Reader question about the word “foreshadow”

READER QUESTION:

I have a question that I would like to  pass on to family members and that is what does being 'a shadow of things to come’? I also have wondered, especially recently, as I have been running into this passage.  I always value your expertise in the scriptures.

OUR RESPONSE:

Thank you for the question!  It's a GREAT question, and the simple answer is: "Foreshadowing" is a warning or indication of a future event. For instance, when God first commanded His feasts be observed (Leviticus 23:2-4), each event they foreshadowed was still in the future. Yeshua, has so far "fulfilled" (NOT "put an end to"; rather accomplished what was prophesied in the first four of the seven Feasts.)

A longer answer to your question can be found in a footnote to Colossians 2:17, which reads as follows:

Colossians 2:16. Let no (pagan) therefore judge you about food and drink, or about the distinctions of festivals and new moons and Shabbats  17. which were shadows of the things then future; but the body of Mashiyach. (AENT)

Footnote:

Compare this with Colossians 1:24.  Paul is stating that the “Body of Mashiyach” determines how to observe Torah, including Kashrut (religious dietary laws), Shabbats, Moedim (Feasts/Appointed Times) and Rosh Chodeshim (head of the new month, marked by the birth of the new moon); therefore, don’t let lawless pagans judge you; they have their own religious customs and way of doing things!

For example, many choose to attend “religious” meetings on Sun-Day, and they have sunrise services on Ishtar (Easter); then for December 25th, they put up a Tammuz (Christmas) tree that commemorates the rebirth of the Babylonian deity Tammuz.  And the gold and silver balls that Christians hang on their Christmas trees originally represented Tammuz’s testicles, as he was renowned for “pleasing the ladies.” 

Most Christians know full well that Y’shua was not born on December 25th, but the pagan celebrations have become such entrenched traditional rituals that truth has become an embarrassing inconvenience.  In other words, don’t let family, friends, pastors, or co-workers judge you for observing truthful Torah festivals, because their motive is for you to return to the pagan substitutes they themselves prefer. 

The Church today is following in the idolatrous footsteps of ancient and modern Israel according to Ezekiel 8:14 and Jeremiah 10 and 17.  The vast majority of Christians twist this verse to teach that Shabbat and the Feasts of YHWH “were fulfilled by Christ and are no longer necessary” which completely contradicts what Rav Shaul taught – that YHWH’s Feasts are a shadow of things to come; not to mention, they are rehearsals for the Bride of Mashiyach! 

End of footnote.

We hope this helps!  Thanks again for trusting us with an answer!