Changing the Sabbath

A few posts back I mentioned some things I wanted to put in the non-fiction book. One of those was why Sunday isn't the Biblical sabbath. The main reason is that the Bible never says it is. A tradition has developed that Sunday is the "Christian sabbath", but it's only a tradition. Believers in the sabbath being Sunday say it's the Lord's day, and to honor the Lord it was changed. Or something similar to that. That's nearly all they have to stand on for the belief. The other thing they stand on is Revelation 1:10, which says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet." They point to this verse and claim the Lord's day is mentioned right there and that John was in the spirit on Sunday, and Sunday is the sabbath. In English it has to be interpreted that the Lord's day in this verse is Sunday. However, the Bible wasn't written in English.

In Greek that verse says, I became in the spirit on the day of the Lord. This is a reference to other books in the Bible.
Amos 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
Zephaniah 1:7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Joel 1:15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

There are others and other references, but you get the point. The verse in Revelation doesn't refer to Sunday. It refers to the day of the Lord. There's no verse in the Bible saying God changed the sabbath to Sunday. Is the book of Revelation about Sunday, or is it about the day of the Lord?

So, why do Christians believe Sunday is the sabbath? Because of Emperor Constantine. He's the one who changed it, not God. The three largest demographic groups in the Roman Empire were sun worshipers. Constantine was a worshiper of the sun god Apollo and was also antisemitic. Changing the Christian sabbath was a political move that brought them in line with the sun worshipers and allowed persecution of Jews with less interference from non-Jewish Christians. After centuries of persecution, Christians were willing to compromise on the sabbath. The Catholic church was born. Constantine got to persecute Jews. It was a win-win for the emperor.

Why do Christians believe the sabbath is Sunday? Because Emperor Constantine said so.

There's more to it, of course. I've left out the role Satan played in all of this and how changing the true sabbath to Sunday can be traced all the way back to Genesis and Satan's downfall in Eden. But that's something for the book.

Have a great weekend.