We must first address the question, how did Sabbath get changed from the 7th to the 1st day? This is a VERY big question and I'll only address it briefly.
In around 325 AD, the Council of Nicaea was held under the Emperor Constantine. In an effort to unite the many religions under Constantine's vast empire, he established or created the "Christian" religion. Essentially what Constantine did was take the pagan beliefs and pagan ways of worship, and rebranded them as "Christian." The ways of worship adopted by the state wide religion of Christianity were not found in the bible but were those that were commonly practiced by the pagans living at that time (SUNday worship, winter solstice "Christmas" and spring solstice worship "Easter," among others). The process of blending pagan beliefs and ways of worship with the biblical beliefs and ways of worship is called syncretism.
The people of the Roman empire were largely pagans who worshipped various sun deities. Pagans had an official day of worship just like the biblical Hebrews. However, the pagan day of worship was NOT the biblical day of worship. The pagans worshipped their sun deities on Sol Invictus which is the Invincible day of the Sun, or SUNday. Constantine was a himself a sun worshipper, worshipping the sun deity Mithra. The day to worship for Mithra was of course, SUNday as Mithra is a sun deity. Constantine wanted to keep the day of worship consistent with the day the pagans already worshipped their gods. So, to make the roll out of Christianity more palatable to the mainly pagan constituents, the biblical day of worship (Sabbath) was rejected. Instead, the Sabbath was REPLACED with the pagan day of worship. Not having to change their day of worship, the pagans could more easily assimilate to "Christianity."
Some 40ish years later, in approximately 363 AD, there was another council held called the Council of Laodicea. At this council, the leaders of Christianity formalized "Christian beliefs" by writing 60 canons. Canon 29 actually outlawed the observance of Sabbath. Said another way, the "Christian" church made obeying the 4rth Commandment an offense worthy of excommunication. Ummm. Strange.
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 then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be Judaizes, let them be anathema from Christ.
To obey the church, you must disobey the Creator? I'm hoping you are at a minimum seeing red flags at this point. There is so much history that should be examined and learned, this is just a brief overview. I know the earnest truth seeker will research this topic themselves. The moral of the story is that MAN changed the time of worship, not the bible. On that point, I am fully convinced. But let's look at the common biblical reasons people site to justify Sun-day worship.
Was Messiah resurrected on SUNday? Making SUNday the appropriate day to worship?
We know church leaders officially changed Sabbath to Sunday at the councils of Nicaea and Laodicea, but are there scriptures to back up changing the days? Many think Sunday worship is justified because they are celebrating the day of Messiah's resurrection. I hate, hate, hate, hate having to say this, but I don't think He was resurrected on Sun-day. If we use Messiah's own prophecy, that math does not add up.
But He (Messiah) answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and [yet] no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. MATTHEW 12:39-40.
If Messiah died on Friday afternoon and rose on Sunday morning as is the "accepted timeline," that's 2 days. In no way can I get three days and three nights from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. If Messiah actually died on Friday and rose on Sunday, He would be the false Messiah by His own standard, not fulfilling His own prophecy. I believe Yahusha the Messiah is the true Messiah and He did fulfill the prophecy of Jonah. He was dead three full days and three full nights before being resurrected. I do not believe Messiah was killed on "good Friday." What is "good" about the Messiah being crucified is beyond me, but let's move on from that thought. So when did He die?
I believe Messiah was killed on Passover fulfilling the prophecy of the Passover Lamb. The unblemished Passover lamb was ALWAYS meant to foreshadow Messiah. Said another way, the lamb is a prophetic shadow picture of the true and Lamb without spot or blemish, the sinless Messiah Yahusha (1 Peter 2:21). This truth is hidden from the masses since we are taught we no longer need to celebrate or understand YHWH's holy days which are ALL prophetic shadow pictures of the promised Messiah's first and second coming. Which makes more sense. Messiah died on a random day that just happened to NOT be Passover, 2 days later He rose. Or Messiah died on Passover because He was the Passover lamb, being dead 3 days and 3 nights, just as He stated He would?
I believe Messiah died on Wednesday, on Passover, and rose on Sabbath fulfilling the prophetic shadow picture of Sabbath day, read more about the prophetic shadow picture of Sabbath in my post HERE. Anywho, let's do the math:
Wednesday day 0 night 1 - PASSOVER
Thursday day 1 night 2
Friday day 2 night 3
Saturday day 3 RESURRECTED - SABBATH
If we do the accepted timeline, WE CANNOT GET TO THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS. No way, no how. Mary and Mary came early on the 1st day, SUNDAY and found the tomb empty. That would make sense in the above timeline because He rose on Sabbath or Saturday. In the accepted timeline, He would have only been dead for 2 nights and 1 day. If you never realized this basic math problem, you're not alone. Neither did I... When I first read about the problem of the timeline, I wondered how I could have been so easily led to believe something that just plain doesn't add up. YHWH willing I will write more on the death/resurrection timeline when I address Ishtar, I mean Easter. For now, let's move on.
People have been debated the death and resurrection timeline for millennia. I do not claim to have it figured out. I could be wrong. However, it just makes sense the day He would die and resurrect would correlate to our Creator's holy days. Before moving on, I have to address a verse in Mark that throws the above timeline out of the window. It's Mark 16:9-20. Specifically, Mark 16:9
[Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.] MARK 16:9
In my NASB 1995 bible, we are told on the "ABBREVIAIONS AND SPECIAL MARKINGS PAGE" (pic also included for your reference):
[] = In text, brackets indicate words probably not in the original writings
Hold the phone. They ADDED words they KNOW were not in the original writings? Whatever happened to infallible? To not adding or subtracting from His words? Strange. Very strange. Well, wouldn't you know it, Mark 16:9-20 are all in BRACKETS. So, the verse telling us He rose on the first day was added later and not in the original writings according to the authors of the 1995 NASB bible. So there's that.
SUNday is the Day of the LORD so we should worship then right?
The words "day of the Lord" appear 27 times in the NASB bible. However, when reading the actual verses, there are none that are referring to Messiah's resurrection. Rather, the day of the Lord is describing the day YHWH will return and destroy the earth with fire. Quick note, "the LORD" is a title inappropriately used to substitute the Creator's true name - YHWH. I'm going to leave the title of "the LORD" in the scriptures since we're discussing "the day of the LORD" specifically. Below are just a few of the verses to give you an idea:
Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. ISAIAH 13:6
Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty. JOEL 1:15
Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the LORD'S wrath; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth. ZEPHANIAH 1:18
Gather yourselves together, yes, gather, O nation without shame, Before the decree takes effect-- The day passes like the chaff-- Before the burning anger of the LORD (Yahuah) comes upon you, Before the day of the LORD'S anger comes upon you. ZEPHANIA 2:1-2
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 2 PETER 3:10
I think you get the point. The "day of the Lord" is not the day of Messiah's resurrection. Rather, the day we will experience the wrath of YHWH as described in the book of Revelation which tells us how the earth will end.
"Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" REVELATION 6:16-17
The day of Messiah's resurrection is the most joyous day of human history. The Day of the Lord (Yahuah) will be the end of the world as we know it. Downright terrifying really. Honestly, I'm not sure how we got the two mixed up. I did a study specifically on "the day of the Lord," click here to read more.
My Conclusion on the Biblical Support for Changing Sabbath to Sunday
After much searching, I was unable to find any law in the bible telling us to go to church on Sunday. Please do your own research. From what I can tell, the practice of Sun-day worship comes down to the teachings of men, not from our Creator. The bible warns us against disobeying the Laws of Yahuah in favor of the traditions of man.
Then Yahuah said, "Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned [by rote]. ISAIAH 29:13
Messiah speaking: invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down... MARK 7:13
And He (Messiah) said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. Mar 7:7 'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.' MARK 7:7
Sabbath was observed by YHWH, the Israelites, Messiah, and the early church. The bible states Sabbath as a law over 40 times (26 are a DIRECT quote from the Creator Himself). Sabbath is on the 7th day and is observed by resting from your work, as YHWH rested from His (Genesis 2:1-3). I've included many verses at the of this page as a start for study, but please do your own research. Your eternal life depends on it.
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