THE LORD’S DAY OF REVELATION 1:10

Is The Lord's Day The Sabbath - or The Day of Judgment?

"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet," Revelation 1:10

Many Christians quote that verse as their scriptural authority to change the seventh day Sabbath to the first day of the week. (Sunday).

For example, The Westminster Confession Of Faith (1647) states:

"...he [God] hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto him: which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and from the resurrection of Christ, WAS CHANGED INTO THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, which in Scripture is called the Lord's Day, and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath." Westminster Confession, Chapter 21, Article 7

As you can see, they say the Sabbath was changed to SUNday, without offering a single Scripture. They also claim that the first day of the week is called the Lord's Day "IN SCRIPTURE".

As you will soon see, that simply is not true. There is not a single verse which connects the Lord's Day with Sunday. NOT ONE! The authors of the Westminster Confession simply made it up in order to keep their tradition.

Since only God has the authority to change His Sabbath Commandment - and a diligent search of the scriptures proves that He did not change it - then it follows that the tradition of the Lord's Day being Sunday originates outside the Bible.

The only "Lord's Day" mentioned in the Bible is the seventh day sabbath. Isaiah wrote:

"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 THE LORD, 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 the LORD..." Isa 58:13f

The "holy day" of the Lord is the Sabbath. We may be sure that when Isaiah used the word Sabbath he was not speaking of the first day of the week!

The keeping of the first day as the Sabbath by Christians can be traced to Constantine, a sun-worshipping emperor of Rome, who gave an edict that changed the Sabbath to SUNday. When you read his proclamation, please notice how it honors the sun-god instead of The Creator:

"On the Venerable day of the SUN let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.  Given the seventh day of March [AD 321] Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them for the second time."The First Sunday Law of Constantine 1, in "Codex Justinianus" translated in Philip Schaff's, History of the Christian Church, Vol 3 p.380.

With the Sunday Law, Constantine tried to unite the Mithra (Sun God) worshipping pagans and his new-found friends, the Christians. Those who honor SUNday unknowingly honor the god of the sun - not the God of creation who said:

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the SEVENTH day is the SABBATH of the LORD thy God:" Exodus 20:8-10f

The Lord's Day of Revelation 1:10 is certainly not SUNday! According to the scriptures, it could only be The seventh day Sabbath or The Day of Judgment. The most likely meaning is The Day of Judgment (The Lord's day of judgment).

Paul spoke of the Lord's Day when he told the men of Athens that God was commanding ALL men every where to repent...

"Because he hath appointed a DAY, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained ..." Acts 17:30-31

Vine's Dictionary specifically states that the Lord's Day in Revelation 1:10 refers to the Day of Judgment - not the sabbath:

"The adjective anthropinos, "human, belonging to man" (anthropos), is doubtless set in contrast here to kuriakos, "belonging to the Lord" (kurios, "a lord"), which is used in the phrase "the Day of the Lord," IN REV. 1:10, THE LORD'S DAY," A PERIOD OF DIVINE JUDGMENTS." (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words on "Day")

In Revelation 1:10, John was not in the Spirit on a SUNday, rather, he was seeing the Day of Judgment to come "in the Spirit"

Friends, It is clear that like the Pharisees of old, many church leaders of today with their clever reasoning and sophistries, have "nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to hold fast the traditions of men."
(Matt 15:1-20)

However... the Lord's day is coming soon ...

Harold and Donna Kupp