sunday sabbath
Christian Worship and the Sabbath Day
by Wayne L. Atchison
Christian belief is manifested in what is practiced:
Christianity is not just philosophy or speaking spiritual words, it is also the
practice and life-style of good deeds which demonstrate our commitment to Jesus
Christ. Being a Christian is a Way of life, based upon what is believed to be
true. In order to not be mislead into believing errors, it is important for
Christians to always question what is taught to them.
The Scriptures remind Christians that it is not for them to make
judgments about another Christian's Spiritual status: these questions and
judgments are to be left to God. However, even without judging the person, it
can be agreed that God tells Christians not to practice errors, nor to be
unrighteousness (I John 3:7) and to be holy just as God is holy (I Peter 1:15).
Therefore, what may be said is that a Christian is not supposed to practice
errors, and should therefore earnestly avoid being deceived into doing
so.
The Most Widely Accepted Error In Modern
Christianity
Doing a little historical research into the Christian Sabbath
Day, it becomes obvious that a major deception has been promulgated for
multitudinous generations: For over 1,600 years the majority of the Christian
world has been taught, and has accepted without question, that Sunday is the
Christian's day of worship. Yet the Scriptures, historical records, and direct
quotations from every major Christian denomination, all agree that this commonly
taught belief is a blatant error. The truth is that God's Sabbath day has always
been the seventh day of the week-(which today is called) Saturday.
his deception regarding Sunday (as being the Christian day of
worship) has been passed down since the fourth century A.D.; most people who
believe this lie have themselves not questioned it by comparing the history and
doctrines of their church with the teachings of the Bible. As both the
Scriptures and historical records show, there have always been large numbers of
Christians, found throughout the world, who worship Jesus Christ on the Sabbath
day, rather than on Sunday. Even the great Protestant missionary movement of the
last two centuries discovered previously established and thriving villages of
Sabbath keeping Christian congregations in China, Asia, South America, Africa,
and the Pacific Islands.
The practice of going to worship services on the day of the Sun
(Sunday) instead of on the Sabbath day is a deception that was
literally forced upon the congregations which were within the
Roman Empire. At that time, congregations outside of the Roman Empire were not
influenced so directly, and continued to worship on the Sabbath day.
Even within the Roman Empire, the practice of Sunday worship was
not part of the earliest Christian communities-including the Gentile
communities. As historical records show, this deception was not made into a
"Christian tenet of faith" until over 300 years (between ten to fifteen
generations) after Jesus Christ's resurrection. Though some scholars claim to
have found a reference a congregation holding worship Services on Sunday as
early as 115 A.D, it is still admitted that prior to that all Christians
everywhere, including Gentile Christians, worshipped Jesus Christ on the Sabbath
Day.
The Sunday worship deception was proclaimed as "truth" by a
decree of the Bishop at Rome (circa 325-333 A.D.). The record of historical
documents shows that his purpose was to separate Christianity from the Jewish
religion as far as possible. At the same time, it was decreed to keep the
festival of Easter (Ishtar) instead of the Passover.
Most older encyclopedias describe these events under the title
"Quarto-Deciman Controversy." These (and other) decrees by the Bishop of Rome
were the cause of the first major (international) split in the church, whereby
most of the other Bishops (there were 14 other major Bishops) refused to go
along with the decrees. Their reply (also preserved in historical documents)
declared that the Roman Bishop's mixing of Christianity with Sun-god worship was
unacceptable; as a result, most outside Christian congregations (which were
beyond the threat of Roman armies) rejected the Roman Bishop's decree, and
continued as before-to worship Jesus Christ on Saturday.
Upon "all" other believers, the practice of going to church on
Sunday was forced by decree-punishable by death or slavery-and was enforced by
the Roman government's army and judicial system. Many Christians within the
Roman domain lost their lives, or were forced into slavery as the Roman armies
imposed the Sunday worship decrees. Later, this practice included forcing all
businesses to close and everyone (whole villages) to attend Sunday worship in
"mass."
Further, businesses were forced to be open on Saturdays, and
work schedules had to include working on Saturdays. By the Crusades of the
Middle Ages, the practice of Papal coercion included converting new members into
the fold of the Roman Catholic Church by forcing them, at sword point, for
confessions (oaths) and to submit to water baptism. This was often how mass
groups of entire villages were "converted."
As a result of such severe enforcement, over the course of many
years, the western culture was transformed to regard Saturday as the opposite of
God's Sabbath day, believing it to be a day of business and labor. Likewise,
Sunday is regarded as the opposite of the day of Baal-the day of the Sun-god; it
is believed to be the day to worship Jesus Christ. Since our schools primarily
teach history from the Roman point of view, people never hear about the much
larger portion of Christians that remained faithful to the practice of
worshipping God on Saturday-His memorial day of creation.
Even having these facts behind the Sunday worship deception
(since circa 330 A.D.), this deception has been taught as being the unquestioned
"sacred" truth in most Christian denominations. Most Christians today, are
completely unaware that there could possibly be any problem associated with
worshipping God on the day of the sun, rather than on His Sabbath day. After
all, one day honors the god of the sun, while the other day is the memorial of
the creation by the Creator God.
Creation Week
In the book of Genesis, verses 1-25, the earth has been prepared
for five days for God's creation of mankind. On the sixth day God created the
first man and woman: "And God said, Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and
over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth" (v. 26). "And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was
very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day" (v.
31).
On the seventh day God created the Sabbath Day: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host
of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and
He rested on the seventh day from all his work which He had made. And God
blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested
from all His work which God created and made" (Gen. 2:1-3).
There are two Hebrew words in verses 2 and 3 that should be
understood before proceeding, because they specify how the Creator God views the
Sabbath Day: The Hebrew word 'quadash': The word translated as "sanctified",
comes from the Hebrew word 'quadash', and means "to be hallowed, holy, to
consecrate, prepare, dedicate," and is a denominative verb. The verb 'quadash',
being a denominative verb, connotes the state of that which belongs in the realm
of what is sacred. Thus, a "sanctified" object is distinct from the "common or
profane" object. Therefore, the seventh day is distinct and set apart as being
holy time, in the realm of what is sacred, in contrast to the other six days. It
is a separated time, from the rest of time.
The Hebrew word 'barak': The word translated as "blessed", is
the Hebrew word 'barak', and means "to kneel, praise or salute." The word's
major function is to confer honor, worship, high esteem and acknowledgment. For
God to bless, as in Genesis 2:2-3, means that God has taken notice of the
seventh day, and has saluted it with His favorable esteem.
From these verses in Genesis it is apparent that the seventh day
of the week has a very special significance to God, since He gave it a special
blessing and then set it apart as being sacred time. From the very beginning of
creation, God intended Adam and Eve, and all their children, to keep the seventh
day as holy time. This is the one day a week specifically reserved to worship
God and remember His creation.
Also of note is that God's sanctification of the Sabbath day had
nothing whatsoever to do with the law of Moses, the Ten Commandments, or
sacrificing animals. In contrast, it is important to note that the first day of
the week (Sunday) was not sanctified by God anywhere in the Scriptures-neither
in the old or the new covenant. Sunday worship was never introduced by God-but
was, and is, a creation and institution of men.
The Seven Day Weekly Cycle
It is not by accident that all world governments use exactly the
same seven day weekly cycle. Even though each culture has a different name for
each day, different names for the months, or different numbers for the year,
they all use the same seven day cycle, called a week. Of course men have
invented other "weeks", but the seven day week has always prevailed throughout
history.
Upon checking the common Gregorian calendar [with the exception
of some calendars which are numbered for banking or accounting purposes], you
will find, looking from left to right, that Sunday is the first day of the week,
followed in order by [second] Monday, [third] Tuesday, [fourth] Wednesday,
[fifth] Thursday, [sixth] Friday, and [seventh] Saturday. Saturday is the
seventh day of the week in our modern world wide culture. If you have an
opportunity to check older calendars, dating back as far as you can find, even
from other countries, you will find the same relationship between Saturday and
Sunday. Sunday is the first day of the week, and Saturday is the seventh day of
the week. Further, it has been established that this seven-day weekly cycle has
never been disrupted or broken, even back to the time of Adam and
Eve.
Through archaeological digs, many ancient manuscripts have been
found dating back to events occurring in each of the centuries between today and
600 B.C. These manuscripts provide recorded dates of astronomical events, dates
of monumental battles, dates of weddings, dates of business transactions, and
some even include references to the Sabbath day. In every instance where a date
is specified, and also provides reference to a Sabbath day, that date and the
Sabbath day match exactly to demonstrate that the seven day weekly cycle has
never been disrupted. Calendar systems have come and gone, but the seven day
weekly cycle has perpetuated throughout history.
One example is found in "The Talmud the Steinsaltz Edition",
Volume XIV Tractate Ta'anit Part II ( 1995 by Israel Institute for Talmudic
Publications and Milta Books), pages 205-206. It says the following regarding
the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem-built by Solomon, and
destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar's army: Page 205: "Then late on the day of the
ninth, close to nightfall, they set the Temple on fire, and it continued to burn
the entire next day, on the tenth." Page 206: "When the Temple was
destroyed for the first time at the hands of Nebuzaradan [captain of the guard],
that day was the ninth of Av, and it was the day following Shabbat, and it was
the year following the Sabbatical Year.... And similarly when the Temple was
destroyed a second time at the hands of Titus, the destruction occurred on the
very same day, on the ninth of Av."
In II Kings 25:8-9 we learn that this event occurred in the
nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar. These ancient records provide a clear
example of reporting both a known event, the destruction of Solomon's temple,
and that event happening relative to a Sabbath day. The ending of the Sabbath
day would be at sunset, as the Babylonian / Jerusalem calendar's day ends at
sunset. For this same reason, the ninth of Ab would start at sunset, extending
for about 24 hours after that, through Sunday afternoon, to the next sunset.
Therefore the first temple was destroyed starting on Saturday evening, in the
nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.
By other analysis, Nebuchadnezzar's nineteenth year can be
calculated to be in 587 B.C. In that year the ninth of Ab unmistakably began at
sunset on Saturday night. Thus, two historical records reference a weekday
Sabbath, relative to a month, day, and specific year. The fact that they match
demonstrates that the identification of which week day is the Sabbath day has
not been corrupted for the last 2500 years, between now and 587 B.C.
As a related historical note, the second temple was likewise
destroyed by the Roman army under Titus in 70 A.D. In 70 A.D., the ninth of Ab
also began at sunset on Saturday night, just as with the first
destruction.
Since God, after the exodus circa 1450 B.C., used the laying out
of the manna to demonstrate which days were work days and which day was the
Sabbath day of rest, it is certain that the weekly seven-day cycle has not been
interrupted throughout most of the Bible's historical time frame, from Moses to
Jesus.
The History Of Sun Worship
Attending worship services on Sunday did not begin with the
advent of Christianity. Sunday, the first day of the week, has been a religious
day of worship throughout history. The activity of worshipping 'god' on Sunday
was intentionally used to distinguish those who worshipped "the Mother and
Child", in contrast to those who worshipped the "Invisible Creator God" on the
seventh day of the week. This alternative worship system began over 4300 years
ago with Nimrod (Osirus), a man who rebelled against God, and was deified by
Semiramis (Isis), his sister and wife.
Shortly after the great flood, during the life time of Shem, a
son of Noah, Nimrod and his sister, named Semiramis, founded the great religions
which have survived to this day. Nimrod rebelled against God, and set himself up
as a 'local' deity. He married his sister, Semiramis, and together they started
an underground (hidden or occult) priesthood with worship ceremonies. This was
done in rebellion to the priesthood sanctified by God, represented through Noah
and Shem.
Shem, upon hearing of Nimrod's activities, and after repeated
warnings, gathered an army and sought to capture him. Nimrod fled, but was
eventually captured and executed for his rebellion. The execution included the
cutting of Nimrod into many pieces, whereby each piece was sent to a specific
region of the world as proof of his death and as a warning against following his
rebellious religion.
Semiramis, upon hearing of the death of her husband, sought
after and gathered each piece of Nimrod and reconstructed his body. She then had
sexual intercourse with the body of Nimrod (more probably with her high priest)
who allegedly became alive again long enough for her to conceive. Later,
Semiramis bore "Nimrod's only Son" called "Ninus (Horus), the savior", and
claimed that she supernaturally conceived the child. As proof that the child was
the reincarnated Nimrod, only taking the form of a child, Semiramis claimed that
she witnessed an evergreen branch grow out of a dead log in one night, the same
night the child was born. (This is the yule-log as it is known
today.)
Later, Semiramis was deified into the title of "The Mother, The
Queen of Heaven", and the child-savior was portrayed as a child-god held in her
arms. The first "mother and child" nativity story was told over 4300 years ago,
2300 years before Jesus the Messiah was born.
Incidentally, Ninus is listed as being the second Pharaoh of
Egypt, and started the practice of believing that the King is also 'a god', and
sun-day-worship. The concept of a god-king has prevailed many times throughout
history, and is still held to be true in Japan, believing that the emperor is a
god.
Today, archaeologists find remains of temples and idols all over
the world having the same common religious theme, the theme of the "Mother and
Child" being worshipped as the "Queen of Heaven, and her child-god the
'savior'".
For instance, in Babylon they worshipped a "Goddess Mother" and
a "Son of God", who was represented as an infant in his mother's arms. In Egypt
the Mother and Child was worshipped under the names of Isis and Osiris. In India
they still are worshipped as Isi and Iswara. In Asia they were worshipped as
Cybele and Deoius. In Rome as Fortuna and Jupiter-puer, or Jupiter the boy.
Other eastern nations worshipped Rhea, the "Great Goddess Mother". In Greece as
Ceres the "Great Mother" with "the babe" at her breast, or else as Irene the
"Goddess of Peace" and the boy Plutus. Even in the Orient the Jesuit
missionaries were astonished to find the counterpart of the Madonna and her
child being worshipped as Shing Moo, the Holy Mother and the "child in her
arms". (Reference: "The Two Babylons", by Rev. Alexander Hislop. 1916. Loizeaux
Brothers, Inc. Reference: "Babylon Mystery Religion", by Ralph Woodrow.
1981.)
It is well known by Bible scholars and archaeologists that the
gods and goddesses of the ancient civilizations prior to Christianity were all
started by one and the same false religion. In these false religious
alternatives, "The Lord" was represented by the sun, and therefore those who
worship "The Lord," worship him on his day, or sun-day.
Israel And Sun-Day Worship
By studying the Bible Christians know that one of the main false
religions that the Israelites followed, when they departed away from God's way,
was to practice the worship of Baal. Baalism is known to be a religion of sun
worship. The word translated as "Baal" is from the ancient Hebrew language and
means "The Lord." When ancient Israel worshipped Baal they kept Sunday, because
Baal-worship was sun-worship, and sun-day is the day when the sun is worshipped.
As sun-day was Baal's day, or the Lord's day, the ancient Israelites began to
keep the first day of the week as their day of worship, in contrast to God's
worship day, the seventh day of the week.
The contrast between Sunday worship and Sabbath-Day worship is
not confusing. It is historical and straight forward. Readers of the Bible do
not become confused when they read the scriptures and find that the Israelites
rebelled against God by worshipping "The Lord." They do not become confused by
thinking that "The Lord" (Baal) is just another name for "The invisible Creator
God," and then begin to wonder why God is all upset about a simple name
variation? The worship of Baal, whether you call it the worship of "The Lord" or
call it something else, is distinguished from the worship of the true Creator
God by what they did, not the words they used to describe their deity. What they
did was worship "their god" on sun-day, called it worshipping "The Lord," and
thereby denied the Creator God who decreed that He is to be worshipped on His
Creation-Day, Saturday.
History Of The Authority Of The Pope
As part of the doctrine of the sun-worship religion, they
believed that the king, or emperor, was the direct representative of the sun god
on earth. As such, the king was more than just mortal, but was king-god, or
god-king. He was the only one in whom the highest level of the spirit of the
sun-deity resided. This 'spirit' was not the Holy Spirit of God, but the
'spirit' of the sun. This is why the pagan emperors were worshipped as god. The
religious center representing sun-worship was transferred from Babylon, after
the death of Belshazzar, to the city of Pergamos in Asia Minor, about 575
B.C.
In Revelation 2:13, Pergamos is called "Satan's seat," and was
the headquarters of the original Babylonian sun-worship until Imperial Rome
began to take over the leadership around 50 B.C. This began in the person of
Julius Caesar when, as emperor, he had supreme civil and religious rule.
"... When Julius Caesar, who had previously been elected Pontifex Maximus,
became also, as Emperor, the supreme civil ruler of the Romans, then as head of
Roman religion, all the powers and functions of the true legitimate Babylonian
Pontiff were supremely vested in him, and he found himself in a position to
assert these powers" (From Sabbath to Sunday, Samuele Bacchiocchi, 1977, p.
241).
In the year 46 B.C., Julius Caesar was made "Praefectus Morum"
(supervisor of morals); that is, he was made head of Roman religions. In the
year 44 B.C., he was made dictator for life (see Langer's Encyclopedia of World
History).
It is essential to understand that from that time forward, the
Emperor of Rome was also head of the state religions. This did not change until
Emperor Justinian, who reigned from 527-565 A.D., submitted to the head of the
Roman Catholic Church. From that time forward, the Pope was acknowledged by the
Emperor to be Pontifex Maximus over all religion. The Pope now had supreme
authority in religious matters and the Emperors had control of the political
power of the state.(... End of first half....Part Two next issue!)
The very same Pontifex Maximus
High Priesthood of the Babylonian Talmudic Sanhedrin and all of its wizards the
Chabad Lubavitch unto their g-d Baal and their false-Church of Rome the Pontifex
Maximus has finally been rejoined to establish the World Religion of Satan,
Talmudic Pontifex Maximus the Prophet of their soon to be anointed but Temporary
Moshiach ben Satan, false-Christ, their god of this world. But they shall fail
to establish their Vision, for the Lord Jesus Christ the True King of the
Universe will bring in the True Zion to Jerusalem and God's True Chosen, they
who were purchased by the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant, the Lamb of God the
Most High, Christ Jesus.
It was and continues to be these
sons of the synagogue of Satan who hate Jesus Christ the Lord God Almighty. It
is and was these Pharisees of the Babylonian god tradition the rabbi's of the
great Sanhedrin who made void the word of God the Most High with their oral
traditions of the Babylonian High Priesthood's Order of Nimrod, the Pontifex
Maximus. It is and has been and will continue to be them who in their Mishnah
Tractate Sanhedrin who so detest Gentile's that they say a Gentile deserves
death if he worships on the Sabbath day, thus the control of the Rome Pontifex
Maximus was to cause the Gentiles to worship on their actual god Baal's day, the
Sun god's day the sun-day. It was them who sent their Pontifex Maximus in the
Order of Babylon to cause any who would worship after Jesus Christ, to establish
another day of celebrating the birth of Immanuel into their sun-god baal. Thus
the day of the new birth of the sun, after winter solstice, December 25, the day
the sun has finished the old round and begins the New Year round. This god, Baal
who was and is none other than Nimrod, was represented as a fir tree which
became known to the pagan's guided by the Talmudic control as a christ-mas
tree. The yule log was a growth of that fir tree, Nino's the son of Nimrod. Thus
Jeremiah 10:
This Illustration was posted to educate apathetic
sleeping "Judeo-Churchizionians of the influences at work to undermine the
Christ-mas celebration. The author of this work, has attempted to coerce and
threaten to have it removed.
Last
Updated: Sep 13th, 2009 - 15:35:27