In the series of articles leading up to this post, I believe I have firmly established that the 7th day that God refers to in Genesis chapters one and two ONLY refers to Saturday (technically, Friday sundown to Saturday sundown) and that the Sabbath was given to all mankind and not just the Jews.
Finally, I have also provided Scriptural evidence that even after Jesus’s death the early Christians kept the Sabbath.
So before moving on, if you are Christian who worships on Sundays, I want to ask you if you would be willing to concede to the following point.
When you gather together together on Sundays, you are obviously NOT observing the 7th day Shabbat.
Putting arguments aside that “we can make the Sabbath any day we want“, or “Christ did away with the law, so we don’t have to worry about it blah, blah, blah“, or “It’s only for the Jews blah, blah, blah” aside are you willing to concede to this one point?
SUNDAY IS NOT THE 7th DAY SHABBAT THAT GOD SANCTIFIED AND COMMANDED HIS FOLLOWERS TO OBSERVE!
Can you concede to this one point?
If you did, congratulations!!!
Why don’t you go get yourself a drink to celebrate?
Don’t worry. I’ll still be here.
Okay, welcome back!
First, you should be aware that there have been many preeminent Christians and Christian institutions who openly admitted that when they gather on Sundays, it is not the the 7th day Shabbat.
“I honestly believe that this commandment [the Sabbath commandment] is just as binding today as it ever was. I have talked with men who have said that it has been abrogated, but they have never been able to point to any place in the Bible where God repealed it.-Moody Bible Institute: “Sabbath was before Sinai”
“We will now endeavour to show that the sanctification of the Sabbath has its foundation and its origin in a law which God at creation itself established for the whole world, and as a consequence thereof is binding on all men in all ages.” Evangelisten (The Evangelist). Stockholm, May 30 to August 15,1863 (organ of the Swedish Baptist Church)
“It will surely be far safer to observe the seventh day, according to the express commandment of God, than on the authority of mere human conjecture to adopt the first.” John Milton, ENGLAND Sab. Lit. 2, 46-54
So how did Christians go from centuries of keeping the Sabbath to Sunday worship?
The truth is we are observing a law enacted by Constantine and the Catholic Church in the 4th century AD who created a day of Christian fellowship that would be called The Lord’s Day.
This is not speculation, nor is it criticism, it is simply well documented fact acknowledged by historians and Bible scholars alike.
All you need to do to know the truth is read the actual church documents from the several meetings of the ecumenical councils convened by Emperor Constantine. Here is an excerpt from the Council of Laodicea document, Canon # 29.
“Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord’s day; and, if they can, resting as Christians. But if any of them be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.”
And on March 7th, 321AD, Constantine set down the following decree:
“Let all judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades rest on the venerable day of the Sun.”
Do you know why we call Sunday, Sunday?
It is because this was the day that the whole Roman empire met to worship the widely accepted Roman sun god, known as Mithras.
I’m done.
I believe GOD rested on 7th day was Saturday. Sunday is the first day of the week. Look at the calendar he worked 6days on the Sabbath he rested.
Hi Ana,
Thanks for reading and sharing your comment.
However, nothing you stated is in disagreement with what I’ve said here.
“I believe GOD rested on 7th day was Saturday.”-AGREED!
“Sunday is the first day of the week.”-AGREED!
You should also know that no competent Christian scholar conversant in the original Biblical languages would disagree with what is stated on this site.
They may disagree with some of the conclusions reached but not with the objective facts.
Thanks again for sharing.
Shalom.
Rich
Thank you! You are correct and yes I keep the Shabbat just as the Orthodox Jews do as I am a believer in Yeshua. The christians need to really look into the history of the changes that were made before and not get mad at those who tell the Truth! The truth will set you free..
Amen!
Dear Brother, THANK YOU for your website and all the research you do. It is appreciated.
However, I do take some “offense” (not really, it’s just the closest word I can think of to enter into this subject.) at what you have said about the Sabbath vs. the Christian Sunday. I am a Baptist pastor and I just want to do what is written in the NT and remember that it is inspired and “thus saith the LORD.” MY TAKE: Yes, God commanded mankind in the 10 Commandments to honor the Sabbath and to keep it holy. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE SABBATH? To rest from our work labors and to spend time worshiping our God. Rest is a “God thing.” He knows our animals and ourselves all need a day of rest, like Jehovah God did after our triune God created our universe, et al, in six literal days. I ASK YOU: When the Apostol Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth in I Cor.16:1 and 2, to “upon the first day of the week, let every one of you by Him lay in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” QUESTION: Why was the Church to come together to give, “as God prospered each one” on a regular work day of the week? Doesn’t that seem a little strange to you??? It does to me. Many of our Church folk are unable to stop by and give their tithes and offerings on the first work day of a week. SO TO ME, the idea that Paul would give this command as he did was because it seems very plausible to conclude that that Church met on Sundays to worship, because it was the FIRST DAY of the week, hence the command to give on the FIRST DAY of the week. I point for the “Sunday Sabbath!” ALSO, I was taught this and believe it: The first “Church service” held by the First Church after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, happened on the Sunday night of the that Resurrection Sunday. John 20:1-3, “20 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. 2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. 3 Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.” Later that day Jesus walked on the road to Emmaus and encountered 2 disciples from the town, and started a conversation with them. After realizing that they were talking with the LORD, they invited Him to stay and commune with them in their home. LATER, Jesus appeared to the Eleven in the Upper Room to present Himself to them. This was the FIRST CHURCH SERVICE, as it were, after His resurrection. WE CHRISTIANS WORSHIP on SUNDAY because: 1) We want to remember the day in which Jesus arose bodily from the dead, 2) Because Jesus met with his 11 Apostles in the Upper Room on the evening of the first day of the Week, and 3) Paul commanded the Church at Corinth to give their tithes and offerings they normally give upon the first day of the week. These are BIBLE TRUTHS about Sunday. We Baptists truly believe that under Grace and because of Biblical occurances which lead us to believe that Sunday “IS” our Church Age Sabbath, we humbly submit the “spirit of the O.T. Sabbath” as we worship, teach and preach, and give our tithes and offerings to our God on the first day of the week. I DO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE SAYING, but, we are under Grace today, not the LAW. I humbly submit to you my views. Thank you.
Mr. Ron, if you don’t mind, I’d like to answer your questions/submit a reply. It is not my intention to usurp the authority of Richoka on his own blog, nor is it my intention to jump ahead of him and answer questions asked of him. So if I step on your toes Richoka, I apologize in advance, just tell me to back off and I will.
My response is long, as you can see. You deserve the honor and respect Mr. Ron, to a full, contextual response. Not just individual verses thrown at you. I use The Scriptures by ISR, so any verses I post are from that version. It reads very close to the KJV and has some transliterated Hebrew and the Names in modern Hebrew AlephBet. I use Yahweh and Yeshua Yahweh means “the existing one” and Yeshua means “Yah is salvation, or Yah saves”
As to your first question Mr. Ron: WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE SABBATH? You are absolutely correct, to rest. It goes beyond that though.
First, the Sabbath is the only day that YHWH blessed and set apart in Gen 2. (set apart – from the Hebrew word kadosh, meaning set apart for a special function; it is the origin the word holy). We can see that the Sabbath is a special day to Him.
Second, if we are actually resting on this day, then we are being obedient to the instructions He gave to His people, Israel, through Moses. This is very important because in Exo 31:13 YHWH says to Moses: “And you, speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘My Sabbaths you are to guard, by all means, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, to know that I, יהוה, am setting you apart.” Several places in the Word this idea of the Sabbath being a sign (like a wedding ring) between Him and His people is echoed. Exo 3:16-17, Eze 20:12; 20:20
Third when we gather on His set apart day we are proving to Him that we love him by following His commands and we get to love on each other by spending time with each other and getting to know one another. What better way to fulfill the “2 greatest commands”? Since He instructed us to meet with Him on this specific day, that means He will be in our midst. A special, weekly appointment with Him. (Side note: I say we are proving to Him our love because of Deut 10:12-13: “And now, Yisra’ĕl, what is יהוה your Elohim asking of you, but to fear יהוה your Elohim, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being, to guard the commands of יהוה and His laws which I command you today for your good.” So Fear Him ((awe, reverence, respect)), walk in His ways ((keep His commands)) and this proves your love for Him. What does Yeshua ((Jesus)) say? “If you love me keep My commands.” – John 14:15. Love is an action, not a feeling. In fact every time the word love is mentioned in Scripture, it is closely followed by the idea of commandment keeping)
There is much, much more to say about the importance of the Sabbaths, both the weekly and the 7 high annual Shabbats. I will touch some more on it below, but it is a great study unto itself. Just note that all the apostles keep the Saturday Sabbath long after the death and rise of Messiah. As Richoka already stated above, it was the Council of Laodicea that changed the day of rest for Christians only, not Israelites. They didn’t want Christians to “judaize” by keeping the Sabbath of YHWH. (The Jewish people are 12th of Israel. See my comment under Richoka’s article titled: Gentile believers should keep the Sabbath because they are grafted into Israel’s covenants) The Council of Laodicea instructed Christians to break the commandment of YHWH, effectively making them all sinners. Do people really believe that Jesus would be “anathema” towards them for keeping His commands? MAN changed the day, not YHWH, YHWH does NOT change. Man does NOT have the power to make that change, not the Council of Laodicea, not Constantine, not the apostles, not Paul, no man. Constantine ordered Christians to rest on the day the sun is worshiped, that is the Christian sabbath, not YHWHs Sabbath. It seems that the council and Constantine were trying to make themselves equal with YHWH by nullifying the His word by their own customs and traditions.
As to your question about 1 Cor 16:1-2: I am going to cover 1-4 for context:
1 And concerning the collections for the set-apart ones, you are to do as I gave orders to the assemblies of Galatia:
(“collections” in Greek: “logia” meaning a collection for the poor. The tithes and offerings belonged to the Levites, stored in the Temple and were also given to the poor. This collection appears to be an offering since it comes from what is prospered rather than the first 10%)
2 On the first day of the week let each one of you set aside, storing up whatever he is prospered, so that there are no collections when I come.
3 And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters, I shall send to bear your gift to Yerushalayim.
4 And if it is fitting for me to go, they shall go with me.
Notice Paul states to lay in store (gather, store-up) all that YHWH has prospered them. Meaning gather it up and store it away so no one is gathering when Paul comes. Paul didn’t instruct them to get together/assemble, or give it on that day, just gather it and have it ready because he was making his way to them.
I respect that you believe that the Tora/law has been done away with and we are now under grace, if that were true, then why is Paul talking about tithes and or offerings found in the Torah? Why is he instructing the Corinthians to gather them up so they can be sent to Jerusalem/Temple, as in the Torah? Gathering fruits, veggies, grains or money etc. for the tithes/offerings is work, work is not to be done on the Sabbath, as instructed in the Torah. Paul is correct in instructing them to gather on day 1 of the week so they are not gathering on Shabbat. By instructing them to work and not rest on the first day, Paul was seemingly not observing a Sunday Sabbath. By the way, if they gathered their tithes/offerings on the first day of the week, they are putting YHWH first, showing Him that they trust Him enough to gather for Him first and love Him enough to obey.
Paul taught Torah, he did not teach against it. We can see from what I wrote above that this could be the case. Let us look in a couple other places too. Romans 2:13 “For not the hearers of the Torah (law) are righteous in the sight of Elohim (God), but the doers of the Torah shall be declared right.” This echos what Moses said in Deut 6:24-25 ‘And יהוה commanded us to do all these laws, to fear יהוה our Elohim, for our good always, to keep us alive, as it is today. ‘And it is righteousness for us when we guard to do all this command before יהוה our Elohim, as He has commanded us.’. There is the biblical definition of righteousness, guarding to do all that He commanded. The opposite of that is sin, the definition of sin is: 1 Joh 3:4 “Everyone doing sin also does lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” or Torah-less-ness if you will. Commandment keeping = righteousness, commandment breaking = sin.
If Paul was teaching against Torah, the Jewish people that had gathered to listen to him would have booted him out and never followed him. For example, take a look at Stephen in Acts 6, he had false witnesses stand up and accuse him of teaching against the Torah:
verse 8-14 “And Stephanos, filled with belief and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. But some of those of the so-called Congregation of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Kilikia and Asia), rose up, disputing with Stephanos, but they were unable to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. Then they instigated men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Mosheh and Elohim. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, so they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. And they set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this set-apart place and the Torah, for we have heard him saying that this יהושע (Hebrew for Yeshua) of Natsareth shall overthrow this place and change the institutes which Mosheh delivered unto us”.
What did Moses institute? The Torah. They were falsely saying Stephen was teaching Yeshua did away with the Torah. Notice they brought Stephen to the council, why? They were following Torah: Deut 17:8-11 ““When any matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, or between stroke and stroke – matters of strife within your gates – then you shall rise and go up to the place which יהוה your Elohim chooses and shall come to the priests, the Lĕwites, and to the judge who is in those days, and shall inquire. And they shall declare to you the word of right-ruling, and you shall do according to the word which they declare to you from that place which יהוה chooses. And you shall guard to do according to all that they instruct you. “Do according to the Torah in which they teach you, according to the right-ruling which they say to you. You do not turn to the right or to the left from the word which they declare to you.” Then, in ch 7 Steven gives them an earful, he paraphrases the Torah and accuses them, rightfully so, of being stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ears, betrayers and murders! haha! So they killed him for speaking the truth. In verse 57 the false witnesses laid their garments at Pauls feet. Kind of ironic how he comes on the scene at a time when Stephen is being accused of teaching against Torah, as Paul is used to try do so today. There is no way Paul taught against it, they would have killed him. Paul took the Nazarite vow in Acts 21 to prove he was not teaching against Torah and had to pay for 4 men to do the same, until the shaving of their heads. The vow requires one to commit no sin (even accidentally) for however much time they choose to be separated unto YHWH. The instructions for the Nazarite vow is found in the Torah, Numbers ch 6.
And lastly, the idea of the “first church” service on Sunday night.
John 20:1-3 does not seem to point to a Sunday gathering but rather a few people who were confused, upset and afraid about His missing body. Even later on He appears to a few of the taught ones here and there, but no big gathering. Even in John ch 21 when they are fishing, if that is still Sunday, then they are working and not resting. Now to be fair the Council and Constantine were several hundred years later, but if it was to be changed, then why didn’t Yeshua command the Sabbath on the first day, instead of the Council and Constantine? Now at times the Levitical feasts may fall on a Sunday and there is a gathering due to the feast, but not because of a YHWH sanctioned Sunday Sabbath.
There is no foundation in any of the gospels to support Sunday Sabbath. Paul didn’t command Sunday worship/gatherings, he was in the Synagogues on Sabbath with the other Jews. The idea of Sunday Sabbath, rather than the YHWH created Saturday Sabbath is completely man made and against the teachings/instructions of the Creator. A man made tradition and we know how much Yeshua liked man made traditions that went against Torah.
As to a Sunday resurrection: 3 days and 3 nights (Matt 12:40). It is commonly believed that He was killed Friday and rose Sunday. We all know that math does not add up. The best stretch makes it 3 days and 2 nights. We know that the Bible does not lie, so what is going on here? Through the 4 gospels we garner the following, that He dies, Joseph hastens to get His body down, wraps it and places it in the tomb before the high Sabbath and Mary watches him. Mary at some point gathers spices and rests on Shabbat. (no mention of it being the high shabbat she rested on) Then in the dark on the first day of the week she discovers He is already gone. From this we see five things. 1) He dies about mid afternoon; 2) there is a preparation day; 3) there is a High Shabbat; 4) a Sabbath and; 5) day one of the week.
Did she go right as the Sabbath was closing, at sundown, or did she wait and rise before the sun? Well Jewish/Hebrew people back then and today believe a day is from sundown to sundown. There is only one time she could go to the tomb in the darkness of the first day, between sundown of Shabbat and sunrise of day one. He was already gone though, logically this means He rose before she got there, maybe before it was dark? Maybe He rose during the day, around 3pm-ish on Shabbat? Why 3 pm-ish? That is the same time the High Priests were slaughtering the passover lambs at the Temple.
A Friday death as believed and rising before Mary comes, means He only spent one day and one night in the tomb. That goes against what He said in Matt 12:40. To get 3 and 3 as needed, let’s count backwards from Sabbath 3 pm 3 days. From Sabbath 3 pm to Friday 3 pm, one day and one night. From Friday 3 pm to Thursday 3 pm, two days and two nights. From Thursday 3 pm to Wednesday 3 pm, three days and three nights.
We have the ability to use technology to look back and see on what days certain events happened in history. We believe that He was about 30-33 yrs old when He died. Can we find a Wednesday death lines up with Scripture? We can use interactive calendars to see both the years 30 and 37 AD Passover fell on a Wednesday. It fell on Friday, twice, but we already determined that math does not add up. It also fell on Monday, four times, but that is way off.
I propose this:
Wednesday April 3rd 30 AD, at around 3 pm He dies with the other lambs. Joseph hurries to get Him down and buried before sundown when the feast of Unleavened Bread starts. Maybe he was successful, maybe he wasn’t.
Thursday April 4th 30 AD, the first day of Unleavened Bread, it is a high Sabbath, no work is done, no buying/selling, but you can cook on high Shabbats. Sundown, preparation day starts.
Friday April 5th 30 AD, preparation day, Mary buys and prepares the spices, prepares for Shabbat, then sundown and the weekly Sabbath starts, she rests as commanded.
Saturday April 6th weekly Shabbat, rest, no working, no buying/selling, no cooking that is what preparation day is for. 3 pm-ish He rises. Sundown day one of the week starts. She waits till dark as is customary of the Jewish people guarding the Shabbat as long as possible, or she rises early before sunrise and she goes to the tomb, either way, He is gone. (Mark does say that the sun had risen already)
Sunday April 7th 30 AD, it is the “morrow after the Sabbath” in Lev 23:11, the Feast of First Fruits, He is the first fruit of the coming resurrection.
He died on Passover, was buried for Unleavened Bread and rose for First Fruits. No matter if He rose 3 pm-ish or after sundown, this accounts for 3 days and 3 nights. It does not account for a Sunday Sabbath.
I hope this reply helps to point out why us Torah observers believe the way we do. We do not believe that our observance will earn us salvation, that was a free gift and we cannot earn that. But we can show Him our love by being obedient to His commands. We can prove to Him that we want to know Him. John says it in
1 John 2:1-5 “My little children, I write this to you, so that you do not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Intercessor with the Father, יהושע Messiah, a righteous One. And He Himself is an atoning offering for our sins, and not for ours only but also for all the world. And by this we know that we know Him, if we guard His commands. The one who says, “I know Him,” and does not guard His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever guards His Word, truly the love of Elohim has been perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.”
We can find favor in His eyes, receive blessings and transform into the image of Yeshua by being obedient to His Torah.
May you merit His favor,
Dan
Ron, quoting from your post above:
“upon the first day of the week, let every one of you by Him lay in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”
QUESTION: Why was the Church to come together to give, “as God prospered each one” on a regular work day of the week? Doesn’t that seem a little strange to you??? It does to me. Many of our Church folk are unable to stop by and give their tithes and offerings on the first work day of a week.
QUESTION to you Ron:
When did the 1st day of the week begin?
When did the 7th day roll over to the 1st day?
ANSWER:
Evening, after sunset, or in today’s language, Saturday evening.
In my estimation, it would not have been that difficult to give and collect tithes Saturday evening right after the Sabbath.
Also from your post above:
John 20:1-3, “20 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre
Again , the first day of the week was what we would call Saturday evening. Or in the Hebrew mind, the first day of the week.
I hope you find this helpful.
I was a Christian missionary not long ago.
I am now in the process of turning from the traditions of men to Torah.
I am not Turing to Torah for eternal salvation but for the abundant life it offers.
Christ provides eternal life or life in the here after.
Obediance to God’s Torah provides life in the here and now.