The Change of the
Sabbath
Lesson 16
Marking Code: CS
Marking Color: Black
Key Text: Ecclesiastes 3:14
Note: There was
no question in the time of Christ and
the apostles as to which day
was the Sabbath. Since the Bible
plainly states that the seventh day,
Saturday, is the Sabbath, why do the
majority of Christians keep the first
day of the week? How did it change?
1.
Ecclesiastes 3:14. When God
does something, it stands forever.
Psalm 89:34; Isaiah 40:8; Malachi
3:6; Matthew 5:17-19.
2.
Daniel 7:25. Bible prophecy
predicts that a power would arise
that would intend to change times and
laws. The Sabbath commandment is the
only one of the Ten Commandments that
deals with time.
Note: Since the
New Testament gives no hint of a
change from the seventh-day Sabbath
to Sunday, we must turn to history
and prophecy. Note in outline form
these steps in apostasy resulting in
the change of the Sabbath from the
seventh day of the week to the first
day.
·
A.D. 132-135. Jews were discredited
and persecuted by Rome as a result of
the Bar Kochba revolt. Christians
became increasingly sensitive to any
identification of themselves with
Jews. The seventh-day Sabbath was one
thing both Jews and Christians had in
common.
·
Christians began to minimize Sabbath
keeping. Many Christians had been
pagan’s sun-worshipers before
their conversion to Christ. They had
honored the first day of the week-the
“sun day.” They began to
reason that if they adopted some of
the pagan customs, Christianity would
have more appeal to pagans.
·
Sunday first came into the Christian
church as a holiday, not as a day of
worship. Then for centuries, both the
first day and the seventh day were
observed. However, under the
influence of paganism and
persecution, Sunday became
emphasized, and the seventh-day
Sabbath was minimized.
·
A.D. 321. Emperor Constantine decreed
that all government offices, courts,
and artisans’ shops be closed on
the first day of the week-the
“venerable day of the sun.”
·
A.D. 364. The council of Laodicea
(Canon 29) stipulated that the Church
had changed the day of the rest from
the seventh day to the first day of
the week.
Note: Both
Protestants and Catholics acknowledge
this change:
·
Roman Catholic. “The
church… substituted the
observance of Sunday…for the
observance of Saturday…a change
for which there is no Scriptural
authority” (Stephen Keenan, A
Doctrinal Catechism, p. 174).
·
Roman Catholic. “You may
read the Bible from Genesis to
Revelation, and you will not find a
single line authorizing the
sanctification of Sunday. The
scriptures enforce the religious
observance of Saturday, a day which
we never sanctify? (Cardinal Gibbon,
The Faith of Our Fathers, p. 89).
·
Lutheran. “They (Roman
Catholic) allege the Sabbath changed
into Sunday, the Lord’s day,
contrary to the Decalogue, as it
appears … The Church dispensed
with one of the Ten
Commandments”(Augsburg
Confession, article XXVIII).
·
Methodist. “There is no
positive command… for keeping
holy the first day of the week”
(Amos Binney, Theological Compendium,
pp. 180, 181).
·
Congregationalist: “It is
quite clear that however rigidly or
devoutly we may spend Sunday, we are
not keeping the Sabbath” (R.W.
Dale, The Ten commandments, pp. 106,
107).
·
Presbyterian. “The moral
law doth forever bind us all….
Neither doth Christ in the gospel any
way dissolve, but much strengthens
this obligation” (The
Constitution of the Presbyterian
Church in the USA).
·
Church of England. “There
is no word, no hint in the New
Testament about abstaining from work
on Sunday…. Into the rest of
Sunday no divine law enters”
(Canon Eyton, The Ten Commandments).
3.
Matthew 15:9. Jesus warns of
worship that follows human traditions
rather than the doctrines of God. He
says that such worship is in vain.
4.
Isaiah 58:12-14. The Bible
speaks of those who would bring about
a restoration of God’s holy
Sabbath.
5.
John 9:41. God does not condemn
us when we break His commandments in
ignorance or unknowingly.
6.
Acts 5:29. When we understand the
issues, we should obey God rather
than the commandments of men.
Romans 6:16.
CS-End.
