By Dr. James Ricks
The World’s Desperate Search for the Sabbath Changing Scripture
The world does not want to admit that they inherited Sunday from the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church copied it from the Roman Empire’s pagan sun worship. The Catholics boldly state that Protestants are following Papal authority when they accept Sunday for the Sabbath.
Many have combed the Bible for evidence of the authority to alter the Sabbath. They simply cannot find it. What they do find is the New Testament Church arguing over whether to make an exception regarding the circumcision of Gentiles. Not a change of the circumcision law, but whether to make exceptions for adults. Obviously adult circumcision was much more traumatic than infant circumcision.
No debate of any kind over altering the Sabbath Law can be found. It is like looking for the missing link in evolution. They can make up something without any solid evidence. What is the best they can come up with in the New Testament? It is the ‘Lords Day’. It is not the real evidence they are seeking. They willfully misunderstand it.
Rev 1:10, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet…”
Note that no discussion of the change in the Sabbath law is involved. They just assume it means a change existed. They assume the terms “Day of the Lord” or “Lord’s Day” means Sunday. But do the Old and New Testament scriptures support this assumption? They clearly do not. Remember both the conference in Acts 15 and Paul’s final visit to Jerusalem that the brethren were zealous for the law. We do not mean Jewish oral law or all of their traditions which Christ criticized. But the written law which surely would have included all of the Ten Commandments.
Acts 21:20-24, “And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
“And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
“What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.
“Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
“Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.”
The rumors about Paul were based on envy and ethnic bias over the many gentiles he was converting from raw paganism to worship of the true God. Those rumors were nothing but lies. Paul preached that the purpose of the law was to guide us but not to save us. The law defines right behavior and wrong, sinful behavior. Some of the Jewish critics misunderstood Paul and the Gospel. You cannot earn salvation but a person could be disqualified by not repenting of sinful works.
Romans 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
Romans 3:31, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”
One establishes the law by admitting to having made an error in conduct that requires repentance. The Church and Paul clearly believed in the law, which includes the Sabbath right in the middle––or heart––of the Ten Commandments.
What Does The Bible Say About The Lord’s Day?
One should use the entire Bible to define and better understand the terms used in the Bible. After reviewing a number of these verses we will see the true meaning of the term. A review of all scriptures reveals:
Jer. 46:10, “For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.”
Joel 2:31, “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.”
1 Cor. 5:5, “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
2 Cor. 1:14, “As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
1 Thes. 5:2, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”
2 Thes. 2:2, “That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.”
Without question the “Day of the Lord” and “Lord’s Day” refers to the cataclysmic events at end of this age when Jesus comes back to take this world by force. It is the day of the Lord’s Vengeance––the day of the Lord’s victory over evil! It is also associated with the expression “That day.” One key to understanding these terms is to remember that they are always associated with the span of time during which God personally intervenes in history to accomplish his plan.
What Did the Apostle Paul Really Mean by This Term?
The book of Revelation is about the vengeance of God and the events at the end of the age. John was writing material revealed to him about this day of God’s vengeance. He, in his spirit, saw the “Day of the Lord” or “Lord’s Day.”
The theme of the Book of Revelation is God’s vengeance on Satan’s society, fulfilled on the Lord’s Day. This day is the Second Coming of the Messiah!
The events of the Day of the Lord will represent the end of the age of mankind’s self rule. It is the end of the age of mankind’s defiance toward God. It is the end of the current age! The millennium of God-ruled paradise will begin with Christ’s return. It will be a wonderful day for God’s people and the Jews as well.
Zech. 8:3, “Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.”
Zech. 8:23, “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.”
Jesus’ second coming will be joyous for the physical people of God. They will be rescued from the satanic oppression of Babylon. It will be even more glorious for the spiritual sons of God. We will be born into the family of God. Wow!
Romans 8:16-19, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
“For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.”
Is the Day of the Lord a Particular Day of the Week?
The Day of the Lord Jesus Christ will be a happy day for the people of God after the violence and tumult of tribulation.
Sunday, as the “Day of the Lord,” or the “Lord’s Day,” was not ratified by the Catholic Church until the council of Laodicea (363-364 AD) several centuries later. The council forbade keeping the Sabbath any longer. This was the result of an obvious apostasy from the original gospel.
The Apostle John was, like others, a Sabbath keeper in the first century when he wrote the Book of Revelation. Further, it does not matter on which day of the week John saw his vision. It could have been any day of the week. What is important is that John was taken in the Spirit to be shown what the “Day of the Lord,” at the end of the world, would be like so that he could provide a warning message. The Book of Revelation is both a warning, and as such, is also a blessing to all believers.
Rev. 1:3, “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.”
It is easy to misinterpret the above scriptures if one already has a Sunday bias, or a “Sabbath law is revoked” bias. “I was in the spirit on the Lord’s Day, and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet.” But the day mentioned in Revelation is an enormous turning point in all mankind’s history. We believe we are now living very close to the time referred to in those apocalyptic prophecies. The Day of the Lord is indeed at hand.
