Keeping the Sabbath Holy or Babylonian Sabbath

Babylonian Sabbath: Keeping the Sabbath holy? My answer is, "Yes, almost always." But I worship on Sunday--and monday and...... Our church assembles on Sunday for study and the Lord's Supper in keeping with the only Biblical and early historical evidence. This continued the Qahal or synagogue or "church in the wilderness." Mount Sinai was an assembly called by God. The people rose up to PLAY in the musical idolatry of the Egyptian trinity. This was a FATAL SIN and Stephen says that God turned them over to worship the starry host.

http://cp26.myhostcenter.com:2082

The SABBATH was a day of REST: there were FIRST DAY sabbaths and SEVENTH DAY sabbaths. Both were to REFRAIN from the WORK demanded by modern "worship" where the Sabbath would OUTLAW even "sending ministers." The Holy Convocation was to READ or REHEARSE the Word of God. Jesus promised to build MY ekklesia or synagogue or school of the Bible. To that, He added the Lord's Supper to show forth or preach His Death.

The seventh day sabbath was to quarantine the Israelites FROM pagan religionism where worship was devoted to the flesh. The people pretty much remained in doors or gathered to read the Word and pray: they, therefore,waited for THIS DAY TO PASSOVER.

The first day was ordained--even based on the Creation--because the pagan SUN god would be WORSHIPPED in the Christian environment.

NEITHER were days of WORSHIP in the traditional sense.

No, since there was no pope at the time he did not change the "law" to Sunday worship. Constantine gave everyone a day off but did not command that Christians worship on Sunday. Sunday did, however, favor Christians whose essential assembly was on the First Day of the week as recorded in the Bible and the earliest historical evidence.

See the Divine Throne Chariot from the Dead Sea Scrols


E-mail: I don't get your point. It is all very interesting information, but a bit disorganized. What do you think is appropriate treatment of Saturday and Sunday?

No organization at all: no beginnings, middles or endings. Just collected research notes.

First, the total evidence is that Keeping the Sabbath holy was a day of WORSHIP for the Babylonians whose influence still plagued Israel even in the Egyptian and later Canaanite form.

This meant that Keeping the Sabbath holy was a day of rest for the GODS. Since the gods had earthly agents, that meant that the political-religious leaders as agents of the gods rested on the sabbath.

The non-ruling population WORKED on the Sabbath to feed, clothe, house, entertain and become sexual partners of the god's agents.

This really amounted to a seven-day servitude of the people who worked for the temple-state which, in turn, gave the slaves a daily dole of food: something like welfare. When Israel demanded a king LIKE THE NATIONS it was so that they could WORSHIP LIKE THE NATIONS. God warned that the kings would enslave the people just like the national temple-states and lead them into destruction.

When Israel was rescued from Egypt they immediately returned to their old Egyptian form of musical worship on the Sabbaths and therefore "polluted the sabbaths." The Sabbath or "day of rest" in most ancient countries was devoted to secular frolicing with and for the gods.

Therefore, what God meant by Keeping the Sabbath holy was that the Israelites should have kept the Sabbath holy by NOT performing religious rituals but rather resting as a gift of freedom of God FROM rituals.

Therefore, God set aside keeping the Sabbath holy (one out of seven) for REST. The Sabbath was never a day of worship. By restricting the practice of the arts and crafts of making a living or being entertained and by restricting travel, God essentially quarantined the pagan sabbaths so that the Jews could not participate. They were left with easy fellowship with friends and family, with listening to the Word and to prayer.

"Worship" is never in doing rituals but falling before God and recognizing that He is the Creator worthy of being Worshiped and that we should not worship the creature. Worship really means to "give heed to" or "to give attendance to" the Word of God as His speaking to us and to prayer and meditation as our speaking to Him. In the synagogue that meant reading or hearing the Word and praying: the synagogue and therefore the church is not a worship center but a school of the Bible. And Jesus insisted that God only seeks those who worship IN SPIRIT or in the mind and IN TRUTH as we are devoted to being a DISCIPLE (not a ritualists) of Him. Paul complied by contrasting the Jews with those Jews who had become Christians by saying WE WORSHIP GOD IN THE SPIRIT. And in prayer, he insisted that WE PRAY IN THE SPIRIT ALL of the time rather than at set times and places. That means, as someone has said, "practicing the presence of God."

So, to Sabbatarians I tell them that they cannot DO worship in ways which makes the day of 'worship' one of the hardest, most anxiety-producing days of the week and still REMEMBER THE SABBATH AND KEEP IT HOLY. However, I can remember the Sabbath and eleminate unnecessary work and just study and REST, but I can attend church as school of the Bible on Sunday without violating any laws. Unfortunately, most Christians have also made their holy day into a works-intensive day of stressful rituals and therefore there IS NO day of rest for most people.

The clergy of Jesus' time laded the people down like pack animals. The burden is defined as "spiritual anxiety created by religious rituals." Therefore, Jesus did not define anything which can be construed as a ritual meaning that it produces a magical effect. Rather, He died to give us "rest" which means: "Just cool it. Come aside with me before a babbling brook and I will answer your questions."

Hope this helps. I'll be happy to answer any questions but I usually post collected data for those who want to reach their own conclusions. As an engineer, I lack those literary skills.

Ken Sublett


The Apostolic Constitutions of the church of Christ shows that the Sabbath is a day of rest but Sunday is the day of INSTRUCTION as school.

UPON WHICH DAYS SERVANTS ARE NOT TO WORK.

XXXIII. I Peter and Paul do make the following constitutions. Let the slaves work five days;

but on the Sabbath-day and the Lord's day let them have leisure to go to church for instruction in piety.

We have said that the Sabbath is on account of the creation,
and the
Lord's day of the resurrection.

When Constantine gave Sunday off, the Christians now had TWO SABBATHS or rests. The religious leaders taught them to work on the Sabbath to keep them away from the common Sabbath day rituals of Rome.


All of the arguments for the Sabbath "worship" are related to "doing work" and not to worship. If one wants to argue that one should cease from work on the Sabbath then this is an argument from the Law of Moses where the Sabbath was given to prohibit the "work" normally done in pagan foms of Sabbath "worship." If you cannot work then assuredly you cannot keep the Sabbath and worship at the same time.

Worship in the Old Testament.

As an example, the service performed by the civil musicians is defined by the word:

Abodah (h5656) ab-o-daw'; or abowdah ab-o-daw'; from 5647; work of any kind: - act, bondage, / bondservant, effect, labour, ministering (-try), office, service (-ile, -itude), tillage, use, work, * wrough

Abad (h5647) ab-o-daw'; or åbowdah ab-o-daw'; from 5648; work of any kind: - act, bondage, / bondservant, effect, labour, ministering (-try), office, service (-ile, -itude), tillage, use, work, * wrough

The service done in the worship of the Jews is ABAD.

THEN the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Exod 9:1

The work specificially outlawed for the Sabbath is:

Melakkah (h4399) mel-aw-kaw'; from the same as 4397; prop. deputyship, i. e. ministry; gen. employment (never servile) or work (abstr. or concr.); also property (as the result of labor): - business, * cattle, * industrious, occupation, (* -pied), * officer, thing (made), use, (manner of) work ([man], -manship).

The "worship" connected with the Sabbath (Isa 66:23; Eze 46:3) means to bow down or fall down: it does not involve preaching, singing, taking up a colleciton playing musical instruments, teaching the Bible, travelling many miles to get to "church" and excludes going to the steak house after "worship."

> The earliest Babylonian Sabbath worship honored Marduk with rest while the lesser gods or slaves performed the worship which was always defined as "work" for the gods: feeding, wining, clothing, housing and entertaining them. Yes, they had female musical worship teams which were always know of as "the harem of the gods" in many nations.

> From the beginning, Christians did not assemble on "the day of the sun" but on the Lord's Day. That means "first day of the week" as opposed to the last day of the week.

The first day of the week was the first day of WORK and PAY from which the Corinthians should set aside their gifts from that day's pay. The Christians assembled after sunset on "saturday" or early in the morning on sunday. They often ate together, read the Word, took communion and probably WENT TO WORK.

Assembly on Sunday puts God first: the Sabbath rest puts us first because a typical "worship service" is a very works-intensive activity which cannot be performed on the Sabbath without violating laws against work. Even tuning harp strings was prohibited on the Sabbath as a form of work.

All of the recorded days for Christian assembly were on the First day of the week or the Lord's day.

Jews attended Synagogue on Saturday but synagogue was "school" and not a temple worship center. Jesus and Paul could teach on the Sabbath or seven days a week. However, their attending synagogue does not change Christian practices. Keeping the Sabbath holy restricts it as a day of worship.

> Sunday was not named after a pagan god: the sun was the sun god. Saturn's connection to the sun (No, Saturn was not the sun God) was more known to the female, non-military people than Mithra's connection with male, military people. We will see below how Saturn was the seventh level of authority under Mithraism which, like Sabbath worship, must begin at sundown on friday and end on Saturady at sunset. Click for the hierachy below. The purple type shows how various religions spanned parts of the week. Saturn or Sabbath is more related to Mithra where "worship" was on Saturday while Sunday was honored as a day of rest. Christians did not have these two days until Constantine gave Sunday. The Catholid authorities restricted the Sabbath AS A DAY OF REST because it was not devoted to rest but Mithra worship or to the spectacles.

> However, Saturn after which Saturday is named was identified with Marduk. Therefore, Saturday worship is identified with the original Babylonian Sabbath system.

The first Babylonian Sabbath was a worship system, stamped on every part of the lives of the workers.

Under any name his consort is Chiun in Amos is Lucifer who is bisexual. She is the dominant female instructing principle or Zoe, or Sophia-Zoe.

> For this reason God, who does the work for His children, gave the Sabbath as a day of rest and not a day of "worship." In ancient or modern Babylonian sabbath systems, "worship" meant working for the "gods" or more specificially, the king, priest and "staff" as the god's only agents.

> The Jews were not commanded to worship on the Sabbath. You cannot keep the Sabbath day holy and also a day of ceremonial Babylonian Sabbath worship. The seventh was a day of dread and the way to remain safe was not to participate in any of the "worship" systems but stay at home or listen to the Word of God.

The Sabbath was

Shÿbyy (h7637) sheb-ee-ee'; or shÿbiy sheb-ee-ee'; ordinal from 7657; seventh: - seventh (time)

The Sabbath as REST is:

Shabbath (h7676) shab-bawth'; intens. from 7673; intermission, i. e. (spec.) the Sabbath: - (/ every) sabbath.

Shabath (h7673) shaw-bath'; a prim. root; to repose, i. e. desist from exertion; used in many impl. relations (caus., fig. or spec.): - (cause to, let, make to) cease, celebrate, cause (make) to fail, keep (sabbath), suffer to be lacking, leave, put away (down), (make to) rest, rid, still, take away.

The First Day In the Old Testament

God "began" His ceative work on the first day: the seventh day represented rest.
........... The earth began its completed journey on the eighth day or the next first day.

After the seventh the Workings of God continued on the eighth day which is the first day of the week.

The "first day of the month" was the common time to begin most religious affairs.

Justin Martyr dialog with Trypho, the Jew

b. c. 100, Flavia Neapolis, Palestine [now Nabulus]
d. c. 165, Rome [Italy]; feast day June 1

The command of circumcision, again, bidding [them] always circumcise the children on the eighth day, was a type of the true circumcision, by which we are circumcised from deceit and iniquity

through Him who rose from the dead on the first day after the Sabbath, [namely through] our Lord Jesus Christ.

For the first day after the Sabbath, remaining the first of all the days, is called, however, the eighth, according to the number of all the days of the cycle, and [yet] remains the first.

Chapter X.-Trypho Blames the Christians for This Alone: The Non-Observance of the Law.

And when they ceased, I again addressed them thus:-

"Is there any other matter, my friends, in which we are blamed, than this, that we live not after the law, and are not circumcised in the flesh as your forefathers were, and do not observe sabbaths as you do?

Chapter XLIII.-He Concludes that the Law Had an End in Christ, Who Was Born of the Virgin.

"As, then, circumcision began with Abraham, and
the
Sabbath and sacrifices and offerings and feasts with Moses,

and it has been proved they were enjoined on account of the hardness of your people's heart, so it was necessary, in accordance with the Father's will,
that they should have an end in Him who was born of a virgin

There is no hint that Christians ever "worshiped" on the Sabbath although they kept the Sabbath holy by not participating in "worship" rituals which are always work. Not even tuning a harp was allowed so that no theatrical performace as worship took place.

The sabbath was to be a day of solemn rest. However, in the sense of a memorial of the original Passover (repeated in the final Passover by Jesus) a convocation or public meeting begins on the first day:

For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast.

On the first day remove the yeast from your houses,
for whoever eats anything
with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. Ex.12:15

This typified removing the yeast by a silent search. In the Lord's Supper with unleavened bread and the FRUIT of the vine which is NOT fermented typified our searching our heart.

God ordained the TYPES to have spiritual significance: a believer does not try to make it into a legalistic charge against those who obey God.

And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation,

and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you;
no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. Exodus 12: 16

Of the Feast of Tabernacles:

On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. Lev 23:35

Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. Lev 23:36

Whenever you begin counting, that is the first day. The eighth day is another first day. This is because when God's "spirit" began the beginning. He rested on the seventh day but the eighth day was again the earth producing midst and watered the earth.

Contrary to Babylonian sabbath keepers, one cannot determine that this coming saturday is the aniversary of the actual day God rested down to the hour. The message is "ordinal" meaning "one of the seven." One day out of seven is a day of rest. But it is not a day of "worship."

> Writing of Hezekiah's reform you will notice that the Levities who were also singers and musicians COULD NOT enter into the Holy Place as a type of the church of Christ or the Most Holy Place where God accepted worship:

And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron. 2 Chron 29:16

Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the Lord: so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end. 2 Chron 29:17

It was on the 17th day that they offered animal sacrifices with the loud instruments of the Levites for the civil animal sacrifice and the priests with the trumpets of God to make a great noise. Those who "worshipped" on this day would be on their face OUTSIDE of the gates.

And he shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing unto the priest, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, before the Lord. Le.14:23

Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. Le.23:36

The solemn assembly was:

Acarah (h6116) ats-aw-raw'; or acereth ats-eh'-reth; from 6113; an assembly, espec. on a festival or holiday: - (solemn) assembly (meeting)

Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. Le.23:39

On the eighth day shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein: Nu.29:35

And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. 2Chr.7:9

Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner. Ne.8:18

The word solemn is MOWED in Neh 10:33. This word is translated as SYNAGOGUE in Psalm 74:8. Speaking of Amos the solem assembly (h6116) was not SOLEMN and they DID WORK:

Abodah (h5656) ab-o-daw'; or abowdah ab-o-daw'; from 5647; work of any kind: - act, bondage, / bondservant, effect, labour, ministering (-try), office, service (-ile, -itude), tillage, use, work, * wrought

Abad (h5647) aw-bad'; a prim. root; to work (in any sense); by impl. to serve, till, (caus.) enslave, etc.: - * be, keep in bondage, be bondmen, bond-service, compel, do, dress, ear, execute, / husbandman, keep, labour (-ing man), bring to pass, (cause to, make to) serve (-ing, self), (be, become) servant (-s), do (use) service, till (-er), transgress [from margin], (set a) work, be wrought, worshipper.

This speaks directly of the Levitical Warrior musicians under the king and the commanders of the army:

David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals. Here is the list of the men who performed this service: 1Chr.25:1

This OUTLAWED service for these solemn assemblies or holy convocations were to READ or REHEARSE which was Abodah (h5656). Therefore, God could hate the feast days of Israel who worshipped the golden calves:

I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Amos 5:21

Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Amos 5:22

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. Amos 5:23

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. Amos 5:24

> Nehemiah's Reform of the Sabbath

In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals. Neh 13:15

There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Neh 13:16

Tyre used wine, women and song to TRAFFICK in anything including SOULS OF MEN.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Isaiah 23:15

Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. Isaiah 23:16

And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. Isaiah 23:17

Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? Neh 13:17

Chalal (h2490) khaw-lal'; a prim. root [comp. 2470]; prop. to bore, i. e. (by impl.) to wound, to dissolve; fig. to profane (a person, place or thing), to break (one's word), to begin (as if by an "opening wedge"); denom. (from 2485) to play (the flute): - begin (* men began), defile, * break, defile, * eat (as common things), * first, * gather the grape thereof, * take inheritance, pipe, player on instruments, pollute, (cast as) profane (self), prostitute, slay (slain), sorrow, stain, wound.

Jesus would later compare the Jewish religionists with children who PLAYED THE FLUTE in the hopes that Jesus and others would be seduced into the Dionysus singing and dancing. This involved sexual perversion and had the same meaning as the Zeus and Dionysus worship as the Abomination of Desonation in the temple. The PLACE they performed was the CHOROS or the AGORA which was the market place. The Jews were continuing to TRAFFICK in songs, sermons and sick animals PRETENDING some superior spiritual connection which defines a Pharisee.

Gregory Nanzianzen in Oration XXXI

III. Is there any such among the shadowy purifications of the Law, aiding as it did with temporary sprinklings, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean;

or do the gentiles celebrate any such thing in their mysteries, every ceremony and mystery of which to me is nonsense, and a dark invention of demons, and a figment of an unhappy mind, aided by time, and hidden by fable?

For what they worship as true, they veil as mythical. But if these things are true, they ought not to be called myths, but to be proved not to be shameful; and if they are false, they ought not to be objects of wonder; nor ought people so inconsiderately to hold the most contrary opinions about the same thing,

as if they were playing in the market-place with boys or really ill-disposed men, not engaged in discussion with men of sense, and worshippers of the Word, though despisers of this artificial plausibility.

They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. Lu.7:32

IV. We are not concerned in these mysteries with birth of Zeus and thefts of the Cretan Tyrant (though the Greeks may be displeased at such a title for him),

nor with the name of Curetes, and the armed dances, which were to hide the wailings of a weeping god, that he might escape from his father's hate.

The "musical ministers" were emasculated and perverted PRIESTS. Indeed MUSIC in RELIGION has no other meaning.

Jesus would not weep which was often the result of being sodomized as the initiation. The Jerusalem temple had been taken over by the Greeks and had become a haunt of Zeus and Dionysus "worship." The details of the associated gymnasium is defined in Second Maccabees. By the wailing (clanging) song and dance Jesus, in all of the background material, could have escaped the wrath of God on the cross.

For indeed it would be a strange thing that he who was swallowed as a stone should be made to weep as a child. Nor are we concerned with Phrygian mutilations and flutes and Corybantes, and all the ravings of men concerning Rhea (Inanna, Eve etc.), consecrating people to the mother of the gods, and being initiated into such ceremonies as befit the mother of such gods as these.

Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. Neh 13:18

PROFANE is highly dedicated to MAKING MUSIC or PREACHING sermons in order to TRAFFICK by "selling SICK lambs" to starving widows:

"You might hear many poor wretches of sophists, shouting and abusing each other, and their disciples, as they call them, squabbling; and many writers of books reading their stupid compositions, and many poets singing their poems, and many jugglers (buffoons) exhibiting their marvels, and many soothsayers giving the meaning of prodigies, and then a thousand rhetoricians twisting lawsuits, and no small number of traders driving their several trades. (William Barclay)

"The Greeks were intoxicated with fine words; and to them the Christian preacher with his blunt message seemed a crude and uncultured figure, to be laughed at and ridiculed rather than to be listened to and respected. (Barclay, William, First Corinthians, p. 19-20)

And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day. Neh 13:19

So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice. Neh 13:20

"Perhaps professor would be a rough modern equivalent to Sophist.  It has a similar range from Professors of Greek to Professors of Phrenology and

although some Professors research, all teach, and all are paid which was a great reproach to the Sophists. 

Some of them were serious philosophers, educators or scholars; others only cheap-jacks, who professed to teach only the sublime art of getting on.  Did you want to improve your memory: Did you want to be a £1,000-a-year man?  Some Sophist would teach you--for a fee.  Sophists went from city to city, lecturing on their particular subject,

some indeed undertaking to lecture on any subject, but always for a fee. (Kitto, The Greeks, p. 168).

Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath. Neh 13:21

And I commanded the Levites, that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy. Neh 13:22

> The Book of Jubilees Chapter 2:

29 blessed throughout all days like unto us. Declare and say to the children of Israel the law of this day both that they should keep Sabbath thereon, and that they should not forsake it in the error of their hearts; (and)

that it is not lawful to do any work thereon which is unseemly,
to do thereon their
own pleasure, and that they should not prepare thereon anything to be eaten or drunk,

and (that it is not lawful) to draw water, or bring in or take out thereon through their gates any burden,

You cannot do the normal SUNDAY WORSHIP on the SABBATH without violating the law of the Sabbath.

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Isa 58:13

How is the preacher going to preach on the Sabbath? How is the liturgical prayer leader going to lead his prayer on the Sabbath. How is the wife going to prepare lunch on the Sabbath. How can you drive or walk to "church" without violating the Sabbath.

30 which they had not prepared for themselves on the sixth day in their dwellings.

And they shall not bring in nor take out from house to house on that day;
for that day is more holy and
blessed than any jubilee day of the jubilees;
on this we kept Sabbath in the heavens before it was made

31 known to any flesh to keep Sabbath thereon on the earth. And the Creator of all things blessed it,
........... but he did not sanctify all peoples and nations to keep Sabbath thereon,
........... but Israel alone: them

32 alone he permitted to eat and drink and to keep Sabbath thereon on the earth. And the Creator of all things blessed this day which He had created for blessing and holiness and glory above all

33 days. This law and testimony was given to the children of Israel as a law for ever unto their generations.

> The Jews did not optionally keep the Sabbath. Therefore, to insist on Sabbath "worship" demands Sabbath Police to compel people to visit and shut off TVs, close down the ball fields, confiscate the lawn mowers and cars used for extensive travel.

> A child was born on the First day of its week. However, it began its "citizenship" on the eighth day:

And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. Ge.21:4

And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Lu.2:21

> In the teaching of the people and DEFINING whom we must HEAR to glorify God.

And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. Luke 9:28

Or: Eight days later he took Peter, James, and John with him into the hills to pray. Luke 9:28LIV

And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. Luke 9:29

And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Luke 9:30

Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Luke 9:31

But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. Luke 9:32

And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said. Luke 9:33

While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. Luke 9:34

And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. Luke 9:35

If the preacher is as great as Moses or Elijah God says HEAR MY SON.

When we tabernacle with God in Christ it is to HEAR Him. If we HEAR some human then we glorify that human as superior to Christ.

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Rom 15:4

Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: Rom 15:5

That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rom 15:6

Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. Ro.15:7

There is NO EXCEPTION to the fact that this was ALWAYS on the first day of the week.

> In the New Covenant with a new beginning First day:

Jews might continue to keep the Sabbath but this was for study and prayer but not for a "worship ritual." The church assembles on the First Day of the week because the assembly is not for REST but for educating and caring for the people who assemble together. That might demand travel, helping the poor or some other WORKS-RELATED task:

And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. Mk.16:2

The first day could be either beginning at sun set before the resurrection or at sun rise. However, Jesus was already gone at the rising of the sun. This could man that Sunday began at sunset before. Again God in Christ "rested" or ceased one form of His work on the sabbath and His NEW work began on Sunday.

The Greek ekklesia is the church. However, when people assembly they do a form of synagoge. The synagogue was a school of the Bible. It is significant that the resurrected Jesus came when "two or three were gathered in His name" on the first day of the week.

Then the same day at evening [late afternoon], being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. John 20:19

Consistent with the "ekklesia" which Jesus was establishing He confirmed His resurrection and instructed them. Thomas was not there and when told what happened "doubted." After eight days they would again be meeting in the end of the day:

And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. John 20:26

Again, Jesus confirmed His Deity:

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. John 20:27

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. John 20:28

No, the evening was not late enough to make this Monday. The Word says that it was the first day of the week, not the second.

And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread (Passover week), and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. Ac.20:6

Because they left on the seventh day or the day after the "first day" they would have arrived there too late for the first day of the week meeting. However, when the first day arrived. This passages makes the TIME for the Lord's Supper very important

And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. Ac.20:7

People did not need to assemble to break bread. Where the Agape was practiced it was early in the morning to FEED the poor and destitute as they went out seeking a job.

Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together (sunerchomai or synagogue) not for the better, but for the worse. 1 Cor 11:17

And

When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lords supper. 1 Cor 11:20

This is why Paul directly commanded that eating to satisfy hunger be done AT HOME so that they could remember Christ.

However, in the sense of the Lord's Supper an assembly is implied for a specific purpose. You will note that they are not said to have RESTED. Therefore, there was no thought of replacing the church assembly with the Sabbath rest.

And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Lu.22:19

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 1Co.10:16

We cannot know of course whether this was the sabbath after sundown which would be a common time to assemble. Because Sunday was not a "holy day" Paul could travel on that day.

From the Corinthian practice we know that the first day was the day to dedicate money for the poor.

Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. 1Co.16:2

While this is probably a private savings, it is significant that the dedication of the Lord's money is done on the first day of the week and not on the Sabbath.

> There are no examples of the people meeting as Christians on the Sabbath although many would have attended synagogue which was a school.

> There are no commands, examples or inferences that Christians ever met on the Sabbath or "kept the Sabbath holy" as a day of worship as opposed to a day of rest.

> Therefore, the "law of inference" or the "law of silence" ignores these actual examples and infers from the Jewish Sabbath that the examples can be ignored and the "seventh day of the week" imposed.

The First Day of the week is for "getting rid of the leaven." The ancient Jews searched their homes in absolute silence with a candle to make sure that all of the leaven or yeast was removed. You simply cannot have a Babylonian-type praise team "conditioning" your silence--praise teams belonged to Nimrod for the worship of Marduk; David's Levitical Military team was to help "do the work" after Israel had lost God's Theocratic leadership.

The Sabbath is too late. Therefore, the first day was always observed for the Lord's Supper as a memorial but not a "works" or sacrament.

The Synagogue "had no praise service."

Paul went into the synagogue and "sat down." Jesus read the Word and sat down. The Sabbath in the synagogue was the place of rest and hearing the Word of God. It was never called "worship in the synagogue on the Sabbath."

The early church ate the Lord's Supper as a memorial but it did not worship in the "work" sense of keeping rituals but they studied the Word and prayed. This would be after sundown Saturday night or early Sunday morning depending on how the week was reckoned. They did not get Sunday off to watch football.

Probably rarely possible because the Christians were the poorer classes, they could still "take Saturday off" from work to rest.

In the Passover and the First Day of the week for observing the Lord's Supper, the spiritual message is:

........... Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast; as you really are.
........... For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 1 Cor 5:7 [Once for all times]

Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth 1 Cor 5:8

The Sabbath was not a day of worship but a rest:

Shabath (h7673) shaw-bath'; a prim. root; to repose, i. e. desist from exertion.
Sabbath is
not something you do but something you don't do.

Then Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are now numerous,
and you are
stopping them from working." Exod 5:5

Sunday is not a day of worship but of rest. Jesus said:

Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

On the other hand, what is termed "worship" on either Saturday or Sunday reimposes the burden of spiritual anxiety.

You are not obligated to "appease" Christ by singing, playing instruments or trying to feed, clothe, house and entertain Him. This was the Babylonian burden of the gods, and his "agent" the priests demanded sexual favors from the musical team.

To try to "rouse" the god or move the worshiper into their presence with music was spiritual adultery:

"Women and girls from the different ranks of society were proud to enter the service of the gods as singers and musicians. The understanding of this service was universal: these singers constituted the 'harem of the gods'." Music and Worship in Pagan and Christian Antiquity, beginning on page 4

  The burden Jesus removed was:

Phortizo (g5412) for-tid'-zo; from 5414; to load up (prop. as aa vessel or animal), i.e. (fig.) to overburden with ceremony (or spiritual anxiety): - lade, be heavy laden.

The "rest" God-Incarnate died to give to both Jew and Gentile:

Anapauo (g373) an-up-ow'-o; from 303 and 3973; (reflex.) to repose (lit. or fig. [be exempt], remain); by impl. to refresh: - take ease, refresh, (give, take) rest.

This turns the Babylonian Sabbath upside down.

The secular or pagan "singing" in the Ancient Near East was the magical incantations of the "old women" whose tales were put into the "song book" after their death and thereafter used to worship the composer: call her Fanny Crosby, call her Twila Paris.

This Greek-recognized "singing" was replaced with a like-the-synagogue teaching of the revealed Word one to another.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching (preaching) and admonishing (warning/comforting) one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Col 3:16

Not even in the wilderness was the Sabbath given for a day of worship.

This article is related to the charge that the Popes or Constantine or someone changed worship from the "always Sabbath" to make only Sunday worship legal. And this was to promote the worship of the sun god. We might agree that Catholicism has much of sun worship in it but the rest of us can go back to the beginning and understand that the first day of the week was recognized as the day for assembly and the Lord's Supper.

The Israelites "polluted" the Sabbaths by trying to perform the ritual, musical idolatry of Egypt.

> Did the Pope or Constantine make Christians Worship on the Sabbath?

As a first example of what we believe to be unfactual, a Sabbath "worshiper" but not a keeper notes that:

"In 321 CE, while a Pagan sun-worshiper, the Emperor Constantine declared that Sunday was to be a day of rest:

"On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country however persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often happens that another day is not suitable for gain-sowing or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost."

"The Church Council of Laodicea circa 364 CE ordered that religious observances were to be conducted on Sunday, not Saturday. Sunday became the new Sabbath.

Well, that is not a fact: after giving credit to Christ for his victory Constantine permitted everyone to take a seventh-day rest on Sunday.

This would permit Christians to also observe their assembly practices but it would have no effect on the secret, male, daily honoring of the sun by Mithra cultists.

The council of Laodicea made a rule against a second day off on Saturday specifically because many of the activities of the church were conducted on Saturday and were to continue to take place. Rather than attend the circuses, Christians were diverted into study.

While the Jewish Sabbath under the Law freed them from duties to the religious community, the Christians who always mlet on Sunday and also got a day of rest were not to judaize and take Saturday off because this would involve them in honoring Saturn. Furthermore, it would free them up for the "bread and circus" routine of most of the pagans on the Sabbath.

As most Christian churches now meet on Wednesday, these early churches often met on Saturday to promote the community of believers. Therefore, this was not to change the day of worship from Saturday to sunday. Nevertheless, it is not correct to use this to demand Sabbath "worship" rather than Sabbath rest. A seventh-day source states that:

"They ruled: "Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day." There are many indicators in the historical record that some Christians ignored the Church's ruling. Sabbath observance was noted in Wales in 1115 CE. Francis Xavier was concerned about Sabbath worship in Goa India in 1560 CE; he called for the Inquisition to set up an office there to stamp out what he called "Jewish wickedness". A Catholic Provincial Council suppressed the practice in Norway in 1435 CE.

"During the period 30 CE to 313 CE, Christians lived in a predominately Pagan world: The long established, official religion of the Roman Empire was Pagan. A strong competitor to Christianity in those days was a third religion: Mithraism. This faith involved the worship of a Persian God Mithra, and was popular among the Roman civil service and military. From Source

Sunday was the holy day or rest for Mithra and "light" rather than "sun" was the focus:

"The light usually fell through openings in the top as the caves were near the surface of the ground. A hideous monstrosity representing Kronos (SATURN) was also shown. A fire was kept perpetually burning in the sanctuary. Three times a day prayer was offered the sun toward the east, south, or west according to the hour.

"Sunday was kept holy in honour of Mithra, and the sixteenth of each month was sacred to him as mediator."

They did not keep Sunday as a day of worship but as a holy day.

There is little doubt that the Roman church borrowed from Mithra as they admit to have borrowed things such as lights, candles and music from the surrounding pagan world. However, Mithra was not the sun god but:

"Mithra was regarded as created by, yet co-equal with, the Supreme Deity. Mithraists were Trinitarian, kept Sunday as their day of worship (or holy day), and their chief festivals were what we know of as Christmas and Easter (Passover). Long before the advent of Jesus, Mithra was said to have been born of a virgin mother, in a cave, at the time of Christmas, and died on a cross at Easter. Baptism was practised, and the sign of the cross was made on the foreheads of all newly-baptised converts. Mithra was considered to be the saviour of the world, conferring on his followers."

Other's adoption of the "traditions of the elders" about the First Day was so profound that one preacher warned those who wanted to "get the oxen out of the ditch on Sunday"--

"Come, let us help the poor in their work today," that they should reflect on the fact that their will to do good is rather committing a sin. " Would you help the poor?" the preacher asks. "Do not steal from God this day." (Sermon by unknown preacher).

Did Constantine make Sunday free to promote the worship of Mithra?

Mithraism was the cult of the king and military males and not of the people. Therefore, it is much more like Judaism under the Monarchy than either true Judaism or Christianity. The civil-state conducted the animal sacrifices at the temple but the common people were excluded when the instruments gave the signal. Their worship was outside the camp and the synagogue was always their place of Sabbath instruction although the word is not often translated as synagogue.

While Mithra was "equal to the sun or more properly light" the primary sacrifice was that of a bull. This would not seem to have been practiced by Christians who had always assembled for instruction and the Lord's Supper on Sunday.

The adoption of Mithraism would seem to have been appropriated more by sabbath keepers than by Christians.

The sun was always the sun god:

"After the sacrifice, Mithra and the sun god banqueted together, ate meat and bread, and drank wine. Then Mithra mounted the chariot of the sun god and drove with him across the ocean, through the air to the end of the world."

Mithra slaying the bull, bas-relief, 2nd century AD; in the Städtisches Museum, Wiesbaden, Ger.

But the Peak of Mithra Power was the SABBATH and not sunday.

From Mithra's "home" the Chhath was the festival of Sun worship but this happened on Friday.

PATNA: The two-day Chhath festival, or worship of the Sun God, ends on Friday when villagers will again stand in bodies of water, to make themselves clean, and make offerings to the rising sun. Chhath, a festival of survival, is celebrated by a farmer community found in Bihar and some parts of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. The worshippers first express gratitude to the setting Sun for its work in growing their crops during the preceding year. The morning worship, on Friday, is a request for a bountiful crop, peace and prosperity in the year to come. From

And Saturn? "The Roman god of agriculture concerned with the sowing of the seeds."

And Jewish Sabbath worshipers begin their ceremonies on Friday evening!

While ceremonies happend on Saturday, sun worship tended more toward Friday or Saturday and not on Sunday.

"Mithra (a minor deity) is the god of the airy light between heaven and earth, but he is also associated with the light of the sun, and with contracts and mediation. Neither in Hinduism nor in Zoroastrianism did Mitra/Mithra have his own cult. However,

"The Roman cult of Mithras is known as a "mystery" cult, which is to say that its members kept the liturgy and activities of the cult secret, and more importantly, that they had to participate in an initiation ceremony to become members of the cult. As a result, there is no surviving central text of Mithraism analogous to the Christian Bible, and there is no intelligible text which describes the liturgy.

"Mithraism had a wide following from the middle of the second century to the late fourth century CE, but the common belief that Mithraism was the prime competitor of Christianity, promulgated by Ernst Renan (Renan 1882 579), is blatantly false. Mithraism was at a serious disadvantage right from the start because it allowed only male initiates. What is more, Mithraism was, as mentioned above, only one of several cults imported from the eastern empire that enjoyed a large membership in Rome and elsewhere. The major competitor to Christianity was thus not Mithraism but the combined group of imported cults and official Roman cults subsumed under the rubric "paganism."

"The structure of the cult was hierarchical. Members went through a series of seven grades, each of which had a special symbol and a tutelary planet (wandering star). From lowest to highest these grades were Corax (raven, under Mercury), Nymphus (a made-up word meaning male bride, under Venus), Miles (the soldier, under Mars), Leo (the lion, under Jupiter), Perses (the Persian, under Luna, the moon),

Heliodromus (the Sun's courier, under Sol, the sun),

and finally Pater (father, under Saturn). Those who reached the highest grade, Pater,

could become the head of a congregation. Because mithraea were so small, new congregations were probably founded on a regular basis when one or more members reached the highest grade. From.

"The Roman Saturnalia was the feast of Saturn, who was a god of agriculture, ruler of the Golden Age and Seventh Heaven, before he became associated with the winter solstice and, therefore, with dying, a symbolism which later developed into his portrayal as an old man with a sickle or scythe, the Reaper, Death, the Destroyer.

Ascension was symbolized by seven grades of initiation, each stage governed by a 'planet': Raven (Mercury); Bride (Venus); Soldier (Mars); Lion (Jupiter); Persian (the moon); Courier of the Sun (the sun); and Father (Saturn). The ultimate goal was to transcend all levels of the cosmos and to attain the level of the fixed stars, or aeternitas.'

This may explain why the Roman Saturn (Sabbath) worship may have ended as early as sunrise on Friday or lateras the day of the sun.

Saturn (Saturday) was One of the Satans. The actual Mithra cult, therefore, was a Saturn (Saturday) cult and not a Sunday Cult: Sunday was the holy day which would, like the Sabbath, eleminate rituals in favor of rest or "ceasing" from otherwise unceasing rituals.

Saturn was one of the "wandering stars" or planets defined by Jude and the Book of Enoch because they did not obey set rules but wandered and were not stars but planets.

"Saturn (Cronos) was his father, and Rhea (Ops) his mother. Saturn and Rhea were of the race of Titans (Satans), who were the children of Earth and Heaven, which sprang from Chaos.

Rhea, daughter of Gaea, a Titan in Greek mythology is Mother of the Olympian Gods including DEMETER/Chloe (Blooming) (Roman CERES, whence cereal, her festival in April was Cerealia), Alma Mater, goddess of the earth/grain, married to her brother Cronos - Demeter was worshipped by women only in the THESMORPHORIA orgies. Like Fauna, Rhea/Rea is identified in Roman mythology with Kybele/Cybele (Roman Ops) Great Mother of the Gods, goddess of nature and fertility, presiding over mountains and fortresses and known as Mater Turrita, her avatar is the lion. Corybantes - eunuch priests, led orgiastic rites in Cybele's honour. Rhea, wife of Saturn/Kronos, was also known as Dindumene and Berekuntia.

Bullfinch notes that he was: "The Roman god of agriculture concerned with the sowing of the seeds. He is regarded as the father of Jupiter, Ceres, Juno and many others. His wife is the goddess Ops. Jupiter supposedly chased him away and he was taken in by the god Janus in Latium where he introduced agriculture and viniculture. This event heralded a period of peace, happiness and prosperity, the Golden Age.

[Janus was the two-headed god who held the keys. Therefore, again, Saturn is more closely related to Catholicism than Christianity; more related to Saturday than Sunday]

Janus was invested with high powers, made the keeper of the gates of heaven, and arbiter of men's eternal destinies. Of this Janus, this Babylonian "man," the Pope, as we have seen, is the legitimate representative;

his key, therefore, he bears, with that of Cybele, his mother-wife; and to all his blasphemous pretensions he at this hour lays claim. See Hislop and the identity of Saturn with the Babylonian gods. And for another view of Janus]

The Saturnalia was a Sabbath of Worship rather than a Sabbath of rest:

"In memory of this Golden Age, each year the Saturnalia was observed on December 17 at his temple on the Forum Romanum. This temple, below the Capitoline Hill, contained the Royal Treasury and is one of the oldest in Rome. The Saturnalia was one of the major events of the year. Originally only one day, it was later extended to seven days.

During this festival, business was suspended, the roles of master and slaves were reversed, moral restrictions were loosened and gifts were exchanged. Offerings made in his honor were done with uncovered heads, contrary to the Roman tradition.

"Saturnalia in Rome was celebrated from December 17-24, covering the solstice. December 25 was Natalis Solis Invicti, the Birth of the Unconquered Sun. Since no one knew anything about Christ's birth, it wasn't celebrated in the early church. Superimposing Christmas on existing festivals on December 25 only became official in the fourth century.

So, again, Saturn, answers to the Babylon system which could only be corrected by the true Sabbath during which one was careful not to "worship" which then, and now, is the "work of the gods."


Saturday was not a day off from work. Therefore, when Constantine gave everyone a holiday from work he was defending the Christian's right to have free time to worship.

But in 312, Constantine won the battle at the Milvian Bridge under the sign of the cross. Instantaneously, the dedications to Mithra ceased, even though there was no immediate public interdiction of Mithraic ceremonies. The worship seems to have collapsed quite suddenly when imperial favour ceased to be with the Mithraists. Britannica Members

Why Sunday? Because Sunday was the regular day for the assembly of the Christians from the very beginning: the beginning of spiritual work.

The emperor Constantine (d. 337), a convert to Christianity, introduced the first civil legislation concerning Sunday in 321, when he decreed that all work should cease on Sunday, except that farmers could work if necessary.

This law, aimed at providing time for worship, was followed later in the same century and in subsequent centuries by further restrictions on Sunday activities.

Mithraism held Sunday holy but we don't know that they got a free day. Therefore, it would seem that a free Sunday for Christians would create competition. And it did. Neither Constantine nor the Pope demanded that everyone worship on Sunday. And Mithraism decreased.

Doesn't Sunday honor the Sun God?

Christians met on the Lord's Day or First Day of the Week before it was called Sunday. Here are some examples:

  1. 90 AD DIDACHE:
  2. 100 AD EPISTLE OF BARNABAS chapter 15:
  3. died c. 110, , Rome Ignatius, To the Magnesians
  4. 250 AD The Apostolic Constitution Books I-VI mentions the Lord's day 18 times.
  5. 250 AD The Apostolic Constitution Book VII Didache mentions the Lord's day 10 times.
  6. 250 AD The Apostolic Constitution Books VIII mentions the Lord's day 10 times.
  7. 300 AD Victorinus: On the Creation of the World
  8. 300AD EUSEBIUS: History Book I
Helios in his chariot, relief sculpture, excavated at Troy, 1872; in the State Museums of Berlin
The sun was the sun god. The moon was the goddess. Among the Greeks Helios was the actual sun and therefore the sun god. Apollo was also considered the sun god. "During the Roman Empire the sun itself came to be worshiped as the Unconquered Sun."

> However, we have seen no evidence that Sunday was a particular day of worship of the Sun.

"There is no question that the existence of the planetary week with its Sun-day ("dies solis") is crucial for determining any influence of Sun-worship on the [professing] Christian adoption of Sunday observance, inasmuch as the Sun before the existence of a weekly "Sun-day" was venerated every morning" (From Sabbath to Sunday, Samuele Bacchiocchi, 1977. p. 237).

Then Constantine didn't make up a Sunday Law, did he?

This leaves Saturday named after a pagan god.

> THE SABBATH WAS THE MOST ANCIENT DAY OF PAGAN WORSHIP

THE SABBATH WAS OFTEN HELD IN FEAR AS AN EVIL DAY

Saturday is named after Saturn or Kronos or the Babylonian Marduk. Nimrod was the human king of this system.

Joseph Lewis is perhaps a Deist but he observes that the Bible shielded Israel from Babylonian superstition.

Joseph Lewis Wrote:

The "sabbaths and the full moon" are mentioned together in numerous passages of the Old Testament. The derivation of the word "sabbath" is from the Babylonian "Shabattum," meaning the day of the full moon, and the designation of the seventh day by the Hebrews is attributed to the Babylonian "U-hul-gallum," which means the "evil day" and "a day of rest for the heart."

By adopting the Sabbath, the wandering Jews were forced to abandon any connection with the Babylonian Shabattum.

ANUNNAKI (Anukki, Enunaki)

The Akkadian name for a group of gods of the underworld - chthonic and fertility. They are judges in the realm of the dead. Their counterparts are the Igigi or good gods (although in some texts the positions are reversed). The Anunnaku are the children of Anu and Ki and are like the Apkallu and they are paired with an igigi. Below the anunnaki were several classes of genii -- sadu, vadukku, ekimu, gallu -- some of which were represented as being good, some evil.

Groups of demons are:

Asakku (Sumerian Asag), seven created by Anu and defeated by Ninurta, a victory also attributed to Nergal. Gallu, a term which originally referred to police officers (!) Sebitti,

"The Seven" Individuals with Akkadian names are: Bel Uri "Lord of the Roof" Bennu "Fits" Idiptu "Wind" Libu "Scab" Lamashtu, a female demon, a disease Mimma lemnu "Something evil" Miqut "stroke" Muttabriqu "Flashes of lightning" Pasittu "She who erases" (an epithet of Lamashtu) Ugallu (Lion demon) Rabishu "The Croucher" Sarabda "Bailiff" Sidana "Staggers" Suruppu, a disease brought on by flood waters Tirid "Expulsion" Umma "Feverhot" Umu, a storm demon.

Individuals with Sumerian names are: Saghulhaza, "Upholder of evil" And the doorkeepers of the Underworld: Engidudu (also an epithet of Erra), Endushuba, Endukuga, Endashurimma, Ennugigi, Enuralla/Nerulla, Nerubanda.

Eriskegal, Ereshkigal (Allatu). Queen of the underworld (Kur), of death, and enemy of Inanna. All underwold deities are called Chthonic Deities. She is said to be the sister of Inanna, making her the daughter of Nanna. She is defineitly not one of the Seven Chthonic Anunnaki, yet she is still an Anunnaki. Most likely she is the Destructive Forces of Saturn as Inanna is Venus.
........... She was sister of Ishtar, spouse of Nergal

In 1869, George Smith, well known as a pioneer student of Assyriology, discovered among the cuneiform tablets in the British Museum "curious religious calendars of the Assyrians, in which every month is divided into four weeks,

and the seventh days, or 'Sabbaths,' are marked out as days on which no work should be undertaken."

Authorities contend that this reckoning of the days of the week and the taboo prescribed for the seventh day probably belonged to the age of Hammurabi. (Hutton Webster, Rest Days: A Study in Early Law and Morality, p. 223.)

Therefore, because the "sabbath" was a day of fear and superstition, the observance of the Sabbath by total cesation from any rituals would guarantee that Israel would not fall into evil as they already had in the worship of Apis.

Lewis continues:

"It is the contention of Tacitus that the satellite Saturn was responsible for the observance of the Sabbath by the Hebrews because "of the seven stars which rule human affairs, Saturn has the highest sphere and the chief power." Tibullus, writing before 18 B.C., describes his reluctance to undertake a journey which turned out unluckily on the seventh day of the week: "I often allege auguries and evil omens, or that I held the day of Saturn sacred." Even the color associated with Saturn was significant of evil. While gold and silver were the colors applied to the sun and the moon,

black -- the color nearly always associated with misfortune symbolized Saturn. The Seven Ages of man are based upon the influence of the seven planets, and the last stage, dealing with old age, infirmity and death, is under Saturn, the "evil" planet.

Lewis also observes that Sabbath taboos were transferred to Sunday.

When Israel rose up to "play" at Mount Sinai they polluted the Sabbath rest by performing the musical worship of Saturn:

And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Acts 7:41

Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Acts 7:42

Saturn or Kronos worship goes back to the very beginning in Babylonia.

"As the name Pluto (Greek: Hades) has the very same meaning as Saturn, "The hidden one," so, whatever other aspect this name had, as applied to the father of the gods, it is to Satan, the Hidden Lord of hell, ultimately that all came at last to be traced back; for the different myths about Saturn, when carefully examined,

show that he was at once the Devil, the father of all sin and idolatry, who hid himself under the disguise of the serpent,--and Adam, who hid himself among the trees of the garden,--and Noah, who lay hid for a whole year in the ark,-

and Nimrod, who was hid in the secrecy of the Babylonian Mysteries. It was to glorify Nimrod that the whole Chaldean system of iniquity was formed. Hislop

This is why God immunized the Jews against Babylonian worship by making the Sabbath a day of rest. Rest as we noted above is the opposite of worship or work. The latter-day popularity of Sabbath meetings even among nominal Christians seems intimately connected to the revival of the ancient "worship teams" and the ZOE concept of worship of the femininst goddess:

'This Goddess, when considered as united to Saturn by the most exalted part of her essence, is called Rhea; but considered as producing Jupiter, and together with Jupiter unfolding the total and partial orders of the Gods [i.e., the powers of the Sensible World], she is called Ceres.' This is a very important distinction to bear in mind.

Now Rhea, as Ceres, in Homers Hymn XIV, is called 'brass-sounding' and 'drum-beating'. This has reference to the mystical results of certain sounds and rhythm, part and parcel of what the Hindus call Mantravidyâ. I remember reading a curious old French book in the Bibliothèque de la Ville of Clermont-Ferrand, one of the books confiscated from the Minime Monastery of the same town, at the time of the Revolution. This work dealt with

the magical properties of music, and described for what especial purposes the various instruments of music were used in the Temple-service of the Jews The Orphic Pantheon by G. R. S. Meade

[You must remember that Israel lost the Covenant at Mount Sinai because of the musical worship of the golden calf representing Osiris. When the elders "fired" God it was to demand a human king like the nations so that they could worship like the nations. The Temle, therefore, was rapidly adopted to Babylonian (Egyptian, Canaanite) worship.]

The polluted the Sabbath by attempting to worship on the Sabbath.

"It is well known that Kronos, or Saturn, was Rhea's husband; but it is not so well known who was Kronos himself.
........... Traced back to his original, that divinity is proved to have been the first king of Babylon.

Theophilus of Antioch shows that Kronos in the east was worshipped under the names of Bel and Bal;

and from Eusebius we learn that the first of the Assyrian kings, whose name was Belus, was also by the Assyrians called Kronos. Hislop

Based upon many ancient writings:

"Two worlds had existed in the beginning then,
........... the upper world of light in which God's throne was set,
........... and the lower world that was filled with darkness, perhaps inhabited by the first of the rebels. 

Next God had decreed that there should be a permanent barrier of separation between these two worlds so that light might be eternally separated from the darkness. 

For this reason the water was created and spread out as a blanket to divide the one world from the other.

Within these waters God created seven circles and showed their paths to the seven stars.  These seven stars are later referred to by their names: Kruno (Saturn), Aphrodite (Venus), Ares (Mars), Sun, Zeus (Jupiter), Hermes (Mercury), and the Moon (2 Enoch 30 f). 

"This Assyrian-Babylonian god Chiun without doubt represented Saturn. HeÇyleÇl represents the god once associated with the planet Venus. In our English translation the name is translated as "Lucifer" in Isaiah 14:12 (Charles, R. H.  The Book of the Secrets Of Enoch. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896.)

Therefore, Saturn and Lucifer (bi-sexual) were the eternal enemies of God's people:

"Charles points out that the five stars were known to Israel in Old Testament times and are recorded in the ancient prophetical writings.  kÓyyuÇwn represents the god associated with the planet Saturn and is translated in our English translation as "Chiun" in Amos 5:26. 

The Israelites "rose up to play" in the musical idolatry which doomed them at Mount Sinai.

Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? Am.8:5

What they did on the Sabbath and most other days is defined as removing the Word from the people by what amounted to Saturn worship :

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. Amos 5:23

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. Amos 5:24

But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. Amos 5:26

Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts. Amos 5:27

The Israelites worshiped the literal starry host while God is the Creator of the hosts.

Therefore, Sabbath worshipers honor Saturn when they perform MUSIC which is the work of human hands. The Jews were not even permitted to tune an instrument on the Sabbath because it would defile the law against WORK.

Rhea, the musical consort is defined as ZOE or Sophia-Zoe as the lucifer light bearer, female instructing principle called the "Beast."

In Amos, they are called the Cows of Bashan.

Saturn or Saturday or Cronus is the fallen offspring fighting against the supreme Deity.

"Cronus also spelled CRONOS, OR KRONOS, in ancient Greek religion, male deity who was worshiped by the pre-Hellenic population of Greece but probably was not widely worshiped by the Greeks themselves; he was later identified with the Roman god Saturn. Cronus' functions were connected with agriculture; in Attica his festival, the Kronia, celebrated the harvest and resembled the Saturnalia.

In art he was depicted as an old man holding an implement, probably originally a sickle but interpreted as a harpe, or curved sword.

"In Greek mythology Cronus was the son of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth), being the youngest of the 12 Titans (Satans). On the advice of his mother he castrated his father with a harpe, thus separating Heaven from Earth.

He now became the king of the Titans, and took for his consort his sister Rhea; she bore by him Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon, all of whom he swallowed
........... because his own parents had warned that he would be overthrown by his own child.

When Zeus was born, however, Rhea hid him in Crete and tricked Cronus into swallowing a stone instead. Zeus grew up, forced Cronus to disgorge his brothers and sisters, waged war on Cronus, and was victorious. After his defeat by Zeus, Cronus became, according to different versions of his story, either a prisoner in Tartarus or king of the Golden Age."

2 Enuch 18:3 And they said to me: These are the Grigori, who with their prince Satanail rejected the Lord of light, and after them are those who are held in great darkness on the second heaven, and

three of them went down on to earth from the Lord's throne, to the place Ermon,

and broke through their vows on the shoulder of the hill Ermon and saw the daughters of men how good they are, and took to themselves wives, and befouled the earth with their deeds,

who in all times of their age made lawlessness and mixing, and giants are born and marvellous big men and great enmity.

Satan and his agents taught Genun (Jubal) how to handle (without authority) mixed-sex choirs and instrumental music to seduce the Sethites. For this, God will come with ten thousand of His saints to execute judgment.

THE SECOND THOUSAND YEARS: YâReD TO THE FLOOD.

Of the Transmission of the Art of Playing the Harp, that is to say of Music and Singing and Dancing.

Yôbâl (Jubal) and Tôbalkin (Tubal-Cain), the two brethren, the sons of Lamech, the blind man, who killed Cain, invented and made all kinds of instruments of music.

Jôbâl made reed instruments, and harps, and flutes, and whistles,
and the
devils went and dwelt inside them.
When men blew into the pipes,
........... the devils sang inside them,
........... and sent out sounds from inside them.

"Uranus (heaven) hated his offspring and hid them in Gaea's (the earth) body. She appealed to them for vengeance, but Cronus (a Titan) alone responded. With the harpe (a scimitar) he removed Uranus' testicles as he approached Gaea. From the drops of Uranus' blood that fell on her were born the Furies, the Giants, and the Meliai (ash-tree nymphs).

"At the instigation of Gaea the Titans rebelled against their father, who had shut them up in the underworld (Tartarus).

Under the leadership of Cronus they deposed Uranus and set up Cronus as their ruler. But one of Cronus' sons, Zeus, rebelled against his father, and a struggle then ensued between them in which most of the Titans sided with Cronus.

"Zeus and his brothers and sisters finally defeated the Titans after 10 years of fierce battles (the Titanomachia). The What were then hurled down by Zeus and imprisoned in a cavity beneath Tartarus.

"In pagan traditions, musical instruments are invented by gods or demi-gods, such as titans (seitans). In the Bible, credit is assigned to antediluvian patriarchs, for example, the descendants of Cain in Genesis 4:21. There is no other biblical tradition about the invention of musical instruments." (Freedman, David Noel, Bible Review, Summer 1985, p. 5

To see that the Titans stand for Satan See Hislop.

It was believed that the Cainites were influenced by the giants or titans who were the result of intermarriage between humans and the elders of Lucifer who seduced the children of God through music.

"We see, therefore, that the arts also are consecrated to the services of the beings who dwell in the names of their founders; taints of idolatry whose inventors have got a place among the gods for their discoveries. Nay, as regards the arts, we ought to have gone further back,

and barred all further argument by the position that the demons, predetermining in their own interests from the first, among other evils of idolatry, the pollutions of the public shows,

with the object of drawing man away from his Lord and binding him to their own service, carried out their purpose by bestowing on him the artistic gifts which the shows require'." (Tertullian, de Spectaculis, Ante-Nicene, III, p. 84).

We know that the church leaders (not Roman Catholic) warned the Christians against observing the Sabbath which was a legal holiday because the shows and spectacles were practiced in Rome even as they had in Babylon.

There is no other tradition but that Satan taught mankind how to take away the key to knowledge of God by music:

"Slightly less familiar are the Devil's musical exploits. He not only loves singing but is master of the violin, of which instrument of evil he is reputedly the inventor. By the same token he can give mastery of the violin, bartering infernal skill for the pupil's soul.

These legends are related to the larger belief in the supernatural origin of musical skill and individual songs." (Botkin, B. A., A Treasury of American Folklore, Crown Publishers, p. 718; Cf. The Devil and the Fiddle, Herbert Halpert, Hoosier Folklore Bulletin, Vol II (Dec., 1943).

As Saturn was the chief Satan it is interesting that: "In pagan traditions, musical instruments are invented by gods or demi-gods, such as titans (seitans). In the Bible, credit is assigned to antediluvian patriarchs, for example, the descendants of Cain in Genesis 4:21. There is no other biblical tradition about the invention of musical instruments." (Freedman, David Noel, Bible Review Summer 1985, p. 51).

> They Manichaeans are said to have worshiped the sun

They also understood that Sabbath worship was to bind themselves to the fetters of the Jews to whom the Sabbath was given as a day of rest:

"Shall we by circumcision add shame to shame, and believe that God is pleased with such sacraments?
........... Shall we observe the rest of the Sabbath, and bind ourselves in the fetters of Saturn?

Shall we glut the demon of the Jews, for he is not God, with the slaughter of bulls, rams, and goats, not to say of men; and adopt, only with greater cruelty, in obedience to the law and the prophets, the practices on account of which we abandoned idolatry?

Shall we, in fine, call the flesh of some animals clean, and that of others unclean, among which, according to the law and the prophets, swine's flesh has a particular defilement?

Of course you will allow that as Christians we must not do any of these things, for you remember that Christ says that a man when circumcised becomes twofold a child of hell.1

It is plain also that
........... Christ neither observed the Sabbath himself,
........... nor commanded it to be observed.

The Book of Enoch and Paul to the Corinthians show that when Israel fell it was because they worshiped demons.

However, Augustine responded that:

5. We are not afraid to meet your scoff at the Sabbath, when you call it the fetters of Saturn. It is a silly and unmeaning expression, which occurred to you only because you are in the habit of worshipping the sun on what you call Sunday.

What you call Sunday we call the Lord's day, and on it we do not worship the sun, but the Lord's resurrection.

Augustine thereby shows how ridiculous it is to define people as "the antichrist" because they worship on the Lord's Day which much later was termed Sunday.

Thus we have shown regarding circumcision, and the Sabbath, and the distinction of food, and the sacrifice of animals,
........... that all these things were our examples, and our prophecies, which Christ came not to destroy,

but to fulfill, by fulfilling what was thus foretold. Your opponent is the apostle, whose opinion I give in his own words: "All these things were our examples

> Jesus is the True LIGHT and is honored on Sun-Day. This prevents the worship of the S.U.N. rather than worship of the S.O.N. The SUN is the creature but Jesus is the Creator.

Jesus, the SON of God is the brightness of His invisible Glory. As the sun is the source of power, the Son is its rays extending into the visible world.

Shamash was the Babylonian god of gods who "rested" on the sabbath while the creatures served them in the work of worship: feeding, clothing, housing, entertaining and even providing sexual partners: the god was worshiped but the priests got the girls.

However, Jesus is never defined as Saturn but the true Sun, giver of all life:

But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. Mal 4:2

Shemesh (h8121) sheh'-mesh; from an unused root mean. to be brilliant; the sun; by impl. the east; fig. a ray, i. e. (arch.) a notched battlement: - / east side (-ward), sun ([rising]), / west (-ward), window. See also 1053.

The SON is the spiritual SUN who rose on the first day of the week but not the literal S.U.N.

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Jn.8:12

And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. Mt.17:2

And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. Mk.16:2

About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. Acts 22:6

At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. Ac.26:13

And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. Re.1:16

And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Rev 21:23

And rather than Venus, a wandering star representing Lucifer, Jesus said:

I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." Rev 22:16

Orthrinos (g3720) or-thrin-os'; from 3722; relating to the dawn, i.e. matutinal (as an epithet of Venus, espec. brilliant in the early day): - morning.

Orthros (g3722) or'-thros; from the same as 3735; dawn (as sun- rise, rising of light); by extens. morn: - early in the morning.

Oros (g3735) or'-os; (to rise or "rear"; perh. akin to 142; comp. 3733); a mountain (as lifting itself above the plain): - hill, mount (-ain

If Jesus was resurrected after sunset the previous day, He was resurrected on Sunday. Not at the "first second of the first day" but He met the women "early."

NOW upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. Luke 24:1
........... JESUS went unto the mount of Olives. John 8:1
........... ........... And early in the morning he came again into the temple,
........... ........... and all the people came unto him;
........... ........... and he sat down, and taught them. John 8:2

> ERROR: Sabbath worship replacing Sabbath Rest is the battle of the Seitans over Sunday, the day of the SON.

The Sabbath was the day of worship for Marduk (Saturn) Saturn's great festival was the Saturnalia related to "the feast of fools" and Marde Gras:

"One of the best-known festivals of ancient Rome was the Saturnalia, a winter festival celebrated on December 17-24. Because it was a time of wild merrymaking and domestic celebrations, businesses, schools, and law courts were closed so that the public could feast, dance, gamble, and generally enjoy itself to the fullest.

December 25--the birthday of Mithra, the Iranian god of light, and a day devoted to the invincible sun, as well as the day after the Saturnalia--was adopted by the church as Christmas, the nativity of Christ, to counteract the effects of these festivals.

In time this festival became a mockery of Christianity and Christians:

"These plays often employed musical forces comparable to those of the religious plays and used them for similar purposes. Choirboys from the church sometimes took part, but surviving texts suggest that there was little choral music as such.

The individual actors incorporated parts of songs chanted monophonically to embellish or heighten the dramatic effect, and dancing to specific instrumental music also had a regular place in the entertainment.

Professional musicians might be hired and might also be required to act; the constituent parts of the entertainment varied widely from place to place.

The Sabbath or Rest of God was a condemnation of Saturday "worship" rituals:

God had Moses write a rebuttal of the Babylonian (Egyptian, Canaanite) worship. The sabbath in Babylonia was reserved for the rest of the chief god, Marduk or Saturn. The common people were the slaves of the gods and got no time off.

Therefore, God did not ordain the Sabbath as a day of worship but of rest for everyone. The image of the creation story is that "God got a day off." Therefore, if the true God serves mankind then even the poorest slave gets a day of rest.

Freedom from religious rituals was the best possible rest. Click for the beginning of the Sabbath for the gods.

Never in the History of God's people has the Sabbath been devoted to performing religious rituals. However, many people have observed the Sabbath as a day of rest or prayer and study of the Word.

Therefore, to make worship rituals a Sabbath duty is to restore the ancient Babylonian form of servitude. At the same time, Sunday worship falls into the same error.

Here is another claim for the Sabbath restoration:

"Thus we learn from Socrates (H.E., vi.c.8) that in his time public worship was held in the churches of Constantinople on both days. The view that the Christian's Lord's day or Sunday is but the Christian Sabbath deliberately transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week does not indeed find categorical expresssion till a much later period.... The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in A.D. 321, enacting that all courts of justice, inhabitants of towns, and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday (venerabili die Solis), with an exception in favour of those engaged in agricultural labour.... The Council of Laodicea (363) ... forbids Christians from Judaizing and resting on the Sabbath day, preferring the Lord's day, and so far as possible resting as Christians."--Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1899 Edition, Vol. XXIII, page 654. From Source

Resting meant free from responsibility. As history notes, if Christians observed Saturday as a day or rest they would fall into the feasts of the pagans which were always religious in nature.

THE COUNCIL OF LAODICEA IN PHRYGIA PACATIANA 364 A.D.
CANON XXIX.
CHRISTIANS must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day,
rather honouring the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians.
But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.

Gentile Christians had been associated with Jewish believers from the beginning. The Synagogue was the place to be for two reasons;

First, that was where large groups of people would be assembled.

Second, the church like the Synagogue was for the study of the Word and not for "worship" in the temple sense.

No Christian would have any trouble attending a Sabbath Synagogue service in the Biblical sense.

At the heart of synagogal worship is the public reading of Scriptures. This takes place at the morning service on Sabbaths, holy days, and festivals, on Monday and Thursday mornings, and on Sabbath afternoons. The readings from the Pentateuch are presently arranged in an annual cycle so that, beginning on the Sabbath following the autumnal festivals with Gen. 1:1, the entire five books are read through the rest of the year.

Music:

"The description of the synagogue service above noted the role of the hazzan, or cantor. It is he who reads the service and declaims the scriptural lessons to certain set musical modes that vary with the season and occasion. Many of these call for melodic responses on the part of the congregation.

There was never any 'praise service in the synagogue.'

However, the believers also gathered to eat the Lord's Supper on Sunday. It would not be inconsistent to meet with the ethnic and cultural Jews for study and then after sundown remove themselves to a private place for the Lord's Supper.

Therefore, in the second and third centuries Christians were involved with both Saturday and Sunday activity. Ethiopian Christians still honor both days. However, their worship services would be early or late in the day and did not interfere because no one had a legal day off.

While Sabbath Keepers use this council to prove that "the Pope" imposed Sunday worship to honor the sun god, these canons rather regulate what appeared to be a well-established Sabbath assembly. How can both be true?

While there was a bishop in Rome who was detested and not part of this council, he was not yet a pope.

The Sabbath simply means "rest." That rest was not to "go to church" but it was in one's own home with even changes being very restrictive:

Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. Lev 23:3

During this period the Sabbath was a rest day for Jewish Christian.
Certain meetings continued to be held on the Sabbath.
and they had communion or fellowship on Sundays.
 
Saturday and Sunday were regular work days for other Christians. But,
Sunday was also the assembly day.

With Sunday now a holiday day instead of a work day, the Jewish Christians would seem to have two rest days. Apparently, they took both days for rest

The church made a rule that Christians should not accept the secular holiday as exemption from religious duties on the Sabbath.

On CANON XXIX.

BALSAMON Commentary.

Here the Fathers order that no one of the faithful shall stop work on the Sabbath as do the Jews,
........... but that they should honour the Lord's Day; on account of the Lord's resurrection,
........... and that on that day they should abstain from manual labour and go to church.

But thus abstaining from work on Sunday they do not lay down as a necessity, but they add, "if they can." For if through need or any other necessity any one worked on the Lord's day this was not reckoned against him.

Making Sunday a day of rest from labor.

Actually, this council might be interpreted as defending the Sabbath:

CANON XVI.
THE Gospels are to be read on the Sabbath [i.e. Saturday], with the other Scriptures.

However,

"The Church fathers at the Council of Laodicea were not opposed to Sunday services but were opposed to Christians Judaizing the Sabbath (see 29th Canon),

"Judaizing is what they labeled Christians resting on the Sabbath day.
"At the Council of Laodicea, they published as doctrine that the practice of
staying at home and resting on the Sabbath was sinful and anathema to Christ."

The clear implication from the other canons is that rather than seeing the Sabbath as a Jewish abstaining from all work and remaining in their dwellings, they should attend the assemblies at which reading, singing and other activities helpful to the Christian walk often took place.

If they kept the Sabbath as the Jews kept it, they would not be able to walk or ride animals or drive to a central place for the assembly.

Judaizing, here, simply meant to take both days off from productive work. As history proved, two days of idle time became the "devil's workshop." With Sunday now officially a holiday, there was no excuse for believers not to use the Sabbath for reading the Word and other activities which were more like the Synagogue.

This regulation outlawed work and was not related to worship.

Look again:

"In 321 the Constantine decreed Sunday to be a legal holiday and forbade all trade and work other than necessary agricultural labour.

Later emperors extended the prohibition to include public amusements in the theatre and circus.
Church councils of the period were
more concerned to enforce the obligation of Sunday worship.

Two idle days could and did lead to the notion that if Sunday is now a legal holiday it means that I can "go to the beach" rather than attend church prior to going to work.

While the Sabbath continued to be an important day for church-related activities, the evidence from the Bible and the only other literature shows that the corporate worship was on Sunday.

Since no one can keep track of the Sabbath from the day of creation as some Jews suggest, both the seventh and first days are "one of the seven." That is, one out of every seven days is dedicated to God. One cannot faithfully keep the Jewish Sabbath and "do" Christian worship rituals.

The Britannica, in History of the church year, notes that:

"Regular Christian corporate worship on Sundays goes back to the apostolic age, but New Testament writings do not explain how the practice began.

Jewish Christians probably kept the sabbath at the synagogue, then joined their Gentile fellow believers

for Christian worship after the close of the sabbath at sundown, either in the evening or early Sunday morning.

When the church became predominantly Gentile, Sunday remained as the customary day of worship.

Assemblies for the Eucharist were common on Saturday, however, as well as on Sunday in the Eastern churches into the 5th century,

and Eastern canons forbade the practice, customary in the Roman Church, of fasting on the sabbath.

The term Lord's Day, signifying the triumph of Christ in his Resurrection and the beginning of a new creation, was in use by the end of the 1st century (Revelation 1:10; Didache 14; Ignatius of Antioch, Magnesians 9:1). Some writers referred to the sabbath as the rest promised to the people of God at the end of time and to Sunday as "the eighth day," or beginning of a new world (Hebrews 4:4-11; Letter of Barnabas 15).

God began His work on the "first" day and completed it on the sixth. On the eighth day or first day the work of God's creation resumed its eternal cycle.

Purification for rituals began on the first day and people rested on the seventh day.

Catholicism ows more to Saturn than to the Son or sun and Saturn fits the patternof Mithra more so than of the Son of Righteousness and light who has always taken first place on the first day.

Saturn is the almost-universal symbol of the evil worship for which God gave the Sabbath. To make sure that people did not invent new meetings and rituals, He circumscribed the Sabbath to keep the anxiety-creating ritualizers out of the face of His people. Jesus specificially came to give rest and not ritual.

Therefore, the first instance of what appears to be Saturn worship was performing religious rituals on the Sabbath rather than resting. Here is the meaning of profaning or polluting the Sabbath:

Chalal (h2490) khaw-lal'; a prim. root [comp. 2470]; prop. to bore, i. e. (by impl.) to wound, to dissolve; fig. to profane (a person, place or thing), to break (one's word), to begin (as if by an "opening wedge"); denom. (from 2485) to play (the flute): - begin (* men began), defile, * break, defile, * eat (as common things), * first, * gather the grape thereof, * take inheritance, pipe, player on instruments, pollute, (cast as) profane (self), prostitute, slay (slain), sorrow, stain, wound.

You cannot claim to KEEP THE SABBATH HOLY and perform very works-intensive WORSHIP SERVICES. To keep the Sabbath Holy you need to remain at home, read the Word and think about God and accept the REST Jesus died to give you to free you from religious rituals. Then, you should have no trouble meeting on Sunday if the church is a SCHOOL OF THE BIBLE.

Ken Sublett

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