Is worhiping on Sunday and the Sun Worship of Baal connected...

reddogs

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Worshipping on Sunday goes back at least two thousand years before Jesus Christ. Shortly after the flood in Noah's time, Nimrod and his mother-wife, Semiramis, founded the great pagan religions. Sun worship is related to fire worship. From the beginning at the Tower of Babel, sun worship spread throughout the ancient world.

On pages 226-227, Hislop states, "Nimrod is singled out by the voice of antiquity as commencing this fire-worship . . . . The sun, as the great source of light and heat, was worshipped under the name of Baal [another name for Nimrod] . . . . the sun, under that name [Baal] was worshipped in the earliest ages of the world . . . . The beginning, then, of sun- worship and of the worship of the host of the heaven, was a sin against the light -- a presumptuous, heaven-daring sin. As the sun in the heavens was the great object of worship, so fire was worshipped as its [the sun's] earthly representative . . . . Along with the sun, as the great fire-god, and, in due time, identified with him, was the serpent worshipped . . . the serpent is universally the symbol of the sun. In Egypt, one of the commonest symbols of the sun, or sun-god, is a disc with a serpent around it. The original reason of that identification seems just to have been that, as the sun was the great enlightener of the physical world, so the serpent was held to have been the great enlightener of the spiritual, by giving mankind the 'knowledge of good and evil' . . .."


Sun-worship was the dominant religion in all ancient civilizations, spreading from Mother Babylon to India, China, Africa, Greece, Rome, Mexico, South America, Egypt and Europe. Sun worship was a very prominent religion and Sunday was the main day of worship in the pagan Roman Empire by the time of Jesus Christ, just as it was in ancient pagan Babylon.

Hislop, page 238, "Now, if this worship of the sacred serpent of the Sun, the great fire-god, was so universal in Rome, what symbol could more graphically portray the idolatrous power of Pagan Imperial Rome than the 'Great Fiery Serpent'? No doubt it was to set forth this very thing that the Imperial standard itself -- the standard of the Pagan Emperor of Rome, as Pontifex Maximus, Head of the great system of fire-worship and serpent-worship -- was a serpent elevated on a lofty pole, and so coloured, as to exhibit it as a recognised symbol of fire-worship."

Julius Caesar became Pontifex Maximus 40-50 years B.C. From that time until Emperor Justinian, the Roman Emperors were heads of the state religion of fire- serpent-sun worship. In the 6th Century A.D., Justinian submitted to the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Thereafter, the Popes became the Pontifex Maximus of the state religion of fire- serpent-sun worship.

Historically, pagan Babylon worshipped the sun as a deity, and pagan religions also worshipped the invincible sun. The pagan ideas crept into the early church and with the assistance of Constantine, his civil Sunday law transferred the Sabbath rest to the Sun Day, and filled the church with commonly used pagan images and symbols of the sun.

Many of the pagan sunburst images used by the church show up in various forms of church art. An artifact was unearthed in the holy of holies of the pagan temple in the Canaanite city of Hazor / Hatzor, in northern Israel, that dates to 1400 years before the time of Christ. It is described as follows:
"a basalt offering table, pillar-shaped, with a carved symbol of the storm god Baal on its side. That symbol was a circle with a cross in the center"

In a large number of the churches altars you can find the same general Babylonian sun symbol. Some have tapestry with a sunburst design nearly identical to the pagan sun-god symbol of Baal / Shamash. This tapestry is called the
altar frontal, antipendium (antependium), or pallium altaris.

http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/verita.htm

"In Egypt, the disk of the Sun was represented in the temples, and the sovereign and his wife and children were represented as adoring it . . . . In the great temple of Babylon, the golden image of the Sun was exhibited for the worship of the Babylonians . . . . In the worship of Baal, as practised by the idolatrous Israelites in the days of their apostasy, the worship of the sun's image was equally observed; and it is striking to find that the image of the sun, which apostate Israel worshipped, was erected above the altar. When the good king Josiah set about the work of reformation, we read that his servants in carrying out the work, proceeded thus (2 Chron. xxxiv.4): 'And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence, and the images (margin, SUN-IMAGES) that were on high above them, he cut down.' . . .


Israel profaned the Sabbath and substituted Baal worship, which is sun worship:

"And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word."

These words were spoken by a rugged prophet of God as he stood on the top of Mount Carmel face to face with a people who claimed to be the chosen people of God, but a people who had turned from the worship of the true God to the worship of Baal, the Sun-god.

A chosen people who had followed the cloud by day and the fire by night through the wilderness experience and then encamped at the foot of Mt. Sinai had heard God's voice in thunder-like tones proclaim His law of Ten Commandments. And even while Moses was receiving the law on tablets of stone they had turned to the sun worship of Egypt. Just so had Israel permitted the wicked Jezebel to again introduce sun worship.

The time had come for a test with this false religion. And on the top of Mt. Carmel they hear Elijah cry out, "How long halt ye between two opinions, you must decide between God and Baal."
The crowd looked over at Elijah, and they saw him standing there alone. Then they looked and saw hundreds of the priests of Baal, dressed in their rich, flowing robes, and they asked the question that has been asked ever since sin opened the gate to the road of the broad and easy way that many follow:" "Can Elijah be right and all these priests of Baal be wrong?" God showed that day what a abomination the false religion of sun worship was to him.

Samuele Bacchiocchi, in his book, From Sabbath to Sunday, pages 242-246, gives evidence that the planetary week was in popular existence in Rome before the time of Christ. "Various Sun-cults were predominant in ancient Rome by the early part of the second century [A.D.]. That these attracted the imagination and interest of Christian converts from paganism, we found evidenced by the development of the theme of Christ-the-Sun, and by the adoption of the eastward orientation for prayer [true Christians are inclined to pray to the north, where God's throne is located, Psalms 48:2] and of the date of the 25th of December . . . . The valorization of the day of the Sun over that of Saturn, as a result of the diffusion of the Sun-cults, possibly oriented Christians (who desired to differentiate themselves from the Sabbath of the Jews) toward such a day. This choice however, it must be stated again, was notmotivated by their desire to venerate the Sun-god on his day, but rather by the fact that its symbology could fittingly commemorate two important events of the history of salvation -- creation and resurrection: 'it is on this day that the Light of the World has appeared and on this day that the Sun of Justice has risen.' Moreover, the day of the Sun enabled Christians to explain also the Biblical mysteries to the pagan world by means of an effective symbology that was very familiar to them." (pages 268-269).
"The early Christians had at first adopted the seven-day week with its numbered week days, but by the close of the third century A.D., this began to give way to the planetary week. The use of planetary names [Monday, etc.] attests to the growing influence of astrological speculations introduced by the converts from paganism" (Webster's Rest Days, page 252).
"[Roman Emperor] Constantine's famous edict (321 A.D.) definitely enrolled Sunday among the holidays of the Roman State religion. The change from Saturn's day [Saturday, the Sabbath] to Sunday must have further commended the planetary week in Christian circles, where the Lord's Day . . . beginning the week, had long been observed as the day on which Christ, the Son of Righteousness [supposedly] rose from the dead. Thus a pagan institution [Sunday observance] was engrafted upon Christianity" (Ibid., p. 222). This edict commanded that "On the venerable day of the sun let all magistrates and people . . . rest" (Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, article "Sunday Legislation").
Emperor Constantine was a pagan sun worshiper who saw that religion could be a unifying factor in his kingdom. "Constantine . . . persevered till he was near 40 years of age in the practice of the established religion [of pagan sun worship]. But the devotion of Constantine was more peculiarly directed to the genius of the sun . . . the sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Constantine," (Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. I, pages 636-638). Even after Constantine's supposed "conversion," he continued his devotion to the Sun. His enforcement of Sunday worship, under the guise of Christianity, continued to brand followers of the state catholic religion with the mark of pagan sun worship.
"The SABBATH -- which word means 'REST' -- depicts the kind of eternal REST from sin which God has in mind for man. (Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course, Lesson 30, page 5).

But ironically, Satan by deluding man into keeping the fiery pagan day of the Sun -- SUNDAY -- causes man to commemorate something else than what God set forth.......
 
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reddogs

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In the book The Two Babylons written by Alexander Hislop who spent his entire life searching out the pagan customs, teachings and influences that have crept into the Christian church from paganism gives valid proof for what you will find outlined in this chapter. His book is rare to find today, but it is well worth the search by seekers of truth!

Alexander Hislop - The Two Babylon - The Sacrifice of the Mass


Hislop pieces together facts from ancient history, and it seems that this Nimrod married a very beautiful and also very wicked woman named Semiramis. The relationship between Nimrod and Semiramis is not very clear. King Nimrod and his queen were worshipped by the people of Babylon. They were the first “royal couple” or the first “celebrities.” Semiramis came to be called the “Queen of Heaven” many centuries before Mary the mother of Jesus was born. (See Jeremiah 7:18).

Nimrod was so evil, legend has it that his great uncle Shem had him killed. After Nimrod’s death, Semiramis had a huge problem on her hands. How would she hold the kingdom together? From the worship that evolved in Babylon after Nimrod’s death, it can be surmised that Semiramis, no doubt inspired by the devil, told the people that Nimrod had gone to live in the sun and would rule and protect them as the sun god. The people could worship him by worshipping the sun. This was the beginning of sun worship.

The Bible is filled with references to and condemnations against sun worship. There is good evidence that points to Ancient Babylon as the source of paganism. It is clear that the idea that the stars direct your life instead of the great Creator God originated back in ancient Babylon.

“Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.”(Isaiah 47:1). “Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.”( Isaiah 47:13-14).

Astrology originated in ancient Babylon along with sun worship and this is why in the Bible, Babylon is the mother of all “harlot” religions and all the pagan abominations and false worship that exists on earth!“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OFABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (Revelation 17:3-5.).

According to Hislop, one Spring, after her husband Nimrod’s death, Semiramis was found to be pregnant. She told the people that she had become impregnated through the rays of the sun, and that the child she was carrying was half-human and half-divine – A God man! She called him Tammuz. The website
http://JewishEncyclopedia.com says this about Tammuz: “A Babylonian deity referred to in Ezek. viii. 14. He is regarded as the husband, or sometimes as the son, of the goddess Ishtar . . .He is accordingly supposed to represent the spirit of the spring vegetation; and there was a period of mourning in Babylonia to mark the discontinuance of growth. The myth of Adonis in classical literature has also been associated with the legend. The reference in Ezekiel to the women weeping for Tammuz certainly shows a trace of a cult in early Israel… W. Robertson Smith attempted to associate the Tammuz-worship with the sacrificial rites connected with ‘the king of the woods.’"

According to legend, Tammuz died saving a friend from the attack of a wild boar. His death was called a sacrificial one. So here was the son of the sun god dying to save others. This was the counterfeit savior! Tammuz was the world’s first false “savior.” The evil one was working on his plan to counterfeit Christ Jesus and the true worship of God!

Pagan Babylon’s rituals, customs and sun worship crept into the back door of the church. According to book The Pagan Side of Easter. “The observance of the 40 days of Lent during the northern Spring season was derived from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess. This 40 days of Lent is still observed by the Yezidis (pagan worshippers) of Koordistan, inherited from their Babylonian ancestors. The Lent of 40 days were also observed by the Pagan Mexicans, and the Egyptians who observed this tradition in honor of the goddess Osiris, also known as Adonis in Syria and Tammuz in Babylonia.”

The Word of God makes it clear that what Hislop says about Tammuz had definitely infiltrated the true worship of God! See Ezekiel. “Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? For they say, Yahweh seeth us not; Yahweh hath forsaken the earth. He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat womenweeping for Tammuz.” (Ezek. 8:12-14).

In the above verses we can see how even in early times, the pagan religion of Nimrod, Semiramis and Tammuz polluted the true worship of God. After Tammuz died, it was said that he now resided in the stars. When Semiramis died, she was said to reside in the moon – and was called the “Queen of Heaven.” Nimrod was worshipped as the sun god, and this is where the Zodiac signs and astrology originated. Nimrod Was Known by Other Names In Different Parts of the World. In Egypt he was called – Ra, in Assyria – Baal, in Canaan he was called Molech.

The Bible says this about the evil practice of sun worship. “Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.” (Lev. 20:2-3).

In Persia Nimrod was called “Mithras,” In Greece, he was called “Helios,” and in Rome he was called “Sol Invictus” – the “unconquerable sun.” Interestingly, in Samaria he was called “Anu.” The Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th Edition, Vol. 1, p. 432, says this about Anu: “Anu was associated with the city of Erech in Southern Babylonia . . . Anu was regarded as the god of the heavens.”

The Bible says this: “And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” ( Gen. 10:10). In the above quote the city of Erech is described as one of the cities of Nimrod. Yet in the quote from the encyclopedia, it associates Erech with Anu. Here is proof that Nimrod was known by different names in different parts of the world!

It was from this false sun-worship that we get the name Sunday for the first day of the week. “Sunday is the first day of the week, adopted from the Roman calendar because it was dedicated to the worship of the sun.” – Unger’s Bible Dictionary under the article “Sunday.”

In fact, the names for the days of the week came from pagan Gods or worship. Sun–day was named after the sun. Moon-day named from the worship of the moon became Monday. From the worship of the pagan god Tiu came Tiu’s-day or Tuesday. From the pagan god Woden came Woden’s-day or as we know it today Wednesday. Thor’s-day became Thursday. Frigga’s-day became Friday, and Saturn-day became Saturday.

In the Bible the only day that had a name recognized was the seventh-day Sabbath. Sunday was simply called in the Bible “the first day of the week.” (See John 20:1). So the false religion of sun worship in Isreal was Baal, its very clear and though other names were used in different languages, it all came from the same source, and God clearly says to come out of that false religion, whose source is 'Babylon'....
 
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reddogs

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So from the Tower of Babel, sun worship was founded, then the city of Babylon was the first capital where the pagan system of religion developed there in the form of sun worship. But soon the sun worship followers were spread out when Babylon was take over by Medo-Persia came into power. But the Baylonian pagan system of religion of Sun worship did not get wiped out, it took many names but was still the same. In Isreal it spread as Baal worship, and continued to predominate as it did in the previous kingdom. Then Greece took over, and she also subscribed to the same pagan sun worship. Finally, Rome began to rule the world. But there was no change in the religion. Mithraism, or sun worship, was the universal religion of the pagan Roman Empire. From Babylon to Rome, the evil one held control through his religion of sun worship.


Now, lets go to the real problem, did God make clear his abhorance of the religion of sun worship of Baal. It was a blasphemous idolatry, filled with immoralities, licentious ceremonies and degrading rites. Isreal continuously had problems as some fell into the worship of the god BAAL (plural Baalim) and they were called to return to the commandments of God, the Creator of the mighty universe. The Old Testament abounds with warnings against Baal worship. According to the Apostle Paul those warnings "are there for our admonition on whom the ends of the world are come" (1 Cor.10:11). But who is Baal? and what is Baal worship? Were you to walk into any church and ask the audience 'What is Baal worship?' you would probably not find many believers who knew. To be sure most Bible students know that the god Baal is mentioned over and over again in the Bible: but what Baal worship is, few have any idea. Lets go to the prophet Elijah in a passage from scripture about Baalim.
1 Kings 18: 17: And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
18: And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.

Lets look at Baal and Baalim. Who or What is Baal? and What is Baal worship? Why is the Most High so incensed when His people worship Baal? Are we, perhaps, wrong in supposing that Baal was some ancient god that has nothing to do with modern man? Or could it be that Baal worship is something of which our society is guilty? Let us find out.

The word Baalim is the Hebrew plural for BAAL, the pagan god of sun and nature worship, and fertility.
The word Baal itself means "master" or "owner" and in ancient religions the name denoted sun, lord or god. Baal was common a name of small Syrian and Persian deities. The name Baal (baʕal; Hebrew: בעל) was a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that was used for various conatations of the pagan gods, particularly of the Levant, cognate to Assyrian bêlu or 'Bel'. According to legend, Baal was the son of El, the high god of Canaan. The cult of Baal celebrated annually his death and resurrection as a part of the Canaanite fertility rituals. These ceremonies often included human sacrifice and temple prostitution.

Baal, with its literal meaning of "lord," in the Canaanite pantheon was the local title of pagan gods. Baal never emerged as a rain god until later times when he assumed the special functions of other pagan gods. Although there is no equivalent in Canaan of the sterile summer drought that occurs in the Mesopotamia area of Babylon, the season cycle was marked enough to have caused a concentration on the disappearing fertility god, who took with him the autumn rain clouds into the nether world.

According to legend, after defeating the sea god Yam, and building a house on Mount Saphon, and taking possession of numerous cities, Baal announced that he would no longer acknowledge the authority of Mot, "death." Baal not only excluded Mot from his hospitality and friendship, but also told him that he could only visit the deserts of the earth. In response to this challenge, Mot invited Baal to his abode to taste his fare, mud. Being terrified and unable to avoid the dreadful summons to the land of the dead, Baal did unspeakable things with a calf in order to 'strengthen himself for the ordeal', and then set out. El and the other gods donned funeral garments, poured ashes on their heads, and mutilated their limbs, while Anat, aided by the sun goddess Shapash, brought the corpse back for burial. El placed Athtar, the irrigation god, on the vacant throne of Baal, but Anat bitterly missed her dead husband. She begged Mot to restore Baal to life, but her pleas went without avail, and Anat's attempts to interest the other gods in helping her were met with cautious indifference.
So according to legend, Baal's wife and sister, the fierce goddess Anat, traveled to the underworld. After splitting Mot with her sword, she assaulted Mot, ripping him to pieces "with a sharp knife," scattering his members "with a winnowing fan," burning him "in a fire," grinding him "in a mill," and "over the fields strewing his remains." According to legend, in the due course of time Baal was restored, and Athtar fled from his throne. Yet Mot was able to arrange another attack, but on this occasion all of the gods supported Baal, and neither combatant could gain the victory. Finally El intervened and dismissed Mot, leaving Baal in possession of the field. This looks to be the local Canaanite variation of the Nimrod’s death, and Semiramis his wife.

Baal was the son of El, or Dagon, an obscure deity linked by the Hebrews with the Philistine city of Ashdod. Dagon was perhaps associated with the sea, as a coin found in the vicinity portrays a god having a fish tail. Another echo of the Mesopotamian Babyon thought patterns are nestled in these reasons advanced by Baal for needing a "house." His food offerings were too meager for a god "that rides on the clouds." As far apart as Carthage and Palmyra were temples dedicated to Baal-Hammon, "the lord of the altar of incense," whom the Greeks identified with Cronos. On Mount Carmel it was the prophet Elijah who discredited King Ahab's belief in the power of Baal, when at his request "the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice," and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. Afterwards Elijah had the people slay "the prophets of Baal," thereby assuring the survival of the worship of Yahweh in Israel.
The worship of Baal extended from the Canaanites to the Phoenicians who also were partially an agricultural people. Both Baal and his cohort Ashtoreth, or Astarte, who is equivalent to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, were both Phoenician fertility symbols. Baal, the sun god, was fervently prayed to for the protection of livestock and crops. Priests instructed the people that Baal was responsible for droughts, plagues, and other calamities. People were often worked up into great frenzies at the prospects of displeasing Baal. In times of great turbulence human sacrifices, particularly children, were made to the great god Moloch.
Since the Phoenicians also were superb ship builders the religion and cults of Baal spread throughout the Mediterranean world. The worship of Baal was found among the Moabites and their allies Midinites during Moses' time. It was also introduced to the Israelites.

The religion of the sun god Baal crept into the worship among the ancient Jews, and although it was put down at times, it was never permanently stamped out. The people worshipped this sun god because their prosperity depended on the productivity of their crops and livestock. The god's images were erected on many buildings. Within the Baal religion there appeared to be numerous priests and various classes of devotees. During the ceremonies they wore appropriate robes. The ceremonies included burning incense, and offering burnt sacrifices, occasionally consisting of human victims. The officiating priests danced around the altars, chanting frantically and cutting themselves with knives to inspire the attention and compassion of the sun god, Baal. In the Bible Baal is also called Beelzebub, or Baalzebub, one of the fallen angels of Satan.

The worship of Baal was accompanied with lascivious rites (1 Kings 14:24), the sacrifice of children in the fire by parents (Jer.19:5), and kissing the image (1 Kings 19:18; Hos 13:2). Baal was often associated with the goddess Astoreth (Judg.2:13), and in the vicinity of his altar there was often an Asherah. (Judg.6:30; 1 Kings 16:32-33,R.V.)" Of the goddess ASTORETH :
"... She was the goddess of sexual love, maternity and fertility. Prostitution as a religious rite in the service of this goddess under various names is widely attested. The identification of 'Ashtart with Aphrodite is evidence of her sexual character."
"Ashtaroth (plural of Astoreth). In connection with the plural of Baal, a general designation for the female divinities of the Canaanites ..."
"Asherah refers to a wooden pole or mast which stood at Canaanite places of worship (Exo.34:13); originally it was, perhaps, the trunk of a tree with branches chopped off, and was regarded as the wooden symbol of the goddess Asherah, who like Ashtoreth, was a type of fertility ... It was erected beside the altar of Baal. (Judg 6:25, 28)"

We can see from these quotes that Baal worship incorporated not only the worship of the sun and nature but along with Ashtaroth worship, it had illegal sexual acts and that the Asherah was nothing but a phallic symbol. That word lascivious means lewd, lustful, licentious, lecherous, bawdy. In other words Baal worship was accompanied with sinful sexual acts; behaviour expressly forbidden in Gods law.Was it made clear to Isreal thorugh the tragic experiences of compromise by allowing the pagan worship of Baal to creep in, and then punishment by many forms by God including defeat at the hands of their enemies. It happened often to Israel as they journeyed toward the Promised Land. Many times they were enticed by the fleshly forms of pagan temple worship. Repeatedly the nation was punished for accommodating the altars of Baal and bending to the sensual customs of sun worship.

We can show some of the circumstances which reveal God's utter abhorrence for everything that related to Baal worship. He commanded His people to destroy every pagan altar and burn all the gods to ashes, "The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee.... Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it." Deuteronomy 7:25, 26. He also commanded "that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise." Deuteronomy 12:30.

God forbad Israel to bring any of the objects of Baal worship into their tents or homes, and He especially commanded that none of their pagan customs ever be used in connection with His worship. Has time removed the revulsion which God expressed for those same symbols as they were utilized in earlier orgies of Baal worship? Does God still feel the same toward the Babyonian religion of Baal sun worship today? If so, how does He relate to worship on Sunday which was transferred directly from pagan Baal sun worship?
 
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reddogs

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In Matthew 17:11, Jesus promises the return of Elijah to restore all things prior to the end.

...Elijah comes and will restore all things. Matthew 17:11 NIV

In verse twelve, he refers to the Elijah who had already come, but whose teaching had been rejected. This is a reference to the preaching of John the Baptist whom Jesus identifies as Elijah. (Matthew 11:14) Clearly the references to Elijah refer to the message rather than the man. The messages of the Elijah of old, John the Baptist, and of the our mision in the Seventh-day Adventist church bear striking parallels. All three call the people back to obedience to God, and a worship of Him who made the heavens, the earth, and the springs of water instead of the worship of the false Babylonian religion of sun worship and Baal. In addition, the messages of John and the Adventist Church is a message of preparation - to make straight the path - for the coming of the Lord. (Luke 1:17)

In 1 Kings 16:31, apastosy comes in the form of the marriage of King Ahab to Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. This illicit marriage resulted in the introduction of Baal or sun-worship in Israel. (2 Kings 23:5) The result was total apostasy by the northern tribes:

And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, made for them a molten image even two calves and a graven image and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 2 Kings 17:16

Elijah’s mission was to call a people out of apostasy of Baal sun worship and to restore the unity of Israel. He personally restored the broken sacrificial altar comprised of twelve stones symbolizing the unity of Israel, the altar itself being a symbol of salvation by grace, as it is only through the blood of the Lamb that we may be saved. (Leviticus 17:11)

Just as Elijah of old was a forerunner of the impending judgments of God in ancient Israel, so end-time Elijah was to be a forerunner of the end-time judgment of God.

Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. Malachi 4:4-6 NKJV

Elijah restored the ancient landmarks of obedience to God and trust in His saving grace. Likewise the in the last days the Adventist church is to restore the broken law and trust in the merits of Jesus. As Isaiah prophesied:

Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In. If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honourable, and shall honour Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 58:12-14 NKJV

The broken walls are a reference to the law of God including the Sabbath. The paths are a reference to the ancient paths, the truths of the gospel that had been trampled in the dust by the inroads of paganism and sun worship. In this end-time prophecy, the Sabbath is lifted up as the banner of Gods truth against the false religion of Babylon, leading a people out of the world to restore a right relationship with God.
 
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reddogs

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Today, archaeologists find remains of temples of Baal and other god of sun worship, and idols to these gods of the sun all over the world. Another facet is having the same common religious theme of the Madonna, the theme of the "Mother and Child" being worshipped as the "Queen of Heaven, and her child-god the 'savior'".For instance, in Babylon they worshipped a "Goddess Mother" and a "Son of God", who was represented as an infant in his mother's arms. In Egypt the Mother and Child was worshipped under the names of Isis and Osiris. In India they still are worshipped as Isi and Iswara. In Asia they were worshipped as Cybele and Deoius. In Rome as Fortuna and Jupiter-puer, or Jupiter the boy. Other eastern nations worshipped Rhea, the "Great Goddess Mother". In Greece as Ceres the "Great Mother" with "the babe" at her breast, or else as Irene the "Goddess of Peace" and the boy Plutus.

In Egypt, Isis was worshiped as one of the greatest deities. She was usually depicted seated on a throne "holding the child Horus"; both official theology and popular belief proclaimed; Isis and Horus the perfect mother and son" (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed.). From Egypt, the worship of Isis spread to Greece and Rome, where she was called Stella Maris (star of the sea), the patroness of seafarers and the "queen of heaven;" (The Gods of the Egyptians, Budge, p. 218). A shrine of Isis once "stood on Vatican Hill where now stands St. Peter'" (The Paganism in Our Christianity, Weigall, pp. 128–129). Numerous scholars note that "the Isis cult influenced the portrayal of the Christian Virgin Mary" (Jordan, p. 137), and that "it is clear that the early Christians bestowed some of her [Isis'] attributes upon the Virgin Mary… pictures and sculptures wherein she is represented in the act of suckling her child Horus formed the foundation for the Christian figures and paintings of the Madonna and Child" (Budge, p. 220).

This author continues: "Many of the heresies of the early Christian Church in Egypt were caused by the survival of ideas and beliefs connected with the old native gods which the converts to Christianity wished to adapt to their new creed" (ibid.). In parts of Egypt, by 400ad, "Mary the Virgin and Christ had taken the places of Isis and Horus, and the God-mother, or mother of the god, was no longer Isis, but Mary" (ibid., p. 221).

In the Bible we read that the ancient Israelites, including Solomon, turned from God and worshipped Baal and Asherah or Astoreth (Judges 2:11 & 11;13; 10:6; 1 Kings 11:1 & 11;11) whose rituals involved temple prostitution (2 Kings 23:6). The Bible speaks of women weaving garments for a statue of this goddess that had been placed in the temple of God (2 Kings 21:1). Historians comment that "Aserah is the great mother goddess of Canaan, known as Lady Aserah of the Sea" (Jordan, p. 30, 31). Scholars also connect Astoreth with the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, the Phoenician Astarte and the Greek Aphrodite, fertility goddesses whose worship also involved temple prostitution (see The Oxford Companion to the Bible).

Ishtar was the most important goddess in the ancient Middle East. especially in Babylon and Nineveh. She was the goddess of war and sexual love. She was called the "Queen of the Universe" and the "lady of the world," the "protectress of prostitutes and patroness of alehouses" (New Encyclopaedia Britannica). Her cult, which included temple prostitution, was widespread and popular (ibid.). Ishtar was also worshipped as Inanna the goddess of love and war, and called the "Queen of Heaven" (Dictionary of Gods & Goddesses, Devils & Demons, Lurker). Another Canaanite and Phoenician goddess was Anat, a fertility goddess and sister of Baal and daughter of the sun god. She was called "the Lady of the Mountain… mother of the gods… queen of heaven… the virgin Anat" (Jordan, pp. 18 & 19).

When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, He commanded them: "You shall not make for yourself any carved image.. you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.. you shall not make idols for yourselves" (Exodus 20:4,5; Leviticus 26:1). Yet they soon began to worship a golden calf, and were punished for doing so (Exodus 32). The Israelites were also warned not to adopt pagan religious practices that God viewed as abominations. "You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way" (Deuteronomy 12:29,32; 17:9,13). However, these warnings were repeatedly ignored as the Israelites turned to the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth, the mother goddess of the Canaanites, their "queen of heaven." The Bible and history plainly show that the Israelites and later the early church adopted the worship of the sun god and a mother goddess, complete with titles, from their pagan neighbors. But what does all this have to do with us today, and why is it significant?

God pronounced severe judgment on the people of Judah and Jerusalem because they worshiped "the queen of heaven" 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. (Jer7:17-20; 44:15-19). So how did the people of Israel get involved in worship of her? As early as the twenty-fifth century B.C., people of Ur of the Chaldees in Sumeria worshiped a mother-goddess named Ishtar. Around the same time the Minoans of Crete had a mother-goddess portrayed with "her divine child Velchanos" in her arms. Later, the people of Cyprus revered a goddess who appears to have been patterned after the Sumerian Ishtar and later adopted by the Greeks as Aphrodite, or Astarte. The Babylonians, who conquered Sumeria around the twenty-second century B.C., related their religious beliefs to the heavenly bodies. They regarded the planets as gods and goddesses and equated the planet Venus with the Sumerian mother-goddess Ishtar.

The Babylonians worshiped Ishtar as "The Virgin", "The Holy Virgin," "The Virgin Mother," "Goddess of Goddesses," and "Queen of Heaven and Earth." They exclaimed, "Ishtar is Great! Ishtar is Queen! My Lady is exalted, my Lady is Queen...There is none like unto her." They called her "Shining light of heaven, light of the world, enlightener of all the places where men dwell, who gatherest together the hosts of the nations"; and they claimed, "Where thou glancest, the dead come to life, and the sick rise and walk; the mind of the diseased is healed when it looks upon thy face." In Babylonian mythology Ishtar wore a crown and was related to Tammuz, who sometimes was portrayed as her son and other times as her lover.

It appears that the Sumerian-Babylonian Ishtar was the counterpart of the Egyptian Isis and the model for the Grecian Aphrodite, Roman Venus, Assyrian Nina, Phrygian and Roman Cybele, Phoenician Astarte, and Astarte of Syria. In essence they were the same mother-goddess. The Egyptians called Isis "the Great Mother" and "the Mother of God." Isis worship spread to Italy by the second century and then throughout the entire Roman Empire. There the goddess was portrayed with her "divine child Horus" in her arms and widely acclaimed as "Queen of Heaven" and "Mother of God."

The people of Phoenicia worshiped Baal. Baalism included the worship of Molech with fiery sacrifices of children and the worship of Astarte, the Phoenician Ishtar Queen of Heaven. When the princess Jezebel became the wife of King Ahab of the northern Kingdom of Israel, she influenced him to fully establish Baal worship in his realm (1Ki16:29-33; 21:25-26) This move entangled the people of Israel in Queen-of-Heaven worship. As a result, God judged them with the Assyrian Captivity (2Ki17:5-7,16-18)

Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, became the wife of King Jehoram of the Kingdom of Judah. She influenced him to do what her father had done--fully establish Baal worship in his kingdom (2Ki8:16-18). Her son, Ahaziah, the next king of Judah, did the same (2Ki8:25-27), as did King Manasseh (2Ki21:1-6). These actions would have entangled the people of Judah in Queen-of-Heaven worship. Thus God judged them with the Babylonian Captivity (2Ki21;12-14) So Baal worship seems to have come with the goddess counter part, the Queen-of-Heaven worship.

Even in the Orient the Jesuit missionaries were astonished to find the counterpart of the Madonna and her child being worshipped as Shing Moo, the Holy Mother and the "child in her arms". (Reference: "The Two Babylons", by Rev. Alexander Hislop. 1916. Loizeaux Brothers, Inc. Reference: "Babylon Mystery Religion", by Ralph Woodrow. 1981.) The gods and goddesses of these pagan religions are seen in the ancient civilizations prior to Christianity and were all started by one and the same false religion. In these false religious alternatives, the main pagan god was represented by the sun, and therefore those who worship this "Lord," worship him on his day, or sun-day.

By studying the Bible Christians know that one of the main false religions that the Israelites followed, when they departed away from God's way, was to practice the worship of Baal or Baalism the religion of sun worship. When ancient Israel worshipped Baal they kept Sunday, because Baal-worship was sun-worship, and that was the day when the sun was worshipped. As sun-day was Baal's day, or as it was called even then 'the Lord' Baal's day, the sun worshipers kept the first day of the week as their day of worship, in contrast to God's worship day, the seventh day of the week.The worship of Baal, was worshiping "their sun god" on the day of the sun, and the pagans called it worshipping "the Lord" Baal, and thereby denied the true worship to the Creator God who decreed that He is to be worshipped on His Creation-Day, Saturday.
 
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reddogs

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Well it is very clear the Sabbath was given to us at creation as the seventh day of the week as we read in Genesis. The various days of the week were in ancient times called the first day, the second day, etc., for these were their Biblical names. But non-Christians began calling them the day of the sun, the day of the moon, etc., in honor of different heavenly bodies. This was known as the "planetary week."

Each day was ruled over by a different pagan god, but the most important of all gods was given the rule of the first day of the week, with the idea in mind that the first is always more important than that which follows it. The most important of all gods was given the rule over the first of the seven days. It was his day, the day of the Sun, and all the worship of the week centered on his day.

Now, although these names for the days of the week were new, the sun god wasn't, for his worship came from a devotion to that most powerful of natural objects. It was one of the most ancient forms of worship and is represented by solar disc images found on nearly every continent of our world.
"Sun worship was the earliest idolatry."--Fausset, Bible Dictionary, page 666. The Arabians appear to have worshiped it directly without using any statue or symbol (Job 31:26-27). Abraham was called out of all this when he went to the promised land. Ra was the Sun god in Egypt, and On (Heliopolis) was the city of Sun worship (see the Hebrew of Jer. 43:13). Entering Canaan under Joshua, the Hebrews again met Sun worship--of Baal.


By associating with Sun worshipers, the Israelites frequently practiced it themselves (Lev 26:30, Isa 17:8). King Manasseh practiced direct Sun worship (2 Kg 21:3,5). Josiah destroyed the chariots that were dedicated to the Sun, and also removed the horses consecrated to Sun worship processions (2 Kg 23:5,11-12). Sun altars, and incense were burned on the housetops for the sun (Zeph 1:5). and Ezekiel beheld the "greatest abomination": direct Sun worship at the entry way to the temple of the true God. This was done by facing eastward to the rising sun. (Ezek 8:16-17).

About the time of Christ, or a little before, the various days of the week were dedicated to specific pagan gods--dies Solis--the day of the Sun, dies Lunae--the day of the Moon, and so on. The sacred day of the Jews and Christians was the memorial of Creation--the true Sabbath--the Seventh day--the only Sabbath given in the Bible. The sacred day of paganism was the memorial of the Sun-god--the first day of the week. His day was called, "the Venerable Day of the Sun."

As we have seen in scripture, Sunday-keeping was never commanded in the Old or New Testament, nor was it made a special day to God or Jesus Christ. Jesus and the apostles till always kept the true Sabbath--the Seventh day--the only Sabbath given in the Bible. During the life of Christ and the Apostles, his followers who came to be called Christians kept the the true Sabbath--the Seventh day and never had cause to change their day of worship.
 
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reddogs

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The planetary week, each day named after a different planet in the sky, played a very important part in the worship of the sun. The Romans often called their sun god by the name, Sol Invictus, "the Invincible Sun." During the early centuries of the Christian Era, pagan sun worship was the greatest rival of Christianity.

And this was not without a carefully developed plan, for Satan had arranged that this religion would closely approximate in several ways the only true religion in the world--Christianity. It had such features as a dying, rising Saviour, special religious suppers, a special holy day out of the weekly seven--the Sun Day, initial baptism of its converts (in the blood of a slaughtered bull), and other similarities. It counterfeited the religion of the true God more cleverly than any other religion up to that time in history.

Gradually, large numbers of non-Christians began observing Sunday as a holy day in honor of the gods of the sun, especially Mithra. He was especially liked by the Roman soldiers, for his worship included athletic feats of skill and "warlike manliness." and they carried this belief with them as they came up through the ranks. When Augustus Caesar became emperor, just before the birth of Christ, Mithraism was already spreading westward from Asia into Europe, and into the Roman Empire.

Since the Roman generals, in times of crisis, frequently took over the emperorship, this also favored the growth of sun worship. (Two centuries later, the Roman generals Constantius Chlorus and his son Constantine were devoted to the Sun god.) The early church in Rome kept the Seventh day at its inception, as many Gentiles as well as Jew became Christians and kept the Seventh-day Sabbath. Josephus, a historian who lived in the first century, remarks on how widespread throughout the empire was the keeping of the Seventh-day Sabbath at that time.

But then two important events occurred that shattered all this. In A.D. 70, nearly forty years after the death of Christ, and then again in A.D. 135, serious Jewish revolts were put down with much bloodshed. As a result of this, the hatred of the Romans toward anything that savored of Judaism became intense. Hadrian, the emperor, issued an edict soon after, strictly prohibiting the observance of the Seventh-day Sabbath. But imperial decrees tended to be short-lived, and Christians generally disregarded it. However in Rome itself, the capitol of the empire, things were different.

Anicetus, the local bishop, or religious leader, of the Christian church in the city of Rome (men today would call him the "pope"), urged his followers as well as neighboring churches to keep the first day instead of the Seventh. At the risk of his life, the aged Polycarp, who had been a close friend of the Apostle John before his death about 100 A.D., traveled to Rome about the year 155, and strongly protested this action on the part of Anicetus. The Roman bishop refused to yield to Scripture in this matter, but otherwise the meeting was courteous. Polycarp returned to Smyrna and was martyred the next year.

By the middle of the second century, Sun worship was very popular among the Romans. The emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161 A.D.) erected a temple to Mithra at Ostai, a seaport town a few miles below Rome. Pius' name is also written at the base of the famous temple of the Sun at Baalbek (Heliopolis) in Syria. Justin Martyr, a leading Christian writer at the time, wrote an open letter to Pius, in which he referred several times to the increasing influence of Mithraism in the Christian Church. By this time, Mithraism was becoming popular among the Christians at the Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Egypt.

Gradually, the worship of the Invincible Sun became even more popular and widespread among the Roman Empire. Emperor Aurelian (270-275 A.D.), whose mother was a priestess of the Sun, made this solar cult the official religion of the empire. His biographer, Flavius Vopiscus, says that the priests of the Temple of the Sun at Rome were called pontiffs. They were priests of their dying-rising Saviour--Mithra, and vicegerents in religious matters next to him.

By this time, the middle of the second century, the early church, especially in Alexandria and Rome let in a flood of pagan beliefs and other aspects of sun worship and began keeping Sunday, and in order to excuse their practice, since it was not Scriptural, they called it "the Lord's Day" even though it was obvious to all that Revelation 1:10 said nothing about Sunday.
 
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reddogs

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Most of the pagan sun worship or beleifs that entered the church in the early centuries originated in Alexandria (Egypt) or Rome (Italy), and from those two locations they gradually spread to many of the western churches, and thence to some of the eastern ones. Until the fourth century and some time beyond, the eastern churches, being farther from Rome, tended to remain closer to the teachings of the Apostles.

Sun worship continued to be the official religion of the empire until Constantine would make the changes that would allow it to be 'christianized'. The early church had already began to let pagan sun worship creep in and there was no one to stop it. Christ was crucified in 31 A.D. Most of his disciples were gone by 65 A.D. John, the last of the Apostles, died just before 100 A.D.

By the year 200, pagan compromises and practices were beginning to come into the church in a decided way. By 250, pagan beliefs were sweeping into the early church in an amazing flood. Occasionally persecutions would arise which would purify the church, but then as soon as peace returned, the apostasy returned with it.


About the year 154 A.D., Anticetus, bishop of the church at Rome, authorized a Sunday festival to correspond with the Attis fertility festival. This was a combining of Mithra, Attis and Christ and would better appeal to the heathen, he thought. Polycarp who was a close friend of the Apostle John before his death, the same one who tried to win Anticetus back to the true Sabbath, also tried to dissuade him from keeping the pagan festivals. But he failed in his efforts and returned with a sad report to the brethren in the eastern churches. The Roman church instituted the new Easter Sunday to avoid appearing to be "Judaizers" to the Roman authorities. There is a direct relationship between observing an Easter Sunday and a weekly Sunday as a day of worship. Each Sunday is held to be a "mini Easter" in commemoration of the (supposed) resurrection of Christ. Tertullian states, "On Sunday it is unlawful to fast or to kneel while worshipping. We enjoy the same liberty from Easter to Pentecost." Origin states "The resurrection of the Lord is celebrated not only once a year but constantly every eight days." Eusebius says, "While the Jews faithful to Moses, sacrificed the Passover lamb once a year . . . we men of the New Covenant celebrate every Sunday our Passover."

The same causes that led to the abandonment of the Sabbath for Sunday were instrumental in the abandonment of Passover for Easter: "the inclination to break away from Judaism" (J. Jeremias), to avoid "even the semblance of Judaism" (J.B. Lightfoot). With the abandonment of Passover came the abandonment of the Hebrew Calendar. M. Righetti states that Rome and Alexandria after "having eliminated the Judaizing Quartodeciman tradition [annual Passover on Nisan 14], repudiated even the Jewish computations, making their own time calculations, since such a dependence on the Jews must have appeared humiliating."

The Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) settled the Quartodeciman Controversy in favor of Easter. It enjoined "All the brethren in the East who formerly celebrated Easter with the Jews, will henceforth keep it at the same time as the Romans, with us and with all those who from ancient times have celebrated the feast at the same time with us." Further, Constantine's Nicean letter stated "Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd . . . ."

The Church of Rome led the adoption of Sunday, Easter and Christmas (December 25), and the abandonment of the Sabbath and Passover. This was done to oppose the Jews and the Sabbath, and to amalgamate truth with the pagan custom of Sun worship.
 
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reddogs

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Then, in 195 A.D., for the first time in history the Roman church made major news in all the churches of Christendom, when Victor, bishop of Rome, tried to force all of the eastern church leaders to keep the annual celebration of Christ's resurrection on Sunday. Of course, the bishops of the other churches protested, insisting that if done at all, the Biblical precedent for this was on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan [Ex 10,12,14, Lev 23:5].

But Victor would not consider this, and had the boldness to write letters "ex-communicating" all leaders and churches that refused to do as he said. He declared all the churches of Asia to be apostates because they would not follow his example in the matter.Back in those days, some churches were more influential than others, but none were "over" the others. What Victor tried to do in 195 AD. bordered on the fantastic.This was probably the first time in history that the bishop of Rome attempted to gain control over all the other churches, and commenting on it, Dr. Bower, in his History of the Popes, volume 1, page 18, calls it "The first essay of papal usurpation." In simple language, we would call it, "the first attempt at papal takeover."A careful study of the historical records reveals that gradually, with the passing of the years, the Roman bishop tended to use his new day, Sunday, as a ploy for political supremacy over the other churches. Victor's decree was the first ecclesiastical Sunday Law of any kind, in history.The festival on Easter controversy continued, with the Eastern churches giving it stiff opposition until the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., at which time Sunday was declared the official day for Easter observance. Emperor Constantine immediately followed this, the same year, with civil enactments enforcing it among the churches.

It was through the Gnostic Christians of Alexandria that several false doctrines and beliefs entered the church: Spiritizing away Scripture truth through the use of allegories, the use of images and image worship in Christian worship, the introduction of Greek philosophic speculations into the church, introduction of Egyptian rituals and many other practices of sun worship. Only the church at Rome gave full support and backing to the these ideas from Alexandria.

It is at this point that men who are quoted as supporters of Sunday as a day of worship came in. Two centuries after Christ and the Apostles, the apostasy was taking over these centers of worship. These early church writers who advanced the day of the sun, were men who had Gnosticism Philosophy backgrounds, had anti-Jewish prejudice, and came from or who received their training in the sun worhip centers of influences of Alexandria or Rome. All this time, the influence of Sun worship was rapidly increasing in the Roman Empire. Over the centuries the official religion of the empire had been emperor worship, but it had died out and two strong contenders for popular favor were taking its place. And as the third century neared its close, it was the pagan sun worship and its adherents that were influencing the church to the point there wasnt much difference between the two religions. Yet outside of those spheres of influence of the empire in the rural areas there were thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal, and who would not do so for several centuries to come, in spite of the terrible persecution to come...........
 
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reddogs

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I was amazed at what I found, I never imagined how Babylons false system of worship constantly tried to replaced what God had given man, and Jesus pointed out the truth of His Sabbath, Gods plan for man and redemption so clearly in his teachings.

Red
 
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jesusfreak0791

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I am intrested in some very hard biblical evidence on why we should worship on another day than Sunday. To me it dosen't matter what day we worship on. O and please no Old Testament evidence we are no longer under the Old Testament covenant.
 
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Jimlarmore

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I am intrested in some very hard biblical evidence on why we should worship on another day than Sunday. To me it dosen't matter what day we worship on. O and please no Old Testament evidence we are no longer under the Old Testament covenant.

Obviously, you haven't been reading the preceeding posts to well. Go back and spend a little time exploring what reddogs has found on this.

BTW, Paul worshiped on the Sabbath as did every author of the Bible for that matter. Sunday keeping is a purely man made tradition not a commandment of God.

God Bless
Jim Larmore
 
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Jon0388g

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I am intrested in some very hard biblical evidence on why we should worship on another day than Sunday. To me it dosen't matter what day we worship on. O and please no Old Testament evidence we are no longer under the Old Testament covenant.

Then cut your Bible in half.

Jon
 
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freeindeed2

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Then cut your Bible in half.

Jon
That's a bit extreme, don't you think? The OT, if read in its proper context (through the filter of the Epistles and then the Gospels) has much to offer for those wishing to understand how everything pointed forward to Jesus. It's the history of how God chooses people and rescues them, and it's also the history of humanity's absolute failures.
 
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Obviously, you haven't been reading the preceeding posts to well. Go back and spend a little time exploring what reddogs has found on this.

BTW, Paul worshiped on the Sabbath as did every author of the Bible for that matter. Sunday keeping is a purely man made tradition not a commandment of God.

God Bless
Jim Larmore

If you go back and read Paul's writings you will see that he taught on the Sabbath. If you can show me any place that it says Paul went to the Synagogue to worship on the Sabbath then I would be most appreciative.

I think the closest you might come would be Acts 17:2 but even then the scripture context ends with him saying:

Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,"​

I will be waiting patiently as I have for 8 1/2 years.
 
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If you go back and read Paul's writings you will see that he taught on the Sabbath. If you can show me any place that it says Paul went to the Synagogue to worship on the Sabbath then I would be most appreciative.

I think the closest you might come would be Acts 17:2 but even then the scripture context ends with him saying:

Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,"​
I will be waiting patiently as I have for 8 1/2 years.

Acts 13
42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.
43 Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.

Does that count as worship? Isn't preaching the Word of God a part of the worship?

Maybe we should the turn the question around... Can you find for me where in the scripture, it says the Christians should worship on Sunday?
 
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Jimlarmore

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If you go back and read Paul's writings you will see that he taught on the Sabbath. If you can show me any place that it says Paul went to the Synagogue to worship on the Sabbath then I would be most appreciative.

I think the closest you might come would be Acts 17:2 but even then the scripture context ends with him saying:

Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,"​
I will be waiting patiently as I have for 8 1/2 years.

I think the main issue is not if the Sabbath was kept by Paul or not because any clear thinking Biblical scholar would conclude that Paul was a Sabbath keeper as any good Jew would be. The question that should be asked is wheher or not the new covenant did away with the law or the Sabbath requirement or not. To answer that we need to look at several things.

1.God made the Sabbath at the end of the creation week and sanctified it. Sanctified means set aside for Holy use. This was before sin so it can't be said that the Sabbath was only for the old covenant because the creation week was many many years before the old covenant or law came about.

2. The Sabbath will be kept after the sin problem is done away with in the new earth according to Isa 66: 22-23. So how can something made before sin and will be here after sin be done away with in between? The Bible tells us that God does not change and He will always fulfill His word.

3. Many texts in the new testament tells us that the law of God is still in effect and that obedience and righteousness always goes hand in hand. Not that keeping a law will save us. That has never been the case but we keep the law because we are saved not to be saved. The 4th commandment tells us to keep the Sabbath Holy.

4. In Revelations it tells us that those who will be ready to be translated when God comes back will be those who keep the commandments of God.

God Bless
Jim Larmore
 
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freeindeed2

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I think the main issue is not if the Sabbath was kept by Paul or not because any clear thinking Biblical scholar would conclude that Paul was a Sabbath keeper as any good Jew would be. The question that should be asked is wheher or not the new covenant did away with the law or the Sabbath requirement or not. To answer that we need to look at several things.

If you believe that the new covenant is the exact same thing as the old covenant (except for where it's written) then there was no need for a new covenant. The heart of the old covenant was the 10 commandments (schoolmaster, tutor, elementary teachings). We are no longer under the old covenant/10 commandments. Now God HIMSELF lives in the believer and has imputed his righteousness to him/her. The old law/covenant has nothing to say to the righteous. The Spirit CAUSES us to reflect HIS glory more and more! We are not children of the bondwoman (Hagar=law/Mt. Sinai/old covenant), but children of the freewoman (Sarah=promise/New Jerusalem/Mt. Zion/new covenant). Cast out the bondwoman and her son and do NOT become enslaved to the law again (Gal 4).

1.God made the Sabbath at the end of the creation week and sanctified it. Sanctified means set aside for Holy use. This was before sin so it can't be said that the Sabbath was only for the old covenant because the creation week was many many years before the old covenant or law came about.

Assumptions. There is no command for man to keep the Sabbath until Exodus.

2. The Sabbath will be kept after the sin problem is done away with in the new earth according to Isa 66: 22-23. So how can something made before sin and will be here after sin be done away with in between? The Bible tells us that God does not change and He will always fulfill His word.

Proof-texting and assumptions. You've plucked these verses from their context. Take chapters 65 & 66 in their entirety and try to apply that to eternity! (HINT: We will live longer than trees, and the wicked will not be with us to only live to 100 years! Read it all!)

3. Many texts in the new testament tells us that the law of God is still in effect and that obedience and righteousness always goes hand in hand. Not that keeping a law will save us. That has never been the case but we keep the law because we are saved not to be saved. The 4th commandment tells us to keep the Sabbath Holy.

The fourth commandment is in the heart of the 10 commandments which is the heart of the old covenant. We do not live under the old covenant, nor were we (you and me) ever commanded to keep the old covenant or its sign.

4. In Revelations it tells us that those who will be ready to be translated when God comes back will be those who keep the commandments of God.

This is putting words into John's mouth. He doesn't refer to the old covenant/10 commandments when he uses the word "commandments" (entole). Let John interpret himself. This is how those who lift up the law rather than Christ operate. John gives us five different books to understand what EXACTLY he's referring to. (Please don't try to use Luke and Matthew to interpret John, when he does it himself.)

God Bless
Jim Larmore
God bless you too!
 
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Adventtruth

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The question that should be asked is wheher or not the new covenant did away with the law or the Sabbath requirement or not. To answer that we need to look at several things.

As far as the law or the ten words, they where fulfilled by Christ. His perfect law keeping is given to those who are connected to and united to Him. It is by love that we establish the law. Rom 3:31

1.God made the Sabbath at the end of the creation week and sanctified it. Sanctified means set aside for Holy use. This was before sin so it can't be said that the Sabbath was only for the old covenant because the creation week was many many years before the old covenant or law came about.

Yes He created the first Sabbath, but do you read from scripture that He asked any to keep it holy before the Law of Moses?

2. The Sabbath will be kept after the sin problem is done away with in the new earth according to Isa 66: 22-23. So how can something made before sin and will be here after sin be done away with in between? The Bible tells us that God does not change and He will always fulfill His word.

This passage of scripture has always been a puzzle to many SDA believers...they don't understand what it means in context because of its confusing words about new moons and carcuses and worms not dieing and unquenched fire. But yet they continue to use this text in favor of the Sabbath. Its obvious that this passage is hyperbole. You should look to the point the passage is making through the hyperbole, rather thank trying to support a Sabbath doctrine.

3. Many texts in the new testament tells us that the law of God is still in effect and that obedience and righteousness always goes hand in hand. Not that keeping a law will save us. That has never been the case but we keep the law because we are saved not to be saved. The 4th commandment tells us to keep the Sabbath Holy.

Do you establish the law by your loving kindness to others, or do you follow after the law to perform them because you are saved? Kindly answer this question please.

4. In Revelations it tells us that those who will be ready to be translated when God comes back will be those who keep the commandments of God.

God Bless
Jim Larmore

And could you give me scripture for this?

AT:)
 
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