Which day is the Sabbath?
How is the Mark of the beast Sabbath related?
At the conclusion of the Mark of the Beast (Revelation 13), it is obvious there will be 2 groups – those who receive the Mark of the Beast & those who do not. As revelation 14 begins we discover what this means for either group.
Those who receive the mark: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name” (Revelation 14: 9-11).
Those who DO NOT receive the mark: This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them” (Revelation 14: 12-13).
Those who receive the mark do not receive a favorable outcome. Those who don’t receive the mark are “blessed” because they keep the commands of God & remain faithful to Jesus. The end of time will be a time like no other, many will will lose the faith to save their own lives. However, those who remain faithful to Jesus will be prepared to lose their lives knowing full well, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3: 16). So we must remain faithful. However, Revelation 14 clearly says that those who are blessed will also “keep the commands of God” (Rev 14: 12). So what commands could that mean? Quite simply, most people recognise the commandments in the bible whether they realise it or not. Even non believers teach their children not to lie, not to kill, not to cheat, not to steal, to love their parents & to be honest to their partner. Our western values are built on the commandments of God. However, the fourth commandment about keeping the Sabbath day holy has been changed & since Rome intervened in 321AD the Sabbath has moved from Saturday to the pagan Sunday. It would be naive to think that God would come before the whole world knows the true sabbath – 4th commandment. The lie will be exposed before he comes again, everyone will have a decision to make.
SUNDAY
When God gave the 10 commandments to the Israelites (Exodus 20) they agreed with him that it was a ‘covenant’ they would keep and in return they would be his special people (Exodus 19: 5-8 & 24:3). He even had Israel build a sanctuary for him to dwell amongst them (Exodus 25:8). However, 800 years passed by and the covenant he’d made with them was forgotten. Instead of worshipping God and keeping the Sabbath, Ezekiel tells us they had become idolatrous & in chapter 8 we discover the greatest abomination was taking place. God took Ezekiel to the temple in Jerusalem which Solomon had built and God’s presence (a cloud) had now filled the temple. In the temple Ezekiel sees women sitting and “weeping for Tammuz” (Ezekiel 8: 14). The Sun God ‘Tammuz’ was the Son of Nimrod who we find in Genesis 8:10-12 was the Great Grandson of Noah & a “mighty hunter before the Lord”. He was also the one responsible for the commissioning of the blasphemous tower of babel – he went against God. When Nimrod died, his wife (and mother) Semiramis told the people that her husband had gone to the Sun. She also said the Sun had given her a child and that it was Nimrod reborn – a virgin birth. She named the child Tammuz. In Ezekiel chapter 8 when Ezekiel continues to look, he saw 25 men with their backs to the temple of God and “they were worshipping the sun toward the East” (Ezekiel, 8:16). This angered God greatly and was one of the greatest abominations the people could commit – they had completely disregarded the covenant they had made with him, the 10 commandments – they were worshipping a false God. Before destroying the city, God had a mark placed on those who kept his covenant (Ezekiel 9:4). Inevitably the city was destroyed at the hands of Babylon & King Nebuchadnezzar in 586BC – those with the mark survived. This fulfilled what God said would happen, that his servant Nebuchadnezzar would take Jerusalem (Jeremiah 27:6). It would later be rebuilt in 516BC and the Jews were reinstated with their homeland & temple.
As time passed, Israel soon forgot God’s laws again & in 31AD shortly before his death, Jesus predicted the fall of Jerusalem would happen a 2nd time. When speaking to his disciples, the warnings of wars, famines, earthquakes & pestilences are all mentioned (Matthew 24). All of these things happened in the lead up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, however, many did not heed the signs. When Cestius Gallus and his Roman army first surrounded Jerusalem, something spooked them and they strangely retreated. Many of the Israelites in the city saw them leave and chose to hunt them down, killing many Roman soldiers. However, the true believers had taken this opportunity to flee the city. You see, when Gallus and his army surrounded the city, God’s people witnessed the vast numbers of Roman legions as they knelt down to worship their Eagle Standards as Mithra the Sun God – Sol Invictus. They knew this was a sign to get out! Those living in apostasy hadn’t recognised the signs & when the emperor Vespasian returned with thousands of soldiers, 1.1 million Jews perished in the destruction of Jerusalem. However, not one Christian was lost. The people who lost their lives only did so because they didn’t recognise the “time of God’s coming”. (Luke 19:44) Not only didn’t they pay attention to the signs Jesus had given them but they were living in apostasy & against the laws of God. Against the covenant they had made with him. In both cases, the destruction of Jerusalem illustrated that there were two groups – those who followed Satan’s laws perished & those who kept their faith in God were rewarded.Rome always worshipped the Sun, right from the beginning. In modern times, worshipping the Sun won’t be the issue – people are now too sophisticated. Today, most protestant religions recognise Sunday as the Sabbath – a result of deception for many who came out of the Papal era (538-1798). Known as the dark ages, the Roman Catholic church burned millions of copies of the bible, forcing biblical understanding to be handed down from priests to the people. And of course, Satan’s greatest lie was maintained – the change of Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. On March 7, 321 AD, Roman emporer Constantine issued the civil decree compelling everyone in the Roman empire to rest on the first day of the week, Sunday. As a shrewd political genius his scheme was to unite Christianity & Paganism to strengthen his disintegrating empire. He knew that Pagan’s throughout the empire, worshipped the sun on the first day of the week & developed the plan to unite both groups on the common platform of Sunday keeping. Constantine’s first Sunday law played a key part in the change of Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Christians were later tortured and killed for keeping Saturday as the Sabbath. Sunday clearly originates from Satanic worship of the Sun. It makes sense that Rome changed the commandments – just as Daniel 7:25 said they would.
SATURDAY
Consider the 10 commandments found in exodus 20:2-17. When you look at God’s law there is only one which talks about the maker of heaven and earth. The 4th commandment. This is the ONLY commandment which starts out by saying, ‘remember’. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the Sabbath day of the Lord your God” (Exodus 20: 8-10). Why is God so specific in telling us to REMEMBER the seventh day as the Sabbath? Perhaps he knew many might forget? Perhaps he knew the day might be changed! The Roman Catholic church has never wanted us to know the truth! There’s no coin- cidence that during the dark ages the Papacy burned millions of copies of the bible. Anyone seeking the truth was left with the only option of speaking to their priest. The truth was distorted and many were left in darkness. The gospels found in the New testament clearly identify Saturday as the Sabbath & not Sunday.
MATTHEW describes the death of Jesus “from noon until three in the afternoon” (Matthew 27: 45). Following his death, we are told the priests and Pharisees went to Pilate to secure the tomb. The scriptures are clear that this happened “the next day, the one after preparation day” (Matthew 27: 62). Preparation day was & still is the day the Jewish people use to prepare for the Sabbath. It was & still is Friday. So Jesus obviously died on a Friday. Even Catholics agree on this, hence the reason we have Good Friday – to commemorate the crucifixion of Christ. Following the attempts of the priests & Pharisees to secure Jesus’ tomb, we are told “after the Sabbath” (Matthew 28:1) two women Mary and Mary Magdalene went to the tomb but found Jesus had risen. The scriptures can be trusted. Jesus died on a Friday, the next day he rested on the Sabbath (Saturday) and then he rose the day after the Sabbath which can only be a Sunday – the 1st day of the week & not the 7th.
MARK verifies the events surrounding Jesus death & the days in which they happened. Shortly after Jesus died we hear the following; “Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath” (Mark 15: 42), Joseph of Arimathea sought Jesus body and buried him in a tomb carved out of a rock. This time the text even confirms that preparation day is ‘the day before the Sabbath’. Preparation day for the Jews still is Friday which means the next day is Saturday, the Sabbath. As the story grows, we discover that “when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint” Jesus body (Mark 16: 1). This happened “Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week” (Mark 16: 2), however they didn’t find Jesus body because he had risen. The text is again very clear. Jesus was buried on the day of preparation (Friday), which was the day before the Sabbath (Saturday). However when the Sabbath (Saturday) was past they discovered early on the first day (Sunday) that Jesus body was gone. This version of events is very clear in identifying Sunday as the 1st day of the week & not the 7th day which the 4th commandment says is the Sabbath which we must rest & keep holy.
LUKE also clearly identifies the Sabbath day as Saturday. Jesus death is identified as taking place between noon & three in the afternoon (Luke 23: 44-46). Later in the chapter we are told about Joseph of Arimathea who had come to bury Jesus body. “It was Preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin” (Luke 23: 54) So we again discover Jesus died on the Friday (Preparation day) which was before the Sabbath & we all know Saturday follows Friday – not Sunday. The text also tells us women followed Joseph as he laid Jesus body in the tomb then went home to prepare spices and perfumes. But they then “rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment” (Luke 23: 56). fter the Sabbath “On the first day of the week” the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb, only to find that Jesus had risen. Luke gives us three days, Friday the day of preparation, Saturday the Sabbath & the first day of the week, Sunday. Nowhere is Sunday identified as the Sabbath.
JOHN puts to rest any doubt that Jesus died on the day of preparation when he says; Jesus “bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Now it was the day of preparation and the next day was to be a special Sabbath” (John 19: 30-31) It even says “the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath” (John 19: 31). Finally, with Jesus body being laid in the tomb we again discover that it was “the Jewish day of preparation” (John 19:42) when this occurred. As the story continues we read that “early on the first day of the week” Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and discovered that Jesus body was not there. So we again have the death of Jesus on a Friday (preparation day) & the removal of the bodies from the cross in anticipation of the next day, Sabbath. Then on the first day of the week (Sunday) we discover Jesus body missing because he had risen. The 4th commandment is very clear, it is the 7th day (Saturday) Sabbath the we are to keep holy & not the first day of the week (Sunday). Rome & the papacy changed the times & laws, just as Daniel 7: 25 said it would.
It is clear, when it comes to the Mark of the Beast, those who are saved keep faith in God & uphold his commandments. However, the ONE commandment which the whole world has been deceived on, is the Saturday Sabbath, the 7th day of the week. This is clearly the Mark of the Roman Papal beast (papacy) and now Satan’s vessel are back for one final conflict just as the prophecies of Daniel-Revelation indicate.
The Catholic church changed the Sabbath. The Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine says:
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 (AD 336) transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday…
Q. Why did the Catholic church substitute Saturday for Sunday?
A. The church substituted Saturday for Sunday because christ rose from the dead on a Sunday, and the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles on a Sunday.
Q. By what authority did the Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?
A. The church substituted Sunday for Saturday by the plenitude of that divine power which Jesus Christ bestowed upon her!
Jesus Christ didn’t bestow any power on the Catholic church, just as he didn’t give their priests the power to forgive sins. The fact that Catholic priests proclaim to be able to forgive sins simply denies Jesus & the pain & suffering he endured on the cross to forgive mankind for our sin. Jesus became the sacrificial lamb, displacing the old book of law & rituals whereby an actual lamb was sacrificed in the tabernacle.
“For in six days the Lord made the heavens & the earth, and on the seventh day he rested & was refreshed.” — Exodus 31: 17