Testament. The clue to understanding this passage lies in the statement, “but the body is of Christ.” The body of Christ is the Church which is here after the Old Testament and before the Tribulation. These things to come were here before the church and they will be here again after the church is gone.
The Old Testament origin of things to come – “meat” deals with diet and offerings – Lev 11 contains the ordinances of clean and unclean meats. Lev 23:18 speaks of meat offerings, which are not flesh but rather something like corn meal or flour. In Lev 23:18 “drink” refers to drink offerings which were measured in a hin and consisted of wine. Neh 10:31 “holy days” were the days of holy convocations or special Sabbath days connected principally with feasts. Num 28:11 the new moon is the beginning of the month [1 Sam 20:5]. Ex 20:8 The Sabbath days were given by God to Moses to give toIsrael [Neh 9:13-14].
The New Testament effect of things to come – Rom 14:17 “meat” and “drink” are not concerns in the kingdom of God. Acts 10:11-15 shows the change concerning the application of the Old Testament law to our New Testament diet [1 Tim 4:3-4]. The rule now is Rom 14:21. Rom 14:5 shows the liberty that we have in Christ concerning holy days. Rom 13:9 leaves out the Sabbath because it is not a law for the Church. So Rom 14:10-12 shows us that we are not to be judged by others concerning things in the law, because we will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ.
The Tribulation and Millennium return of things to come – Ezek 45:17 during the millennial reign of Jesus, they will offer drink offerings and meat offerings, they will keep the Sabbaths, and they will observe the feasts and, therefore, the holy days. Ezek 46:1-6 shows they will keep the Sabbath and the new moon.
Jesus didn’t destroy the law rather he blotted it out and nailed it to the cross. According to Matt 5:17-18, Jesus did not come to destroy the law so the law has not passed. That’s because the law will have an effect on those in the Tribulation [Rev 12:17,14:12]. In Matt 24:20, during the tribulation, tribulation saints need not take their flight on the Sabbath day.