Who changed the Sabbath?
My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of existence.
These little problems help me to do so.
My name is Lex, and welcome to UNLEARN.
Today, I'm going to solve the mystery of "who changed the Sabbath"?
You know my methods. I need data. It's a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.
Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. So,
we're going to look at the data, analyze the facts,
and come to a logical conclusion at the end. After we eliminate all other factors,
the one which remains must be the truth. The game is afoot, so let's begin.
Where do we begin? Isn't it obvious? We begin at the beginning. As
we open the Bible, we find that the Sabbath is woven into creation.
"Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God
ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He
had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all
His work which God had created and made. - Genesis 2:1-3
God sanctified the Sabbath as a foundational act in creation. So, I did an exhaustive study
of the Sabbath in the Bible. I was looking for anything that might explain the change in
the Sabbath from the 7th day to the 1st day of the week. I found lots of data. There are over
a hundred verses in the Bible that speak about the Sabbath, and I examined every single one of them.
"Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, there will be none...
See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath..." - Exodus 16:26-29
"And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man,
and not man for the Sabbath." - Mark 2:27
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your
God. In it you shall do no work..." - Exodus 20:8-10
"And they rested on the Sabbath according to the
commandment." - Luke 23:56
"It is a sign between Me and the children of
Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He
rested and was refreshed.'" - Exodus 31:17
"So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham... be loosed from
this bond on the Sabbath?" - Luke 13:16
"Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their
generations as a PERPETUAL covenant." - Exodus 31:16
"So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, THE GENTILES begged that these words might be preached
to them the next Sabbath." - Acts 13:42
"...And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me,"
says the Lord." - Isaiah 66:23
"And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both
Jews and Greeks." - Acts 16:13
"...it is the Sabbath of the Lord
in all your dwellings." - Leviticus 23:3
"For the Son of Man is LORD OF THE SABBATH." - Matthew 12:8
There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact. And the obvious fact is...
There is no record of the Sabbath ever being changed in the Bible. Yeshua kept the Sabbath,
His disciples kept the Sabbath, and even the Gentile converts kept the Sabbath.
Yeshua even calls Himself "Lord of the Sabbath", indicating that He owns it.
While it's true that the early church met in homes daily,
that doesn't negate the fact that they continued to keep the Sabbath. There
is also a mention of Paul preaching on the First Day of the week, but the text explains that it's
because he has to leave on a trip the next day, indicating it was for special circumstances. Also,
this event seems to occur on Saturday night leading up to midnight, not Sunday morning.
"Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread,
Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message
until midnight." - Acts 20:7
We also have a record of Paul teaching Gentiles in Corinth
for a year and a half. There are 52 Sabbaths in a year,
plus half a year, which is 26 more Sabbaths, which equals 78 Sabbaths just in Corinth alone.
The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes. And the second fact
I learned is that the Sabbath is always on the 7th day of the week. This may seem obvious,
but there are people who seem to think the Sabbath can be any day they choose. This is a terrible
mistake on their part because they're making exceptions. Never make exceptions. An exception
disproves the rule. And the rule is, the Sabbath is always and only on the 7th day of the week.
The third fact I ascertained in my study is that the Sabbath is
an everlasting sign between God and His people.
Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon
the details. What is out of the common is usually a guide rather than a hindrance.
Another fact I discovered is that the Bible spoke about apostasy that would come in the Church.
"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will ABANDON THE FAITH and follow deceiving
spirits and things taught by demons." - 1 Timothy 4:1
"...and they will TURN THEIR EARS AWAY FROM THE TRUTH, and be turned
aside to fables." -2 Timothy 4:3-4
"But there were also false prophets among the people,
even as there will be FALSE TEACHERS AMONG YOU, who will secretly bring in
destructive heresies..." - 2 Peter 2:1
"You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand,
beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the
ERROR OF THE WICKED" - 2 Peter 3:17
"...He who says, "I know Him," and DOES NOT KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, IS A LIAR,
and the truth is not in him." - 1 John 2:3-4
As I stated, "What is out of the common is usually a guide rather than a hindrance." And I believe
this warning about false teachers and apostasy is a guide to unveiling the truth in this matter.
I had to get to the bottom of this mystery. I searched the Bible from cover to cover and found
nothing about any change in the Sabbath. So, my search took me outside the Bible. I began looking
into Church history, and it didn't take me long to find what I was looking for. And I have something
very interesting to show you. Come at once if convenient... If inconvenient, come all the same.
Every story needs a good old-fashioned villain.
And Constantine is ours. Constantine was the Roman Emperor from 306-337
A.D. Constantine ended Christian persecution with the Edict of Milan in 313 AD. But on 7 March 321,
Constantine decreed that Sunday would be observed as the Roman day of rest saying,
"On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest,
and let all workshops be closed" (Codex Justinianus lib. 3, tit. 12,
3; trans. in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 3, p. 380, note 1)
So, the 5th fact to consider is that Constantine ordered Sunday observance in the Roman Empire.
Now, the next fact I found is actually an admission of guilt
in this matter. You see, the Catholic Church claims they changed the Sabbath to Sunday
by their own authority at the Council of Laodicea in the fourth century. I
found it in the Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, which says,
“Which is the Sabbath day? Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because
the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea, transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.
By what authority did the Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?
The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday by the plenitude of that
divine power which Jesus Christ bestowed upon her.”
So, what was actually said in the Council of Laodicea?
“Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day,
rather honouring the Lord's Day; and, if they can,
resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers,
let them be anathema from Christ.” - Council of Laodicea, canon 29, AD 363
There's an obvious clue here that many people overlook. Christians were still keeping the
Sabbath in the 4th century. Otherwise, why would the Catholic Church need to forbid it?
The Catholic Catechism explains why Catholics keep Sunday. But
why do Christians keep Sunday? Ultimately, it comes down to tradition. The Catholic Church
kept Sunday for so long that when the Protestant Reformers finally broke away from the Catholic
Church, they retained many of the deeply embedded traditions, such as Sunday worship.
Now, the obvious question we need ask
is... "Who has the authority to change one of God's commandments?"
You have a grand gift for silence. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion.
Let me put it to you bluntly. No one has the authority to change any of God's commandments.
"You shall not add to the word which I command you,
nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God
which I command you." - Deuteronomy 4:2
Having gathered these facts, I analyzed the data to separate
those which were crucial from others which were merely incidental. And
I've come to the only logical conclusion possible. But first, let's review the facts.
FACT #1 - the Sabbath was never changed in the Bible
FACT #2 - the Sabbath is always on the 7th day FACT #3 - the Sabbath is an eternal sign
FACT #4 - the Bible spoke of apostasy that would come
FACT #5 - Constantine ordered Sunday observance
FACT #6 - the Catholic Church claims they changed the Sabbath
FACT #7 - no one has the authority to change God's commandments
So... what's the conclusion? Why... it's Elementary my dear.
Just think about it. When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable,
must be the truth. And the truth is... no one changed the Sabbath. The Sabbath will always
be the 7th day of the week, and it will always remain as a sign between God and His people.
The Sabbath didn't change, it's the people who changed. Certain men decided they didn't want to
keep God's commandments anymore, so they stopped, and they convinced others to join them in their
apostasy. The Bible warned us about these false teachers who would creep in and corrupt the faith.
But today, most Christians keep Sunday in ignorance. Unaware of these crucial facts
that we have uncovered. But it's better to learn wisdom late than never to learn it at all.
There's nothing more to be said or done tonight, so hand me my violin and let's try to forget for
half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable ways of our fellowmen.