Many Christians consider Acts 20 :7 as the scriptural basis for moving the Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday. Is this consideration correct ?
What i wish to discuss here, is « the first day of the week ».
First, let me remind the verse : « 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 » King James Version.
When we look at the greek text, from wich the KJV has been translated, we can read : « εν δε τη μια των σαββατων συνηγμενων των μαθητων του κλασαι αρτον ο παυλος διελεγετο αυτοις μελλων εξιεναι τη επαυριον παρετεινεν τε τον λογον μεχρι μεσονυκτιου ». Textus Receptus.
Even if we don’t know much of the greek language, we can see that the word used here is σαββατων, which means Sabbath, i.e, Saturday.
The translation of the expression « μια των σαββατων » is as follows : « The first of the Sabbaths ». Some translate « One of the Sabbaths ».
Not only it was on a Sabbath day (Saturday), but also, it indicates us which Sabbath it was : The first of the Sabbaths. It was the first of the seven Sabbaths between Passover and Pentecost. Deuteronomy 16 :9 « Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee; from the time the sickle is first put to the standing corn shalt thou begin to number seven weeks. »
The expression « First day of the week » is nothing less than a mistranslation used to transfer the holy day of Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.
Let me remind us that the keeping of the Sabbath day is one of the components of the Sinaï covenant. The fourth commandement. No one of these ‘ten words’ has ever been changed. So why change the fourth one ? The covenant is holy and the sabbath day is specificaly said « holy ». « Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy ».
Nothing in Acts 20 :7 commands us to move from the Sabbath day to Sunday. And nothing indicates that it became a rule.
Historical Facts :
Jesus has raised from the dead on the first day of the week. It was a new beggining, a season of action, not a day of rest. The tradition called that day « the eight day of the week », as quoted from Barnabe in 130 AD. Twenty years later, Justin wrote : « We all assemble on the day of the sun because it is the first day when God, pulling matter out of darkness, created the world and that day, Jesus Christ, our Savior rose from the dead ".
Now, remember that the day of the sun was the day of the celebration of Mytra in the roman religion.
We have no record in the New Testament that any church had ever celebrated on Sunday instead of Saturday. The celebration of the « Day of the Lord » on a Sunday did not start in the Apostolic age, but almost in the middle of the second century, when Rome started to become an important « christian city ». According to the New Testament, « The Day of the Lord » has not come yet. 1 Th 5 :2 ; 2 Th 2 :2. Sabbath day is not the same as « the day of the Lord ».
The move from Saturday to Sunday as the christian day of worship has been decided by Constantine in 321 AD. In the fourth century. Nothing indicates that this change occured everywhere in the christendom during the first 300 years. The western christian traditions says so, but not the historical facts.
Friday, not Sunday
Now, let’s go a bit further, by going back to Acts 20 :7.
It is said that Paul « continued his speech until midnight ».
For the jews, the day beggins at around 6 PM. It means that the Sabbath day starts on Friday 6 PM and ends on Saturday 6 PM. So, if Paul’s speach continued until midnight on a Sabbath day, it could only be during the night between Friday to Saturday.
The speach of Paul in Troas, in Acts 20 :7 occured on Friday night of the first Sabbath of the counting of the Omer, between Passover and Pentecost, not on « The first day of the week ».
This notion of Sunday as the christian day of rest and worship has no scriptural roots. Just a mistranslation used to break the covenant of God by desacrating the Holy Day.
Conclusion :
If picking ears by Jesus’ disciples on a Sabbath day has scandalized the Jews, Peter eating with gentiles has scandalized the Jewish converts and the question of practicing or not the circumcision according to Moses’ tradition needed the gathering of the Apostles and the elders of Jerusalem, how could Paul alone change the covenant God Himself gave to His people ?
Nabil Z.