Now here were my questions 10 years ago. “Why don’t we keep the Sabbath? Why do we worship on Sunday instead of Saturday? When did the day get changed and who decided this? Where in Scripture does it say that the Sabbath is now on Sunday and not on Saturday?”
Hopefully I can answer these for you as I know these same questions and questions like it have entered into some of your minds as well.
There is nowhere in Scripture that states that the Sabbath is now on Sunday instead of Fri-Sat. Most people will agree that the Sabbath is Fri-Sat. Where the debate stands is do we have to keep it. However, some will argue that it doesn’t really matter what day you choose to worship or keep as a day of rest as long as you do it on one day, so it could be on Tuesday. Let’s investigate these beliefs. First let’s establish one thing. As a believer in Yahshua and a servant of Yahweh, it does not matter what men think or say, including what you yourself “thinks” or “feels”. What I mean by this is that I may “think” or “feel” that something should be a certain way, but the only thing that matters is what HE says, in His Word. Our ways are not His ways and His ways are always right!
According to church history the early believers met/worshiped on Sunday and then later Constantine the converted “Christian” made a law that all should worship on Sunday, “the Lord’s Day”, and have a day of rest. But according to real history this is far from the truth.
The early believers in Messiah Yahshua met on the Sabbath. When the debate came as to whether the new believers in Yahshua should be circumcised or not, it was decided that there were some strict guidelines they must follow and as for the rest… Acts 15:21 “For from ancient generations Mosheh has, in every city, those proclaiming him – being read in the congregations every Sabbath.” Meaning that the new believers will learn the ways of Yahweh,
given to Moses, in the assembly when they gather on the Sabbath.When people say, “the Early Church Fathers” they don’t mean Peter, James, John, or Paul. What is meant by this term is the “fathers” of the Universal Church established by Constantine which we today call the Roman Catholic Church. So who was Constantine? He was a Roman ruler who believed in the pagan sun god Mithra, also known as Mars, and in other cultures by many names. Constantine had a kingdom that had two main stream religions, those who believed in sun worship, Mithra, and the Hebrews with their One Most High, Yahweh. He also had this “sect” of Hebrews and others who worshiped Yahshua along with worship of Yahweh. Constantine made a brilliant move in terms of his political career, to combine these religions into one. He stated that as he was looking to the sun, he saw a vision of a cross before it. This was his “conversion”. Of course later after his “conversion” he had his wife and son killed, but hey, if you don’t really believe in Yahweh’s commands then murder’s ok!
Constantine made several rulings that would begin major persecution among the truly devote believers in Yahshua and those who believed in Yahweh. He not only commanded that Sunday be a day of rest and universal worship but those who did not follow this were tortured or put to death. It was also decided to persecute those who kept what became known as the “Jewish Feasts”. I say this because Yahweh calls the feasts HIS Feasts, not the Jewish Feasts. This was the effort of the “fathers” to separate the Jews and their beliefs from what they called “Christianity”. In their minds this religion of “Christianity” didn’t have to keep the feasts of the Jews, they didn’t have to keep the Sabbath, nor follow the Torah, and they could eat swine, etc. And although the book of Matthew was originally written in Hebrew they took the Greek translators version, as well as the Greek translators versions of other books in the New Testament instead of the Aramaic versions. Aramaic is a form of Hebrew which Yahshua and His disciples spoke.
If you have seen our cousin Dell’s teaching on the Sephardic Jews and the persecution they were subjected to, it all stems from Constantine and his rulings. You had to convert or die. The way they could identify you was if you kept the Sabbath and did not worship on “Sol Invictus" (The Invincible Sun) Sunday, if you kept the Feasts, and if you ate Kosher.
Now Constantine and the “fathers” had to come up with a reason that would convince some that Sunday was the new day to worship. They couldn’t come right out and say, we honor the “sun day” because of Mithra. So they said it was because Jesus, (yes, they gave Him a new name too, they couldn’t have Him with a Hebrew name!) rose from the dead on Sunday and called this “the Lord’s Day”. Those especially who were not learned in the Feasts of Yahweh bought this line. But if you remember from the calendar in the April edition, Yahshua rose on a Sabbath, Saturday, Sábado.
So the Sabbath day that Yahweh commanded us to keep was changed by man. It was changed in order to create mixed worship and in essence began an extension of an already established pagan religion. Pagan sun god worship has been around in various forms since the days of Nimrod, builder of the Tower of Babel.
A couple of things to consider. Even if the early believers did meet on Sunday, which they only would do as a result of persecution, did that make it right to change what Yahweh commanded? Secondly, the prophet Daniel prophesied that there would come a deceiver who would be the anti-Messiah who would do evil things. Here is the verse: Dan 7:25 “and it speaks words against the Most High, and it wears out the set-apart ones of the Most High, and it intends to change appointed times and law, and they are given into its hand for a time and times and half a time.” The appointed times are also known as the festivals or feasts and the law, is the Torah of Yahweh. If the anti-Messiah is considered evil because he changes Yahweh’s feasts, Sabbaths, and His Torah, why would we as true believers in Yahshua want to follow these ways?
I hope I have answered the questions as to why the Sabbath was changed to Sunday and who masterminded this idea. I pray I have also sparked something inside you in the way of righteous indignation to demand to know the truth, Yahweh’s Truth, and that the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) leads you to seek out His ways and follow them. Too many of us are complacent in our spiritual walk. We strive to be good people, and maybe even pay our tithes, and that’s about as far as we want to go. We have believed the lies and we choose to be comfortable in them.
But there are those who are passionate for Yahshua. There are those who do want to seek after Him and serve Him with all their heart, soul, and mind. To you, I would ask that you take what I have shared and search out the Scriptures. See what it is that Yahweh says about keeping His commands and keeping His Sabbaths.
As for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh! (Joshua 24:15)
The picture above is Pope John Paul II holding what is called a Monstrance or Ostensorium. It is used to display a round wafer of bread, which is used in what is called the Mass, Lord’s Supper, Communion, or Eucharistic meal. The Roman Catholic Church admits the Monstrance to be a sunburst. There are many pagan symbols used in the Catholic church which have come from Mithraism and sun god worship. Some of this has also been passed along to the Christian church as well. It’s time we evaluate our traditions and beliefs and see what Yahweh would have us shed so that we can have pure worship of Him and our Savior Yahshua.
Many Blessings and Shalom.
