Transcription
Up to two billion Christians around the world gather together every Sunday in honor of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to worship God. They call Sunday the Lord's day or the Christian Sabbath.
But did you know that not one scripture in the Bible calls Sunday the Lord's day or the Sabbath? The fourth Commandment in the Decalogue mandates the observance of the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, which corresponds to our Saturday. Exodus 20:8-10 tells us: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work."
God never repealed this commandment, even after the establishment of the New Covenant. In fact, after the death of Jesus, which confirmed the New Covenant, some of Jesus's closest disciples continued observing the seventh day Sabbath. Luke 23:56 tells us: "Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils, and they rested on the Sabbath according to the Commandment."
Some Bible teachers claim that the seventh day Sabbath was for the Jews and Gentile converts were expected to keep Sunday holy. But if that's the case, why did the Gentiles request to hear the Apostle Paul's preaching on the Sabbath after Paul preached the gospel at a synagogue in Antioch? Acts 13:42 tells us: "So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath." Obviously, they recognized the necessity of continuing to keep this commandment.
So, if the Bible doesn't endorse the change of the Sabbath and Jesus's disciples kept the Sabbath, what happened between New Testament times and now that led Christians to start keeping Sunday holy instead of Saturday? And why does it matter? That's what I'm going to be talking about in this video as I reveal the shocking history of the Sabbath, how it was changed from Saturday to Sunday.
But before I do that, I want to thank Forever Free Scriptures to Music for sponsoring this video. Forever Free Scriptures to Music is a Christian YouTube channel that creates scripture songs taken directly from the Bible. These beautiful songs facilitate Bible memorization, are spiritually uplifting, and can enhance your worship experience. Here's a short clip from one of their recent uploads entitled "I Have Kept the Faith" based on 2 Timothy 4:7-8: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the f..."
Scan the QR code that you see on the screen or click on the link in the video description to subscribe to Forever Free Scriptures to Music and check out some more of their videos today.
Now, back to my video. The earliest records that we have of Christians honoring Sunday comes from extra-biblical sources like the Didache or early church fathers such as Ignatius of Antioch, Barnabas, and Justin Martyr. In terms of the Didache, the word "didache" means "teaching" in Greek. The full title of the Didache is "Didache Kyriak," which means "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles." Now, most scholars don't think the twelve apostles actually wrote the Didache. Rather, they believe the title is more of a traditional or symbolic attribution. However, the Didache offers insights into the early Christian community, and it talks about gathering together on the Lord's Day. Didache 14:1 states: "But every Lord's day do you gather yourselves together and break bread and give Thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure."
In a previous video of mine, I said that the Didache also calls the Lord's Day the first day of the week. But after further research, I discovered I was wrong. That's what I get for listening to ChatGPT and not double-checking its info. I've been using AI to help me research my videos quicker, and it's pretty good most of the time, but you have to remember to double-check it too, because sometimes the information it provides is not completely accurate. So, the Didache doesn't actually call the Lord's Day the first day of the week.
Now, this could be a reference to Sunday. And if it is, it's probably the earliest record of Sunday keeping among Christians. But one could also argue that the Lord's Day in the Didache is in reference to the seventh day Sabbath, since John the Apostle called the seventh day Sabbath "The Lord's Day" in Revelation 1:10, stating: "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet." John could not have been referring to Sunday as the Lord's Day, since the Bible never calls the first day of the week the Lord's Day. So, the only logical conclusion is that he was talking about the seventh day Sabbath. And that is in harmony with Jesus's words in Mark chapter 2:28, stating: "Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." If Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath day, that means the Lord's Day is the Sabbath.
However, Ignatius of Antioch, in the Letter to the Magnesians, dated around 110-117 AD, wrote: "If therefore those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by him and by his death." Here, we see a definite shift from observing the seventh day Sabbath to the Lord's Day in the Christian community.
Justin Martyr, in his First Apology, written around 155-157 AD, wrote: "And on the day called Sunday all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits."
One of the reasons this shift may have happened is because as the Christian Church began to grow, it wanted to establish a distinct identity apart from the Jews. As a result of tensions between the Jewish and Christian communities, the early Christian Church experienced systematic persecution by the Jews. You can read about that in the book of Acts. For example, in Acts 4:1-3, the Sadducees arrest and imprison the Apostle Peter and John. In Acts 7, the disciple Stephen is stoned by a crowd of Jews, with Saul, who was a Pharisee at the time, consenting to Stephen's death. And after Saul converted and became known as the Apostle Paul, he faced various persecutions at the hands of the Jews. In one instance, in Acts chapter 14, they attempted to stone him to death, but he miraculously survived.
Another reason early Christians may have desired to distinguish themselves from the Jews is because of anti-Jewish sentiment in the Roman Empire. Jewish revolts against the Roman government led to the Jews being the target of restrictive laws and outbreaks of violence and persecution. One of the most famous Jewish revolts is the First Jewish War, which led to the Romans destroying the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. And the Jewish historian Josephus wrote that over 1 million combatants died in the revolt. Many of the remaining Jews were enslaved or expelled from Jerusalem, and harsh measures were imposed against the Jews by the Roman Empire, including heavy taxation.
Then, in 132-135 AD, there was another revolt by the Jews against the Roman government called the Bar Kokhba Revolt, which resulted in the Roman Emperor Hadrian imposing restrictions on Jewish religious practices. An online post entitled "Sabbath Laws and Early Church" by LibertyMagazine.com states: "In AD 135, at the end of the Jewish rebellion against Roman domination, Emperor Hadrian passed laws forbidding circumcision, the keeping of the Sabbath, and the study or teaching of the Torah." This may have given Christians further motivation to abandon the Sabbath in place of the Lord's Day, because they wanted to avoid being targeted along with the Jews, who were Sabbath keepers.
To justify this theologically, they said they gathered on Sunday in honor of the resurrection of Jesus, even though the Bible never tells us to do that. This was part of the "Great Falling Away" that the Apostle Paul warned about in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, stating: "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition." The phrase "falling away" here is translated from the Greek word "apostasia," which is where we get the English word "apostasy" from. Apostasy means a departure from the truth.
After the apostolic era, various pagan teachings crept into the church, which were all part of the falling away. For example, Sunday was originally dedicated to the pagan sun god Sol Invictus. Many Gentile converts to the Christian Church came from this background, so going from keeping Sunday in honor of the sun to in honor of the Son of God was a convenient transition. Former pagan temples were converted to Christian churches. The pagan practice of spiritism and ancestor worship was rebranded as veneration and prayers to Mary and the Saints. Additionally, the statue of St. Peter enthroned at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City is believed by some to have originally been the pagan god Jupiter. Jupiter was one of the main gods in Roman culture. The statue of Jupiter originally resided in the Roman Pantheon, which was a temple dedicated to the worship of various pagan deities. In 608 AD, Pope Boniface IV had the remains of many martyrs removed from the Christian catacombs and placed in the Pantheon. Consequently, the temple was officially converted to a church and named St. Maria ad Martyres. During the medieval period, many pagan statues and artifacts were often removed or repurposed in the context of the Christianization of Rome, and some claim the statue of Jupiter was repurposed as St. Peter for St. Peter's Basilica, even though the official explanation is that it was sculpted by Arnolfo di Cambio, a renowned Tuscan artist.
Holidays like Easter and Christmas are believed by many to have pagan origins as well. December the 25th is close to the date of Saturnalia, an ancient Roman festival held in honor of the god Saturn, which took place on December the 17th to the 23rd. Some link Easter to pagan traditions associated with springtime celebrations and fertility. One theory suggests that the English word "Easter" is derived from Eostre, an ancient Germanic goddess of spring and fertility, and that would explain the Easter Bunny and eggs. You don't find a bunny or eggs in the Bible; those are symbols of fertility.
So how did the falling away happen? What caused Christianity to compromise with paganism? It was the legalization of Christianity by Constantine in 313 AD. At that time, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which granted religious tolerance to Christians and ended Christian persecution. Prior to this, in 312 AD, during the Battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine claimed to have seen a cross of light in the sky with the message, "In this sign you shall conquer." Constantine went on to win the battle and associated his success with the support of the Christian God. He then converted to Christianity. Since Constantine was now a Christian ruler, pagans began converting to Christianity to align themselves with the emperor and advance their political and social opportunities. Britannica.com explains: "Many new converts were won, including those who converted only with the hope of advancing their careers." This led to unconverted pagans joining the church with their traditions and concepts, and this was all part of the devil's plan. You see, since Satan couldn't succeed by persecuting the church, he changed his tactics and instead joined the church and corrupted it through pagan influences.
Up until the legalization of Christianity by Constantine, Christians faced fierce persecution in the Roman Empire. However, persecution was ineffective at stamping out Christianity because "the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church." It led to more people converting to Christianity when they witnessed the faith of the martyrs. Anyway, many scholars question the genuineness of Constantine's conversion. For example, after his conversion, Constantine continued to hold the title of Pontifex Maximus. This was the most important religious office in Roman paganism. Some scholars see this as a potential inconsistency, as one might expect a converted Christian emperor to distance himself from traditional pagan religious roles. By the way, guess who calls himself the Pontifex Maximus today? The Pope. Not only did Constantine retain his pagan title, he also refused to get baptized until his deathbed in 337 AD.
In addition, during his reign, Constantine passed a law mandating Sunday rest in 321 AD, stating: "All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest on the venerable day of the sun. Country people, however, may freely attend to the cultivation of the fields, because it frequently happens that no other days are better adapted for planting the grain in the furrows or the vines in the trenches, so that the advantage given by heavenly providence may not for the occasion of a short time perish." Notice the wording that Constantine used here in calling Sunday "the venerable day of the sun." This is distinctly pagan language. He didn't refer to Sunday as the Lord's Day or the Sabbath, for example, and this reflects the blending of Christian and pagan beliefs at that time in history. Remember, Sunday was originally dedicated to the Roman sun god Sol Invictus, so wording his Sunday rest law in a way familiar to the pagans may have been an attempt to bridge the gap between paganism and Christianity, since Sunday was a day of worship for both groups.
Now, even though Christians were already observing Sunday, there apparently were still some Sabbath-keeping Christians as well. This is reflected in Canon 29 of the Council of Laodicea, around 363-364 AD, stating: "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 Judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ." Anathema means to be cursed, and Judaizing means to do like the Jews by keeping the seventh day Sabbath holy. So, the fact that the Council of Laodicea had to prohibit this shows that some Christians were still keeping the Sabbath. I mean, you don't make a law against something no one is doing.
The influence of Constantine and the Council of Laodicea played a significant role in confirming Sunday as an official religious holy day in the early Christian church. And in this way, Satan succeeded in exalting Sunday, a day which has pagan origins, over the seventh day Sabbath. The Roman Catholic Church takes credit for this. They admit to changing the day and make fun of Protestants for claiming to go by the Bible alone while keeping Sunday holy. The Manual of Christian Doctrine by Daniel Ferris states: "Question: How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days? Answer: By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of, and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church."
James Cardinal Gibbons, in The Faith of Our Fathers, wrote: "But 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." So, it's not like they don't know this. They know. They just think that God has given them the power to change it.
But does the Bible say God has given man the authority to change His law? Absolutely not. Deuteronomy 4:2 tells us: "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you."
Did you know that Bible prophecy predicted that the Antichrist would attempt to change God's law? Daniel 7:25 says: "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law." The change of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday fulfills this prophecy. Some of you may be thinking, "Wait a minute, how can that be the case if the Antichrist isn't supposed to appear until the end of time?" Maybe what you've been taught about the Antichrist is unbiblical. Maybe the Antichrist has been right under our noses for thousands of years. You see, the Antichrist is not a person; it's a system. But I'm getting off subject.
By the way, not only do Catholic scholars recognize that Sunday keeping is not in the Bible, Protestant scholars do too. For example, Anglican scholar Isaac Williams, in his book entitled Plain Sermons on the Catechism, wrote: "And where are we told in the scriptures that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day. The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things: not because the Bible, but because the church has enjoined it."
Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, a Baptist minister, in a paper read before a New York ministers' conference, was quoted as saying: "There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day. But that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week. Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament. Absolutely not. To me, it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years' intercourse with his disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question, never alluded to any transference of the day; also that during 40 days of his resurrection life no such thing was intimated. Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history. But what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism and christened with the name of the sun-god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism." That says it all right there, my friends.
Some Christians argue that it doesn't matter what day we keep as the Sabbath, that we don't have to be particular about it. But apparently, it mattered enough to God to specifically identify the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath. Not only that, God said the Sabbath is a special sign between Him and His people. Ezekiel 20:20 says: "Hallow my Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God." In other words, observing the seventh day Sabbath is a sign of allegiance to the God of the Bible. So, if you observe Sunday instead of Saturday, who are you pledging your allegiance to? It's the Catholic Church. The Catholic Record of London states: "Sunday is our mark of authority. The church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact."
I don't want to pledge my allegiance to the Catholic Church. I want to pledge my allegiance to Jesus. Amen. And if this video has inspired you to want to keep God's Sabbath, let me know in the comments down below and DM me on Facebook or Instagram if you would like me to help you find a Sabbath-keeping church near you. I'll leave links to my Instagram and Facebook accounts in the video description.
You know, the change of the Sabbath was really Satan's doing to steal God's glory. Remember why he was cast out of Heaven? Isaiah 14:12-14 tells us it's because he wanted to overthrow God and be worshiped in Heaven. It says: "How you are fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'" This rebellion led to a war in Heaven, and as a result, Lucifer, who is now Satan, was cast down to the Earth with a third of the angels that followed him in his rebellion.
After Satan was cast out, do you think he just gave up on his rebellion against God? Do you think he said to himself, "Well, that didn't work out so well," and just walks around kicking rocks on the Earth? Absolutely not. Satan is hell-bent on his same mission to turn people from God to himself. And in a major way, he is doing that right now through the concept of Sunday sacredness. Now, that's not to say that everyone who has ever kept Sunday holy is going to Hell, because James 4:17 tells us: "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." In other words, it's only when you deliberately do what you know is wrong that you are held responsible. But now you have watched this video, so now you know.
There are many genuine Sunday-keeping Christians out there, and I believe God doesn't hold them accountable for their ignorance. But you're not ignorant anymore. So, what's your decision going to be? Will you honor the Lord by keeping His Sabbath holy?
Big thanks to everyone who supports my channel with your prayers and donations. The success of my channel wouldn't be possible without your support. Since the creation of my channel 10 years ago, my videos have been viewed nearly 70 million times, and I get messages from people all the time about how God has used my channel to help them in their Christian walk, like this message from one of my viewers named Larry McCrea: "I would like to thank you, Greg, for opening my eyes to the truth. I was baptized at a 7th Day Adventist Church on December 7th in Cherokee, Georgia. Praise God to be in Jesus's name. Amen."
Please help me continue reaching people with the gospel by donating to my ministry. You can make a one-time PayPal donation or a monthly pledge on Patreon. Links to my PayPal and Patreon accounts are in the video description.
The Book of Revelation talks about a special seal that believers will receive at the end of time called the Seal of God. Those who receive the Seal of God will be taken to Heaven. On the contrary, another group of people will receive the Mark of the Beast, and those who receive the Mark will be eternally lost. It is imperative to understand what the Seal of God is so you don't end up getting deceived and receive the Mark of the Beast. Discover exactly what the Seal of God is by clicking on the screen to watch my video entitled "10 Facts About the Seal of God You Need to Know to Survive the Tribulation."
Thank you for watching, and God bless you.