In this article on The Day of The Lord, "A Personal Revelation" author, Eric Fugett, explains the meaning of The Day of The Lord, and briefly examines the difference between the Sabbath and Sunday as days of worship. Let's begin by considering the Sabbath as the day of worship.

The Sabbath typically begins on Friday evening and ends on Saturday evening. We are told in Leviticus 23:3 that the Sabbath was to be a day of sacred assembly or worship. When God gave Moses the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17, He made it clear that the Israelites were to remember the Sabbath (seventh day of the week) and keep it holy. Just as God worked six days, the Israelites were also allowed to work six days. However, on the seventh day, God rested from his work and the Israelites were to rest from their work as well.

The Sabbath is first mentioned in Exodus 16:21-30. God supplied the Israelites with manna (a wafer-like bread that tasted like honey) every morning. They were to gather and eat it that day or it would be full of maggots the next morning. The only exception to this procedure was exercised on the sixth day. On the sixth day, the Israelites were to gather enough manna for two days, because on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there would be none to gather. The seventh day was a day of rest.

Essentially, the Sabbath was the seventh day of the week and was a day of rest and worship. Now let's look at the first day of week.

It was on the first day of the week that Jesus rose from the dead. All four gospel accounts make that pretty clear. He died on Wednesday afternoon around 3:00 p.m. on April 5, 30 CE and rose 3 1/2 days later somewhere between 3:00 - 4:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, April 9, 30 CE. It was also on Sunday, May 28, 30 CE that the apostles were gathered together for the Day of Pentecost.

In Acts 20:7, we are told that the church came together for the Lord's Supper on the first day of the week. In 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, we find that the church also took up its collection on the first day of the week. Now, I will give you something else to consider about The Lord's Day.

I believe that the Day of the Lord is another way of saying The Lord’s Day (Sunday). Most of the prophecies about the Day of the Lord referred to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by either Babylon (Lamentations 2:22, Ezekiel 7, Joel 1:15, Amos 5:18) or Rome (Joel 2, Malachi 4:5, Acts 2, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 2 Thessalonians 2:2-12, 2 Peter 3:10). In Malachi 4:5, we are told that the prophet Elijah would come before the Day of the Lord occurred. Gabriel told Zechariah that his son John would come in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17). Jesus also said that John the Baptist was the Elijah who was to come (Matthew 17:9-13, Mark 9:9-13). These statements definitely help us narrow the timeframe for the second Day of the Lord to the 1st Century.

Here is another interesting fact about the Day of the Lord. The temple was destroyed on the same Jewish day (Ab 10) by both Babylon and Rome (Josephus The Wars, Book 6,Chapter 4, Section 5). Those dates were July 30, 587 BCE and August 5, 70 CE, respectively. Jerusalem was destroyed on the same day as the temple by Babylon and on Elul 8 which was September 2, 70 CE by Rome. Interestingly enough, all of these days were Sundays.

In closing, I just want to say that I believe that the Sabbath has always been Saturday (Friday evening to Saturday evening) and The Lord's Day has always been Sunday. I know that some will say that the Christians may have met on Saturday night. That's very possible based on what we read in Acts 20:1-12. However, Saturday night would have technically been the first day of the Jewish week or Sunday.

Romans 14:5 tells us that it's ok to consider one day more sacred than another or each day alike. It seems to indicate a personal choice, so I'm not going to get into a debate over which day the church should meet on. However, Colossians 2:16-17 tells us that even the Sabbath day was a shadow of things to come, with the reality being found in Christ.

Now, as for me and my house, we choose to worship on The Lord's Day.

A clear understanding of "The Day of The Lord", as well as dates for the destructions of Jerusalem, are just a few of the informative items you will discover when you buy my book, "A Personal Revelation."