Why do some people believe that Saturday the Sabbath?
- So Am I Books
- Feb 8, 2021
- 7 min read
Updated: Jun 25
The First Sabbath Ended the Week of Creation
When our Creator finished six days of creating the heavens and the earth, He blessed and hallowed the next 24-hour period—the 7th day (Genesis 2:1-3).
Was that 24-hour period He blessed “Saturday”?Technically, no—on two important points:
While that time roughly corresponds to what we now call Saturday, the name “Saturday” did not yet exist when the first Sabbath was established.
“Saturday” on our modern Julian and Gregorian calendars runs from 12:00:00 AM to 11:59:59 PM, but the Biblical Sabbath begins and ends at sunset.
Biblical Days Are Numbered, Not Named
In Scripture, days are simply numbered: day one, day two, day three, day four, day five, day six (also called the “preparation day”), and day seven, the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the seventh day in an unbroken weekly cycle.
Later, people named days after planets or planetary gods. The day named for Saturn aligns mostly with the seventh day of the Biblical week—which is why Saturday and Sabbath roughly correspond today.
God’s Timekeeping: Evening to Evening
YHWH, who created the heavenly bodies to mark time (Genesis 1:14), counts days differently—from evening to evening.
Genesis 1:14 (KJV):“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.”
We see this pattern in the creation story, where each day is described as beginning with “evening” followed by “morning” (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). Evening here means sunset.
The Bible confirms that a new day begins at sunset (Nehemiah 13:19), and Sabbaths are to be observed “from evening to evening” (Leviticus 23:32). This evening-to-evening reckoning was the standard way to mark days (Exodus 12:18).
Sabbaths in the New Testament
In the New Testament, days are counted the same way. For example, after the Sabbath ended at sunset, crowds brought sick people to Yahawashi to be healed (Mark 1:32).
Joseph of Arimathea also buried Yahawashi before sunset so as not to work on the approaching Sabbath (Mark 15:42-46; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31).
More Biblical Examples of Evening-to-Evening Timekeeping
Deuteronomy 16:6 (KJV): “...sacrifice the Passover at even, at the going down of the sun...”
Exodus 12:18 (KJV): “...from the fourteenth day of the month at even...”
Leviticus 23:5 (KJV): “...in the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord’s Passover.”
How Did YHWH Show the Israelites the Sabbath in the Wilderness?
A Day of Rest and No Work
In the wilderness, YHWH told the Israelites to rest on the seventh day—no work, no kindling fires, no gathering manna. In fact, manna only appeared six days a week; on the sixth day, they gathered a double portion so they would not have to collect it on the Sabbath (Exodus 16:22-30). This daily provision was a direct sign of God’s care and the Sabbath rest.
So What Is the Confusion About the Sabbath?
The Gregorian calendar can accurately mark the Sabbath as beginning Friday at sunset and ending Saturday at sunset.
However, some today argue Sabbatarians who keep Saturday as the Sabbath are following pagan customs from Babylon. They claim the true Sabbath is lunar-based—falling always on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th days of each lunar month.
These lunar Sabbath proponents assert that the original lunar Sabbath was replaced by the seven-day planetary week during Babylonian captivity or later by Constantine’s Sunday Law (321 CE).
But this creates a problem: if the Sabbath changed, then the remnant who returned to Israel under Ezra and Nehemiah were keeping a false Sabbath—and so were the Jews in the first century when Messiah Yahawashi came “under the Law.”
Yahawashi kept the Sabbath day observed by His contemporaries (Matthew 12:1-12; Mark 2:23-28; 1:21; 3:1-4; 6:2). Therefore, the first-century Jewish Sabbath—the same Sabbath from Sinai—is the true Sabbath.
What Day Did They Keep as Sabbath According to Historical Evidence?
Historical records show that the Sabbath coincided with the day of Saturn (Saturday) at least as far back as 63 BCE and continuing onward. This supports that the Sabbath is a continuous seven-day cycle, not based on lunar phases.
Some Key Historical References:
63 BCE: Roman historian Dio Cassius described Pompey’s siege of Jerusalem, noting Jews refrained from work on “days of Saturn” (Saturday), enabling the Romans to attack on those days. Josephus calls them “seventh days.”
37 BCE: Dio Cassius records Jews performing religious rites on the day of Saturn.
30-26 BCE: Latin poets Tibullus and Ovid mention the “sacred day of Saturn,” a day observed by the Jews.
70-84 CE: Frontinus and Dio Cassius note the destruction of Jerusalem occurred on the day of Saturn, which Jews revered.
100-112 CE: Tacitus refers to the Jewish Sabbath and associates it with Saturn.
155-157 CE: Justin Martyr calls the day before crucifixion “the day of Saturn.”
222 CE: Tertullian compares Christian Sunday rest to Jewish Saturday rest.
229 CE: Dio Cassius describes Jewish reverence for the day of Saturn.
400 CE: Augustine argues the name “Saturday” does not make the Sabbath pagan, and the Sabbath remains the Biblical seventh day of rest.
🔥 The Sabbath Command: A Perpetual Sign Between Yahuah and Israel
Exodus 31:12-14 (KJV)
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, [13] Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. [14] Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death…”
Exodus 31:15-16 (KJV)
“Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord… [16] Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.”
Exodus 31:17 (KJV)
“It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”
The Sabbath is not just a day of rest—it is a covenant, a sign, and a cycle directly linked to creation itself. But what exactly is the Biblical Sabbath cycle? Does it follow the lunar phases, or is it a continuous 7-day count?
🌒 Lunar Sabbath Debate: Examining the Cycle
Some teach that the Sabbath should be determined by the moon—falling on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th of each lunar month. This "Lunar Sabbath" model introduces transitional days, but these are never mentioned in the scriptures.
In contrast, Scripture points to a continuous 7-day cycle that began in Genesis 1, before the moon was even assigned to "rule the night." The weekly Sabbath, then, is not lunar-dependent but creation-based.
🌒 Sabbath on the Third Day? A Case Study: 1 Samuel 20–21
This passage is often overlooked but offers deep insight:
🧠 1 Samuel 20:5, 18-19 (KJV)David tells Jonathan he will hide "unto the third day at even."
“Tomorrow is the new moon… and when thou hast stayed three days… come to the place…”
Day 1: New Moon (🌒) – David is absent from the king's table.
Day 2: “Second day of the month” – David is still absent (1 Sam 20:27).
Day 3: Jonathan meets David in the field (1 Sam 20:35).
🧠 1 Samuel 21:1-6 (KJV)On this third day, David receives hallowed bread (שֶׁלֶם שְׁלוֹם – shewbread), which was only lawful for priests.
But why was this bread available? Because...
🧠 Leviticus 24:5-8 (KJV)
“Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually…”
The bread was replaced on the Sabbath—meaning David’s visit aligned with the Sabbath day. This confirms the third day after the new moon in this sequence was the seventh day Sabbath.
🔥 Yahawashi Confirms This Timing
🧠 Matthew 12:1-5 (KJV)Yahawashi (Christ) confirms this event with David happened on the Sabbath:
“Have ye not read what David did… how he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread…?”
Even the Messiah recognized this moment as a Sabbath occurrence, validating the timing.
📜 Manuscripts, History, and Calendar Continuity
While many seek truth in the Lunar Sabbath perspective, others hold fast to a continuous 7-day cycle. Historical documentation—from Josephus to Roman records—often show Jews being attacked on their Sabbath (Shabbat), which the Romans labeled the “Day of Saturn” (Saturday). Despite calendar transitions (like the September 1752 shift from the 2nd to the 14th), the weekly cycle remained unbroken.
“The day after Wednesday, 2nd September 1752, was Thursday, 14th September 1752. But the seven-day count did not change.”
👁 Final Observation
1 Samuel 21:6 (KJV)
“The shewbread… was taken from before the Lord, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.”
This “hot bread” was set out every Sabbath. That confirms David’s event happened on the Sabbath, three days after the New Moon Day—placing that Sabbath on the 3rd of the month, not the 8th, which disrupts the Lunar Sabbath model.
🧠 Two Cycles?
It’s clear that the monthly cycle (based on the moon) and the weekly Sabbath cycle (based on creation) are not the same. The weekly Sabbath continues uninterrupted, while the moon governs months and feasts. Still, sincere seekers who observe lunar models with study and conviction deserve respect—but the evidence leans heavily toward the continuous seven-day Sabbath.
“Even in this scenario, the shewbread is for the priests on the Sabbath—which shows this was the Sabbath day. But count the days back from this event to the New Moon and see what day of the month this Sabbath actually fell on…”
Conclusion
The Sabbath was established by our Creator at the end of creation week and is marked from evening to evening. While the name “Saturday” is a later human convention, it has long aligned with the seventh day Sabbath kept by the Israelites and Messiah alike.
In the future, we will explore how the Lunar Sabbath theory works, so you can understand the debate more fully.
