Part Eight
Sunday-The Venerable Day of the Sun
In 321 Constantine made Sunday a public holiday and put into effect what might be called the world’s first “blue laws.” The edict proclaimed, “All judges, city people, and craftsmen shall rest on the venerable day of the Sun.
The Ten Commandments were first written on stone and in the New Covenant they were written on men’s hearts so that they would not sin against their God and Creator by breaking His Commandments. (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 10:16) However, when the Gentiles began coming into salvation, the New Covenant was under attack by the Roman Emperor Constantine. During his reign, his anti-messiah spirit began to permeate the church. This caused a growing repugnance to the biblical Sabbath. “The Romans misrepresented the Sabbath and the Sabbath year as caused by laziness.”1 In 321 Constantine made Sunday a public holiday and put into effect what might be called the world’s first “blue laws.” The edict proclaimed, “All judges, city people, and craftsmen shall rest on the venerable day of the Sun. Despite the edict, many Christians continued the long-standing practice of observing the ... Sabbath (Saturday) as well, until the mid-360’s when the church forbade it.2 It was not until 789, in the days of Charlemagne, that the Christian Sunday actually took over the characteristics of the ... Sabbath completely and became not merely a day of worship but also a day of rest.3
The emperor Constantine had been an avid sun-worshiper before he made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire. With a half-hearted attitude toward the Holy Scriptures, he fused parts of true messianic worship with parts of popular pagan worship. Many Christian doctrines evolved from this unholy fusion.The official transition from observance of the Sabbath to Sunday as the day of rest occurred at the Council of Laodicea. The edicts from this council forbade Christians to observe the biblical Sabbath. This practice was identified as “Judaizing” and was deemed totally unacceptable to the Christian religion. Christians were required to work on that day in order to prove their irreverence toward Yahveh’s ordained Sabbath.
The state religion of Rome transferred the biblical day of rest from the seventh day (the Sabbath) to “SUN-day.” Instead of the seventh day being dedicated to the One True God, its name was replaced with “SATUR-day,” honoring the pagan deity Saturn."
Following the Council of Laodicea, the seventh day of the week—the true Sabbath—lost its biblical name. As mentioned previously, this holy day was now being called by its pagan name, “SATUR-day.” The state religion of Rome transferred the biblical day of rest from the seventh day (the Sabbath) to “SUN-day.” Instead of the seventh day being dedicated to the One True God, its name was replaced with “SATUR-day,” honoring the pagan deity Saturn. Thus Yahveh’s Sabbath was nullified and perverted through a religious system rooted in paganism and ancient sun worship. The ancient Serpent had once again cunningly hidden the holy Hebrew root under that which is rooted in profane paganism. The prophet Jeremiah foresaw a day when the Gentiles would recognize that they had inherited lies. “O Yahveh ... to Thee the nations (Gentiles) will come from the ends of the earth and say, ‘Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood ...’ (Jeremiah 16:19)
During the dark centuries of the Middle Ages, the religious leaders blatantly declared that tradition stood above Scripture and insisted that the authority of the church was not bound to the authority of the Scriptures.
During the dark centuries of the Middle Ages, ordinary people had no access to the Scriptures. When the Bible became available through the printing press during the Reformation, the infallible authority of the Word was contested by the religious leaders of that day. These leaders blatantly declared that tradition stood above Scripture and insisted that the authority of the church was not bound to the authority of the Scriptures. Thus the failure to observe the Creator’s Sabbath as He had commanded was openly stated to have been by the church’s own authority and not by the command of Messiah.
Yahveh had warned His people through the prophet Ezekiel: “Her priests [religious leaders] have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, … and they hide their eyes from My Sabbaths …” (Ezekiel 22:26)
Yahshua (Jesus) the Messiah spoke vehemently to the hypocritically religious about their man-made traditions, “… you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’” (Matthew 15:6-9) Given the fact that our Almighty God and Savior was so explicit in requiring obedience of His Ten Commandments and continually singled out the keeping of the Sabbath, how dare we lean on our own understanding and accept the distorted doctrines that have arisen through “Gentilized” Christianity? If the Holy One ever intended for His fourth commandment to be nullified or changed to another day, it would have been magnified throughout the Old and New Testament Scriptures. This simply is not the case. Let’s not pick and choose the preferred parts of truth that are convenient to our life-styles. Let us wholeheartedly embrace Yahveh’s commandments, which He says “are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)
The Sabbath is the crowning day of the week. It serves as a vivid illustration of the coming messianic kingdom—the hope of the righteous remnant. The culmination of the ages will be the ultimate Shabbat Shalom, the long-awaited Sabbath peace of Yahveh God’s messianic kingdom, often referred to as the Millennium. Listen to what the Holy Creator says concerning His eternal Sabbath: “For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord Yahveh, “… it shall be … from Sabbath to Sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before Me … “ (Isaiah 66:22-23) Long ago, the prophet Isaiah recorded the Mighty One’s unchanging words of promise to redeemed Jews and Gentiles who would be joined through the blood of Yahshua (Jesus), “Thus says the Almighty … “do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come And my righteousness to be revealed. How blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who takes hold of it; Who keeps from profaning the Sabbath … Also the foreigners [Gentiles] who join themselves to Yahveh, to minister to Him, and to love the name of Yahveh, to be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant; Even those I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. …” (Isaiah 56:1-2, 6-7) Let those who wholeheartedly desire to understand and obey the Almighty’s commandments seek Him with all their hearts, souls, and strength while He may be found. Listen to the words of Charles Spurgeon, Christianity’s “Prince of Preachers,” who always used the Law of Yahveh to bring true conviction.
“All the Ten Commandments, like ten great cannons, are pointed at thee today,… Soul! Thou wilt find it a hard thing to go to war with the Law. … What will ye do when the Law comes in terror,… when the great book shall be opened, and all your sin and shame shall be punished?” 4
- Christianity's "Prince of Preachers", Charles Spurgeon-
Our God and Savior is calling the holy remnant, the “one new man,” both Jew and Gentile, to “rebuild the ancient ruins” that lie under the crumbing edifices of man-tainted religious systems. (Ephesians 2:14-16, Isaiah 58:12) We need to seriously seek Yahveh regarding these holy issues. His Spirit of Truth will lead and ground us in His perfect will.
“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” (1John 2:3)
“The conclusion, When all has been heard, is: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. (Ecclesiastics 12:13)
A final note of encouragement. Those who are part of the faithful redeemed remnant through the blood of the Lamb covering their sins, and the power of the Holy Spirit living in them are all being transformed from glory to glory. This is an on going process by which Yahshua’s (Jesus’s) Spirit will be the One who leads and establishes us on His holy foundation of truth. Avoid legalism, but seek righteousness. This may be a very difficult crossroads for most of you. However, it is a vital issue that must not be taken lightly. Yahveh proclaims through Jeremiah, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls…” (Jeremiah 6:16)
Footnotes
1 Footnote for Ne 10:31. The NIV Study Bible, op. cit., p. 710.
2 Gayla Visalli, ed., After Jesus—The Triumph of Christianity (Pleasantville, NY: The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., 1992), p. 239.
3 Jacob R. Marcus, The Jew in Medieval World (New York: Atheneum, 1969), p. 104.
4 Ray Comfort, Hell’s Best Kept Secret (Springdale, PA: Whitaker House. (1989), pp. 23-24
For Additional Teachings on the Sabbath
