“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” Genesis 2:2-3
At the beginning of times, the seventh day has been blessed by Yahweh and He made it holy. God rested on that day and looked around seeing what He created and it was good. Was God tired and that’s why He rested? Of course not, it wasn’t because He was tired, but because He made this earth to be looked after by humans, who He knew would get tired. It was all for us. That’s why Jesus said: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” Mark 2:27. In reality God didn’t have to rest but He wanted for us to follow a pattern that He established and blessed. I mean, why argue with God – the creator of this world? God knows His creation better than we know ourselves and we need rest. The rest is written into our bodies. Scientists found a 7 day rest cycle of our cells, which means the Sabbath is literally ingrained into our DNA. From the beginning of times God was establishing a pattern, a rhythm for His creation to follow.
Sabbath was not only important because of rest and worship but also because it’s important to follow instructions of our Creator. The 7th day was a stamp to declare that His work was finished and it’s only natural that His creation should honor that. And God was pleased with obedience to His instructions, which we see with Abraham:
“I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.” Genesis 26:4-5
The Sabbath didn’t really start with Moses, but Yahweh made Sabbath official with Moses, by giving him the Law of 10 commandments, where He included the importance of following the Sabbath day:
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” Exodus 20: 8-11
And we can see how much emphasis Yahweh was putting on the importance of following the Sabbath by looking at different scripture:
“Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” Deuteronomy 5:15
“‘Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:10
“Thus says the Lord: “Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they did not obey nor incline their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction.
“And it shall be, if you heed Me carefully,” says the Lord, “to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it, then shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever. ” Jeremiah 17:21-25
“But if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.” Jeremiah 17: 27
These are just few verses highlighting the importance of following the Sabbath. In fact, the Sabbath has been mentioned 107 times in the Old Testament. God was highlighting it on many occasions and pointing out the consequences of not following the Sabbath. He also pointed out on people’s stubbornness and being “stiff necked” in receiving instructions – our stubborn human nature.
It is very clear Sabbath was important to God. Not only because it’s a sign of God’s authority over the creation, but also because “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27). God wanted for people to rest, to recharge and to connect with Him. To have time to enjoy family time, to appreciate creation, to cultivate the rhythm, to just be and not only do. Through celebrating the Sabbath and appreciating God’s creation, we would be blessed by God. However, there were consequences of not obeying those rules and disobedience. And let’s be clear – rest is not a punishment nor a burden. Rest is so important and what a beautiful gift from God – to rest and celebrate Sabbath that would bring blessings.
However, that day was specifically the 7th day. God also didn’t ask us to pick and choose a day convenient to us, He didn’t make it optional but He wrote it with His finger on the stone tablets as a sign of everlasting authority. What’s more, the 4th commandment about Sabbath starts with “Remember”, not consider. Remember the holy day, remember that day I created the earth and saw it was good, celebrate with me on this day, rest and enjoy and I will bless you. How much more inviting this could have been?? Imagine if people were choosing your birthday according to their convenience. This is an important day not only because God wants us to rest, but also because a lot of people are not aware of the spiritual realities of picking a different day, especially Sunday.
Modern Christianity abandoned Sabbath which was changed to Sunday under the reign of Roman Emperor – Constantine. The shift from observing the Sabbath on Saturday to worshiping on Sunday was to commemorate Jesus’ resurrection, which is said to have occurred on the first day of the week. Another reason was to separate from Jewish Sabbath observance as they saw Jews in a negative light due to Jews rejection of Jesus as their Messiah. That was what has been taught or explained, however there was also a deeper reason.
During Constantine’s reign and the Roman influence, Sunday worship began to be enforced on people. Roman Empire was originally pagan country with Constantine being devoted sun god worshiper and Sunday also conveniently fell on the same day sun god was worshiped. So sun-god was worshiped on a sun-day. What a coincidence. The cultural pressure from the Roman Empire and willingness to separate from Jewish customs of Sabbath observance meant that Sabbath was replaced and people didn’t question it. The Empire was steeped in paganism and so Christianity gained a new coat – paganism under the coat of Jesus. Everything was rebranded paganism – Sunday worship of a sun god covered as a Lord’s Day, Tammuz (sun god) birthday celebrated as Christmas and Jesus’ birthday, Ishtar worship and spring equinox celebrated as Easter and Jesus’ resurrection… All taking us back to Babylonian times.
Therefore the shift from Sabbath to Sunday was not rooted in scripture but in strategy. In 321 AD Constantine issued a Civil Decree making Sunday a day of rest. This was a strategic move to appeal to both pagans and Christians. This shift removed a natural rhythm of God’s creation and God’s blessing and implemented political move that suited the needs of the Roman Empire. The authority of God’s word was pushed aside in favour of the authority of the Catholic church and anyone who opposed it, would bear the consequences. Anyone who continued to honor the Sabbath was labeled heretical or rebellious and slowly, slowly everyone started to get used to the new rhythm set by the Roman Empire.
Over time, generations were taught to worship on Sunday, churches were built under the Roman Empire with only Sunday worship. Soon, Sunday was associated with new tradition and Sabbath with outdated legalism. The blessing written in the Sabbath observance was lost and replaced with curses and oppression.
“However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you.” Deuteronomy 28:15
Why Christianity cannot take a U turn on Sabbath truth?
The truth about Sabbath exposes churches disobedience covered behind men’s traditions and the real foundation of Christianity. The problem of not following the Sabbath is much deeper than we think. It’s not only just switching to Saturday and problem solved. It is entangled in history, churches deception, choosing the false Apostle Paul into the New Testament Canon and basing Christianity on Paul’s letters and in reality creating a false religion that has nothing to do with Yahweh and Jesus. It’s repackaged pagan tradition created only for the purpose of power, money, authority and manipulation. However, unpacking this would mean to take accountability of being part of something sinister and human ego wouldn’t want this to happen.
When churches teach that Sabbath no longer matters and we now have Sunday, they are in fact teaching that partial or selective obedience is good enough, adding to people’s spiritual burden and sin. It’s rebellion dressed up in religion. A lot of churches hide behind the fact that in the New Testament we can see that early Christians gathered together on the first day of the week, which is Sunday. However, throughout the whole New Testament we see only 2 scripture suggesting that they did in fact gathered together, but it is not clear if that was instead of Sabbath or additionally to Sabbath. We can worship God any day, however only the Sabbath carries it’s special blessing and meaning. We also see Sabbath being mentioned 59 times, compared to two scripture about Sunday. When Jesus was on earth he also preached on Sabbath and also he said:
“Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:28
As I mentioned, the Sunday worship is much deeper and more complicated that we think, because it points out to the deception of the Catholic Church, that changed it under their authority that they believed they received from God:
“The Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her Founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant, claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday.” The Catholic Universe Bulletin ,1942
The change occurred on the 7th of March, 321 AD, where the Emperor of Rome Constantine decreed that Sunday would be a day of rest. Christians wanted to distance themselves from Jews as Jews did not accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. The Council of Laodicea’s Canon 29 confirms: “Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord’s Day (Sunday), and if they can, resting then as Christians.”
In A.D. 325, Pope Sylvester officially named Sunday “the Lord’s Day,” and in A.D. 338, Eusebius, the court bishop of Constantine, wrote, “All things whatsoever that it was the duty to do on the Sabbath (the seventh day of the week) we (Constantine, Eusebius, and other bishops) have transferred to the Lord’s Day (the first day of the week) as more appropriately belonging to it.” Constantine was the first so-called “Christian” Roman emperor. Though he did stop much of the persecution of Christians as a whole, however it seems he did more to introduce sun worship into Christianity than any before him.
In my post about the Catholic church, I pointed the connections of the Catholic church to the actual sun god worship during Babylonian times of Semiramis and Nimrod. In reality Catholic church is repackaged paganism covered under the new names and using Jesus as their access card to gain more people and more power. It’s total manipulation. However, you have to remember that this is a spiritual war, we can’t point out a blaming finger to people from the church because a lot of them are completely unaware. They only follow tradition and carefully crafted performance. It’s not about the love of God, because God is not in that church. This is a religious institution full of power, that managed to manipulate a lot of people, history and to fool people into a false sense of security and salvation. Catholic church believes that ONLY through belonging to Catholic church one can receive salvation – the most ridiculous statement ever created. Unfortunately they rely on people’s lack of knowledge who are not reading their Bibles:
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.” Hosea 4:6
If Sabbath wasn’t an issue, do you think that Satan fights it so hard? If it’s a war of worship and we worship God on the Sabbath, why suddenly it’s not a big deal according to Catholic church to change it to Sunday? If Babylon and Egypt worshiped sun god including Roman empire, why Sunday suddenly became more important that the Sabbath? Some say, because Jesus was resurrected on that day. Are we now putting Jesus above God? Jesus reminded us he is not greater than God:
“You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.” John 14:28
Which would mean, God’s Sabbath is more important than Jesus’ resurrection.
Satan is very much aware this is important to God, that is why there is so much confusion about this till day. Because when we honor the Sabbath, we honor God’s authority over the earth, while honoring other day than the Sabbath is honoring the god or deity of that day, which in this case is sun god. People are blindly following a false god and by this disobedience – damaging their spiritual life. Because God was very clear that obedience to Sabbath means blessings and disobedience means curses.
Can Christians be cursed?
God was very clear in the Old Testament that “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you” Deuteronomy 28:15
“For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Deuteronomy 5:9-10
Not only God will curse for disobedience, but also “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations”. And since we’ve been breaking the law since the beginning of Christianity in 321 AD through the church, that put us in error through deceitful and wrong teachings – then we are all under the curse.
I’ve heard many times that Christians cannot be cursed because Jesus wiped everything on the cross and if we don’t believe, then we take away from Jesus’ work on the cross. However, worshiping on Sunday means we break the 1st and 4th commandement every week, thus living in sin, and Jesus said:
“And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” John 8:11
Which means, if we constantly sin through ignoring the Sabbath, this does not apply to those who sin. Sin no more, turn from tradition, put some action, change your heart – then Jesus will wipe away the curses. Thinking that regardless of sin Jesus wipes away everything, it’s very passive way of being a Christian. When we look at the Old Testament teachings, we see that God was always teaching Israelites about setting themselves apart, bettering themselves, delivering themselves and purifying. Israelites did not have an easy pass to any promise, therefore why do you think this would be the case here? Apostle Paul came to this philosophical conclusion and HIS interpretation of the events, that Jesus’s death means salvation through faith alone and grace. Paul introduced us to the new way, his way and easy way – just believe in Jesus. No works, no bettering yourself, no setting apart and no striving for holiness. Paul introduced us to the wide way. Therefore according to Paul, everyone is justified through faith and grace of God removes all sin, curses and iniquities.
Only through obedience to the law and commandments, through observing the Sabbath and honoring God, through striving for righteousness, we can be free from those curses through God’s mercy. We have also been given the power of life and death in our tongues to break those curses and deliver ourselves. This again requires works, obedience to the law and leaving all those Sunday churches, even if that means leaving friends and family. This is this narrow gate that Jesus was preaching about:
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14
How come Jesus preached the gate is narrow and difficult yet Paul preached that you just have to believe in Jesus? Because these are two completely different gospels. Paul even admitted to teaching HIS gospel, which is not of Jesus and it’s not of God. Jesus was teaching about putting an actual effort, of setting yourself apart and that it’s not for everyone, only those who truly love God. And we can also see this in the Old Testament, where God puts Israelites through a lot of work and 40 years of wilderness after saving them from Egypt. We can see that commandments and works were not to be saved, but because of being saved. It was after God saved them, He commanded His law. And this is also the case today, after being born again and being saved, we follow the law out of love towards God, not to be saved again. Intention behind is more important to God.
Jesus’ death and resurrection removed the need for animal sacrifices, removed the need of being able to access God only through priests and allowed everyone to have that direct connection with God through him. However, Paul’s theology was much more beneficial to the churches. Roman Catholic church very much wanted to control people through putting on them more obstacles to connect with God, requiring sacraments, imposing salvation is only possible through Catholic church and therefore manipulating through fear and false statements, requiring money. In reality Catholic church is a money making machine dripping in gold with many financial ties and so no church would want to admit to the error and lose all this financial benefit. This does not align with Jesus’ teachings who said:
“Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Matthew 19:21
“Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Mark 8:34
Catholic church set this standard of false worship and even after the Protestant movement, other denominations were established based on the same traditions, just removing few obvious and non biblical elements like sacraments, Mary worship and similar. However all churches continued worshiping on Sunday, celebrating Christmas and Easter and establishing their teachings on the false Apostle Paul and his gospel of grace. Same party, different costumes.
Christianity is in fact this big Russian doll that looks appealing, but then, by removing doctrines and traditions, you have to peel off the layers to get to the truth. The truth is, it is too inconvenient to modern Christianity to come back to the Sabbath worship and people are coming up with various excuses of why what they do is of God by finding one or two scripture that will support their actions. However we cannot just ignore the facts, history, the word of God and it only comes down to who’s words do you believe the most: God’s words or Catholic church words? This is this narrow gate that Jesus was talking about…
By Dagmara Z.