Calendar Changes

Many ancient civilizations developed their own calendars based on the seasons of the year. With so many different calendars and calendar changes, one may wonder, how do we know that the weekly cycle was never lost? How can we be sure that the Sabbath we keep today is the same one instituted at the end of the Creation week (Genesis 2:2, 3)? And how can Sunday keepers be sure that the Sunday they keep is the same as the original Sunday? We should recognize first that there is no historical evidence that the week of seven days was ever lost. It is, in fact, Sabbath observance that has preserved the weekly cycle, keeping it unchanged throughout the ages.

Jews worldwide have no uncertainty regarding when to keep the Shabbat. Even if the Sabbath had been lost in Old Testament times, Jesus could have corrected it. But He kept the same Sabbath the Jews of His time were keeping (Luke 4:16; 23:54–56).

Undeniably, the Sabbath is too meaningful and holy for God to allow it to be lost. During the Christian Era, the weekly cycle likewise remained unchanged.

When the Gregorian calendar was first introduced in the late sixteenth century, the error accumulated during the thirteen centuries since the Council of Nicaea was corrected by a deletion of ten days. So, Thursday, October 4, 1582, of the old Julian calendar was followed by Friday, October 15, 1582, of the new Gregorian calendar.

Some European countries didn’t adopt the new calendar until later, but in every case, the weekly cycle remained unchanged.

Even the Roman Catholic Church considers the Sunday it keeps to be the same day on which Jesus was raised from the dead —the first day of the week.

We can be certain that every seventh-day Sabbath arrives unchanged as God’s sanctuary in time. The same day of the week God rested, blessed, and sanctified at the end of the Creation week (Genesis 2:2, 3) was kept by Jesus and His apostles (Luke 23:54–56; Acts 16:13). And we are encouraged to follow God’s example by keeping the seventh-day Sabbath as a symbol of salvation by grace through faith (Hebrews 4:4, 9–11).

In keeping it, we recognize God’s sovereignty as our Creator and Redeemer and receive His blessing (Isaiah 58:13, 14).