The Seven Day Week in Bible Prophecy

The day and year can be discerned from the rotation of our world about its axis and our sun. However, the seven day week comes to us, not from the creation, but from the Creator Himself.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude.
And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.
Genesis 2:1, 2.

But not only does the Bible give us the formation of the original week, but it also tells us of a tremendous battle involving days of the week, just before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Image:"A new temple was built for Sol, and the god's birthday, December 25,
became a national festival, while his day, Sunday, headed the week." Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 693.

We first need to consider the original structure. The previous verses from Genesis imply that the original structure of the week consisted of six days allocated for any necessary work followed by a day of rest. We find this principle consolidated in the fourth commandment recorded in Exodus:

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work.
But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work--you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
Exodus 20:8-11.

This tells us the original week had six working days and one rest day, the seventh day sabbath. Sabbath merely means 'day of rest.'

Image:Seven Day Week structure: 1W 2W 3W 4W 5W 6W 7S

Three final warning messages from God are given to the world, just before Jesus returns, because this follows the messages:--

Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand!
Revelation 14:14.

WHAT ARE THE MESSAGES?

1st Message

Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth--to every nation and tribe and language and people.

He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water." Verses 6, 7.

Here we are told to worship the Creator, but how are we to worship?

Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name; worship the LORD in holy splendor.
From new moon to new moon, and from sabbath to sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the LORD.

Psalm 29:2; Isaiah 66:23.

We are to worship the Lord in holiness, and Isaiah infers that a day of worship (a sabbath) may be involved. Does the Lord have a day of worship?

I was in the spirit^c on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.
c Or in the Spirit.
Revelation 1:10.

Which day is the Lord's day?

If you turn back your foot from the sabbath, from doing your pleasureⁱ on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure,^j or talking idly;
Isaiah 58:13 RSV.
i Or business.
j Or pursuing your own business.

Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath;
so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath."
Mark 2:27, 28.

The sabbath is the Lord's day, but which day is the sabbath? From Exodus 20:8-10 we read before that the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord.

This is consistent with the 1st Message for we find the wording of Revelation 14:7 similar to that of Exodus 20:11, "for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, ..." Interestingly enough, "So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, ..." Genesis 2:3. To hallow means to render holy.

Moreover I gave them my sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, so that they might know that I the LORD sanctify them.

Ezekiel 20:12.

Keeping the sabbath is a sign that the Lord sanctifies us, or makes us holy. This then is how to worship God in the beauty of holiness. That is, to worship God, would require the keeping of His sabbath.

2nd Message

Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."

Revelation 14:8.

John the Revelator, looking down to the end of time, was hardly likely referring to ancient Babylon which fell many centuries ago. In 539 BC Cyrus attacked Babylon and took the city with little resistance.

The Bible elsewhere tells us of a falling away to take place after the time of Christ:--

Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one^c is revealed, the one destined for destruction.^d
He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God.

2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4.
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4 NKJV.
c Gk the man of lawlessness; other ancient authorities read the man of sin.
d Gk the son of destruction.

and that

... the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; ... 2 Thessalonians 2:7.

Babylon is also referred to as a mystery:

and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of whores and of earth's abominations."

Revelation 17:5.

and "full of abominations". Verse 4.

Elsewhere "abominations" are also mentioned. Paul warned his followers not to pay "attention to Jewish myths or to commandments of those who reject the truth" Titus 1:14, and that those who did were detestable. Verse 16.

Strong's Greek Dictionary of the New Testament gives the Greek word translated as detestable here as:
G947
βδελυκτός
bdeluktos
bdel-ook-tos'
From G948; detestable, that is, (specifically) idolatrous: - abominable.
Also, Thayer's Greek Definition gives:
1) abominable, detestable

We could similary say that that those who payed "attention to Jewish myths or to commandments of those who reject the truth" were abominable. That is, what they did were abominations. We are to "teach what is consistent with sound doctrine" Titus 2:1. And these abominations we read were myths, and commandments of those who reject the truth. And according to Titus 2:1 this must also include false doctrine.

Speaking of the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul says,

For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires,
and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.

2 Timothy 4:3, 4.

But how and why would people choose myths? Paul, speaking of "the mystery of lawlessness" 2 Thessalonians 2:7, tells us that the lawless one will be revealed and destroyed by the appearing and the coming of the Lord.

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus^e will destroy^f with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming.
The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders,
and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

2 Thessalonians 2:8-10.
e Other ancient authorities lack Jesus.
f Other ancient authorities read consume.

Satan is then the one behind the mystery of lawlessness and he works by lies and deception. The people choose the deception "because they refused to love the truth and so be saved" Verse 10. The HOW is through deception. The WHY is because the people, not wanting to love the truth, are then left open to the reception of myths and false doctrine.

One way to stand against these deceptions is to study the strategy of the enemy, Satan. Isaiah gives us some clues.

How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon;^p
I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High."

Isaiah 14:12-14.
p Or assembly in the far north.

Satan, Lucifer, wants to be like God. Working through the man of lawlessness, he wants to oppose and exalt himself against everything relating to God:

Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one^c is revealed, the one destined for destruction.^d
He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God.

2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4.
c Gk the man of lawlessness; other ancient authorities read the man of sin.
d Gk the son of destruction.

In fact, working through the beast power (Revelation 12:9; 13:2), he will try to get the whole world to worship him, and not God:

and all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slaughtered.

Revelation 13:8.

He even asked Jesus to worship him.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor;
and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."
Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.' "

Matthew 4:8-10.

How are we to worship God? From before, we found that to worship God would require the keeping of His sabbath. Satan wants to be like God ("I will make myself like the Most High." Isaiah 14:14). Obviously then he also will have a sabbath.

Now we are ready for the

3rd Message

Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, "Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands,
they will also drink the wine of God's wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the mark of its name."

Revelation 14:9-11.

This reference to worship must be on a sabbath - but it can't be the Lord's seventh day sabbath. Then it must be Satan's alternative sabbath.

Can we locate these two sabbath days?

The seventh-day sabbath falls between the preparation day, when Jesus was crucified, and the first day of the week, when He rose from the tomb. Let's review the Bible to see if this is correct:--

Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity.^v So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed.
Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council,
had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God.
This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid.
It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning.^w
The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, ...
Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, ...
They found the stone rolled away ...
The women^y were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men^z said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.^a
Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.

John 19:31; Luke 23:50-56; 24:1, 2, 5, 6, 7.
v The RSV and some other translations state the sabbath day was a high day.
w Gk was dawning.
y Gk they.
z Gk but they.
a Other ancient authorities lack He is not here, but has risen.

The Christian world today acknowledges the crucifixion day as Good Friday and the resurrection day as Easter Sunday. Then, the day inbetween Friday and Sunday, Saturday, is the seventh-day sabbath (from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset - Bible days are kept from sunset to sunset. See Leviticus 23:32; Mark 1:32).

But someone may say, haven't the days changed? Haven't there been calendar changes through the centuries? Only one, at two different times. By the sixteenth century the years were off by 10 days. Pope Gregory XIII decreed a calendar change, but England and her colonies did not accept the pope's revision until 1752.

"It is to be noted that in the Christian period the order of the days of the week has never been interrupted. Thus, when Gregory XIII reformed the calendar in 1582, Thursday, 4 October, was followed by Friday, 15 October. So in England in 1752, Wednesday, 2 September, was followed by Thursday, 14 September."
The Catholic Encyclopedia., Article "Chronology", 3:740.

So the seventh-day sabbath is still Saturday. What about the counterfeit sabbath? Which day did Satan choose? The name Lucifer (Satan's original title) means "shining one," "brilliant one," and "morning star," "day star," a reference to the planet Venus. But we read before that he would ascend to heaven; above the stars of God. Isaiah 14:13. The brightest light in our sky is the sun. To connect his worship with the sun would exalt himself above the stars. He also would ascend above (verse 14) and be first. God's sabbath is the last day of the week. Satan would make his the first, in front of all the other days. He claims the kingdoms of this world as his own. Matthew 4:8, 9. As he used Herod to try to kill Jesus (Matthew 2:12-18), those who do not give their allegiance to God, can and may be used by Satan. History tells us that he has done just this to bring in his day of worship.

Aurelian was an Illyrian officer who succeeded the throne upon the death of Emperor Claudius, and has been recorded in history as the Restitutor Orbis, the Restorer of the World. "On another occasion Aurelian is reported to have told his troops that god, not they, made emperors. When he returned victoriously to Rome in 274, he introduced the cult of the unconquered sun, Sol Invictus, as a formal state worship for the Empire. A new temple was built for Sol, and the god's birthday, December 25, became a national festival, while his day, Sunday, headed the week." Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times,¹ pp. 689, 690, 693.

Clearly then, Satan's alternative sabbath is Sunday, the first day of the week.

God warned His people in the past, against sun worshipping.

Then he said to me, "Have you seen this, O mortal? You will see still greater abominations than these."
And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD; there, at the entrance of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east, prostrating themselves to^a the sun toward the east.

Ezekiel 8:15, 16.
a The RSV and many other translations give worshiping.

But there is more. A parallel message is recorded in Revelation chapter 13:

and it was allowed to give breath^p to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,
so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

Revelation 13:15-17.
p Or spirit.

Image:"A new temple was built for Sol, and the god's birthday, December 25, became a national festival, while his day,
Sunday, headed the week." Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, p. 693.

This tells us that a mighty battle over the two worship days is coming, and verse 8 we read before, tells us it will involve the whole world. The prophet Daniel records this battle as "a time of trouble," just before the Lord delivers His people:--

At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise.^a There shall be a time of anguish,^b such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book.

Daniel 12:1.
a Many other versions give stand up.
b The RSV and many other versions give trouble.

As in the days of Elijah and Joshua, we will soon be faced with two choices:

Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, "How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." ...
Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; ...

1 Kings 18:21; Joshua 24:15.

Let us be faithful and say as did Joshua, "but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15.

And an extremely fascinating amendment...

References
1. Carl Roebuck, The World of Ancient Times, 1966, Charles Scribner's Sons.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 65-27244.

Bible texts from:
NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION OF THE BIBLE, 1989.

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Stephen Buckley
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Last revised: 9 Aug 2019.

Companion pages:

SUNDAY NOT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT! A study of the Greek texts in the New Testament shows that ALL the verses mentioning the "first day of the week" or "Sunday" have been mistranslated. This study gives the correct translation. Nearly makes obsolete the study "Which DAY Should Christians Keep?" However there is a wealth of information there about the correct day of worship to make it still a very good and very important read!

The Christian SABBATH A study investigating if there is a weekly day of worship for Christians; and a comparison of the Christian Sabbath, The Lord's Day in the New Testament with the Jewish Sabbath in the Old Testament.

Which DAY Should Christians Keep? This study looks at which day is the correct day for Christians to worship on. Most Christians keep Sunday, the first day of the week. There is, however, some disagreement over just which day of the week is the correct day for Christians to worship on. This study is part outdated due to the above 2 studies but there is a wealth of information here about the days of worship to make this still a very good and very important read!

Page design/construction 1997.