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There is no record of God talking to them about the Sabbath.
How could they have been God's people if they were pagan idolators?
What commandments?
Is anyone in the New Testament criticized for not keeping the Sabbath?
Prior to Moses, there was no command for sabbath keeping. Look at Deuteronomy 5:1-15 which gives the commandments to Israel. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive.
Exactly.
People debate this over and over again. I think the Lord was just telling us we need a day of rest each week. If you can't do a day, do two half days.
Interesting points, and I thank you. And agree that they had to work... for at least 6 days... not just a few hours before resting.
Sabbath to Sunday
You may have heard the story of how Constantine changed the Sabbath to Sunday. According to the story, the early churches kept the Sabbath until Constantine, who was the high priest of paganism and who honored the sun god, changed the Sabbath, the 7th day, to the day of the sun, the 1st day.
What Really Happened Under Constantine?
Constantine the Great
The story isn't true. (How do we know?)
If you came to this page from my Sabbath page, then you know that the churches prior to Constantine didn't keep the Jewish Sabbath. They did not refrain from work on the seventh day of the week (or on the 1st day, either), so there was no Sabbath-keeping for Constantine to put an end to.
There was an issue that Constantine and the Council of Nicea did have to address that concerned Sunday. That issue had been debated for at least two centuries prior to Constantine's day …
The Quartodeciman Controversy
The early churches observed passover each year, which they called pascha in Greek, a word meaning suffering and referring to Christ's suffering before and upon the cross.
There was a question as to whether it was best to observe Passover on Nisan 14, the day the Jews celebrated it, no matter which day of the week it fell on, or whether to observe it on the Sunday nearest Nisan 14. The early church made a special day of Sunday, but not because it was a day consecrated to the sun god, as is often suggested by Sabbath-keepers. Instead, they consecrated Sunday as the Lord's Day, the day on which Jesus rose from the dead.
The Lord's day was not a day of rest but a day of rejoicing. It was a tradition with the early churches not to kneel on Sunday because it was the day on which Jesus rose from the dead. Thus, it was to be a day of celebration, and they did not kneel or fast (De Corona 3).
It was very difficult to settle the Passover question.
The early churches had two ways of settling controversies. One was to resort to the Scriptures. The other was to consult the tradition the apostles had given to the churches.
Paul assigns great importance to such tradition, telling both the Corinthians (1 Cor. 11:2) and the Thessalonians (2 Thess. 2:15) to hold fast to his traditions. He specifically told the Thessalonians that they were to do so whether the traditions were written or verbal.
In this case, however, the Scriptures had nothing to say, and the traditions handed down to the various churches differed:
Anicetus [bishop of Rome] could not persuade Polycarp [bishop of Smyrna, an eastern church] to forego the observance [of Nisan 14], since these things had always been observed by John the disciple of the Lord and by the other apostles with whom [Polycarp] had been conversant. On the other hand, Polycarp couldn't persuade Anicetus to keep [Nisan 14] either. For [Anicetus] maintained that he was bound to adhere to the usage of the elders who preceded him. In this state of affairs they held fellowship with each other. ("Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus" from The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. I)
When the Council of Nicea met in A.D. 325, the controversy had never been settled. The west still held to one practice, and the east another.
The Council of Nicea Chooses Sunday
The Council of Nicea—a council attended and somewhat led by Constantine—did make a decision for Sunday, but not to change the Sabbath to Sunday. Instead, they ruled only on the question of the celebration of Passover. The church had been meeting on Sunday for centuries.
A.D. 110:
If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things [i.e., the Jews] have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death … (Ignatius, Letter to the Magnesians 9)
It should be obvious that the Lord's Day is the first day of the week, but people have argued and written books to the effect that the Lord's day is the Sabbath. These are the same people who have produced the myths about Constantine changing the Sabbath to Sunday and the fabricated history about the early Church keeping the Sabbath.
As you can see, Ignatius contrasts the Lord's day with the Sabbath, and he tells us that it is the day "on which also our life has sprung up again by him." He is referring to the first day of the week, which we now call Sunday.
A.D. 150:
Justin doesn't bother referring to the Lord's day or the first day of the week. A Roman living in Rome and writing to a Roman emperor, he is content to refer to the day in Roman terminology: the day of the sun, or Sunday.
And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together in one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. … [then a description of communion given as well] (Justin Martyr, First Apology 67)
As you can see, Christians had been meeting on Sunday since the first century.
So here is what the Council of Nicea did decree. This is from the synodal letter sent out after the council:
Did the Council of Nicea call Passover Easter?
Since the synodal letter of the Council of Nicea was originally written in Greek, it would have used the Greek term Pascha, meaning Passover not Easter. The same is true of Acts 12:4, which should be rendered Passover, but the King James Version gives as Easter.
The word Easter is only used in German and English, which derived from German. Spanish, for example, still uses Pascua, corresponding to the Greek Pascha, the word for Passover.
Easter comes from the German calendar month Eostur, named after the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre. Eostur-monath corresponded to our April, and the Germanic tribes of the first millennium after Christ named their festivals after the month. When Christianity replaced the German festivals with Passover, they left the term Eostur intact. (Ref: Wikipedia, which cites the eighth-century history of the Venerable Bede.)
We further proclaim to you the good news of the agreement concerning the holy Easter, that this particular also has through your prayers been rightly settled; so that all our brethren in the East who formerly followed the custom of the Jews are henceforth to celebrate the said most sacred feast of Easter at the same time with the Romans and yourselves and all those who have observed Easter from the beginning. ("The Synodal Letter" from Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. XIV)
Conclusion
As you can see, The only decision the Council of Nicea made about Sunday was that Passover would be celebrated on the Sunday nearest Nisan 14, rather than on Nisan 14 itself. The idea that Constantine and the Council of Nicea changed the Sabbath to Sunday from Saturday is simply a myth.
It is important to point out that Constantine did make an edict, in 324, the year before the Council of Nicea, mandating worship of the Supreme God on Sunday (Gonzalez, Justo, The Story of Christianity, p. 123). This could be seen as honoring Christians, for whom Sunday was the Lord's day, but it could also be seen as honoring the sun god as well.
Either way, the idea that Constantine or the Council of Nicea changed the Sabbath to Sunday from Saturday is simply false. The Christian Sabbath was never Saturday or any other day of the week, so there was nothing for Constantine to change.
The Sabbath
Let no one judge you concerning food or drink, or in regard to a feast, new moon, or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of coming things, but the body belongs to Christ.
–Paul the Apostle, Colossians 2:16-17, c. A.D. 60
Those who have been brought up in the ancient order of things [i.e., converted Jews] have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath but living in observance of the Lord's day.
–Ignatius, Magnesians 10, A.D. 110
Why Don't Christians Keep the Sabbath?
The Roman Forum
Surely most of us who have read the Bible extensively have wondered why Christians don't keep the Sabbath. There at least seems to be several reasons that we should.
It's important to note that what I mean by keeping the Sabbath is refraining from work on the 7th day of the week, which is now called Saturday. That's what it meant to the Jews, and it was so important to God that he ordered a man stoned for gathering sticks on the 7th day (Num. 15:32-36).
- We talk about the ten commandments, and we seem to believe that Christians should keep them. The Sabbath is one of those commandments.
- When the command to keep the Sabbath is given, God says the reason for it is that he rested on the 7th day of creation (Ex. 20:11). Surely that reason hasn't changed!
- The Israelites were told to keep the Sabbath "throughout their generations" and as a "perpetual covenant."
- There are several prophecies that most Christians understand to be future that refer to the weekly Sabbath (e.g.; Is. 66:23; Ezek. 46:3)
Today, most Protestants will tell you that we don't keep the Sabbath because that's the Law, and we're not under the Law. The Roman Catholic church will tell you that they changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday by the authority God has given them. In the 19th century and earlier, most Protestants would have agreed with the Roman Catholics on that issue. They would have refrained from working on Sunday, which they called—and still do call—the Lord's day.
What's the truth? What should we be doing.
The Apostles' Churches Did Not Keep the Sabbath
Christians will be arguing about what the Bible says—about the Sabbath and many other issues—until the day of Jesus Christ. There's little doubt about that, and my opinion of what the Bible truly teaches is not going to mean much to those who disagree.
However, there are some clear, objective issues I can settle for you, and one of them is whether the churches the apostles started kept the Sabbath.
The answer is no, they did not keep the Sabbath. Despite the fact that several whole books have been written arguing that they did, it is very clear they did not.
I have very little regard for the honesty of the people who wrote those books. No one who actually researches the era from the apostles to the Nicene Creed could possibly come away wondering whether those churches kept the Sabbath. They would know that they didn't.
I gave you one quote above, from Ignatius of Antioch's letter to the Magnesians. Ignatius is not a nobody. Ignatius was the overseer of the church in Antioch. Antioch was Paul's home church, and Ignatius was appointed to that position by the apostle John.
It's hard to carry much more authority than that without actually being one of the original apostles yourself.
No early Christian after him disagrees with him on the Sabbath.
Rather than load you down with quotes on this page, I'll simply refer you to the Sabbath quotes page on this site. It will open in a new window.
I hope those quotes will be clear enough. It's very frustrating that books written by Sabbath-keepers have been so willingly dishonest, or the quotes on that page would be decisive for everyone. As it is, with those books clouding the issue, you could be left with doubts even after seeing the absolute consistency of so many quotes over several centuries.
I have some confidence, however, that because my quotes can be looked up and verified and because their context is obvious, any confusion caused by those books will evaporate after reading what the early church itself had to say on the subject.
Why Didn't Those Early Christians Keep the Sabbath
Actually, in their opinion, they did keep the Sabbath. They did not keep the Sabbath in the sense of refraining from work on the seventh day. They did keep the Sabbath in the sense that they kept the rest of the Law of Moses. They kept it in its extended and filled sense.
Briefly, if you don't want to immediately read the page I just linked, the "extended and filled" sense of the Law is the sense Jesus gave the Law of Moses in Matthew 5. There you read Jesus repeatedly saying, "You have heard it said … but I say to you … "
So the "extended and filled" sense is that rather than just avoiding murder, we're to avoid anger and hatred. Rather than merely avoiding adultery, we're to refrain even from lust. Rather than fulfilling just our oaths, we're to follow through on our every word.
And rather than just rest on the 7th day, we're to sanctify each and every day to the Lord.
If … anyone can now sanctify the day which God has sanctified except by being pure in heart in all things, then we are deceived. Behold, therefore, it is certain that we properly rest and sanctify it when we are able to work righteousness because we have received the promise and wickedness no longer exists because all things have been made new by the Lord. Then we shall be able to sanctify it because we are first sanctified ourselves. (Letter of Barnabas 15, c. A.D. 130)
The new law requires you to keep perpetual Sabbath, and you [Jews], because you are idle for one day, suppose you are godly, not understanding why this command was given to you. (Justin, Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew 12, c. A.D. 150)
We learn from Scripture itself that God gave circumcision … as a sign. … Ezekiel the prophet says the same concerning the Sabbaths: "I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them … " … These things, then, were given as a sign, but the signs were not lacking symbolism … since they were given by a wise Artist; the circumcision of the flesh typified that which was of the Spirit. … But the Sabbaths taught that we should continue day by day in God's service. (Irenaeus, Against Heresies IV:16:1, c. A.D. 185)
To the early churches, the way to keep the Sabbath was to rest in Christ, experience his power and holiness, and thus sanctify every day to the Lord. The Scriptures seem to agree with this.
In Hebrews 4, the writer contrasts the 7th day Sabbath (v. 4) with a later rest that we must enter into (vv. 8-9). The writer of Hebrews tell us that we are to "labor to enter into that rest."
Conclusion and Further Links
The Law of Moses is well worth looking at. It describes the way 2nd century Christians understood the Law, and it provides a remarkable and satisfying synthesis of Matthew 5 and Paul's letters. Don't miss that page.
That page will explain to you that the early churches did not keep the Sabbath in the sense of resting on Saturday; however, they believed they properly kept the Sabbath. They did not do this by replacing the 7th day with the 1st day. Instead, the Sabbath they kept was a daily rest in Christ and a sanctification of each and every day in the Lord, what Justin called a "perpetual Sabbath."
There are some myths and stories that are popular, though, and we still need to address these.
- Did Constantine and the Council of Nicea change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday?
- What about the Lord's Day? Didn't some early Christians talk about keeping the Lord's Day? Is it the same as the Sabbath?
The other issue is the sun was not created on day one. So how long was that "day"?
Right.
Thank you.
Because they had been in bondage for over 400 years and had to be retold. --not just the 4th, but retaught all of them
Oops, minor oversight?
You are so right.... apologies but a very important point.
So when the time comes to meet your Creator, what will you say about your disregard for His Ten Commandments, got to think that one over..
Christ was pretty clear on that point...
God only gives one day as the Sabbath in His Commandments, and nowhere does He changed that, its that simple.
