The Lord’s Day
The phrase the “Lord’s day” appears only once in Revelation 1:10, where John says, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” Some Christians have pointed to Sunday as the Lord’s day but the meaning of Lord’s day should be determined by reference to the Scriptures rather than by popular tradition.
The word “Sunday” is not mentioned in the Bible. But the phrase “first day” is mentioned only eight times: Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Mark 16:9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1; John 20:19; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2. But none of these verses teach that “the first day of the week” or Sunday is a holy day of rest or being sacred. Sunday observance is a made-made institution.
The Seventh Day Is the Sabbath
The Bible recognizes that the seventh day Sabbath is the Lord’s day. From the very beginning of time, God set it aside as holy “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:3). It was blessed over 2000 years before the existence of the Jews.
And the Lord declared the seventh day to be the memorial of His act of creation: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11).
Why this prohibition of work on “the seventh day”? Because it is the Lord’s day or the “sabbath of the Lord.” In fact, the Lord called the seventh day “my holy day” (Isaiah 58:13). And Jesus declared Himself to be, “Lord also of the sabbath” (Mark 2:28). After pointing to the purpose of the Sabbath (v. 27), Christ directs attention to its Author, and thus to His own right to determine how that purpose shall best be realized. Man has no right to tamper with the day of God’s choosing.
Thus, when the phrase “the Lord’s day” is interpreted in accordance with evidence prior to and contemporary with John’s time, it appears that there is only one day to which it can refer, and that is the seventh day Sabbath.
For more on the Sabbath, please check (Lessons 91-102) of the Bible Lessons.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
