How Did The Sabbath Day Change From The 7th Day To 1st Day Of The Week?

[canuck]

Every Sunday millions upon millions of people all over the world attend church services. To most it's an automatic occurrence and they have never given their actions a second thought. It probably would seem blasphemous for these people to change their day of worship. After all, this is the way of the world and has been so for some time. Nevertheless, the bible say that Satan have deceived the whole world (Revelation 12:9).

You've got it all wrong about the Sabbath. The Sabbath is given to man as a day of rest -- the principle of devoting 1 day out of 7 for the purpose of energizing our constitution. It has nothing whatsoever about worshipping 1 day out of 7. You won't find anywhere in Scripture ( both OT and NT) where it specifically directs God's people to set aside the Sabbath Day as a day of worship. It would be a poor Christian indeed, who only worships 1 day in 7. For we are to worship God every day and throughout as much of our waking moments as we are so led by the Holy Spirit.

As has already been pointed out on this string, Christ reiterated that the sabbath was made for man and not the other way around. It was a gift of rest. That essentially means we've been given the gift to set aside 1 in 7 to recharge our batteries. Medical research confirms that man needs to lay low roughly 1 day in each 7 or 8 which supports the whole principle of Sabbath rest. Think of it this way: God could have designed the Creation in a way that necessitated hard labour each and every day just to keep control of natural growth. Can you imagine if each weed,tree and vine grew 4 to 5 feet every 24 hrs? That would mean none could rest. We would be spending all our time hacking down the vegetation lest by ignoring it, we would be overwhelmed by greenery and shut out from the sun in only a few weeks time. But God has allowed rest in a 1 in 7 frequency so that we can reasonably handle our labour without the undue pressure of working every day.

The matter of which day of the week we choose to set aside to recharge is not a binding matter. Col. 2:16 makes that clear as does Rom. 14:5,6. And if a man chooses not to keep a Sabbath rest, then he will simply be less relaxed and ultimately less healthy than the one who does. I choose to set aside Sundays as my day of rest and aside from clearing the table and stacking dishes in the dishwasher, I do no other labour. I rest and relax and grow stronger to handle the work that awiats me on Monday.

canuck

[larry2]

My understanding is that the Sabbath is now observed from 6:00 PM Friday through 6:00 PM Saturday; an exact 24 hour period. Since God said talking of creation; evening and the morning were whatever day; was that 24 hours?

We read in Genesis 2:1 that the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. Then we read in Genesis 2:2 that God ended His work on the seventh day; what work did He do on that day that He ended?

Today Sabbath keepers should observe the seventh day instead of Sunday as I understand it, why are some of you observing a different day than the Lord rested from His work? Do you get to just call any day you want to be the Sabbath, and as long as you're making a good effort, that is good enough?

Thanks in Jesus' name - larry2

[kayakguy]

My understanding is that the Sabbath is now observed from 6:00 PM Friday through 6:00 PM Saturday; an exact 24 hour period. Since God said talking of creation; evening and the morning were whatever day; was that 24 hours?

We read in Genesis 2:1 that the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. Then we read in Genesis 2:2 that God ended His work on the seventh day; what work did He do on that day that He ended?

Today Sabbath keepers should observe the seventh day instead of Sunday as I understand it, why are some of you observing a different day than the Lord rested from His work? Do you get to just call any day you want to be the Sabbath, and as long as you're making a good effort, that is good enough?

Thanks in Jesus' name - larry2

NASB says "By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done."
The Sabbath is observed from sundown Friday night to sundown Saturday night.
Saturday has been the seventh day of the week since before the Gregorian calendar.  This is commonly accepted as historical fact.
What exactly is your point?

[larry2]

larry2 - Today Sabbath keepers should observe the seventh day instead of Sunday as I understand it, why are some of you observing a different day than the Lord rested from His work? Do you get to just call any day you want to be the Sabbath, and as long as you're making a good effort, that is good enough?

kayakguy - The Sabbath is observed from sundown Friday night to sundown Saturday night. Saturday has been the seventh day of the week since before the Gregorian calendar.  This is commonly accepted as historical fact. What exactly is your point?

larry2 - How come all Sabbath keepers don't observe the same day as the Sabbath then? Which group is right since your destiny seems to rest on it?

In Jesus' name

[Hotrod]

It didn't.  The Sabbath is still the 7th day of the week.  We just go to church on Sunday, which lets us rest on Saturday, which was the whole point of the day to start with.

Labor Unions allowed us to rest on Saturday..

[kayakguy]

How come all Sabbath keepers don't observe the same day as the Sabbath then? Which group is right since your destiny seems to rest on it?

I still don't understand.  As far as I know, all 'Sabbath keepers' keep the same day.  If someone calls them self a Sabbath keeper, and doesn't keep that day, then they are obviously misled.  Could you clarify please?

And I don't think that sarcasm is a very Christ like way of going about this.  Just as I don't think that telling everyone they are going to hell for worshiping on the Sunday is either.

Everyone is saying that the Sabbath is a Jewish ceremonial law.  I want to know, then why it is in the Ten Commandments alongside 'Thou shalt have no other Gods before me,' and 'Thou shalt not kill,' to name a few.  I'm no Adventist scholar, or I'd probably be able to explain it better, but the way we see it, the ceremonial law was done away with - the sacrificing, the temple with the different chambers and furniture, priests, etc.  The LAW, God's Ten commandments will exist as long as sin exists.  Jesus said in Matt. 5:18, "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished." NASB

I don't think that Sunday keepers are going to hell.  I just think that they are ignorant of a greater truth that God wishes everyone could know!  Someone isn't a bad person or even a bad Christian if they grew up going to church on Sunday.  If God wants them to start keeping His true Sabbath, He will make every effort for the subject to be as clear to them as day, and it is at that point that the choice they make will matter.  If God shows someone truth beyond a shadow of a doubt and it is rejected, THEN they will have to answer to Him at the end of days.

Someone said earlier that they meet on Sunday  because that is when the apostles broke bread.  I would like to point out that you can 'break bread' on any day of the week.  That just means that they had a meal together.  There are plenty of references to the apostles meeting on Sabbath, including the day of the Pentecost.

If you really want to hear what Sabbath keeping scholars have to say and not just my ramblings, check out this link:
http://www.ucg.org/booklets/SS/sabbath-new-testament.asp
It touches on things like Paul's 'abolishing of the Sabbath.'

[kayakguy]

Oh yeah, I want to add one more thing.  It is commonly known, even outside of Christendom, that the early church met on Saturday, the Sabbath.  NOT SUNDAY.  Sunday didn't become a Christian doctrine until Constantine converted to Christianity, and kept the Roman celebration day instead of the Lord's day.  If you have ever read the DaVinci Code, you will know what I'm talking about non-Christians even knowing this fact.  At one point the main character mentions Saturday, and the woman who is on the quest with him asks him about it, and he goes on to explain that early Christians did not even worship on Sunday like they do today, and that it is another lie created by the Catholic church.  This is coming from a secular, even anti-Christian book!  It is accepted historical fact in the secular and Christian historical viewpoint, not Sabbatarian propaganda.

[Tantor]

Oh yeah, I want to add one more thing.  It is commonly known, even outside of Christendom, that the early church met on Saturday, the Sabbath.  NOT SUNDAY.  Sunday didn't become a Christian doctrine until Constantine converted to Christianity, and kept the Roman celebration day instead of the Lord's day.  If you have ever read the DaVinci Code, you will know what I'm talking about non-Christians even knowing this fact.  At one point the main character mentions Saturday, and the woman who is on the quest with him asks him about it, and he goes on to explain that early Christians did not even worship on Sunday like they do today, and that it is another lie created by the Catholic church.  This is coming from a secular, even anti-Christian book!  It is accepted historical fact in the secular and Christian historical viewpoint, not Sabbatarian propaganda.

I cannot believe that someone here just cited a work of fiction as a factual reference.

Talk about grasping at straws...

[Bocephus]

The Sabbath is on Saturday, the Lord's Day is on Sunday.  Read Acts 20.

[kayakguy]

Oh yeah, I want to add one more thing.  It is commonly known, even outside of Christendom, that the early church met on Saturday, the Sabbath.  NOT SUNDAY.  Sunday didn't become a Christian doctrine until Constantine converted to Christianity, and kept the Roman celebration day instead of the Lord's day.  If you have ever read the DaVinci Code, you will know what I'm talking about non-Christians even knowing this fact.  At one point the main character mentions Saturday, and the woman who is on the quest with him asks him about it, and he goes on to explain that early Christians did not even worship on Sunday like they do today, and that it is another lie created by the Catholic church.  This is coming from a secular, even anti-Christian book!  It is accepted historical fact in the secular and Christian historical viewpoint, not Sabbatarian propaganda.

I cannot believe that someone here just cited a work of fiction as a factual reference.

Talk about grasping at straws...

I just used that to show that it is accepted even outside of Christian circles.  Do you disregard everything I just said based on one little technicality?

As to the first part of Acts 20:

1.  Depending on whether you use Jewish time reckoning or Roman time reckoning, this happened either on Saturday night or Sunday night.  According to the Jews, since Sunday starts at sundown on Saturday, Sunday night would actually be the night of the Romans' Saturday.  Monday night would be on Sunday, etc. 
2.  People say that since they are breaking bread, it is indicative that they are having communion, therefore that day is the holy day.  If that's true, then why isn't Thursday night sacred?  The first communion, with Jesus and his disciples, was held Thursday night.
3.  Paul was in Troas for 7 days.  Do you think that this is the only day that he preached while he was there?  This particular gathering was mentioned because it was his last night there, and because of what happened to Eutychus.
4.  "Those who have access to a copy of the original Greek text of the New Testament, and take the time to examine the passage in Acts 20 where Paul is said to be preaching on the first day of the week to the gathered disciples, will find that in both verse 7 and verse 9, the Greek word that is translated "preach" is the word "dialegomai" (Strong's #1256). This is the word, or is very closely related to the word, that is the basis for the English word "dialogue." In ten out of the thirteen times that this word is used in the New Testament, it is translated "dispute," "reason," or "reason with," rather than preach. And in every other case where it is used in Acts, the word refers to a discussion or debate rather than the preaching of a monologue.' http://christianity-applied.blogspot.com/2004/12/teaching-by-dialegomai.html
Paul wasn't even preaching.  They were just having a collective discussion.

I think that using Acts 20 to justify your stance against the 10 commandments is grasping at straws as well.  You can't just take one little snippet of the Bible and use that to justify whatever you want to believe.  The Sabbath is a continuing theme from Genesis to Revelation, supported by Jesus and the Ten Commandments (which are upheld, not done away with by Paul).

Just think about this for a second:  If this is real truth, upheld by God, then you can't afford not to give it a chance.  Instead of deciding that it is to unreasonable and uncomfortable to change your weekly routine and mustering every loophole in wording that you can find, take some time to study this out.  Check it out from a holistic Biblical point of view.  Read about it on a PRO-Sabbath website.  If you are out to disprove it, you won't be giving it a fair chance.  If you do give it a fair chance, and still decide that it's not necessary, then so be it.  But more often than not, any discussion about the sacredness of the Sabbath is met with hateful remarks, sarcasm, misinformation, and small snippets of text that can be interpreted any way the reader wants them to be.  As Christians, maybe you should pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you, and study this out to MAKE SURE that you know what God's will on the matter is.

Does that not make sense?

[Bocephus]

Oh yeah, I want to add one more thing.  It is commonly known, even outside of Christendom, that the early church met on Saturday, the Sabbath.  NOT SUNDAY.  Sunday didn't become a Christian doctrine until Constantine converted to Christianity, and kept the Roman celebration day instead of the Lord's day.  If you have ever read the DaVinci Code, you will know what I'm talking about non-Christians even knowing this fact.  At one point the main character mentions Saturday, and the woman who is on the quest with him asks him about it, and he goes on to explain that early Christians did not even worship on Sunday like they do today, and that it is another lie created by the Catholic church.  This is coming from a secular, even anti-Christian book!  It is accepted historical fact in the secular and Christian historical viewpoint, not Sabbatarian propaganda.

I cannot believe that someone here just cited a work of fiction as a factual reference.

Talk about grasping at straws...

I just used that to show that it is accepted even outside of Christian circles.  Do you disregard everything I just said based on one little technicality?

As to the first part of Acts 20:

1.  Depending on whether you use Jewish time reckoning or Roman time reckoning, this happened either on Saturday night or Sunday night.  According to the Jews, since Sunday starts at sundown on Saturday, Sunday night would actually be the night of the Romans' Saturday.  Monday night would be on Sunday, etc. 
2.  People say that since they are breaking bread, it is indicative that they are having communion, therefore that day is the holy day.  If that's true, then why isn't Thursday night sacred?  The first communion, with Jesus and his disciples, was held Thursday night.
3.  Paul was in Troas for 7 days.  Do you think that this is the only day that he preached while he was there?  This particular gathering was mentioned because it was his last night there, and because of what happened to Eutychus.
4.  "Those who have access to a copy of the original Greek text of the New Testament, and take the time to examine the passage in Acts 20 where Paul is said to be preaching on the first day of the week to the gathered disciples, will find that in both verse 7 and verse 9, the Greek word that is translated "preach" is the word "dialegomai" (Strong's #1256). This is the word, or is very closely related to the word, that is the basis for the English word "dialogue." In ten out of the thirteen times that this word is used in the New Testament, it is translated "dispute," "reason," or "reason with," rather than preach. And in every other case where it is used in Acts, the word refers to a discussion or debate rather than the preaching of a monologue.' http://christianity-applied.blogspot.com/2004/12/teaching-by-dialegomai.html
Paul wasn't even preaching.  They were just having a collective discussion.

I think that using Acts 20 to justify your stance against the 10 commandments is grasping at straws as well.  You can't just take one little snippet of the Bible and use that to justify whatever you want to believe.  The Sabbath is a continuing theme from Genesis to Revelation, supported by Jesus and the Ten Commandments (which are upheld, not done away with by Paul).

Just think about this for a second:  If this is real truth, upheld by God, then you can't afford not to give it a chance.  Instead of deciding that it is to unreasonable and uncomfortable to change your weekly routine and mustering every loophole in wording that you can find, take some time to study this out.  Check it out from a holistic Biblical point of view.  Read about it on a PRO-Sabbath website.  If you are out to disprove it, you won't be giving it a fair chance.  If you do give it a fair chance, and still decide that it's not necessary, then so be it.  But more often than not, any discussion about the sacredness of the Sabbath is met with hateful remarks, sarcasm, misinformation, and small snippets of text that can be interpreted any way the reader wants them to be.  As Christians, maybe you should pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you, and study this out to MAKE SURE that you know what God's will on the matter is.

Does that not make sense?

The sabbath is a recurring theme in the Mosaic Law.  I am not a Jew, or bound by the Mosaic Law.  The early Christians met for worship and teaching on the 1st day (Troas - Acts 20).

Read Gal. 5:4

[kayakguy]

The sabbath is a recurring theme in the Mosaic Law.  I am not a Jew, or bound by the Mosaic Law.  The early Christians met for worship and teaching on the 1st day (Troas - Acts 20).

I want you to directly tell me what you think of the ten commandments.  Are they valid today or not?

And like I said above, that was just the LAST DAY that Paul was there, and the day that Eutychus fell out of the window.  He was there for a week, teaching every day!

Read Gal. 5:4

So I am estranged from Christ because of my belief in the Sabbath?  Or is it because I want to share that with others?
That was a very hostile remark my friend.  Matt. 7:20

[gospel]

The Sabbath is observed from sundown Friday night to sundown Saturday night.
Saturday has been the seventh day of the week since before the Gregorian calendar.  This is commonly accepted as historical fact.
What exactly is your point?

It is my understanding that historically, according to Jewish custom the Jewish day has always been observed as starting at sundown Friday, so for them that is Saturday.

Something like there are languages that are read from right to left 

[blituri]

Sabbath never meant SATURDAY: SABBATH means REST and you rest from WORK.  Work would prevent you from moving more than about 700 feet from your "precinct" and from "sending out ministers of God."

REST would outlaw singing and playing instruments (specificially outlawed for the Qahal or church in the wilderness.)

REST would be to QUARANTINE you from the "seventh day" worship which along with the tithe were Babylonian.

REST would permit the Holy Convocation in your small community to READ the Word of God and rehearse it so that the PURPOSE DRIVEN CHURCH would let you all memorize a portion of Scripture beginning with Moses instructing the tribal elders and sub elders who could carry a whole bucket of the Word in their mind trained in the oral tradition.

The sacrificial system had been IMPOSED as the "worship of the starry host." They could PROFANE the sabbath which word includes playing the flute, stealing people's inheritance (tithes), polluting or prostituting BECAUSE they were the manifestaiton of the EVIL VISUAL AID.  Only the Tribe of Levi could participate and THEY were the old Dionysus clergy from Egypt.

Father Jacob said DON'T ATTEND THE ASSEMBLIES of the tribe of LEVI: they had NO INHERITANCE.  Because the tribe of Levi continued to offer sacrifices on the Sabbath, Jacob OUTLAWED seventh day "worship."

Everyone else RESTED with Local BIBLE STUDY permitted.

The TRUE REST was prophesied to be ANOTHER DAY and the REST word or the LADED BURDEN outlaws rhetoricians, singers, instrument players or anything intended to take your eyes of Christ and your mind (spirit) off the Words of Christ specificially in the prophets.

The Christians never ceased meeting on the FIRST day of the week which was the first WORK DAY.  Constantine gave the Christians and many military converts ANOTHER day of REST.  The church continued to assemble on the FIRST day of the week.  Because the SABBATH was really devoted to Apollo and the SUN gods (within the same Jewish time frame), Christians were FORBIDDEN to participate in the Sabbath day Sun worship which was a big, wild party.  They continued to promote the study of the Word on the SEVENTH DAY.

if the SABBATH commandment is still in effect: REST and don't PROFANE it by doing the same cultic practices as on the FIRST day. PROFANING the Sabbath at Mount Sinai included singing and playing instruments which then and now stirred up sexual feelings which are NOT a holy spirit.

[kayakguy]

Jesus said in Mark 2:27: "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."

It is not, and never was meant to be a day where you couldn't walk more than a certain distance, or spit on a plant, or feed your animals.  The pharisees had twisted the Sabbath and become so extremely legalistic, that Jesus had to do something about it.

Where do you get all these definitions for rest and work?  The Sabbath is simply a day to set aside worldly concerns and focus on God, all the things He has made, and all the blessings He has given us.  We REST from the day in, day out stresses and concerns of this world.

I encourage you, before you get all hateful and judgmental, to attend a Sabbatarian church.  Give it a chance as a legitimate group of honest-to-God Christians who are doing their best according to the truth as they see it.