The Enduring Authority of the Seventh-Day Sabbath

The question of the Sabbath’s permanence is one of the clearest examples of how Scripture and history diverge from religious tradition. While millions of Christians gather on Sunday, the Bible itself consistently upholds the seventh day—Saturday—as the day sanctified by God. With the rise of digital access to ancient sources and historical documents, many believers are rediscovering that the Sabbath was never changed by God, Yeshua (Jesus), or the apostles, but rather by human authority centuries later.

 

The Sabbath in Scripture

The Sabbath was established at creation itself, long before the giving of the Torah to Israel. Genesis 2:2–3 declares that God rested on the seventh day, blessing and sanctifying it. This foundational act shows the Sabbath was not a temporary ordinance, but part of God’s eternal design for humanity.

When the Ten Commandments were given, the Sabbath command was reaffirmed: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy… the seventh day is a Sabbath to YHWH your God” (Exodus 20:8–11). Its grounding is not ethnicity, but creation. Deuteronomy 5:12–15 repeats the command, highlighting both creation and redemption as reasons for Sabbath rest.

The prophets also affirm its universality. Isaiah 56:2–7 promises blessing to “the foreigner who joins himself to YHWH” if he keeps the Sabbath. Ezekiel 20:12 and 20:20 call the Sabbath a sign between God and His people forever.

Yeshua Himself honored the Sabbath (Luke 4:16) and declared He is “Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27–28). Far from abolishing it, He taught that He came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it, affirming that not “one jot or tittle” would pass away (Matthew 5:17–19). The apostles continued this practice—Paul reasoned in synagogues every Sabbath (Acts 17:2; 18:4), and Gentiles begged to hear more on the Sabbath (Acts 13:42–44).

The New Testament letter to the Hebrews explicitly states: “So then, a Sabbath-keeping [Greek: sabbatismós] remains for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9–11). This rare Greek word refers specifically to Sabbath observance, underscoring that the Sabbath has not been annulled but remains part of the believer’s life of faith.

 

The Historical Shift to Sunday

The change from Saturday to Sunday did not originate in Scripture but in the political and ecclesiastical decisions of the fourth century.

Constantine’s Sunday Law (321 A.D.): Constantine decreed, “On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people… rest.” This civil law did not appeal to Scripture but reflected sun-worship culture and political expediency. Farmers were even exempted, showing it was not a purely religious decree but a civil one.

Council of Laodicea (c. 364 A.D.): Canon 29 declared, “Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day; rather honoring the Lord’s Day.” This is the first official church statement forbidding Sabbath rest, proving that the shift was deliberate policy, not apostolic teaching.

Thus, by the fourth century, the Sabbath was officially displaced by Sunday—not through God’s Word, but through human authority.

 

Catholic Admissions of the Change

The Roman Catholic Church openly acknowledges this change. The Catholic Encyclopedia (Vol. 4, p. 153) states: “The Church, after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath… to the first, made the Third Commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy.”

The Catholic Press (Sydney, Australia) admitted: “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…”

The Catholic Mirror (1894) declared: “The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant… changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.”

Catechisms are equally clear. The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine asks:

Which is the Sabbath day? Answer: “Saturday is the Sabbath day.”

Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Answer: “We observe Sunday… because the Catholic Church in the Council of Laodicea transferred the solemnity.”

Similarly, Reverend Stephen Keenan’s Doctrinal Catechism states: “She could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day; a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.”

Cardinal Gibbons’ The Question Box affirms: “If the Bible is the only guide for the Christian, then the Seventh-day Adventist is right in observing Saturday with the Jew.”

These admissions are striking: they agree that Saturday is the biblical Sabbath, and Sunday observance is based on church authority, not Scripture.

Language Evidence

Even everyday languages testify to the Sabbath’s original place. In dozens of languages, the name for Saturday is derived directly from the word “Sabbath.” Examples include:

Spanish: sábado

Italian: sabato

Russian: subbota

Arabic: as-sabt

This linguistic continuity across cultures affirms that the seventh day has always been recognized as the Sabbath.

 

Why People Are Rediscovering the Sabbath

The Internet has made historical documents, council canons, papal statements, and linguistic research accessible to ordinary believers worldwide. Instead of relying solely on tradition, Christians can now read Constantine’s edicts, the Council of Laodicea’s canons, Catholic catechisms, and the Catholic Encyclopedia for themselves.

This transparency has led to a surge of interest in the Hebraic roots of faith and the realization that the Sabbath was never biblically changed. Messianic Judaism and Sabbath observance movements are growing because people are simply reading the Bible and comparing it to history.

 

No one disputes that Messiah rose on the first day of the week—Sunday. But His resurrection never changed the holiness of the seventh day. From creation, through the Ten Commandments, through the life of Yeshua and the apostles, the Sabbath has remained the seventh day. The change to Sunday came later, by human decree, admitted even by the Catholic Church itself.

The weight of Scripture, history, language, and honest Catholic testimony together form a powerful case: the Sabbath was never abolished, and “a Sabbath-keeping remains for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9).