How Sunday-keeping Began

Sunday is currently the first day of the week on the Roman Gregorian calendar. Saturday is the seventh day of the week on the same calendar. The underlying question in this lesson is who changed the Sabbath from the seventh-day to Sunday the first-day? This is important because the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath is commanded by Yahuwah in the fourth commandment of the Decalogue (Exodus 20:8-11). It will be discovered in this lesson that an entire calendar change was implemented at the time sacredness was applied to Sunday. This clever maneuver in high places, made it appear that Saturday had been the original seventh-day Sabbath, in this way making the Saturday, Sunday question, a double deception.

Did Yahuwah give His sanction for a new sacred day? Did Yahuwah give His sanction for a new calendar fabricated by man? Did He ordain the first day of the week following His resurrection? “For I am Yahuwah, I change not.” Malachi 3:6. Only a direct decree from the Heavenly Father can make anything holy and sacred. Find out the details below.

Sunday Sacredness

1. If the change from the true seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday, a mere first day of the week is valid, who authorized it?

Dr. Adam Clarke says in his commentary: But of these [the Fathers] we may safely state, that there is not a truth in the most orthodox creed that cannot be proved by their authority, nor a heresy that has disgraced the Romish Church, that may not challenge them as its authors. In points of doctrine their authority is, with me, nothing. The Word of [Yahuwah] alone contains my creed (Comment on Proverbs 8).

In the mid 14^th Century, John Wycliffe, the morning star of the Reformation, stood in the gap for truth, against the Roman Church fathers, as he believed unadulterated truth must be firmly founded on the solid rock of Scripture alone. In meeting the opposition of his day, he coined the phrase Sola Scriptura, meaning that all doctrine must be based on Scripture alone. The Heavenly Father’s ordained standard for all of His laws and all His units of time reckoning, are found and preserved in none other than Scripture.

It has been said, If the Bible gives no testimony, there is no light. This is true, but often a deeper word for word study in Hebrew or Greek will bear much light not readily found in a surface reading of Scripture. This is because of the many errors in translation, specifically with regard to the Heavenly Father’s time system. But with the aide of a Strong’s Concordance along with a Hebrew or Greek Lexicon as a second witness, great and marvellous truths will be revealed. http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20.

Our Heavenly Father and His Son Do Not Change

2. Could Yahuwah change His own law?

Answer: The law of Yahuwah is as sacred as the Lawgiver Himself. It is a revelation of His gracious will, a transcript of His character, the expression of His infinite love and wisdom. The death of Yahushua on Calvary to redeem us from the curse, or penalty, of the law forever proves that Yahuwah could not change His law, not even to save His Son. The following facts prove that this is true:

A. Yahuwah does not change.

I am Yahuwah, I change not; therefore ye Sons of Jacob are not consumed. Malachi 3:6 (see James 1:17 ).

B. The Ten Commandments are Yahuwah's own covenant.

He declared unto you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, even the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone. Deuteronomy 4:13.

C. Yahuwah will not break His covenant or alter His words.

My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips. Psalm 89:34.

D. He keeps His covenant for a thousand generations.

Know therefore that the Yahuwah thy Eloah, He is Elohim, the faithful El, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations. Deuteronomy 7:9.

E. Yahuwah's acts stand forever.

I know that, whatsoever Elohim doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and Elohim doeth it, that men should fear before Him. Ecclesiastes 3:14.

3. Did Yahushua change the law and the Sabbath?

Answer: Since Yahushua acted only in accordance with the Father's will (John 6:38 ), it follows that He would do nothing of which His Father would not approve. So He could not have come to change Yahuwah's eternal law.

A. He kept His Father's commandments.

lf ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love. John 15:10.

Yahushua did not sin (1 Peter 2:22 ). Sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John 3:4. Therefore, He could not have broken the Sabbath commandment, as some profanely accused Him.

B. He came to fulfil (keep) the law, not to destroy it.

Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-19.

C. He came to magnify the law.

Yahuwah is well pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will magnify the law, and make it honorable. Isaiah 42:21 (read Matthew 5:21 -22, 27-28).

D. He Himself kept the Sabbath.

He came to Nazareth , where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. Luke 4:16.

E. He openly ignored the man made Jewish Sabbath traditions that are not found in the oracles of Scripture. (See Luke 6:1-11.)

F. He indicated that the Sabbath would be sacred forty years after the cross.

But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. Matthew 24:20.

Yahushua admonished His followers to pray that their flight from Jerusalem should not be on the Sabbath day (Matthew 24:20). Yahushua knew that this flight (AD. 70) would occur some forty years after His return to heaven.

It is completely conclusive that the unholy deed of attempting to change Yahuwah's everlasting, holy law cannot be charged to His holy Son, Yahushua. He simply is not responsible for the tradition of Sunday-keeping. Historical and even Roman Catholic support for this entire calendar change is forth coming in the follow points.

4. Did Apostle Paul change Yahuwah’s law or Sabbath?

Answer: Said the great apostle:

Do we then make void the law through faith? Yahuwah forbid: yea, we establish the law. Romans 3:31.

We find Paul exclaiming about the established law. This he could not have done had it been abolished. The thought of abrogating the law was repulsive to the apostle. Yahuwah forbid! he says.

Protestants, Historians, and Catholics Testify

5. Do men claim there is Bible proof for the change?

A. Catholics say there is absolutely no Bible proof for Sunday sacredness.

Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles. From the beginning to end of Scripture, there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first. (Catholic Press [Sydney, Australia], August 25, 1900).

B. Protestants say there is no Bible text commanding Sunday sacredness.

In an article about the Sabbath, Smith and Cheetham say: The notion of a formal substitution [of the first for the seventh day] and the transference to it, perhaps in a spiritualized form, of the sabbatical obligation established by the fourth commandment, has no basis whatever, either in Holy Scripture or in Christian antiquity. (Smith and Cheetham's Dictionary of Christian Antiquities.)

Dr. R. W. Dale (Congregationalist) says:

It is quite clear that however rigidly or devoutly we spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath. The Sabbath was founded on a specific Divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday. . There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday (The Ten Commandments, pages 100-101).

Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, author of The Baptist Manual:

There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week. . Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament, absolutely not. (in a paper read before a New York Ministers' Conference, November 13, 1893 ).

C. Historians testify regarding Sunday sacredness: Take special note that neither of these quotes clarify a Saturday to Sunday change in sacredness, but rather from Sabbath to Sunday. Contrary to assumptions, Saturday and Sabbath, have not until recently been considered synonymous. They represent entirely different calendar systems.

Unquestionably the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the sabbatical observance of that day is known to have been ordained, is the edict of Constantine , A.D. 321. This Roman emperor had not yet professed Christianity at the time of this edict, and he speaks of Sunday as the venerable day of the sun. Chamber's Encyclopedia (1880) (Article regarding the Sabbath.)

Augustus Neander, celebrated historian: The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect, far from them and from the early apostolic Church to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday (The History of the Christian Religion and Church, Rose's translation, p. 186).

If the Sabbath had been changed by Yahuwah, surely the record of the change would be found in His Word.

Roman Catholics Acknowledged the Changes

6. Does the Church of Rome admit she made the change?

Answer: We return now to the prophecy of Daniel 7 where the little horn, or the papacy, was to think to change Yahuwah's laws.

He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. Daniel 7:25.

Through the prophet Daniel, Yahuwah foretold the 1,260-year reign of the papacy and its determination to change times and laws. A change was not only attempted, it was successfully implemented by Rome . It was never her plan however, to change only the day, but rather the entire calendar, including all holy days that include the Sabbath.

It should be noted that the oldest dated Christian inscription to employ a planetary designation belongs to the year 269 A.D. (Inscriptiones Christianae urbis Romae, ed. De Rossi, 1861, i, No. 1).

The above quote is referring to the planetary names of the days of the Roman calendar week, i.e. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc. These are the names attributed by Rome for each day of the unbroken chain of successive weeks. In other words, there is no record for an unbroken chain of successive weeks every existing prior to A.D. 269. This is during the 300 years that the Creator’s calendar was changed by Rome , and then sold to all the world as existing since the dawn of creation in the form of an unbroken chain of successive weeks.

The modern seven-day week came into use during the early imperial period, after the Julian calendar came into effect, apparently stimulated by immigration from the Roman East. For a while it coexisted alongside the old 8-day nundinal cycle, and fasti are known which show both cycles. It was finally given official status by Constantine in 321. Roman calendar Encyclopedia, Days of the Week.

A Profession Of Faith From The Church Of Constantinople in the year 325 C.E. (A.D.) Under The Emperor Constantine

“I renounce all customs, rites, legalisms. unleavened breads & sacrifices of lambs of the Hebrews, and all other feasts of the Hebrews, sacrifices, prayers, aspersions, purifications, sanctifications and propitiations and fasts, and new moons, and Sabbaths, and superstitions, and hymns and chants and observances and Synagogues, and the food and drink of The Hebrews; in one word, I renounce everything Jewish, every law, rite and custom and if afterwards I shall wish to deny and return to Jewish superstition, or shall be found eating with The Jews, or feasting with them, or secretly conversing and condemning the Christian religion instead of openly confuting them and condemning their vain faith, then let the trembling of Gehazi cleave to me, as well as the legal punishments to which I acknowledge myself liable. And may I be anathema in the world to come, and may my soul be set down with Satan and the devils.” Source: Parks, James The Conflict Of The Church And The Synagogue Athenaeum, New York , 1974, pp. 397 - 398.

Regarding Easter Sunday Constantine writes the following statement showing his personal sentiment toward the Jews. He uses this negative sentiment to sell an artifical festival to his non present Bishops:

It was, in the first place, declared improper to follow the custom of the Jews in the celebration of this holy festival, because, their hands having been stained with crime, the minds of these wretched men are necessarily blinded. ... Let us, then, have nothing in common with the Jews, who are our adversaries. ... avoiding all contact with that evil way. ... who, after having compassed the death of [Yahushua], being out of their minds, are guided not by sound reason, but by an unrestrained passion, wherever their innate madness carries them. ... a people so utterly depraved. ... Therefore, this irregularity must be corrected, in order that we may no more have any thing in common with those parricites and the murderers of our [Master]. ... no single point in common with the perjury of the Jews. Theodoret's Ecclesiastical History 1.9 records The Epistle of the Emperor Constantine, concerning the matters transacted at the Council, addressed to those Bishops who were not present.

The American Sentinel (N.Y.), June 1, 1893 , page 173, quotes Thomas Enright, C.S.S.R., of Redemptorist College : The Bible says, Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. The Catholic Church says, No! By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day, and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.

The above remarkable statement is an accurate statement of the attitude and objective of Rome toward the Bible Sabbath over the past 1,700 years.

7. Do the Scriptures foretell a restoration of the Sabbath?

Answer: The Creator of the universe, who made the seventh-day Sabbath a sign of His power and right to rule, certainly would not leave His Sabbath to be trampled underfoot forever, or His holy law to be mutilated by the mind and hand of man. Isaiah foretold a great call to Sabbath observance. And the teachers of the true Sabbath he called The repairers of the breach, The restorers of paths to dwell in. Here are his words:

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. 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 Yahuwah, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in Yahuwah; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of Yahuwah hath spoken it. Isaiah 58:12-14.

Special emphasis was placed upon the seventh-day Sabbath at creation. At the time of the Exodus, Yahuwah again highlighted the importance of the Sabbath by restoring to Israel it’s time placement according to the New Moons. During the ministry of Yahushua, but especially in His death, emphasis is again given to His true Sabbath. (Refer to “The True Crucifixion Date.”)

Sunday-keeping In The New Testament

The first day of Scripture's luni-solar calendar week, is mentioned eight times in the New Testament. While Sunday is the first day of the week, it is only the first day on the Roman calendar, which has no connection whatever to Scriptures appointed time system with each month beginning on the New Moon. The word Sunday is not mentioned in the entire Bible. All the days located on the Roman Julian/Gregorian calendar are of equal value, with no sacredness attributed to them by the Heavenly Father. Sunday was not even appointed to the position of first day of the week until Constantine designated it to be so in the year A.D. 324, when the entire calendar swap was completed. This is less than 1700 years ago.

8. Did Yahushua intend that this day should replace the Bible Sabbath?

Answer: Yahushua never made any change in Yahuwah's Ten Commandment law. Would He who came to magnify the law, and make it honourable, or change it instead? How about the Sabbath commandment? Did He give any instruction about another day, telling us which day it is, what it commemorates, and how to keep it? If Yahushua had changed the Sabbath, He would most certainly have made it known, and the record would be found in His New Testament, which contains the story of His life.

9. What is the testimony of Matthew?

Answer: Matthew mentions the first day of the week but once.

In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. Matthew 28:1.

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre. Matthew 28:1 (RSV).

This is a simple statement in connection with the story of the resurrection. It clearly sets forth the Sabbath as distinct from the first day of the week. The original Greek of Matthew 28:1 has been misused in an effort to prove that the Sabbath was changed to the first day of the week, but only the uninformed, or those who wish to mislead the uninformed, would ever try to erect a Sabbath change on Matthew 28:1.

10. What is the testimony of Mark?

Answer: Mark mentions the first day of the week two times.

And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. Mark 16:1-2.

Now when Yahushua was risen early the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven devils. Mark 16:9.

Now let us look at these verses closely:

A. The Sabbath is past before the first day of the week begins.

When the Sabbath was past . . . very early in the morning the first day of the week. Mark 16:1-2.

B. Yahushua was buried on the day before the Sabbath.

And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is. the day before the Sabbath. Joseph of Arimathea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of Yahuwah , came and went in boldly unto Pilate and craved the body of Yahushua. And Pilate marvelled if He were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And he bought fine linen, and took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen, and laid Him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre. Mark 15:42-46.

C. Yahushua rested in the tomb during the Sabbath.

D. He rose from the dead the first day of the week.

Now when Yahushua was risen early the first day of the week. Mark 16:9.

E. He appeared first unto Mary.

He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven devils. Mark 16:9.

F. She told others who believed not.

She went and told them that had been with Him. as they mourned and wept. And they, when they had heard that He was alive. and had been seen of her, believed not. Mark 16:10-11.

G. He appeared unto two followers.

After that He appeared in another form unto two of them. as they walked, and went into the country. Mark 16:12 .

H. They reported to the disciples, who believed not.

And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. Mark 16:13 .

I. Yahushua appeared and upbraided the disciples for unbelief.

Afterward He appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen. Mark 16:14 .

Yahushua never mentioned the first day of the week as far as Mark's record is concerned.

If Yahushua did say anything about the matter, Mark did not consider it important enough to record. Mark does say that the Sabbath was past; therefore it is the day before the first day of the week. Ten years after Yahushua's death, resurrection, and ascension, when he was writing this account, Mark knew nothing whatever of any change, and incidentally mentions the first day of the week twice. Both Mark and Yahushua are silent on the sanctity of "Sunday."

11. What is the testimony of Luke?

Answer: Luke mentions the first day of the week but once.

Luke 24:1- 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. According to Luke, Yahushua's followers kept the Sabbath day before the first day came.

Luke 23:55 -56- And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee , followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how His body was laid. And they returned. and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.

Luke 23:54 - And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on (Mark 15:42 ).

Luke, like Mark, tells us of Yahushua's appearance to two followers on the first day.

Luke 24:13-16- And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass that, while they communed together and reasoned, Yahushua Himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know Him. (Read the rest of the story in verses 17-32.)

Yahushua appeared to the terrified disciples on the first day. Read Luke 24:33-43.

Luke gives no record that Yahushua ever referred to the first day of the week. He does point out that some of Yahushua's followers rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Naturally, this was according to the fourth commandment, but these close friends of Yahushua never heard of any Sabbath change to "Sunday." Both Mark and Luke give testimony that the disciples, on that resurrection day, did not believe that Yahushua had risen.

Luke and the Master of his Gospel are silent on the sacredness of "Sunday."

12. What is the testimony of John?

Answer: John mentions the first day of the week twice.

The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. John 20:1.

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

Now let us get the picture here: Mary Magdalene came to the sepulchre early the first day.

The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early. John 20:1. Later Yahushua appeared to her (John 20:11 -17). Yahushua appeared later that day to the disciples (John 20:19 ). But they were not celebrating His resurrection that day, for they did not yet believe He had been raised from the dead; rather, they had locked themselves in "for fear of the Jews."

John gives no record that Yahushua ever mentioned the first day of the week. John and Yahushua are silent on the sanctity of "Sunday." So the four Gospel writers who give us the record of Yahushua's life are absolutely silent on any change of the Sabbath or any sanctity of "Sunday."

13. What is the testimony of the book of Acts?

Answer: The book of Acts records eighty-four Sabbath services and only one first-day service. This latter service is recorded in Acts 20:7-14. Paul spent a week at Troas . The night after the Sabbath (i.e night of the seventh day) he held a farewell meeting. It was night; there were lights, and he preached till midnight . But then again, the following remains inconceivable-

Now they broke bread, but the disciples broke bread daily (Acts 2:46 ). If this bread breaking was the [Master's] Supper, it still would have no bearing upon Sunday sacredness; for it commemorates Yahushua's death that took place on Preparation Day, the sixth day, but not His resurrection, because that took place on the first day. The [Master's] Supper may be celebrated on any day (1 Corinthians 11:26 , for positive evidence). So we see the book of Acts is silent on Sunday sanctity.

14. What of testimony of Apostle Paul?

Answer: Paul's epistles mention the first day of the week just once.

Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the ekklesia of Galatia , even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as Yahuwah hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem . 1 Corinthians 16:1-3.

Many have honestly supposed that this text indicated a weekly gathering. However, it teaches just the contrary-Let every one of you lay by him in store, which means privately or at home. Greek scholars testify to this. The believers would normally keep the Sabbath; and, after it was past, they figured their earnings of the week and set aside a gift portion for the poor.

Weymouth 's translation (3d ed.) reads, Let each of you put on one side and store up at his home. Translation after translation could be given to support what your own Bible clearly teaches. There is no evidence for a "Sunday" gathering of any kind. This was a collection that Paul desired to see accumulating in the homes of the Corinthian believers over a period of time, and that he wished to take to Jerusalem for poor believers. And so it is clear that Paul mentions the first day but once. And in that text he is utterly silent on first-day sanctity.

Note: If this was a weekly worship meeting including the collection of tithe and offering as practiced today, Paul would have been in error by saying ‘that there be no gatherings when I come’ – for he had no authority to have prevented such a collection in a local assembly 'when he came or arrived there'. He was simply on a tight schedule to reach Jerusalem and wanted it well organized and prepared when he got to them. 

He who is our example kept the Sabbath. He did not keep "Sunday". In all the New Testament, there is no record that He personally ever once mentioned the first day of the week. The custom of Sunday keeping is a purely human invention, though millions of sincere Christians have kept the first day of the week with no knowledge of their responsibility to the true Sabbath. Yahuwah has accepted the worship of these dear children of His. But when light comes, responsibility to walk in that light comes with it (1 John 1:7).

15: Is the sacredness of the Creator's Sabbath the only time centric change Rome made?

The content of this article primarily has to do with Sunday-keeping and when this tradition began. The larger picture, only newly revealed, is that the entire Creator's calendar of Scripture has been replaced by the Roman counterfeit system. This artificial Roman time keeping system, as based on only the solar rotations, affects not only the Sabbath, but also each week, each month, and each year. Therefore, whether you have been a faithful Sunday keeper or a faithful Saturday keeper, the truth is that neither of these days follow the algorithms of Scripture and by their very nature, neither can be the true Sabbath.

It was the early part of the fourth century that the emperor Constantine issued a decree calling Sunday a public holy day throughout the Roman Empire . This day of the sun was to be reverenced by his pagan subjects as well as honored by Christians; it was Constantine 's policy to unite the conflicting interests of heathenism and Christianity. He was urged to do this by the bishops of the church, who, inspired by ambition and thirst for power, perceived that if the same day was observed by both Christians and pagans, it would promote the nominal acceptance of Christianity by pagans and thus advance the power and glory of the church. But while many faithful Christians were gradually led to regard Sunday as possessing a degree of sacredness, they still held the true Sabbath of the luni-solar calendar, as the holy of Yahuwah and observed it in obedience to the fourth commandment. This however, became increasingly more difficult as the new format of unbroken cycles of successive weeks, became the norm.

The great deceiver had not fully completed his work. He was determined to gather the Christian world under his false calendar banner and to exercise his power through his human rulers, the proud pontiff who claimed to be the representative of Yahushua. Through half-converted pagans, ambitious prelates, and world-loving churchmen he accomplished his purpose. Vast synods were held from time to time, in which the dignitaries of the church were convened from all the world. In nearly every council, the Sabbath as beaconed from the heavens at creation, was pressed down a little lower, while Sunday of the newly implemented unbroken cycles of successive weeks, was exalted upon the man made and artificial calendar of Rome . Thus the pagan festival came finally to be honored as a divine institution, while the luni-solar Sabbath of Scripture was pronounced a relic of Judaism, and its observers were declared lunatics. Over time, the calendation principles as beaconed by the New Moon were lost to all, including the Jewish and Christian communities.

Additional evidence:

In the mid-1st century B.C. Julius Cæsar invited Sosigenes, an Alexandrian astronomer, to advise him about the reform of the calendar, and Sosigenes decided that the only practical step was to abandon the lunar calendar altogether. Months must be arranged on a seasonal basis, and a tropical (solar) year used, as in the Egyptian calendar.” The Julian Calendar,” Encyclopedia Britannica.

The following Psalm is a prophecy as given by King David:

How great are the things the enemy did wickedly in the Holy place. They hated your glory in the midst of your solemnities. They placed their signs and banners on the highest places. . . . They burned with fire your sanctuary; they befouled the tabernacle of your name on earth. The kindred of them said together in their hearts; make we all the feast days” of [Yahuwah] to cease from the earth.” Psalms 74:3, 7, 8 Wycliffe Bible, 1378

2^nd Century (Emperor Hadrian)

In the years following Clement of Alexandria's time, an ominous change started to take place that was to radically change the Christian concept of the Sabbath.” Records the Encyclopedia Biblica: This intimate connection between the week and the month was soon dissolved. It is certain that the week soon followed a development of its own, and it became the custom -- without paying any regard to the days of the month (i.e. the luni-solar month) . . . so that the New Moon no longer coincided with the first day of the month. Then, on page 4179 of the same encyclopedia, we read: The introduction . . . of the custom of celebrating the Sabbath every 7th day, irrespective of the relationship of the day to the moon's phases, led to a complete separation from the ancient view of the Sabbath. . . Encyclopaedia Biblica, 1903 p. 5290.

This change from the luni-solar to a fixed solar calendar occurred in Rome during the repressive measures which were enacted against ALL Jewish customs and practices, including the lunar calendar. With the fall of the Nazarene headquarters...at Jerusalem , this new Roman calendar quickly spread throughout 'Christendom.' This new calendar not only replaced yearly festival dates such as Passover, but it also revamped the concept of the week and its seventh day.” Iranaeus 2^nd Century A.D.

The modern seven-day week came into use during the early imperial period, after the Julian calendar came into effect, apparently stimulated by immigration from the Roman East. For a while it coexisted alongside the old 8-day nundinal cycle, and fasti are known which show both cycles. It was finally given official status by Constantine in 321. Roman calendar Encyclopedia, Days of the Week

A Profession Of Faith From The Church Of Constantinople in the year 325 C.E.(A.D.) Under The Emperor Constantine

I renounce all customs, rites, legalisms. unleavened breads & sacrifices of lambs of the Hebrews, and all other feasts of the Hebrews, sacrifices, prayers, aspersions, purifications, sanctifications and propitiations and fasts, and new moons, and Sabbaths, and superstitions, and hymns and chants and observances and Synagogues, and the food and drink of The Hebrews; in one word, I renounce everything Jewish, every law, rite and custom and if afterwards I shall wish to deny and return to Jewish superstition, or shall be found eating with The Jews, or feasting with them, or secretly conversing and condemning the Christian religion instead of openly confuting them and condemning their vain faith, then let the trembling of Gehazi cleave to me, as well as the legal punishments to which I acknowledge myself liable. And may I be anathema in the world to come, and may my soul be set down with Satan and the devils.” Source: Parks, James The Conflict Of The Church And The Synagogue Athenaeum, New York , 1974, p. 397 - 398.

Under the reign of Constantius the persecutions of the Jews reached such a height that. . . the computation of the calendar [was] forbidden under pain of severe punishment.” The Jewish Encyclopedia, Calendar.”

Sabbath and New Moon (Rosh Hodesh), both periodically recur in the course of the year. The New Moon is still, and the Sabbath originally was, dependent upon the lunar cycle. Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, page 410

The Israelites, on the other hand, made the Sabbath the feasts of a living and holy [Eloah]. The work of man became symbolic of the work of [Yahuwah], and human rest of divine rest, so that the Sabbaths became preeminently days of rest. Since, moreover, the LUNAR MONTH had 29 or 30 days, the normal lapse of time between Sabbaths was six days, although sometimes seven or eight; and six working days were accordingly assigned to the creation, which was to furnish a prototype for human life. The connection of the Sabbath with lunar phases, however, was (later) discarded by the Israelites…” The New Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia p. 135-136.

Answer: No. Rome created and implemented an entire counterfeit calendar of her own devising. As an added piece of evidence, neither Saturday nor Sunday are the true Sabbath. In this way Yahuwah has leveled the playing field for all Christian churches by removing this earthly struggle. For more details on this subject, please visit the other articles on Yahuwah's Calendar.

16. What is the double deception behind the assertion of Sunday sacredness?

Deception #1: Rome has led all to believe that there are only two choices, Saturday or Sunday. Rome claims that the mark of her authority was that she had the power to change Yahuwah's holy day from Saturday to Sunday. Protestants assert that the seventh-day Sabbath, according to the Old Testament, was indeed located on Saturday prior to Yahushua's death and resurrection, after which it became the first day of the week in honor of His resurrection. Saturday Sabbatarians assert that Yahuwah's holy day has remained, and will continue to remain, through out eternity steadfastly located on Saturday since its inception during the first week of creation. The golden cord of deception that holds these arguments together in a tight package, as bundles to be burned, is the perception that an unbroken chain of successive weeks has continued since creation. As this is one of the calendar elements that Rome , herself, instituted in the fourth century, it becomes the glue that keeps all the world held fast to this deception. The Biblical calendar that began at Creation was according to the dual action of both sun and moon. It was the New Moons, however, that beaconed its years, months and weeks. Therefore the Creator's Sabbath is only found as it is beaconed by the New Moon. Also, in this luni-solar calendar the weeks do not float, but rather are fixed on specific days of the week, as well as specific days of the month. For more info regarding unbroken chains of weeks, refer to article, "The Modern Seven Day Week: Exploring the History of a Lie."

Deception #2: While the Christian community has continued to tug-of-war over Saturday and Sunday, it has gone completely unnoticed that there has been a third option. It is only in light of the enormity of the third option that it is seen that according to both Scripture, history and astronomy, that neither Saturday nor Sunday can be the true Sabbath of Scripture. Scripture prophesies a calendar change and history records the who, what, when and where it began. Astronomy exposes that the Roman calendar is a counterfeit, as its months are not in sync with the moon's lunar cycles and phases. The Creator's years, months and Sabbaths are all beaconed by the New Moon.

Saturday Sabbatarians have continued to quote from Catholic sources as proof that Saturday by Rome's own admission is the true seventh-day Sabbath. The following statements from Rome 's representatives have confirmed in the minds of these deceived Saturday Sabbatarians that indeed Saturday is the true Sabbath. In this way Rome continues to sell the double lie. In reality it was the whole calendar system they changed, which when they speak of changing a day, it is just rhetoric. Their statements hold no intrinsic value or truth, other than to continue to sell the lie. Any day claimed to be holy on an artificial and counterfeit calendar is an obvious imposter.

Now with educated and enlightened eyes, please read the following statements from Rome 's Representatives, remembering that now where in Scripture are the words Saturday or Sunday:

Cardinal Gibbons declared:

You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday.- The Faith of Our Fathers (110th ed.), p. 89.

The Catholic Mirror of September 23, 1893 :

The Catholic Church, for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.

Here we quote Peter Geiermann, From Catholicism's Catechism:

Q. Which is the Sabbath day?

A. Saturday is the Sabbath day.

Q. Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

A. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday. (The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, p. 50).

Roman Catholicism changed Yahuwah's sacred and holy seventh-day Sabbath by changing the entire luni-solar calendar of Scripture to the Julian/Gregorian calendar. Because of this all the world has wondered after the beast,” and has been deceived into believing that Sunday is the first day of the week and Saturday is the seventh-day Sabbath. May our loving Heavenly Father have mercy on us all as we each come to terms with this devastating double deception?

Four facts now stand out in bold relief: