Yes, it is pretty clear that God chose to include God's Holy Sabbath in His Ten Commandments.
From the very beginning the serpent has worked to convince folks to reject God's instructions. Jesus, as the Word, showed us in the beginning how it does this. It uses parts of God's Words and then attaches a very reasonable sounding voice to convince Eve that God didn't have her best interest at heart. It's a Fascinating example Jesus created for us.
Gen. 3:
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.
And he said unto the woman,
Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Very cleaver to use God's Word in it's deception.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman,
Ye shall not surely die: (You are Saved)
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, (reject God's instructions)
then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Jesus placed this example there so we could know how it deceives folks.
Paul warns of the same thing in Col. 2.
Col. 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world,
and not after Christ.
Who is the Christ? Is He not the Word which became Flesh? Was not "ALL THINGS" Created by Him? So fish on Friday is a tradition of man, Lent, Halloween, Christmas, these are all religious traditions of man. Not condemning, just pointing out Biblical Truth.
But the creation of Clean and unclean animals, Holy and Unholy, this is a creation of the Christ.
Lev. 11:
44 For I
am the LORD your God: (
Word which became Flesh) ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves,
and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
45 For I
am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God:
ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
46 This
is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth:
47 To
make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.
So unlike many of the man made religious traditions that are accepted in the religions of the world today, the creating of clean and unclean, Holy and Unholy are from the Christ, the Word which became Flesh.
We know the serpent uses cleverness and parts of God's Word to deceive. Paul is warning not to be fooled by the religious traditions of men, but to listen to the Christ.
Many, who come in Christ's name, preach that the Christ's instructions are not for man, that they are vain deceit, and Rudiments of the World, and "tradition of man". The serpent convinced Eve of the same thing.
Gen. 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree
was good for food, and that it
was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make
one wise,
she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and
gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Not only did the serpent deceive Eve, but Eve then spread this same deceit to other members of God's Family. We have examples of this same deception through out the Bible. It is a strong deception and actually convinced the Mainstream Preachers of Christ's time as a human, to kill Him, their own Messiah, thinking they were serving Him.
This deception is nothing to mess with.
Paul is warning about such a deception in Col. 2. He knew that the Mainstream God of Abraham Preachers of his time were deceiving people. He knew they didn't believe in the Law and Prophets, and actually persecuted anyone who did, including him after his conversion.
Acts 24:.
14 But this I confess unto thee,
that after the way which they call heresy,
so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
This is why Paul honored God's Sabbaths including "Feast of Unleavened Bread".
1 cor. 5:
7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth.
This is why Paul said not to let anyone judge you in your obedience to the Great Christ.
Col. 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath
days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come;
but the body is of Christ.
These instructions come directly from the Word which became Flesh and are not man made doctrines or tradition.
20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ
from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
22 Which all are to perish with the using
after the commandments and doctrines of men?
The Jews, who had rejected God's instructions and created their own, were working to deceive the Gentiles, Galatians, and Colossians. Paul is telling us to "Beware" that they, through cleaver philosophy and vain deceit, "Spoil us" or make us rotten.
There are those who preach that this is telling folks to reject God's instructions. That the Word's of the Word which became flesh are "Vain deceit" and "Rudiments of the World". I don't think the Bible supports this teaching.
It seems you have a healthy grasp of the scriptures M, good for you.
I'm sure you know what Jesus said about what defiles us.
Matt. 15:16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth
come forth from the heart;
and they defile the man.
19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies:
20 These are
the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Rebellion, disobedience, dishonor, these things come from within and defile a man.
These things are vain deceit, tradition of men, rudiments of the World. But the Word's of the Word which became Flesh lasts forever.
Is. 66:
16 For by fire and by his sword
will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that
sanctify themselves, and
purify themselves in the gardens behind one
tree in the midst,
eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse,
shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
Great Post M