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First thoughts...
The bible is very clear in one of the Ten Commandants, that we are to rest on the 7th day!
But, when is
the 7th day? How Did the Days of the Week Get Their Names?
In 4000 BC the Babylonians divided the year into weeks of 7 days each... 7 days because they could see the sun, the moon, and 5 planets. They decided that the Sun ruled the first day of the week, that the Moon ruled the second day of the week, and that the 5 planets ruled the other 5 days of the week.
In 1200 BC the Greek civilization grew in prominence and they adopted the Babylonian system of a week of 7 days... but they changed the naming. They called the first day of the week hemera helio (day of the Sun) and the second day of the week hemera selenes (day of the Moon). They named Tuesday Ares; Wednesday Hermes; Thursday Zeus; Friday Aphrodite and Saturday Kronos.
In 45 BC Julius Caesar of the Roman Empire created a new calendar based on the same seven-day system of the Greeks, but he replaced the Names of the Greek Gods With Their Gods... the first day (Sunday) they called Solis, Monday they called Lunae, Tuesday they called Martis, Wednesday they called Mercurii, Thursday they called Jovis, Friday they called Veneris, Saturday they called Saturn.
In 321 AD the Roman Emperor Constantine, a convert to Christianity, changed the name of Sunday to "dominicus" (which means "The Lord's Day" in Latin), and decreed that the first day of the week would be a day of rest and worship.
In 476 AD the Roman Empire fell, and Anglo-Saxon tribes made their mark on the world by renaming the days of the week yet again. The first day of the week Sunday became “Sonnandæg” (Old English for sun was "Sonnan" and day was "daeg"). Monday became "Monandæg"; Tuesday became “Tiwesdæg”; Wednesday became "Wodnesdaeg"; Thursday became "Thosdaeg"; Friday became "Frigadæg”, and Saturday became “Saeternsdæge". Then convert the Old English to current American English and we get the following... "Monandaeg" to Monday, "Tiwesdaeg" to Tuesday, "Wodnesdaeg" to Wednesday, etc.
So, in summarizing the above... all calendars from 4000 BC to today have Monday as the 1st day of the week and the 7th day as Saturday. It would seem obvious that we should rest on Saturday (the 7th day)! However, in 321 AD Constantine decreed that Sunday, the first day of the week, would be a day of rest and worship. Soon after that the Catholic Church decreed that Sunday would be the day of worship... and soon after that most religions followed the Catholic lead and decreed that Sunday would be the day of worship!
So... where does that lead us... lets look at some scriptures and see what we can find.
Biblical References...
Genesis 2:2-3...
"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.
Then God
blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His
work which God had created and made."
Exodus 20:8-11...
"Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
For six
days you shall labor and do all your work, but
the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your
God; on
it you
shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or
your female slave, or your cattle, or your resident
who
stays with you.
For in six
days the Lord made
the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested
on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed
the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Exodus 31:12-17...
"Now
the Lord spoke
to Moses, saying, “Now
as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You must keep My Sabbaths;
for this is
a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, so that you may know that
I am the Lord who
sanctifies you.
Therefore
you are to keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes
it must be put to death; for whoever does any work
on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.
For six
days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete
rest, holy to the Lord;
whoever does any work
on the Sabbath day must be put to death.
So the sons
of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their
generations as a permanent covenant.’
It is a
sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from
labor, and
was refreshed.”
Romans 14:5...
"One person values
one day over another, another values every day the
same.
Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind."
Colossians 2:14...
"having
canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was
hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the
cross."
Colossians 2:16...
"Therefore,
no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink, or in respect to a
festival or a new moon, or a Sabbath day."
Galatians 4:9-10...
"But
now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that
you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles, to which
you want to be enslaved all over again?
You
meticulously observe days and months and seasons and years."
Acts 20:7...
"On
the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began
talking to them..."
1st
Corinthians 16:2...
"On
the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save as he may
prosper, so that no collections need
to be
made when I come."
Mark 2:27-28...
"Jesus
said to them, “The
Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”
Mark 10:19...
"You
know the commandments: ‘Do
not murder,
Do
not commit adultery,
Do
not steal,
Do
not give false testimony,
Do not defraud, Honor
your father and mother.”
Mark 16:1-2...
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of
James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.
Very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had
risen.
Luke 23:53-56...
And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen
cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.
It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and
saw the tomb and how His body was laid.
Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes.
And
on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
Galatians 4:4-5...
"But
when the fullness of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born
under the Law, so
that He might redeem those who were under the Law,..."
Discussion thoughts...
the Geneses 2:2-3
scripture is very clear... God rested on the 7th day; He also
blessed and sanctified the 7th day! So
from the very beginning of time the 7th day was a blessed, sanctified day (the
word "Sabbath" was not used anywhere in the bible until the Ten Commandants were
given to Moses, when the Israelites were on their way to the "promised land"
approximately 2500 years after the creation). The word "Sabbath or
Shabbat" is an original Hebrew word which originally meant in Hebrew "to cease,
to end, to rest"... the first time the word Sabbath was used in the Old
Testament was in Exodus 20:8 as quoted above (there
is no biblical record of a "day of rest", or "day of worship" prior to that
scripture). In Exodus 31:12-17 God made a
permanent covenant that Israelites were to keep the Sabbath (the 7th day)
as a day of rest and holy! Romans 14:5
Apostle Paul explains that each of us can choose which day we value over another
(this seems to say that each of us can decide which day of the week we want to make as our day of
Sabbath rest)!
Colossians 2:14...
explains that decrees against us (Old Testament Laws) have been nailed to the
cross and taken out of our way!
Colossians 2:16
says
it even clearer... no one can judge us in regard to food, drink, festival, new
moon, or Sabbath day! Galatians
4:9-10
explains that once we have accepted Jesus as our savior we
no longer should adhere to old principles (old laws)!
Acts 20:7 clearly states that Apostle Paul met with
people of Troas on the first day of the week (Sunday) to break bread and talk.
1st
Corinthians 16:2
seems to suggest that Sunday is the day of the week to donate to the Church.
In Mark 2:27-28 Jesus said the Sabbath was made for
man, and not man for the Sabbath... some scholars take this to mean that it is
good for man to rest, and not that man was made for the Sabbath.
In
Galatians 4:4-5 Apostle
Paul seems to suggest that Jesus was sent to redeem (remove) those from being
under the law?
Probably the most compelling description of what day the Sabbath is on is
described in Mark 16:1-2 and Luke 23:53-56... these verses describe that they
took down the body of Jesus on preparation day (Friday) and placed him in the
tomb... and on the next day (the Sabbath) they rested... and on the 1st day of
the week (Sunday) they came to anoint him.
My Beliefs...
It is
obvious from Mark 16:1-2 and Luke 23:53-56 that the Sabbath is on Saturday.
Romans 14:5 seems to suggests that it is left up to us what day we want to
"rest"... some people may have a job that requires them to work on Sunday (such
as firefighters, police, the dairy farmer that must milk his cows EVERY day,
etc.)... it seems that Romans 14:5 allows us to choose what day to "rest".
In
Galatians 4:4-5 Apostle Paul seems to suggest that we have been removed from
"The Law" (one of the Laws was the 4th Commandant... "keep the Sabbath Holy").
I find it interesting that nine of the Ten Commandants are repeated at various
places in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, 1st John, James, Colossians, and
Revelation)... the 4th Commandment "Keep the Sabbath Holy" is not mentioned!
This seems to correlate with Paul's comment that we have been removed from "old
laws".
It
goes without saying that we must keep all days "Holy" but we need to dedicate
"one day" as rest (personal comment... I dedicate Sundays to create these bible
studies).
See
our other study "Is is OK to Work on the Sabbath? |