Which day of the week does Christ Himself call the Lord’s day? “Therefore the Son of man IS LORD ALSO OF THE SABBATH” (Mark 2:28). Nowhere in all the Bible is Sunday, the first day of the week, ever called the Lord’s day – NOWHERE! Is there any New Testament scripture that says the Sabbath is still valid today? There certainly is: “There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). New American Standard Version. The King James Version MIStranslated the Greek word “sabbatismos” in Hebrews 4:9 to simply read “rest” when in actuality the word LITERALLY means “a sabbath rest.” Those who think there are no errors in the King James translation of the scriptures are grossly mistaken in such matters. (Compare Ezra 2 with Nehemiah 7. You will find OVER TWENTY discrepancies).
The King James translators did not want to offend their absolute monarch king, who also happened to be Head of the Church of England. They knew the meaning of the Hebrew term “sabbatismos.” They also knew their King was Head of a Sunday observing church and had the power to chop off their heads if they offended him. So they translated, actually mistranslated that Hebrew word as “rest.” That’s not the only time they showed their fear of the king. They did the same thing with the Greek word “baptizo.” They knew the king had never been immersed as a rite of water baptism. They knew he had only been sprinkled, likewise with all the members of the royal family. They also knew the Greek word baptizo literally meant “to immerse, to plunge totally in water.” So, they anglicized the word baptizo to read baptize and left it up to the king, as well as any other reader of their translation, to determine whether to baptize meant to immerse or sprinkle. They were clever men – but not always accurate.
Those who think every English word in the King James Bible is the exact and true meaning of the Greek and Hebrew originals need to burn the midnight oil and study God’s Word a bit more carefully. I could point out a couple more dramatic instances where these old boys showed their cleverness. But I’ll save that for a future article.
Should we participate in a custom, a tradition that has clearly and unarguably ABOLISHED AND REPLACED a commandment of the Most High God??? Do we not perpetuate ERROR in doing so? Admittedly an infrequent first day of the week gathering would not threaten God’s holy Sabbath. (Even the apostle Paul ONCE preached a sermon on this day due to the fact that he was departing the area never to return). But a continual first day of the week service or observance quite literally sets aside God’s Sabbath COMMAND and allows human tradition to prevail. Jesus Christ WARNED: Howbeit, IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, for laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men…” (Mark 7:7-8). Are YOU worshipping Jesus Christ in vain? He Himself said it could and did happen.
Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley