The Day of the Lord

Many churches worship on Sunday, others in the Middle East adapt to Muslim Friday worship, again others claim that the Sabbath is the Day of the Lord. What do the scriptures say?

Old Covenant

  1. In six days God created the world, and on the seventh he took a rest (Gen 2:1-3). The seventh day of the week is also referred to as the Sabbath (Mt 28:1). Even today many languages use the word
    Language Name
    Arabic (Sabet) السبت
    Armenian (Shabat) շաբաթ
    English Saturday
    Greek (Savvato) Σάββατο
    Hebrew (shah-bath) יום שבת
    Russian (Subbota) суббота
    Italian Sabato
    Spanish sábado
    for Sabbath. One Biblical day starts at sunset and ends at the following sunset (Gen 1:5). Hence, the Sabbath lasts from Friday evening at sunset to Saturday evening at sunset (Neh 13:19).

  2. God inscribed his commandments on two stone tablets and gave them to Moses on the Mount Sinai. The fourth command reads "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God:" (Ex 20:8-11). Moreover, God instructed his people through Moses to cook and bake on the sixth day for two days and to relax on the seventh (Ex 16:23-26). On the Sabbath God's people should not do their regular business, such as selling (Nh 13:19), plowing and reaping (Ex 34:21), but to be in union with God our creator.
    Instead consultation with prophets were sought on Sabbath (2 Kings 4:23).

  3. The penalty for breaking the Sabbath commandment in the Old Covenant was death (Ex 31:14). As a consequence, the congregation stoned a man to death who had gathered sticks on the Sabbath (Num 15:32-36).
    For 430 years God's people had refused to respect the Sabbaths (Ez 4:4-6). Eventually the Babylons carried away all of God's people for 70 years (2 Chr 36:21). Jerusalem was burned. Tens of thousands people were killed.

  4. God's people knew why they had been in captivity such a long time. After they were free to return to Judah, their religious authorities outlined 39 categories with sometimes absurd definitions of work that could violate the Sabbath command (Tractate Shabbat 7:Misha II), resulting in burdensome Sabbath regulations.

New Covenant

  1. As it was his custom, Jesus went into one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. There he read the scriptures (Lk 4:16), taught, and healed people (Jh 5:2-8, Lk 13:10-13, Lk 14:1-6).

  2. Jesus perfectly obeyed God's Sabbath command but he ignored the man-made Sabbath regulations (Mk 2:23-25). This is because Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath in contrast to the religious authorities (Mt 12:8).

  3. Jesus clearly said that even if Heaven and Earth pass away, the law [of God] keeps the same (Mt 5:17-19). So far, Heaven and Earth have not passed away, yet.

  4. Paul, apostle to the Gentiles, wrote: "We are delivered from the law [of Moses] (Rm 7:5-6). Christ has redeemed us from the law [of Moses] (Gal 3:13-14). We are justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law [of Moses] (Gal 2:16)". So, do we have the liberty to do whatever we want without consequences? Elsewhere, Paul asks "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid yea, we establish the law [of God] (Rm 3:31)". Clearly, the law of Moses we cannot establish.

  5. The law of God, in contrast, has been valid since ever and will be valid for eternity. Among many other rules, God's law states: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:36-40)". The believers in Christ are now sons of God and hence, they shall be like God (1 John 3:2). Note that God kept rest on the seventh day of creation.

  6. Consequently, the disciples kept the Sabbath (more than 80 times mentioned in the Book of Acts) to listen to the word of God, to help the needy, but not to pursue daily business. Around 135 A.D. the Roman emperor Hadrian passed many anti-Jewish laws. One of them forbid the Jewish to observe the Sabbath. Though aimed at the Jews, these laws affected the Christians, as well. And so it happened that more and more gentile Christians changed from Sabbath to the Gnostic Sunday worship over time (as documented by Justin Martyr in First Apology of Justin, Chapter LXVII, ca. 150 A.D.).

  7. The penalty for breaking the Sabbath commandment in the New Covenant is still death, but this time the death is of spiritual nature. There are several signs that you are cut off from the presence of God:
    8. As a consequence you tend be an animal, following your own instinct only.