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The Lord's Day: Difference between revisions
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:''I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet...<ref>The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Re 1:10.</ref> | :''I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet...<ref>The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Re 1:10.</ref> | ||
William Branham initially believed the reference to the Lord's Day to be a reference to Sunday, the first day of the week. But when he preached the sermon series on the Seven Churches, he changed his view. Was | William Branham initially believed the reference to the Lord's Day to be a reference to Sunday, the first day of the week. But when he preached the sermon series on the Seven Churches, he changed his view. Was this a revelation from God or was this simply another case of stealing a "revelation" from Clarence Larkin? | ||
=Clarence Larkin= | =Clarence Larkin= | ||
We know William Branham took much of the church age sermon series from Clarence Larkin. Here is what Larkin said on the subject: | We know William Branham took much of the church age sermon series from Clarence Larkin. Here is what Larkin said on the subject of the "Lord's Day": | ||
:''The Messages to the Seven Churches, Rev. 2:1–3; 22. As these Messages were to seven churches that were in existence in John’s day, and to whom he personally wrote, '''the advocates of the theory that John was in the Spirit on a certain Sabbath or “Lord’s Day,” naturally claim that John at that time could not have been transported into the “Day of the Lord.”''' But that does not necessarily follow.<ref>Clarence Larkin, The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture (Philadelphia, PA: Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1919), 13.</ref> | :''The Messages to the Seven Churches, Rev. 2:1–3; 22. As these Messages were to seven churches that were in existence in John’s day, and to whom he personally wrote, '''the advocates of the theory that John was in the Spirit on a certain Sabbath or “Lord’s Day,” naturally claim that John at that time could not have been transported into the “Day of the Lord.”''' But that does not necessarily follow.<ref>Clarence Larkin, The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture (Philadelphia, PA: Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1919), 13.</ref> | ||
:''He tells us that he was “in the Spirit on the LORD’S DAY.” '''There has been much confusion as to what is meant here by the “Lord’s Day.” Some hold that the “First Day of the Week” or the Christian Sabbath is meant, others that John meant the “Day of the Lord.”''' | :''He tells us that he was “in the Spirit on the LORD’S DAY.” '''There has been much confusion as to what is meant here by the “Lord’s Day.” Some hold that the “First Day of the Week” or the Christian Sabbath is meant, others that John meant the “Day of the Lord.”''' Both the Old and the New Testament speak of the “Day of the Lord.” Isa. 2:12, Joel 1:15, 2:1, 3:14, Ezek. 13:5, Malachi 4:5, Acts 2:20, 2. Cor. 1:14, 1. Thess. 5:2, 2. Pet. 3:10. The term applies to the “Day of the Lord’s Return” and includes both the Tribulation and the Millennium. See the Chart on the Prophetic Days of Scripture. The Christian Sabbath was never called the “LORD’S DAY” until after the Book of Revelation was written and got its name from that source. It is always called in the Gospels and Epistles the “First Day of the Week.” | ||
Both the Old and the New Testament speak of the “Day of the Lord.” Isa. 2:12, Joel 1:15, 2:1, 3:14, Ezek. 13:5, Malachi 4:5, Acts 2:20, 2. Cor. 1:14, 1. Thess. 5:2, 2. Pet. 3:10. The term applies to the “Day of the Lord’s Return” and includes both the Tribulation and the Millennium. See the Chart on the Prophetic Days of Scripture. The Christian Sabbath was never called the “LORD’S DAY” until after the Book of Revelation was written and got its name from that source. It is always called in the Gospels and Epistles the “First Day of the Week.” | |||
:''It is hardly likely that John could have been caught up as Paul was into the Third Heaven and seen and heard all that he describes in the Book of Revelation on one Sabbath Day, and as the Book from chapter 5 is a description of the things that are to come to pass in the “DAY OF THE LORD,” '''what better understanding of the “LORD’S DAY” can we have than that John was projected by the Holy Spirit across the centuries into the “DAY OF THE LORD”''' and had visualized to him the things that shall come to pass in that day. This is the rational solution of the question. See the Chart, John’s Patmos Vision. | :''It is hardly likely that John could have been caught up as Paul was into the Third Heaven and seen and heard all that he describes in the Book of Revelation on one Sabbath Day, and as the Book from chapter 5 is a description of the things that are to come to pass in the “DAY OF THE LORD,” '''what better understanding of the “LORD’S DAY” can we have than that John was projected by the Holy Spirit across the centuries into the “DAY OF THE LORD”''' and had visualized to him the things that shall come to pass in that day. This is the rational solution of the question. See the Chart, John’s Patmos Vision. | ||
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:''Thus we have in John’s “Seven-Fold” description of the person of the “Glorified Son of Man” circumstantial or indirect evidence that John saw his vision of the Son of Man, '''not on a Sabbath Day (or the “Lord’s Day” as we now call it), but was projected by the Holy Spirit forward into the “Day of the Lord” and saw Him as He will appear then as the Judge''', and the coming “SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.”<ref>Clarence Larkin, The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture (Philadelphia, PA: Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1919), 12.</ref> | :''Thus we have in John’s “Seven-Fold” description of the person of the “Glorified Son of Man” circumstantial or indirect evidence that John saw his vision of the Son of Man, '''not on a Sabbath Day (or the “Lord’s Day” as we now call it), but was projected by the Holy Spirit forward into the “Day of the Lord” and saw Him as He will appear then as the Judge''', and the coming “SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.”<ref>Clarence Larkin, The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture (Philadelphia, PA: Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1919), 12.</ref> | ||
Unfortunately, Clarence Larkin was not a Greek scholar and, as a result, his understanding of many issues did not benefit from an understanding of the original language of the Nw Testament. | |||
=Quotes of William Branham= | =Quotes of William Branham= | ||
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:''All right, '''the Sun of righteousness with healing in His wings.''' Now His countenances. '''He was a judge''', or another thing to show that he was '''over into the Lord’s day.''' You believe that? He went over into the Lord’s day and saw the Lord as a judge; not as priest, not as king, but as a judge. He is a Judge. Don’t you believe that? Bible says He’s a Judge. And here He was all dressed as the Judge, showing what He had done; what He was: what He was to the sinner, what He was to the Christian. And here He stands now with the Voice of many waters, and His countenances was like the sun shining in its strength.<ref>William Branham, 60-1204E - The Patmos Vision, para. 98, 99, 120, 156, 243</ref> | :''All right, '''the Sun of righteousness with healing in His wings.''' Now His countenances. '''He was a judge''', or another thing to show that he was '''over into the Lord’s day.''' You believe that? He went over into the Lord’s day and saw the Lord as a judge; not as priest, not as king, but as a judge. He is a Judge. Don’t you believe that? Bible says He’s a Judge. And here He was all dressed as the Judge, showing what He had done; what He was: what He was to the sinner, what He was to the Christian. And here He stands now with the Voice of many waters, and His countenances was like the sun shining in its strength.<ref>William Branham, 60-1204E - The Patmos Vision, para. 98, 99, 120, 156, 243</ref> | ||
=What the phrase means in the original Greek= | |||
The English possessive “the Lord’s” is not in the Greek genitive (possessive) case, but is rather an adjective coined from the noun “Lord,” and means something like “in honor of” or “pertaining to” the Lord. By the mid-second century this word was used to distinguish Christian from Jewish devotion, thus indicating that it had already been in use for a considerable length of time. Given the significance of Sabbath observance for the earliest followers of Jesus, who were Jewish, the only possible explanation for the phenomenon of calling Sunday “the Lord’s Day” is the probability that they held a weekly remembrance of the resurrection.<ref>Gordon D. Fee, Revelation, New Covenant Commentary Series (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2011), 14–15.<ref> | |||
Some contend that ἐν τῇ κυριακῇ ἡμέρᾳ (“on the Lord’s day”) refers to the eschatological Day of the Lord prophesied in the OT, so that John’s vision (especially chs. 4–22) is an explanation of how this latter-day expectation will be (or is being) fulfilled. This would be an attractive idea since the focus of the book’s visions is end-time judgment. However, κυριακός is never used of the “Day of the Lord” in the LXX, NT, or early fathers.<ref>G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1999), 203.</ref> | |||