The Official Web Site for The Matrix of Prophecy Seminar
There was a time in world history
when most people believed that the earth was flat. When
Columbus took his ships and sailed west from Spain for several weeks, his
sailors were extremely frightened. They were certain they would fall off
of the edge of the world! Had the people back then only taken the
Bible and looked into it they would have seen that God said the earth was
a circle, or it was round! The prophet Isaiah wrote, “It is He who
sits above the circle of the earth…” Isaiah 40: 22. The prophet
wrote this 2,000 years before Columbus sailed west in search of India. But
because most of the people did not know what the Bible says and, instead,
believed the earth was flat contrary: did that make it so? No way, you say!
Here’s another myth: I heard someone say that the words to
"Amazing Grace" were written by the captain of a slave ship
in the 1880s. He was bringing a large supply of slaves to the US, when he
suddenly became inexplicably wracked with guilt over this chosen profession,
and ordered that the ship be turned back to Africa, and all the slaves freed.
He then wrote the words to "Amazing Grace" to explain the epiphany
which caused him to abandon his trade. It’s a great story. Only problem:
IT’S NOT TRUE. Amazing Grace, in fact, was penned by a former slave
trader, John Newton, but only many decades after he'd left slave trading
and seafaring behind and had become a minister of God. But because many
still believe it, does that make it true?
I’ll give you another one. Many people remember hearing that nine months after the Great Blackout of 1965, the birth rate in New York City increased dramatically. Evidently it makes a good story to fantasize that when people are trapped by some immobilizing event which deprives them of their usual activities and shuts them inside for long, unscheduled periods of time, most will turn to copulation. It is a common belief that the number of conceptions increases during natural disasters or crises that keep people confined within their homes for a long time. Nine months after such events — blackouts, blizzards, earthquakes, erupting volcanoes, ice storms, and even, if you can believe this, strikes by professional football players — reports about "baby booms" in local hospitals invariably appear in the media. The trouble with stories like that? They ain’t true! They’re myths!
By the way, it seems just as plausible to me that with the American divorce rate hovering at 50% and climbing that we’d also read stories about the divorce rate climbing after immobilizing events as well. Imagine being stuck in your house with somebody you can’t stand! Doesn’t sound very romantic to me! But we’ll save that for another day.
Have
you heard of this myth? Many people still believe that a baby born in-flight
is given free air travel by the airline for the rest of his life.
According to longstanding rumor, a child born in-flight is awarded free
air transport on that carrier for the rest of his days. This unwritten rule
is whispered as the reason airlines restrict the travel plans of expectant
women. After all, if you don't allow the ladies to fly when they're getting
close to their time, you never need worry about providing lifetime passes
to their kids, right? You’re getting my drift by now. That one ain’t
true either!
But on a more serious note, there are millions of people today who believe that the day God wants them to worship Him is Sunday, the first day of the week. But just because lots of people believe it, that, by itself, doesn’t make it so!
Have you heard the one with the tombstone
inscription that says:
“Here lies the body of John
B. Gray.
Who died believing he had the right of way
He thought he was right, dead right as he sped along
But he’s just as dead as if he was wrong!”
My friend, most Christians sincerely believe, as they speed along this path of life thinking they are heading toward the kingdom of God, that there is some truth somewhere in God’s word that substantiates and commands, or at least allows, Sunday keeping. There’s one little problem that comes as a surprise to many sincere, Bible believing Christians. Nobody can put their finger on a text. Why? Cause it just ain’t so! It’s nowhere in the Bible as we are about to see.
The Bible from beginning to end testifies to the fact that God has established the Sabbath day and that day is the seventh day of the week, Saturday. No place in the Bible does God indicate that He has changed that day of worship and rest. Like the flat earth theory, and the composition of Amazing Grace, the post New York City blackout birthrate, & lifetime passes for babies born in flight, Sunday observance is a myth!
Let us review for a moment what we have found by a study of His Word. When God finished creating Planet Earth and man, He created the Sabbath as a memorial of Creation on the Seventh Day of that first week. When God wrote His law at Mt. Sinai He put in the very heart of those commandments the Sabbath Commandment:
“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: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them; and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20: 8 – 11.
WHY THE SABBATH WAS GIVEN
You will notice that He gives us His
reason for asking the people to keep that day, and the reason why He established
that day as His Holy Day was because He created the earth in six days…
and rested the Seventh Day. He also blessed the day and hallowed it. The
dictionary says the word hallow means “to make or set apart as holy.”
I submit to you that sinful, pollution prone man can’t bless or hallow
anything, much less a day. Only God can do that!
God gave this sacred time to man so that he could take time to remember that he did not evolve through millions of years, but that God had created him and all the rest of the wonderful world in six days! This was to be a holy time when man and His maker would renew their pledge of love and devotion together each week. Every week, man was to “remember” that God made the heaven and earth in six days and rested the seventh.
The
4th commandment is the only one that deals with time. Another purpose
of the 4th commandment is to give God and His people time to become closely
acquainted. We need time with God every day studying His word and in prayer.
But to develop a deep personal relationship, God says we need one day a
week to spend with God. This is what is so special about 4th commandment.
It ties TIME into and with our RELATIONSHIP with God.
It’s kind of like a love relationship, a marriage. A man and a woman in love need to see each other every day, but a marriage will never be as strong and as committed as when husband and wife spend one day a week together praising God. That’s the only way to really get to know someone – spend time with each other.
So if this is true of human relationships, it is certainly true of human-divine relationships. If anyone obeys the 4th Commandment as God intended it and as the Bible commands it, there won’t be much of problem with keeping the other 9. No wonder Satan has attacked this very commandment with a vengeance. He well knows that if he can destroy a person’s relationship with God, that person will end up serving Him whether he intends to or not.
That is what God asked man to do in the fourth commandment that He wrote with His own finger, putting this command in the middle of that sacred Law of God. He told mankind to “remember” this day, because in six days He had created the earth, the sea, and the fountains of water. Had mankind always kept the Sabbath as a memorial of Creation as God asked them to do, there would not be an evolutionist, infidel, or skeptic alive today. For they would have been reminded each week of their roots and of their relationship to their Creator! Had man always remembered that memorial of God’s creation, many problems he faces today—a forgotten God, a meaningless life, an identity crises—would all be solved. There would be no evolutionists, agnostics, or atheists!
WAS THE SABBATH GIVEN FOR JEWS
ONLY?
God also told them, “My
covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.”
Psalm 89:34. I am so glad I don’t serve a wishy washy, fickle God,
who is one way with Jewish people and another way with Christian people
and another way with pagan people, aren’t you? Hebrews 13:8 says that
we serve a Savior in, “Jesus Christ (who) is the same yesterday and
today and forever.”
Nowhere in the Bible is the seventh day called “the Sabbath of the Jews.” Jesus made it clear that it is a day for all mankind when He said, “…The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27. And God said, “…The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God…” Exodus 20:10.
The Sabbath existed thousands of years before there was a Jew. It was created in the Garden of Eden at the end of creation week. It is true that the Jews kept it, because they were the covenant people of God. But the Sabbath was made for the entire human race. It was given to us in the innocence of the Garden of Eden. God does not intend to establish a relationship with Jewish people only. Every born-again person needs a relationship with God. To say that the Sabbath belongs only to the Jews is virtually to say that God only wants to testablsih relationships with Jewish people. But God is not a respector of persons. He wants to know, and save, everyone!
Besides, if the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is only for the Jews, then what about the other nine? Are they only for the Jews, too? How can sincere Christians really think that nine of the commandments are for everybody, but only the fourth commandment is for the Jews? If the 7th day Sabbath is only for Jews, then God’s commandments against dishonoring parents, killing, stealing, and having affairs with folks who are not your husband or wife (adultery & fornication) are only for the Jews, too! The 10 Commandments rise or fall together. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD! (Isaiah 1:18).
THE SABBATH IS A SIGN
Jesus also said that He is “Lord
even of the Sabbath day” (Matthew 12:8) because He made it. That is
why John the Revelator called it (not Sunday!) “the Lord’s day.”
Revelation 1:10. The Sabbath is more than a memorial of creation
and the Creator. It is a sign between God and man. “Moreover also
I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might
know that I am the Lord that sanctifies them.” Ezekiel 20:12.
How clearly the scriptures bring out the special significance of God’s eternal, permanent Sabbath. It is a special sign that people have a relationship with God. That’s why the Sabbath, to the Christian, becomes such a beautiful day of delilght and joy in the lord. The scriptures do not ask for a legalistic keeping of the day, but rather the setting aside of this special day to build a relationship with God. That’s why the Christian gets excited about the Sabbath, and why the Sabbath is such a blessing in the midst of the troubles of the world. The Sabbath is a relief from the burdens of life, a time when God and His people can draw apart and develop an intimate relationship.
The troubles in the last days are going to be so great that unless people have a deep personal relationship with God, they will not make it through the end times. That’s another reason why the Sabbath is so important in these last days and why Daniel warns against the power that would think to change the day that God had set aside for a relationship with Him. If there ever was a time in earth’s history when people needed the Sabbath more, it’s today!
The One who made the Sabbath holy during creation week is the same One who makes sinful people holy. Our Creator is also our Saviour! (Text: Ezekiel 20:20) “And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.” Ezekiel 20:20.
And God, through Moses, told His people that they were not to take away from them nor add to them. “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.” Deuteronomy 4:2 NIV
WHAT DAY DID JESUS OUR SAVIOR
KEEP?
And Jesus Himself showed the same
determination to exalt the Law that He had given on Mt. Sinai. He told the
people in the Sermon on the Mount that He did not come to set aside the
Law of God but to fulfill it! In Matthew 5:17-19, notice His words: “Do
not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come
to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and
earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law
till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of commandments,
and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven…”
Matthew 5:17-19.
And Jesus Himself demonstrated by His example that He wanted to honor the day that He and His Father had made holy in the first week of this world’s history. In Luke 4:16 we read, “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day, and stood up to read.” Most sincere, Sunday-keeping Christians may not realize it, but my Savior Jesus was not in church on Sunday, he was in church on the 7th day Sabbath, Saturday! It was his custom, my Bible says!
Now since Jesus is my Savior, and He says in Matthew 10:38 that “anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me,” and since He also says in John 14:15 that, “If ye love me, keep my commandments,” I want to be in worship on the day that Jesus kept and commanded, don’t you?
When the religious leaders accused Jesus’ disciples of violating the Sabbath, Jesus said He was the Lord of that day. In Mark 2:27,28 He says that “…the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
Not only did Jesus honor the Sabbath Day but He asked His disciples to pray that they could keep His holy day far down into the future. In Matthew 24:20 we find Jesus request of His followers: “And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” Here Jesus was speaking of the flight out of Jerusalem by His followers just prior to its destruction in A.D. 70 by the Romans.
And notice how when Jesus was crucified His followers continued to honor the Sabbath. Orthodox Jews have worshiped on the seventh day since the Exodus, more than 3,500 years ago. Wherever they are in the world they still recognize Saturday, the seventh day of the week, as the day God set aside for worship.
WHAT DAY DID JESUS’ FOLLOWERS
KEEP?
Even if the Bible were our only source
of information, we would still be able to determine which day is the seventh
day, or the Sabbath. As we turn to the account of the crucifixion, the Book
of Luke summarizes the events of that weekend.
In Luke 23:54-56; 24:1 the Bible says that after Christ died on the across on Friday, “It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Then the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. “
Most of the Christian world celebrates what is called, Good Friday in memory of Christ’s death. They celebrate Easter Sunday in memory of Christ’s resurrection. The Bible tells us that the day in between Friday and Sunday is the Sabbath, according to the commandments. In these verses we see that even though Luke wrote these words many years after the cross, he still referred to Sunday as “the first day of the week,” And he still called the seventh day “Sabbath.” The biblical record clearly distinguishes these two days.
WHAT DAY DID THE APOSTLE PAUL
KEEP?
In fact, the apostles continued to
worship and preach on the seventh-day Sabbath for many years after the cross.
In Acts 13:14 the Bible speaks of Paul and his companions when they visited
Antioch: “…They…went into the synagogue on the Sabbath
day, and sat down.” Acts 13:14. In verses 42 & 44 we read, “…When
the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these
words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. And the next Sabbath day
came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.” Acts
13:42,44. Now if Jesus had changed the Sabbath from the 7th day to the 1st
day, and if somehow Paul knew about it, don’t you think Paul would
have made some mention of he when he preached to the “whole city?”
But the Bible says in Acts 18:4 that, like Jesus, it was Paul’s custom to worship in the synagogue every Sabbath. From these biblical facts one can easily see that there is no, that is, zero, evidence that Christ or His disciples changed the day of worship.
In fact, in Acts 18:11 we see that Paul stayed there a year and 6 months teaching the word. That’s 78 Sabbaths if my arithmetic is working! Certainly, if there’d been a change, Paul would have introduced Sunday-keeping. But there is a strange absence of any indication, or even a hint of Sunday-keeping. Instead Paul constantly kept the Sabbath every week for a year and a half he was in Corinth. There is no record in the Bible commanding such a change! None of the New Testament writers told of a change of the Sabbath day! It would have been the lead article in every New Testament Book of the Bible had such a momentous change occurred!
The Sabbath was instituted before sin reared its ugly head on Planet Earth, and the Sabbath will also be celebrated after sin is forever banished from Earth. Listen to what the Lord says: “As the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 66:22, 23.
Throughout all eternity, God’s people will celebrate the Sabbath to honor Him as their Creator and Redeemer. If the Sabbath was celebrated in the Garden of Eden before sin came to Earth, and if God’s people and His prophets in the Old Testament kept it, and if Jesus and his disciples kept it, and if His followers kept it after Jesus went back to heaven, and if, as we just read, it will be celebrated when the earth is made new, does it not seem reasonable that God’s people should celebrate it now?
HAS A DAY BEEN LOST SOMEWHERE?
Many sincere Sunday keeping Christians
believe that the reason many worship on Sunday is because there was a mixup
between Saturday and Sunday a long time ago. Or a day was lost somewhere
back in time, although when you ask them they can’t quite put their
finger on exactly when or where and by whom. (Could this be another myth?)
Had the day been changed or forgotten between the time of Adam and Moses,
God would have rectified it when He wrote the Ten Commandments at Sinai.
Had the day been lost between the time of Moses and Jesus, Christ would
surely have set the record straight. Had the day been changed between the
Disciples time and their death, they would certainly have written about
it in the New Testament. And of course the Jews, who keep strict record
of time in existence, and who have been keeping accurate calendars for 3,500
years since the time of the Exodus, still worship on the seventh day, or
Saturday. A mix-up certainly hasn’t occurred to them!
But just to be sure, some Sabbath scholars wrote to the United States Naval Observatory a couple of years ago. In a letter dated March 12, 1932, and signed by James Robertson, he wrote: “There has been no change in our calendar in past centuries that has affected in any way the cycle of the week.” We wanted to be doubly sure, so these same Sabbath scholars wrote to the Royal Observatory in London, England. In a letter dated March 4th, 1932, a Dr. F.W. Dyson wrote: “In the various changes of the calendar there has been no change in the seven day rotation of the week.”
WHAT DO MODERN CHURCH LEADERS
HAVE TO SAY?
What did we just read in Psalm 89:34?
God says, “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that
is gone out of my lips. God has not changed His Law, and no one has the
right to alter God’s Law! We’ve seen the Biblical evidence.
But let’s look at what modern church leaders have to say. Scholars
from the various Sunday-keeping groups acknowledge the Bible’s silence
on Sunday-keeping.
Catholic Cardinal James Gibbons once wrote: “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.” --The Faith of Our Fathers, pages 111, 112.
Clovis G. Chappell, a Methodist, concedes the same point, when he says, “The reason we observe the first day instead of the seventh is based on no positive command. One will search the Scriptures in vain for authority for changing from the seventh day to the first.”—Ten Rules For Living.” p.61
Dr. Amos Binney, of the Methodist Church, who wrote the theological textbook for the Methodist Seminary (‘The Methodist Episcopal Theological Compendium) says in his book, “It is true there is no positive command (in the Bible) for keeping holy the first day of the week” p. 103.
“Regarding the change from the
observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw
your attention the facts. That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the
only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance
of the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe Sunday,
stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.” (Note: I had to
refresh my memory on the meaning of the word, stultify. The dictionary says:
“To cause to appear stupid, inconsistent, or ridiculous.”)
- Rev. Peter R. Tramer, Editor, The Catholic Extension Magazine
Check out this lengthy list of confessions from Catholic and Protestant Church leaders about Sunday observance.
WHERE DID SUNDAY OBSERVANCE
COME FROM?
Since there is no biblical
record that Christ or His disciples kept any other day, or instructed others
to do so, “Then how did Sunday keeping get started?” you ask?
We learn from Socrates Scholasticus, a fifth-century historian: “Almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries (the Lord’s Supper) On the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this.”—Ecclesiastical History, As quoted by C. B. Haynes, From Sabbath to Sunday. Page 35.
Other historians record that the Waldenses, Albigenses, and Celts observed the seventh – day Sabbath during the Middle Ages, and the practice is well- documented in modern times by Christians around the world.
Many church historians place the beginning of a gradual change of days sometime between A.D. 70 and 135, the dates when two bitter and bloody insurrections by the Jews were crushed by the Romans. To understand the causes for this change of days, we need to consider briefly the relationship between the Roman Empire and the Jews during this time.
Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi is well known for being a Ph.D. alumnus of the prestigious Pontifical Gregorian University, which is operated by the Vatican where he was the first non-Catholic to be admitted in over 450 years of its history. At the Gregorian he spent five years working toward a Doctoratus in Church History by exhaustively studying how the change from Saturday to Sunday came about in early Christianity. He was awarded a gold medal by Pope Paul VI for attaining the academic distinction of summa cum laude for his class-work and his dissertation entitled, From Sabbath to Sunday. This noted book has the distinction of being the first book written by a non-Catholic ever to be published by the Pontifical Gregorian University Press with the Catholic imprimatur (approval). The book has already been reprinted fourteen times in English and has been translated in several languages. Hundreds of scholars of different persuasions have praised this book as a definitive treatment of the early history of the Lord’s Day. I particularly recommend his book, From Sabbath to Sunday, for the serious reader. Visit Dr. Bacchiocchi’s website for more information.
Dr. Bacchiocchi states in another of his books, Divine Rest for Human Restlessness, “Beginning with the first Jewish Revolt against Rome (66-70), various repressive measures—military, political and fiscal—were imposed by the Romans upon the Jews.” page 238. In A.D. 135 the Jewish revolt led by Bar-Kokkba was crushed by the armies of Emperor Hadrian. Outraged, “Hadrian at this time prohibited the practice of the Jewish religion throughout the empire, condemning especially Sabbath observance.”—Ibid, page 237.
The mounting hostility of the Romans against the Jews coupled with the conflict between Jews and Christians, encouraged a rash of anti-Jewish literature, which, in turn, created strong anti-Jewish sentiment throughout the Roman Empire. Sabbath keeping Christians became increasingly sensitive and self-conscious about confusing identification with the Jews. Since Sabbath-keeping tended to identify them with the Jews, many Christians began minimizing its obligations.
“Impressive indications (suggest) that Sunday observance was introduced at this time in conjunction with Easter-Sunday, as an attempt to clarify to the Roman authorities the Christian distinction from Judaism.” Ibid, page 237. With this in mind, it is easy to see how Christians living in the capital city of the Roman Empire led the way in disassociating themselves from Sabbath-keeping. They were located at the center where hostility was the strongest!
It is especially understandable that they might shy away from Sabbath-keeping, which was held in contempt by the Romans, in view of the fact that the church at Rome was composed predominantly of Gentiles, who were converts from paganism. It is interesting to note how Paul addressed the church in Rome: “I am talking to you Gentiles…’’ Romans 11:13 NIV
This indicates that most of the Christians in Rome were from Gentile nations. These Christians, recently converted from paganism, were not as well established in Sabbath-keeping as were Jewish Christians, who had always practiced Sabbath-keeping.
“But why was Sunday chosen rather than some other day of the week?” I’m so glad you asked! That’s a very good question! The pagans in the Roman Empire had been sun worshipers for many years celebrating Sunday as the sun’s day. The Roman Emperors had even represented themselves as sun gods, stamping the emblem of the sun on their coins and buildings and demanding worship from their subjects. Apollo, a name familiar to us living in the NASA age, was the name of the mythological Roman sun god.
Some theologians believe that the church back then saw an advantage in compromise with paganism. By adopting a few pagan customs, the pagans would convert to Christianity more quickly and feel more at home. It would also benefit the empire by uniting its subjects into one great religion.
For centuries Sunday was celebrated, not as a holy day, but as a holiday. Then both days were kept as holy days. We read the following from Apostolic Constitutions, Book 7, Chapter 23. “Christians were not the only ones who became careless and gradually compromised their faith. The erosion of the purity of the Apostolic church stood firm and pure, but when the second and third generation Christians came along, we see evidence of compromise and apostasy.”
Dr. W. D. Killen wrote: “Between the days of the apostles and the conversion of Constantine…rites and ceremonies of which neither Paul nor Peter ever heard, crept silently into use, and then claimed the rank of Divine institutions.” –The Ancient Church, pp. 15, 16.
This drift into compromise was accented by the first civil Sunday law passed by the Roman Emperor Constantine on March 7, A.D. 321. While still a pagan, he legislated: “On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in the cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits.” History Of the Christian Church, 1902 ed. Volume 3, page 380.
The next step in making Sunday-keeping an integral part of Christianity was taken by the church at Rome in the Council of Laodicea. It made the first religious law concerning the keeping of Sunday. “In the year 325, Sylvester, Bishop of Rome changed the title of the first day, calling it the Lord’s day.” Historia Ecclesiastica, page 739.
At another Council of Laodicea, held in 364, the following law was made: “Christians shall not Judaize (keep Sabbath) and be idle on Saturday…, but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s day they shall especially honour, and, as being Christians, shall if possible, do no work on that day. If however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out…from Christ.”—A History of the Councils of the Church, Volume 2, Page 316.
In spite of mounting pressure Christians were still observing the Sabbath in the sixth century. Bacchiocchi states that Pope Gregory denounced “as the prophets of Antichrist those who maintained that work ought not to be done on the seventh day.”—The Law of Sunday, quoted in C. B. Haynes, From Sabbath to Sunday, page 43.
It is important to keep in mind that before the invention of printing and the publication of books, the Bible was not available to everyone at that time as it is now. Doctrines were passed along by word of mouth until laymen could scarcely distinguish between Scripture and tradition. Before people had Bibles of their own few people really knew the truth as it was taught by Christ and His disciples. People’s beliefs then were largely based on what they were told by church leaders.
After the sixth century the Sabbath truth lay almost dormant in Europe, hidden under centuries of tradition. Few closely examined to find out what the Scriptures taught. They accepted what had been passed along through generations, never questioning whether it was fact or fiction. (Strange, isn’t it, how little has changed! Millions of Christians base their beliefs today on tradition and what they’ve been told and what they hear from their parents or the pulpit, not what they’ve studied for themselves in the Scriptures!)
THE SABBATH IN AFRICA
But while the truth of the Sabbath
lay dormant in Europe, it survived and even thrived on the continent of
Africa. In Psalm 68:31 we read, “Ethiopia shall quickly stretch forth
her hand to God.” And in Zephaniah 3:10: “From beyond the rivers
of Ethiopia my suppliant, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring
my offering.”
In his book, Sabbath Roots: The African Connection, Dr. Charles Bradford discusses how God’s holy Sabbath was preserved in Africa for many centuries. He quotes writer, E.G. White, in the book, Great Controversy: “The history of the churches of Ethiopia and Abyssinia is especially significant.” (p. 577) “In lands beyond the jurisdiction of Rome there existed for many centuries bodies of Christians who remained almost wholly free from papal corruption. They were surrounded by heathenism and in the lapse of ages were affected by its errors; but they continued to regard the Bible as the only rule of faith and adhered to many of its truths. These Christians believed in the perpetuity of the law of God and observed the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Churches that held to this faith and practice existed in Central Africa and among the Armenians of Asia. p.63. “Through his conversion (the Ethiopian eunuch baptized by Phillip recorded in Acts 8:26-39) the gospel was carried to Ethiopia, and many there accepted Christ. The Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 3, p. 305, E.G. White.
“Christianity in Africa is so old that it can rightly described as an indigenous, African religion. . .” says author, John Mbiti. “The Ethiopian Church is equally ancient, and an Ethiopian court official is one of the first Gentile converts named in the book of Acts. . . By the time the first Anglo-Saxons were converted, Ethiopian Christianity was already in its tenth generation.” As quoted by John Mbiti, author of African Religions and Philosophy. London: Heineman, 1989. by Charles Bradford.
Phillip Jenkins in his book, The Next
Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, says, “Sabbath-keeping
in Ethiopia encountered two important challenges. The first came from Islam
as a part of its widespread conflict with Christianity. The second came
from fellow Christians, the Roman See, who sought to revise the traditional
faith of Ethiopian Christians. This included the acceptance of Sunday as
the appropriate day of worship.
“For 145 years, between 1520 and 1665, Ethiopia was under constant
pressure from the Portuguese government and the pope to accept Catholicism.
Christianity had been firmly entrenched in Ethiopia since the third century.
The faith of the early church had been maintained and Sabbath keeping was
also continued.” The Ethiopian church has many aspects that would
surprise a Westerner, including practices that stem from Judaism. . .Some
keep a Saturday Sabbath, and many churches feature an ark. . “
“Ethiopia has great significance in the history of this planet,” says Howard University history professor Dr. Emory Tolbert. “Indeed, the numerous references to Ethiopia as a nation and a symbol in both biblical and secular history confirm Ethiopia’s significance. One of the ways in which Ethiopia and its leaders etched their names in world history was by adhering to established beliefs based on their reading of the Bible.”
Today Christianity and Sabbath keeping are exploding on the African continent“… the number of Christians (on the African continent) increased staggeringly, from 10 million in 1900 to 360 million by 2000.” Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom
IT’S A CHOICE: THE BIBLE
OR TRADITION
Meanwhile back in Europe, centuries
passed, and the Protestant Reformation came, questioning, many rites and
traditions that had supplanted the teachings of God’s Word.
The cry of the reformation was: “The Bible and the Bible only as our
rule of faith.”
Many like Huss and Jerome, paid for their fidelity to the Bible by being
burned at the stake!
The following statements are
by Roman Catholic authors, whose church led the way in the change from Sabbath
to Sunday.
“The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence
of a Protestant by virtue of her Divine mission, changed the day from Saturday
to Sunday.” The Christian Sabbath, page 16.
From the Convert’s Catechism,
we read:
“Question: Which is the Sabbath day?
Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead
of Saturday?
Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 336) transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”
Why, you may ask, did the Catholic Church, by its own free and open admission institute this change? The answer lies, at least in part, in the place of authority accorded by the Roman Church to tradition.
“Like two sacred rivers flowing from paradise, the Bible and divine Tradition contain the Word of God… Though these two divine streams are…of equal sacredness, …still, of the two, TRADITION is to us more clear and safe.”—Joseph Faa di Bruno, Catholic Belief, page 33.
One of the main points of difference between Protestants and Catholics during the early days of the Reformation was over the authority of tradition in the church. When Martin Luther declared that he must follow the Bible and the Bible only, he challenged many of the institutions of the Catholic Church that were based solely on tradition. In fact, the Council of Trent was convened to decide exactly what position the Catholic Church should take on tradition and its relationship to the Bible. The question was finally settled.
Notice the summary given of the speech that turned the tide, as recorded by H. H. Holtzman, Canon and Tradition, p, 263: “Finally, at the last opening on the eighteenth of January, 1562, all hesitation was set aside: the Archbishop of Reggio made a speech in which he openly declared that tradition stood above Scripture. The authority of the church could therefore not be bound to the authority of the Scriptures, because the Church had changed …the Sabbath into Sunday, not by command of Christ, but by its own authority.” .
What swung the pendulum when all seemed at a standstill? It was the fact that the church had, in effect, changed one of God’s commandments on the authority of tradition! Protestants reading this may be more surprised than Catholics over this revelation. Roman Catholics have long taken pride in what they believe to be the authority of their church to interpret Scripture in the light of tradition.
But the Bible does not support the idea of an authoritative, extra-biblical tradition. Do you remember the question Jesus asked the religious leaders of His day as recorded in Matthew 15:3? He asked, “…Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” And in verse 9 He added, “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:3, 9
Do you see the issue here? Will you follow Christ and the Bible, or human traditions? It is not merely a matter of days and numbers. It is a matter of masters! That is the real issue! “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.” 1 Kings 18:21 “Choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15.
We have sited in this study a number of trustworthy scholars and scholarly historical works, but there are people in our age that recognize the same thing that we have found that in these history books.
Notice this statement, ”It was the Catholic Church that decided Sunday should be the day of worship for Christians in honor of the resurrection.” Karl Keating, Catholicism and Fundamentalism, 1988, p. 38.
Another statement that will cause you
to stop and think comes from the Saint Catherine Catholic Church Sentinel,
May 21, 1995.
It said, “Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change
that the church ever did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the
Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday…not from any directions
noted in the scriptures, but from the Church’s sense of its own power…
People who think that the scriptures should be the sole authority should
logically become Seventh-Day Adventist, and keep Saturday holy.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia says that after changing the day of worship the church then changed the command of God! Notice what it says: “The Church…after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, to the first, made the third commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord’s Day.” Vol. 4, page 153.
Notice the reference to the third commandment in the above statement. It should be noted that the third commandment of the Decalogue in the Catholic Church is really the 4th commandment as recorded in Exodus 20:8-10. This is because the Church deleted the 2nd commandment against worshipping graven images, moved the remaining commandments up to make the fourth now the third. The fourth was then slashed to just one line which reads, simply, “Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.” To get back 10 commandments the 10th commandment against coveting was divided into two! All this without any permission or authority from God.
“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 Gibbons, The Faith of our Fathers, pp. 72,73.
More Catholic and Protestant Church leaders’ confessions can be found at http://www.tagnet.org/llt/20th_cen.htm
In an upcoming Matrix of Prophecy Seminar we will study about the prophecy of Daniel 7 where God revealed to Daniel that the “little horn” of Daniel 7:25, was to “…think to change God’s times and laws…” We will see in amazing detail how the Bible predicted and prophesied how, and when, Satan would attack the law of God and the 4th commandment especially with venom and determination. And this very prophecy has been fulfilled with deadly accuracy! In fact, a power has thought to do this, but God is still the same today as when He made the heavens and the earth and He has not changed what He instituted in Eden.
John wrote, “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth-- to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people-- saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’” Revelation 14:6,7.
In fact, the prophecy calls for everyone everywhere to worship the Creator because He is the one who is going to judge mankind. It is given to call out a people who will be ready to meet Jesus when He returns in the clouds of glory. The people who will respond and be ready are described this way, “Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14: 12.
It goes without saying that those who have the faith of Jesus will be keeping His Commandments out of a heart of love for God! Not that they are keeping them as a means of salvation, any more than keeping any of the other 9 commandments earns one salvation. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10.
Yes, God asks us to REMEMBER Him as our Creator by keeping His Holy Day. To do as He asks means we show our loyalty to Him. When a person keeps a man-made Sabbath, he is obeying man’s traditions and disobeying God’s clear invitation and command. When we discover God’s will it is our joy to follow it. God has something to say about man’s traditions:
These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” Mark 7:6,7,9. Again: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!” Mark 7:6,7,9 NIV
Jesus said, “…Their hearts are far from me.” You see, it is really a matter of the heart. A matter of love. The Bible says, “For this is the love for God that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” 1 John 5:3.
As Jesus was teaching one day, He made a surprising statement. He said that you can know a tree by its fruit, whether it was good or bad fruit. Then He said, “Not everyone who says Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Matthew 7:21. That is very plain. God knows those who are His by looking at the fruitage of their lives. It is not just those who say they belong to God, but those who are letting God and His Holy Spirit work in them to do what He has told them to do. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. . .” Ephesians 2:8. It is those individuals who will be welcomed into the kingdom of God.
If you love Him you will let Him be the one who runs your life so that you can do His will. The Bible tells that “that we henceforth (should) be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” Ephesians 4:14. Won’t you make the decision to discard the Sunday observance myth which is fooling millions? And commit your life to following God’s truth rather than accepting a man-made tradition? Why not tell Jesus you will follow Him all the way.
