The Sabbath שַׁבָּת-shabbat

The Jewish people only assign a name to one day of the week. Although we say Sunday, Monday and so on, in Hebrew Sunday is referred to as the first day”, Tuesday is the second day and so on. However, G-d has designated one day out of the week as special. That day is the seventh day (our Friday evening to Saturday evening) and is known in Hebrew as the Shabbat. The literal dictionary definition of Shabbat means to “cease”, “desist” or “stop”.

Now the first fundamental point that needs to be stressed is that only G-d has the authority to designate something as being holy. We humans do not have that authority. To think that we can take some principle or commandment that G-d has lain down and just somehow change it is outrageous.

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy" (Ex 20:8-11).

While it is perfectly okay to congregate on a Sunday, this day is NOT the Sabbath. The Sabbath should be honored. Many Christians reason that since the Sabbath was specifically given to Israel we are not obliged to honor it. But as can be seen by reading Genesis, the Sabbath was established long before the first Israelite came into existence. The Sabbath is a Holy Day designated by the Creator of the universe. Sunday is not.

The decision to change the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday occurred over several meetings presided over by Emperor Constantine in the middle part of the 4th century AD. Here is an excerpt from the Council of Laodicea document, Canon # 29.

“Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord’s day; and, if they can, resting as Christians. But if any of them be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.”

And on March 7th, 321AD, Constantine set down the following decree:

“Let all judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades rest on the venerable day of the Sun.”

Do you know why we call Sunday, Sunday? It is because this was the day that the whole Roman empire met to worship the widely accepted Roman sun god, known as Mithras.

In closing, I reiterate that only G-d can has the authority to set something apart as holy. A bunch of gentiles in their anti-Semitic zeal have no right to change a G-d-ordained principle, a principle that G-d has affirmed is eternal and is to be followed for all generations. Second, this flagrant use of the term “judaize” is really grating on my nerves. Think about it for a second. If Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah of Israel, then Christianity is nothing less than completed Judaism. We are grafted into Israel, not vice versa! So as a believer in Messiah, I guess I am a Judaizer. And if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, so are you.

When it comes to Sabbath worship, let us accept the undiluted and pure commands of G-d with joy, neither turning to the left, nor to the right in obeying them.

Shabbat Shalom!