The phrase: "The Lord's Day"

The typical Christian view can be seen below in an excerpt from H. M. Riggle who used a Greek rather than a Hebrew mindset concerning this subject in 1928. We've highlighted the parts that are grossly in error.

"While John was on the Isle of Patmos he testified "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day" (Rev. 1:10). This is the first place in the Bible that we have the expression "Lord's Day." John wrote this language sixty-six years after the Jewish Sabbath was abolished; hence he must have referred to some memorial day peculiar to the new dispensation. Never once was the seventh day ever termed the "Lord's Day"; "Sabbath" was the term always applied to that day. In not one single instance in the Bible or in history can a passage be found where the term "Lord's Day" is applied to the Jewish Sabbath. Sabbatarians themselves never call the seventh day the "Lord's Day" (except when they attempt to explain away "the Lord's Day" in Rev. 1:10); but in all their teachings, writings, and conversations, they say "Sabbath Day." The word "sabbath" is not used in Rev. 1:10. The Sabbath Day was abolished at the cross (Col. 2:14-16; Gal. 4:10; Rom. 14:5), more than sixty years before John wrote on Patmos; therefore, he could not have referred to that day. Another fact worthy of note here is that immediately after John's time whenever the term "Lord's Day" was used by the early church it was always applied to Sunday, and never once to the Sabbath."

Following are the verses to which Mr. Riggle was referring:

Col. 2:14-16 - Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day....

Gal. 4:10 - You observe days and months and seasons and years.

Rom. 14:3-5 - The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.

From a Christian viewpoint, these verses appear to be telling us that once Yeshua died, the entire "Law" died with Him, including the Sabbath and the Biblical feasts. If this is the case, then why are we still supposed to adhere to the Ten Commandments? After all, they were part of the "Old Testament"! Furthermore, When YHWH (Yahweh) gave His "New Covenant" (Jeremiah 31:32) He did not make it with the Torah-less Gentiles or anyone else except the Houses of Israel and Judah, both of which were Torah observant. Plus, He commanded all who chose to believe in Him to do "exactly as" the Houses of Israel and Judah did:

Numbers 15: 13 "'Everyone who is native-born must do these things in this way when he brings an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the LORD. 14 For the generations to come, whenever an alien or anyone else living among you presents an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the LORD, he must do exactly as you do. 15 The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the LORD: 16 The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the alien living among you.'"

Exactly how was God's commanded Seventh Day Sabbath abolished at the cross, when Yeshua was our Final SIN Sacrifice who said He came NOT to abolish His Father's Divine Instructions (Torah) without which man would have NO blueprint for moral, holy living?

The Fourth Commandment is: Thou Shalt Keep the Sabbath. God never told us that Sunday (the first day) was the Sabbath! Right from the beginning, He said the honor and keep the Seventh Day which, on our Gregorian calendars happens to be called Saturday. The "sun-day" idea came from men such as the Jew-hating Constantine; not God. (For a complete study on this, please see "The error of Replacement Theology".)

By the way, the context of Romans 14 was not to show that God back-pedaled about His commanded holy days, but rather, a dispute over whether one may eat food that MAY or MAY NOT have been offered to idols. In those days food that was offered to idols was usually put out for sale to people on a certain day of the week. It could or could not have been offered to idols. Therefore, some believers would not buy food and eat it on those days just to make sure. However, some believers did, because they reasoned that since they didn't know for sure it was offered, it was not wrong. Paul's instruction did not address either Kosher or Sabbath day observance. It addressed the dispute over whether marketplace food, because of idolatry, should be purchased and eaten on a certain day of the week. It also shows how sensitive the believers were to the possibility of food offered to idols. How much more sensitive should we be to what we eat, as to whether or not it is approved by the Word of God.

(Check out David H. Stern's explanation in the preface of his Complete Jewish Bible, where he demonstrates that there is a difference between what is kosher and what is ceremonially clean. God never said pork, shellfish, etc. were food - people called it food in rebellion against God. Where the passages are in question in the Bri't Chadasha (NT), it is dealing with animals God gave us to eat and whether they are ceremonially clean and can be eaten at that time. Even in Peter's vision, he would never have eaten the kosher animals that had been in contact with treife (non-kosher) animals. The vision was to show that the kosher animals were no longer considered unclean because they were among the treife. This was clearly showing that the Gentiles were to be accepted and it would be okay to associate with them. The rest of the passage shows that this is the correct interpretation and what the vision was all about.)

The correct translation of "Lord's Day" can be found in the Aramaic English New Testament:

Revelation 1: 8. I am Alap, also Taw, says the Master YHWH, Elohim; who is, and was, and is to come, the omnipotent.[1] 9. I Yochanan, your brother, and partaker with you in the affliction and suffering that are in Y'shua the Mashiyach, was in the island called Patmos, because of the Word of Elohim, and because of the testimony of Y'shua the Mashiyach. 10. I was in the Spirit on the day of our Master YHWH;[2] and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a shofar,[3] which said: 11. That which you see, write in a book, and send to the seven assemblies; to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyratira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.

Footnotes:

[1] Alap-Taw holds a universe of meaning; each Hebrew/Aramaic letter holds many specific values. Aleph speaks of the absolute Unity of YHWH; Taw is the Perfection of YHWH; this is a remez (hint) of the Urim and Thummin. This also reveals "YHWH is Salvation" as the First, Last, Beginning and the End. The Ten Commandments begin with the letter Aleph, "Anochi (I) am YHWH your Elohim who has brought you out of the land of Egypt..." Exodus 20:2.

The Father YHWH is Ain Sof (without end) He is infinite; therefore, "the Arm of YHWH" (Mashiyach) spoke and appeared to Moshe. Taw reveals the Perfection of Mashiyach; Taw is the first letter of Tefilin (prayers), Torah, Teshuva (turning to YHWH) which speaks of the transformation of the natural man into a Tzadiq, spiritual man. Alap-Taw speaks of Alap/Head (Keter) and Taw/Feet (Malchut) of the sefirot and both the government of Mashiyach and the harmony of all things; and there are countless other Hebraic connections. These words and letters are important to reveal the nature of Mashiyach, which is why such a sober warning is given in Revelation 22:18-19.

Much more revelation of the Kingdom is available to Bible students who consider the original language, and the application of the four basic levels of interpretation: peshat (simple), remez (hint), drash (allegory) and sod (hidden) as they study. The Greek translators either did not realize the prophetic significance of each word and letter, or perhaps the revelation was far too controversial in the religio-political system of their day. Alap-Taw speaks of Truth (emet) which is the basis for the true Faith (emunah) "which was once delivered to the set-apart believers."

[2] Aramaic reads "b'yoma'MaranaYah" or "day of our Master YHWH".... Based on the Mosul Text, the 1905 British and Foreign Bible Society transcription reads; hawyit b'rukha b'yaoma Maranaya, or "and I was in the spirit on the Day of our Master YHWH" referring to both Judgment Day and sacred occasions in Israel, which were/are marked with the blowing of the shofar as mentioned later in this same verse. However, the United Bible Society Syrian Orthodox Church 1979 Edition uses the reading in Crawford Revelation here; w'hawyit b'rukha b'yaoma b'khadb'shba, or "and I was in the spirit on the day in the first of the week" a.k.a. Sunday. The introduction of b'khadb'shba in latter versions is a Western-Christian interpolation; Nowhere in the most ancient Greek copies of Revelation is there an actual day of the week being stated; however, it is easy to see how a false assumption arose to suggest that it refers to the day of the resurrection.

By contrast, the original reading, while seemingly vague to a Gentile audience, is nonetheless perfect in its Semitic context. This in combination with the use of the Greek kurios (which can refer to either YHWH or Y'shua as "Master"), and the transition from "Day of YHWH" to "Resurrection Day" became even more plausible to a Greek mind. The revision of the text has produced an extremely bad and awkward Aramaic construction, both grammatically and from a scribal perspective. In every other occurrence in the NT, Sunday is referred to as khad b'shaba, or "first of the week." The word "day" never appears but is always implied, as Torah only refers to all days (except Shabbat) by their numerical relationship to Shabbat, or b'shaba. The redactor of Crawford retained b'yaoma, but deleted Maranaya and replaced it with the very cumbersome b'khadb'shaba. The error is particularly glaring, since this "single" term is really four separate words (including two prepositional prefixes, or proclitics) jammed together!

[3] Whereas other NT books use the synonym qarna, Mar Yochanan uses the Hebrew word "shofar". "A great voice as of a shofar" points to "the day of YHWH," a time of awe, judgment and gathering. See Isaiah 13:6,9; Jeremiah 46:10; Joel 1:15; 2:11; Amos 5:18; Obadiah 1:15.