Who changed the Sabbath Day?
Hundreds of years ago the world was rocked by scandal, a blasphemous attempt was made to change God’s holy law. In the Christian world today there is much confusion about the Bible Sabbath. Many sincere Christians have been deceived into receiving a false Sabbath that was never endorsed by the Bible; amazingly the Bible predicted the blasphemous change.
“And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Daniel 7:25
Let’s look at the truth of the word:
“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:2-3
We see in Genesis after making this world God sanctified the seventh day and made it holy. Not just any day of the week but specifically the seventh day, which lasts from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. Not only is the Sabbath a memorial of God’s creative power but it is a sign between him and his people.
“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
Also, the Sabbath is at the heart of God’s Ten Commandments.
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8
In the book of Psalms, he reinforces this commandment.
“My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.” Psalm 89:34
Remember that obedience to all of God’s commandments, which includes the Sabbath, is the sign that we know God the Father.
“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” 1 John 2:3-6
God’s eternal commandments were understood by his people even before the law was given on Mt Sinai.
“Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” Genesis 26:5
We can also see that God’s people were aware of the fourth commandment which describes the Sabbath even before Moses received the two tablets of stone on Mt Sinai.
“And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.” Exodus 16:23
This verse is referring to the manna or heavenly bread that God provided the Israelite in the wildernesses. Notice that God referred to the holy Sabbath even before Moses receive the Ten Commandments in stone. These verses including the Sabbath being sanctified during creation week, Abraham obeying the commandment, and the Sabbath being enforced when Israel received the manna, are all evidence that God’s Ten Commandments law is eternal and existed even before they were given on Mt Sinai. In those commandments, the Sabbath is explicitly described written in stone by God’s hand.
Now let us consider the New Testament; did Jesus or the Apostles change the Sabbath? If such a monumental change of God’s law were to take place surely it would have been mentioned throughout the New Testament.
Jesus made it very clear that all of the Ten Commandments are binding and eternal.
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-19
It was Jesus’ common practice to worship on the Sabbath.
“And 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 for to read.” Luke 4:16
Jesus kept his Father’s commandments, and he is our example in all things. But perhaps the greatest proof that God’s Ten Commandments law including the Sabbath can never be changed or taken away is the very fact that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He died to pay the penalty for sin which the Bible describes as the breaking of God’s law. His death proved that God will never change his law.
Nearly forty years after his death he told his church:
“ But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:” Matthew 24:20
Even Paul the Apostle said this concerning the law:
“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Romans 3:31
It was the apostles' practice to preach on the Sabbath, and both Jews and Gentiles joined them to hear the word of God on this day.
“And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” Acts 18:4
“For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.” Matthew 12:8
The lord even pronounces a special blessing on those who keep his Sabbath day.
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Isaiah 58:13-14
So where do we go from here?
If you are the true seed of Jacob, the chosen Hebrew Israelites people of God, then it’s clear we must separate ourselves from the deception of the enemy who deceived so many to worship our Father on the first day of the week, opposed to the seventh day as required in the law of God.
If you are a confessed Christian who wants to worship the Father in spirit and truth, you must do the same.
