SHABBAT SHALOM!
A sample Sabbath liturgy to help you ascend.
LIGHTING THE CANDLES
A woman lights the candles, since it was a woman who brought Messiah, the light of the world. If you are unable to begin this part of the ceremony before sundown, leave out the candle-lighting. (Exodus 35:3) We begin with a blessing:
Baruch Atah Yahweh, Eloheynu, Melech ha-olam
Asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu al haShabbat.
(Blessed are You, Yahweh our Elohim, King of the Universe,
Who has set us apart by His commandments and given us orders concerning the Sabbath.)
Shalom Aleikhem
This song welcomes the angels/messengers who bring a "second soul" so that we may be more spiritually perceptive during Shabbat:
Shalom Aleikhem, malakhey-haSha'aret, Malakhey Elyon.
Mi melekh malkhey haM'lakhim, HaKadosh; Barukh Hu.
Boakhem l'shalom malachey haShalom,Malakhey Elyon.
Mi-melekh malkhey haM'lakhim, HaKadosh; Barukh Hu.
(Peace to you, ministering angels, messengers of the Most High, from the Supreme King of Kings, The Holy One; blessed be He. Enter in peace, messengers of peace...)
WASHING OF THE HANDS
While a complete mikvah (immersion) is a picture of a our rebirth in Y'shua, hand-washing is a picture of the day-to-day repentance we need due to our interaction with the world and our own selfishness, before we consciously enter Yahweh's presence. (Yochanan/John 13:10)
Baruch Atah Yahweh, Eloheynu, Melech ha-olam
Asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu al t'shuvah.
(Blessed are You, Yahweh our Elohim, King of the Universe,
Who has set us apart by His commandments And given us orders
concerning repentance.)
KIDDUSH (Setting Apart)
By this ceremony we mark the full onset of the Sabbath
and the end of the work-week:
Barukh Atah, Yahweh, Eloheynu, Melekh ha-olam,
Borey p'ri ha-gafen.
(Blessed are You, Yahweh our Elohim, King of the Universe,
who creates the fruit of the vine.)
Blessed are You, Yahweh our Elohim,
Who has set us apart by Your commandments and has loved us.
His holy Shabbat He has lovingly and graciously bestowed upon us, recalling the act of creation.
It is the first of the holy assemblies, a remembrance of the exodus from Egypt.
You have chosen and set us in a separate category from all the nations.
Your holy Shabbat You have lovingly and graciously bestowed upon us.
Blessed are You, Yahweh our Elohim, who sets the Shabbat apart.
HA-MOTZI (The Blessing Over Bread)
We salt two loaves of bread which recalls the salting of the offerings in the Temple for their preservation, and reminds us that Yahweh's covenant with Israel is eternal. The two loaves are also symbolic of the two houses of Israel, as well as the double portion of manna provided the day before the Sabbath.
Baruch Atah, Yahweh, Eloheynu, Melekh ha-olam,
Ha Motzi lekhem min ha-aretz. (Blessed are You, Yahweh our Elohim, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.) Blessed are You, Yahweh our Elohim, who brought Y'shua, the Bread of Life, out from the earth!
EYSHET KHAYIL ("A Capable Wife")
(Read Proverbs 31:10-31)
Our family also has the tradition of blessing the
father of the household by reading Psalm 1.
BLESSING THE CHILDREN
Over our sons we say:
Y'simkha Elohim k' Ephraim w-k'Menashe.
(May Elohim make you like
Ephraim and Manasseh.)
And over our daughters:
Y'simekh Elohim k'Sarah, Rivqah, Rahel, v'Leah.
(May Elohim make you like
Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah.)
The children respond with:
"May YHWH bless our love for one another!"
AARONIC BLESSING OVER ALL ISRAEL
Yivarekh'kha Yahweh v'yishmarekha.
Yaer Yahweh panav elekha vikhunekha.
Yisa Yahweh panav elekha vayaseml'kha shalom.
("May Yahweh bless you and watch over you.
May Yahweh make His face to shine on you and show you favor.
May Yahweh lift up His countenance on you, and establish you with total well-being.")
Enjoy your Sabbath dinner! And be "messengers of peace" to one another!
READING OF THE TORAH
The culmination of our ascent into Yahweh's presence is to hear His words. We can begin with a prayer:
Who is like You, O Yahweh, among the mighty ones?
Who is like You? Majestic in holiness, awe-inspiring in praiseworthy acts and qualities,
O doer of wonders! Your Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations!
Yahweh is a man of war! Rise up, O Yahweh, and may Your enemies be scattered!
Blessed are You, O Yahweh our Elohim, Who teaches the Torah to His people.
And may the teachings of Your Torah be pleasant in our mouths and in the mouths of Your entire people,
the House of Israel. May we be knowers of Your Name, and keepers of Your Torah.
Blessed are You, Yahweh our Elohim, who gives the Torah to His people.
Uncover our eyes so that we may give attention to things within Your instruction that are beyond our reach!!
Read the weekly portion from the Torah and one from the prophets or the Renewed Covenant, and discuss their meaning among yourselves.
HAVDALAH (Differentiation)
This portion of the liturgy is celebrated at the end of the Sabbath, in the evening after two or three stars are visible in the sky, as witnesses that the Sabbath has indeed come to an end. It is to mark the distinction Yahweh has made between the Sabbath and all other days.
"Behold, El is my salvation. I will trust and not fear, for Yahweh is my strength and praise song to Yah, and He has become deliverance for me." (Isa. 12:2)
"With joy you shall draw water from the wells of Yeshuah." (Isaiah 12:3)
"Deliverance belongs to Yahweh; may Your blessing be upon Your people!" (Psalm 3:8)
"Yahweh of Hosts is with us; the El of Yaaqov is our refuge. (Psalm 46:11)
"O Yahweh of Hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!" (Psalm 84:12)
"Yahweh, please deliver us! (Hoshiana!)
The King will answer us on the day we call." (Ps. 20:9)
"The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honor." (Esther 8:16)
So may it be with us.
"I will take the cup of salvation and call on the Name of Yahweh." (Psalm 116:13)
Lift the cup of wine and all join in the blessing:
Barukh Atah, Yahweh, Eloheynu, Melekh ha-olam, Borey p'ri ha-gafen.
(Blessed are You, Yahweh our Elohim,King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.)
As we approach the end of the Shabbat, we breathe in at least two or three sweet spices so that our last memory of the Shabbat is a sweet one. We want to carry this memory with us throughout the coming week.
Blessing:
Barukh Atah, Yahweh, Eloheynu, Melekh ha-olam, Borey miney besamim.
(Blessed are You, Yahweh our Elohim, King of the Universe, who creates the various kinds of spices.
This is also an appropriate time to reflect together on what was sweet about this Shabbat.
Barukh Atah, Yahweh, Eloheynu, Melekh ha-olam, Borey ma'orey haEsh.
(Blessed are You, Yahweh our Elohim, King of the Universe, who creates the light of the fire.)
Notice how your fingernails reflect the light. This is what Adam was like before he sinned, and what the New Man whose Head is Yeshua will one day be like again. Peer through spread fingers at the flame, and notice the stark difference between light and darkness, and keep that in mind as we speak this final blessing:
Blessed are You, Yahweh, our Elohim, King of the Universe,
who makes a distinction between the holy and the common,
between light and darkness,
between Israel and the nations,
and between the seventh day and the six working days.
Blessed are You, O Yahweh, who makes a distinction between holy and the ordinary.
Slowly extinguish the flame in the wine. Notice how it struggles to stay alive. In the same way we do not want to be in a hurry for the Sabbath to end.
Finally, we sing this song that reminds us that though things are going "back to normal" now, before long the Messiah will come and the whole world will finally have its sabbath rest after 6,000 years of labor and struggle:
ELIYAHU HA NAVI
We end with a song that reminds us that Yahweh "will send Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible Day of Yahweh" (Malachi 4:5)and bring the Messiah with him.
Eliyahu HaNavi, Eliyahu haTishvi
Eliyahu, Eliyahu, Eliyahu haGil'adi.
Bim'hera v'yameynu yavo eleynu
Im Mashiakh ben David, Im Mashiakh ben David.
(Elijah the prophet, Elijah the Tishbite, Elijah the Gileadite--May he, soon and in our days, come to us with the Messiah son of David.)
"And you shall call the Sabbath day a delight, and Yahweh's holy day honorable." (Isa. 58:13)
The First of the Appointed Times:
The Sabbath
One may be surprised to learn that Passover/Unleavened Bread is not the first of the festivals. The Sabbath is. It is called a "holy convocation" just as the other festivals are.
The first reference to the Sabbath (Shabbat in Hebrew) is right in the Creation account in Genesis. It was instituted on the seventh day of creation. Therefore the resting after the forming is also considered part of creation, and by doing the same as YHWH on this day, we also participate in creation. In the very first week of the earth as we know it, there was already a Sabbath. So there never was a seventh day that was not endowed with this title.
The number seven symbolizes completion. YHWH works in cycles of seven, both in nature and in the days prior to there being a command as such to observe the Sabbath. The cells in our bodies totally replace themselves every seven years. Six circles placed in a ring will naturally form a seventh the same size within them. This shows that we cannot have the other six days without a Sabbath. It is therefore known in liturgical tradition as "last in creation; first in Yahweh's thought." YHWH warned Noakh when the flood was seven days away. Noakh sent out the dove and raven in seven-day intervals. Yaaqov served seven years for his wife. Pharaoh had seven years of advance warning before the famine. Yoseyf mourned his father for seven days.
The core command, given at Mt. Sinai, is the fourth commandment of the ten: "Remember the Sabbath day, in order to keep it set apart. Six days shall you labor and accomplish all your work, but the seventh day is a day of ceasing for Yahweh your Elohim; on it you shall do no work." (Exodus 20:8-10) One of the ways of defining "work" not to be done on Shabbat in Jewish tradition lists 39 different activities involved in the construction of the Tabernacle. The word for "work" here is mal'akhah--work done as a "representative" of someone else, i.e., for pay. Another type of work is described by the word avodah in Hebrew--"service" as "slaves" to one another, the work of building the Kingdom, for many things not done elsewhere continued to be done in the Temple because it was for another purpose.
This is followed by some details such as the fact that we are not to let/make our servants or family or animals work. The Hebrew word shabbat means "to cease". This applies even in times of harvest. (34:21) This is important enough that even YHWH set His own work aside on this day. He considers it a sign that we are "open for business" with Him. (Ex. 31:13)
YHWH made the Sabbath a test of obedience even before He commanded its observance, when He withheld manna on that day after providing enough the day before for two days.
But very few details are given about how to remember it or observe it. Where not otherwise specified, the local authority has the right to specify how the community will do, as long as it does not conflict with or diminish direct Torah commands.
Some commands were given at a later time: e.g., not to kindle a fire. (Ex. 35:3) This also has a figurative meaning: we should not engage in unnecessary argument or strife on this day.
Some were given situationally. When someone was gathering sticks--as if in preparation to build a fire--he was brought to Moshe because there was no precedent for this. YHWH confirmed that we are not to even gather sticks on the Sabbath. (Num. 15:32ff)
The prophets later clarified that the overt commands about the Sabbath also imply that we should not buy or sell (Amos 8:5), carry a heavy burden (Yirm. 17:21-27; Neh. 13:19), or in other ways do our own pleasure (Yeshayahu 58:13), since it is a day dedicated to honoring YHWH. Yeshayahu (Isaiah) says YHWH will bring special blessing to those who consider "His set-apart day" a delight. (58:13) We have to decide to find delight in His commands.
It was Yeshua's custom to go to a synagogue on the Sabbath, though this is nowhere commanded in Torah. He considered it "righteousness" to do many things that originated in the traditions of his elders. (Mat. 3:15) The Epistle to the Hebrews also instructs us not to forsaking "synagoguing" (assembling together), though this was nowhere commanded in the Torah as such. (10:25)
The first three commandments deal with our relationship with YHWH Himself; the latter six with how we relate to our fellow Israelite. The Sabbath is a "hinge" tying both of these together, for it allows both ourselves and those who would otherwise have to work for us to have no other responsibility but to focus on YHWH for that day.
In the Temple, the gates to Court of Priests were only open on the Sabbath and festivals, highlighting just how important those days are to YHWH. (Y'hezq'El/Ezekiel 46:1 makes this mandatory for the next Temple.) The Sabbath has also been called "a queen", "a bride", and "a palace in time"--or a day in time in which we step outside of time. When Yahshua said, "The Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath", he did not mean it could be dispensed with, any more than a king who gave a valuable gift would be pleased if we damaged or discarded it. He expects us to take special care of it.
The operative words in the fourth commandment are "remember" (zakor) and "keep" (shomer), which means to "observe" or watch over like a guard. Shomerim is the term used for watchmen on the walls of a city. This indicates that we are to make sure nothing foreign to the Sabbath is allowed into it.
One very vivid way the Sabbath is guarded in Jewish tradition is to place an extra buffer around it --a fence to keep us from accidentally trespassing on it. This is done by making sure any fires needing to be lit are lit well before the Sabbath actually begins. The tradition that resulted from this once-practical necessity is to kindle two candles at least 18 minutes before the sun sets. (The Hebrew day runs from sundown to sundown.) The entire day leading up to Shabbat is called "preparation day".
Also, traditionally, no fires are lit until at least 42 minutes after sunset when the Sabbath is over, effectively adding an extra hour to the time in which the rules of the Sabbath are in effect, thus making the joys of the Sabbath "overflow" into the rest of the week. Another way of determining when to close the Shabbat is when three stars are visible.
Sabbath: What is Man-Made and What is Scriptural?
What does the Torah say about what activities are allowable on the Sabbath? Actually, not very much. Most of the rules about the Sabbath that we hear of are from tradition or inference, not direct commands. Many of them may be useful and even helpful to us, but do we have a right to obligate others to do the same? What did YHWH Himself actually tell us to do or not to do?
First of all, Mt. Sinai is not where He first told us about this concept; there He only said to “remember to keep the Sabbath day holy.” (Ex. 20:8) It was all the way back at creation that “Elohim blessed the seventh day and set it apart, because on it He had rested from all His work.” (Gen. 2:3) “Therefore the descendants of Israel must guard the Sabbath, to [be able to] carry out the cessation, for… on the seventh day He [Elohim] rested and was refreshed.” (Ex. 31:17) The concept seems to be that He took the time to enjoy the fruits of His labor, and we can do the same, sharing in His rest.
The book of Jubilees (2:22) says it is a day “to eat and drink and to bless Him who created all things”.
More directly from the Torah: “On it you shall not do any work—you or your son or your daughter, your servant, or… the stranger who is within your gates.” (Ex. 20:10) He also includes your beasts of burden, and is more explicit in Ex. 23:12 that it is so those who work for you can also rest along with you. Even when the harvest seems urgent, it can wait a day. (Ex. 34:21) YHWH says, “Those who honor Me, I will honor.” (1 Samuel 2:30) We can draw many parallels to this, but they are not specifically commanded.
When He provided manna in the wilderness, He told us to do all the cooking in advance. (Ex. 16:23) We would expect this to be the case, because a more general command is “Do not kindle a fire… in any of the places where you dwell.” (Ex. 35:3) He later added that no one should even gather sticks in preparation for making a fire (Num. 15:32ff), whether or not one was planning to wait until after the Sabbath to actually light it. There is still enough light as we transition into the next day at evening if we absolutely need to do that. A good amount of daylight continues for about half an hour after sunset.
(I do not consider turning on an electrical light as kindling a fire, for it is only completing a circuit; only if something is dreadfully wrong with the wiring will a fire actually be started. You are free to have a different opinion in your conscience before YHWH, but I find the idea burdensome, adding unnecessary stress to the day. Also, since the fourth commandment includes “the stranger who is within your gates”, this rules out the convenient practice someone came up with of having a Gentile who lives nearby turn your lights on for you. If it’s wrong for you, it’s not very loving to transfer the guilt to someone else.)
Those are pretty much all the non-negotiable commands we have in the Torah itself about what is allowable on the weekly Sabbath and what is not.
Some traditions that grew up around these laws are actually endorsed by YHWH through His prophets:
“Thus says YHWH: Take heed for the sake of your souls, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem, neither carry a burden out from your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work; but set the Sabbath day apart as sacred, as I commanded your fathers, though they did not pay heed or incline their ear, but made their neck stiff, so they could not hear or receive instruction.” (Jeremiah 17:21-23)
While the Torah is primary, Yeshua recognized the prophets as being authoritative as well when they spoke for YHWH, as Jeremiah did here. (Mat. 7:12; 22:40)
Similarly, Amos addresses another practice indirectly. He says that some who wanted to take advantage of the poor and needy were saying, “When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell crushed grain? and the Sabbath, that we may set out winnowed grain?” (Amos 8:5) This implies they already had a tradition based on the assumption that YHWH does not want us buying and selling on Shabbat. And this makes sense if you consider that, if you buy something from a store (except maybe for automated gas pumps), someone has to be working, and you are not facilitating that person’s right to take a rest. Isaiah 58:3 chides YHWH’s people for making their laborers keep working while they themselves get to keep the command. Though here it is speaking of the most complete Shabbat, Yom haKippurim, this principle applies to the weekly Sabbaths too, because not much later in the same chapter, He continues:
“If you turn away your foot, because of the Sabbath, from pursuing your own business on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy [day] of YHWH honorable; and shall honor it, not following your usual routines, nor pursuing your business or speaking about it, then you will delight yourself in YHWH, and I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father; for the mouth of YHWH has spoken it.” (Isa. 58:13-14)
The concept of a “Sabbath Day’s Journey”, surprisingly, shows up nowhere in the Tanakh, but only in the New Testament. (Acts 1:12) It was considered to be 2,000 cubits (3,000 feet, or about 1 kilometer) and this may be derived from some Torah commands (possibly the distance beyond the area outside a Levitical city where animals were kept, since one would care for one’s animals on the Sabbath, but not one’s crops). But it is only an inference, not a command, unless derived from the command, “let no one go out of his place on the seventh day” (Ex. 16:29), but this was given specifically in regard to collecting the manna, and might have been limited to that context, for the definition of Shabbat includes “the calling of a holy assembly” (Lev. 23:3), which appears to be speaking of a time to corporately worship YHWH, as is certainly the practice of most today.
Yet Yeshua did seem to at least acknowledge the tradition of not walking too far on the Sabbath:
“Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” (Mat. 24:20) It may have to do with what we would have to carry as well.
My father’s maxim of what was allowable on the Sabbath is, “Deeds of mercy or necessity”. I.e., Yeshua expected us to help someone (or even an animal) out of a pit on the Sabbath (Luke 14:5, possibly based on Deut. 22:4), for he is certainly not able to rest while in that predicament; it may even be saving his life. He assumes we would lead our animals to water on the Sabbath (Luke 13:15), even if it seems like a chore, for that is mercy on the creatures that, through no fault of their own, share in the stresses of life on earth that resulted from mankind’s disobedience; it is the least we can do to compensate them.
There are actually two words for work in Hebrew, and only one of them is forbidden on the Sabbath: mal’akhah. It comes from the same root as “angel” (mal’akh), because this word simply means “messenger” (whether human or not). So this type of work is that in which you work for or represent someone else, and thus are paid for it.
The other kind of work is avodah, which means “service”. This was the type of work that continued unabated during Shabbat in the Tabernacle and Temple. Serving others in YHWH’s name brings them rest, and it can be especially noble to sacrifice our own rest so that someone else may gain rest—though this should not become an every-week thing, or you will have no energy left for either type of work.
The Underlying Attitude
“YHWH has given you the Sabbath…” (Ex. 16:29) It is a gift!
Yeshua explained, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) This sets the tone for how we spend it. It is not meant to be yet another burden, but a joyful release from our burdens. We just have to make sure everyone else gets a release from his burdens too.
Does this allow for participation in entertainment? Sports? Other forms of recreation? The term “re-creation” does suggest the same purpose of the refreshment that defines Shabbat.
What about driving a vehicle, which does involve lighting a fire? Is this the kind of fire Torah was referring to, or only fires for cooking, smelting, or other forms of industry? What about a fire that may be essential to keep from freezing in some parts of the world?
Many of these things need to be decided case by case, weighing the reasons for involvement, the measure of compromise it might require, and other factors, such as whether traveling is the only way we will be able to have a “holy assembly” with others, and sometimes what degree of freedom we have in each country while still in exile, where ideal Sabbath observance is not always possible.
Since YHWH stopped creating for the Sabbath, I infer that I should not make something new, whether a work of art or a written composition, on the Sabbath. Some people feel they should not write anything at all. I do not feel qualms about writing down the phone number of a new brother in Messiah that I meet so that we can have ongoing fellowship, or taking notes from a good Biblical teaching I may hear on that day, because I know the limits of my memory.
We are not to judge one another in matters that “go beyond what is written” (1 Cor. 4:5, 6), for that is not our right. But “each one should [do as he is] convicted in his own heart” (Rom. 14:5), being careful not do what causes others to stumble, even if we feel we have the freedom ourselves. (1 Cor. 8:13)
Other than avodah, if it starts to feel like work, it probably is, so that’s where I draw the line.
Changing the Day of Rest?
Now for the elephant in the room: since the “Lord of the Sabbath” (Mat. 12:8) has now been given “all authority in heaven and on earth” (Mat. 28:18), is the Sabbath still the seventh day? Is the idea that it was transferred to the first day at all Biblical?
It’s one thing to commemorate Yeshua’s resurrection, which was discovered on the first day of the week (though it may have occurred as the Sabbath was ending, as many read it; it may even be saying, “the first day of the weeks"—that is, the 7 weeks counted between Passover and Shavuoth, the first day of which is the firstfruits of the barley harvest, which Paul links with Yeshua’s resurrection in 1 Cor. 15:23).
But while this is additional cause for celebration, it is not the same as the Sabbath. At Sinai YHWH was clear: “The seventh day is the Sabbath of YHWH your Elohim.” (Ex. 20:10) This is “from generation to generation, a perpetual covenant”. (Ex. 31:16) Yes, firstfruits was a “Sunday”, but a particular one which had always been on the first day of the week—the “morrow after the Sabbath”. (Lev. 23:11. Note that the Sabbath was still what it was based on, and this once-a-year event never took any honor away from the Sabbath by which it was measured.)
What about the New Testament’s use of the phrase “the Lord’s Day”? (Rev. 1:10) This is the only usage of that term, but it is actually referring to the Hebraic idiom, “the Day of YHWH” which is used many times by the prophets and refers to the time of His judgment of the earth (e.g., Amos 5:18-20, etc.) and His Kingdom, and that is precisely what Yochanan was writing about: “I came to be, in the spirit, on the Day of YHWH.” Nothing about a particular day of the week, unless it is in general the seventh “day” of 1,000 years, which is the Kingdom indeed, the Sabbath for the whole world. Not Sunday.
But what of when Paul said to set aside some money for an offering “on the first day of the week”? (1 Cor. 16:2) Aside from the fact that this appears to have been for a one-time collection, it does not mean the believers in Yeshua typically gathered on Sunday and would collect it then; it is probably saying that on the first working day of the week, one should set aside a contribution before paying one’s own bills, lest there be nothing left after all his shopping. Recall that a laborer in those days was typically paid daily (cf. Lev. 19:13) since he usually lived from hand to mouth.
And what about when the “disciples gathered to break bread” on the first day of the week and Paul was addressing them before departing (Acts 20:7)? There is a clue in that it says he kept talking until midnight. Recall that the Hebraic day begins at sundown (Gen. 1:5) and there is commonly a ceremony at the end of the Sabbath called havdallah, indicating the separation of the holy from the mundane. The first day of the week begins right after that. So this is what today would be called “Saturday night”. Were they to have gathered on Sunday and gone until midnight, they would already have been in the second day of the week.
So there is nothing in the New Testament that sounds like the first day is holy which cannot be explained by a clearer understanding of other Scriptural concepts.
So where did that idea come from? It was the Catholic Church that made that change: Cardinal James Gibbons admitted, “From Genesis to Revelation…you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the sanctification of Saturday...Did Christ change the day? I answer, no!” Keenan’s Catechism says, “Had she not such power, [the Church] could not have… substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of …the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.” (More such confessions can be found here.)
Its mandate goes back to Emperor Constantine in the fourth century C.E. deciding that his whole empire would take the “day of the unconquered sun” (a carry-over from his pagan past) as a weekly holiday, and since he instituted Christianity as the religion of his whole empire, this day became its day of worship, especially as he tried to distance it from Jewish practices.
Prior to this some followers of Yeshua did add the celebration of the first day to the Sabbath as an optional extra reason for joy, but did not substitute it for the Sabbath, mandate it, or cease from work on it.
