The Sabbath Is for God, Sunday Is for the Sun-god

When it comes to the day of worship people often say we should worship God every day and many people worldwide say they go to church on Sunday. Those who know God must surely know when to worship God. God commanded us to worship on Saturday which is the seventh day Sabbath not Sunday

The History of Christianity [A Lion handbook]“All judges city people and craftsmen shall rest on the venerable day of the sun…” 7 March 321

Many People think that when they go to church on Sunday, they are following the law of God, however, they are worshiping the sun-god. According to the Bible which we humans who seek to be saved must follow as written, it has never been shown that we should worship God on Sunday.

Revelation 22:18-19 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

Those who claim to be God’s people, as defined by the Bible, must adhere to His teachings precisely, neither adding to nor subtracting from the scripture. Consequently, anything added or removed, as commanded by God, will lead to spiritual destruction, as the verse above warns. To understand what has been added to God’s words, we must first examine what truly originates from Him.

Exodus 20:8-10 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God.”

Exodus 31:12-13 “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites, “You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.”‘”

Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord God Jehovah explicitly commanded His people to honor the Seventh-day Sabbath, which He designated as a distinctive sign of their covenant with Him. This observance of the Seventh-day Sabbath was consistently maintained in the New Testament by Jesus and the Apostles.

Luke 4:16: “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read…”

Acts 17:2: “As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.”

Jesus led by example, and those who sought salvation through Him could follow His path. The Apostle Paul, who became a follower of Christ after His ascension, demonstrated this by teaching other believers to keep the seventh–day Sabbath just as Christ did. This strongly suggests that the seventh–day Sabbath was always meant to be observed in both the Old and New Testaments, and it remains the law God intends His people to follow forever.

Matthew 24:20-21 “Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

When Is the Seventh Day Sabbath

Identifying the seventh day as Saturday is straightforward, confirmed by both dictionaries and calendars. More importantly, the Bible itself provides evidence for Saturday as the seventh day; by examining the events surrounding Christ’s resurrection, we can clearly determine the sequence of the first and seventh day.

Mark 16:9 (NIV) “When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.”

Mark 16:9 (TEV) “After Jesus rose from death early on Sunday, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven demons.”

In the above verse it is shown that Christ rose from death on the first day of the week in the NIV version and it is written Sunday in the TEV version. Meaning that Sunday is the first day of the week biblically. However, the day in which God blesses his people and gives the identity to be His people is not on the day Jesus Christ rose from death, but it is on the seventh day Sabbath. Therefore, the people who have the sign to be the people of God as stated in Exodus are those who observe the seventh day Sabbath on Saturday.

Many people do not realize that most theologians have the knowledge that Sunday is not from the Bible:

In the Catholic apologetics book: The Faith of Our Fathers: “Not to mention other examples is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday and to abstain on that day from unnecessary civil work is not the observance of this law among the most permanent of our sacred duties but you may read the Bible from genesis to revelation and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday the scriptures are enforced the religious observance of Saturday a day which we never sanctify.”

The Faith of Millions book: “I have read the Bible from the first verse of genesis to the last verse of revelation and have found no reference to the duty of sanctifying this Sunday. The day mentioned in the book is not the Sunday the day first of the week but the Saturday the last day of the week.”

What about those who observe Sunday? Like weeds in a field, the churches today, as many as they are, observe Sunday. However, Sunday is not the day God gave to His people; then where does Sunday come from?

The Church of Rome accepted Sunday the sacred day of the sun-god as a worship day. In AD 313 Constantine stopped the persecution of Christians and legalized Christianity and carried out preferential policies toward Christianity. In the 2nd century the Roman emperor Constantine decreed Sunday to be a legal holiday in AD 321. Let’s look at how the sacred day of the sun god Mithra changed to the day of Christian worship.

In contrast to Christianity, which the Romans persecuted in its early years, Mithraism, the worship of the sun-god Mithra, was accepted by the Romans. It was separated from Zoroastrianism, an ancient Persian religion that was brought to Rome in the first century BC. While Christianity was brought to Rome, Mithraism was the most powerful religion in the Roman Empire. Soldiers worshiped the sun-god Mithra in a distinctive way. Mithraism was eventually elevated to the status of tutelary deity of the Roman Empire and its rulers after being progressively accepted by imperial families and nobility. Sunday was designated as the day in honor of Mithra, the sun-god.

Robert Leo Odom, Sunday in Roman Paganism, TEACH services, inc., p.155 : “That Sunday was the sacred day of Mithra the invincible sun is a fact known and taught by many outstanding authorities of modern times for example a well known Roman Catholic book, the Catholic encyclopedia not only states that in Mithraism the 7th day of the week was dedicated to the planets but also declares,” Sunday was kept holy in honor of Mithra.”

Roman rulers detested Judaism. While the Romans practiced polytheism and created images of their deities, Jews adhered to monotheism and refrained from creating images. Jews did not adopt Roman religious practices. Judaism was tolerated because it was confined to a specific ethnic group. Christianity, however, expanded significantly through the preaching of the saints, who emulated Jesus Christ.

Consequently, Roman rulers persecuted Christians, in addition to the persecution they faced from Jews. This led to a distortion of Christ’s gospel and the introduction of lawlessness within the church. Following the death of the apostles in the 2nd century, these developments became evident, particularly in the Western Church, centered in Rome, where Sunday worship emerged. Historically, the first two centuries saw an escalation of conflicts between the Roman Empire and the Jews, culminating in the Jewish-Roman wars.

In the viewpoint of the Roman Empire since the Christians believed in one God and gathered on the Sabbath worship like the Jews, they persecuted the Christians even more. The western churches centering on Rome mainly consist of gentile believers and they had a strong antipathy against the Jews because they crucified Jesus. Consequently, the Romans persecuted the Christians and many were deceived and regarded the Sabbath day which was the law of God merely as a custom of the Jews who had persecuted them. Because of such a thought, many of them thought it was unnecessary to adhere to the Sabbath and receive more persecution from the Roman Empire.

To mitigate persecution and curry favor with the Romans, who held Sunday as sacred, the church in Rome began observing Sunday worship services from the early 2nd century, due to not fully comprehending the new covenant Sabbath. They justified themselves keeping Sunday worship by emphasizing that Jesus resurrected on Sunday. They disregarded the example of Jesus and the Apostles who worshiped on Saturday, the seventh day, and incorporated human opinions. This is how the worship day for the sun-god Mithra was adopted as the worship day for the church in Rome in the 2nd century.

However, it was not all churches that accepted Sunday worship in the 2nd century. The Western churches accepted the worship day of the sun-god Mithra but the churches in the East kept the Sabbath on Saturday until the emperor issued the Sunday legislation in 321 AD.

Joseph Bingham the Antiquities of the Christian Church, Book13, Chap.9, Sect 3 :“We always find it ancient writers frequent mention made of religious assemblies on the Saturday or 7th day of the week which was the Jewish Sabbath. Athanasius who is one of the first that mentions it says, “they met on the 7th not that they were infected with Judaism but to worship Jesus the Lord of the Sabbath.”

The Edict of Milan, issued by Constantine in AD 313, marked a pivotal moment for Christianity. Through this edict, Constantine recognized Christianity and implemented policies favorable to its followers. Despite this apparent support, his personal faith in Christianity was questionable; he actively participated in pagan festivals and frequently used the symbol of Sol Invictus, the “Unconquered Sun,” a pagan deity. Constantine’s adoption of Christianity was largely a political maneuver, aimed at unifying the empire under a single religion.

J. W. C. Wand, a history of the Early Church to A.D. 500, p 131:” But as the reign progressed Constantine supported the Christians more and more, and one can only conclude that his aim was to make of Christianity the cement that was to bind together the whole empire.”

Constantine sought to merge Christianity with the worship of his favored sun deity, identifying this god with Christ. This intention is evident in the Sunday law he decreed in 321 A.D. This edict, which mandated Sunday as a day of rest throughout the empire under imperial authority, effectively suppressed Sabbath worship and solidified Sunday worship. Prior to 321 A.D, only the Roman church and a few churches  that were influenced observed Sunday. However, the 321 A.D decree led even the Eastern churches, which had previously maintained Saturday worship, to adopt the Roman sun god religion’s Sunday worship.

Choosing Between Tradition and God’s Truth

For individuals born into a generation where the Sabbath and Sunday appear to be the same, or where Sunday is commonly believed to be ordained by God, it can be difficult to grasp that Sunday is historically associated with the sun–god. However, from the teachings above, we can realize that the Sabbath day, Saturday belongs to God. Like weeds hidden among the wheat, this distinction might not be immediately obvious. Yet, through the clear teachings of the Bible, the truth is revealed, much like sight returning to the blind. We must choose to follow God on Saturday, Sabbath day to secure our lives instead of adhering to the sun-god on Sunday, which leads to ruin.

Those living today must abandon traditional practices and shed ingrained customs to genuinely follow God, mirroring the obedience of the prophets and the apostles. Despite many churches observing the Sabbath day, Saturday, this practice alone is not enough to prove a church’s authenticity. The most important factor is seeking God for eternal life. According to this text’s interpretation of Revelation 22:17, the true church is the one with the “Spring of the water of life,” represented by the Spirit and the Bride who appear in the last days to give life to humanity. The World Mission Society Church of God is presented as the only church that believes in the Spirit and the Bride and observes not only the Sabbath day but also all of God’s Feasts.