Chapter 16: The Witnesses That Cannot Be Silenced
This chapter summarizes seven lines of evidence for the Sabbath that don't depend on complex theology. Each witness stands alone; together, they form a cumulative case.
Before you decide, consider the witnesses. These are not preachers, theologians, or traditions, but witnesses that cannot be bribed, intimidated, or silenced.
For an interactive timeline of Sabbath keepers through history, see https://theremnantthread.com/studies/sabbath-keepers
I. The Stone
God wrote the fourth commandment with His own finger.
"And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God."
These words were written not by Moses, a prophet, or an angel, but by God Himself.
Of all the ways God could have delivered His law, He chose stone, making it permanent and unchangeable.1 Ancient Near Eastern covenant treaties were written on stone precisely because stone represented permanence. The Hittite suzerainty treaties, Egyptian boundary stelae, and Mesopotamian law codes (including Hammurabi's) all employed stone to signify binding, unchangeable obligation. God used the cultural medium His audience would understand: what is carved in stone stands forever. See Kenneth A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 283-294. What is carved in stone cannot be erased by papal decree.
Every other commandment (do not murder, do not steal, do not commit adultery) Christians accept as binding. Only the fourth commandment, the one God specifically wrote in stone, do they claim was "changed" or "fulfilled."
The stone testifies: What God wrote, man cannot unwrite.
II. The Word
Only one commandment begins with "Remember."
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy."
Why "Remember"?
God knew His people would be pressured to abandon it.
Before the pressure came, God embedded the warning in the commandment itself. Not "observe," not "keep"; "Remember." As if to say: They will try to make you abandon this one. Don't let them.
For 1,700 years, the Church has worked to make Christians forget.2 Constantine's 321 AD decree was the first civil Sunday law: "On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest." The Council of Laodicea (c. 363-364 AD) Canon 29 forbade Sabbath rest: "Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day." Text preserved in Henry Percival, ed., The Seven Ecumenical Councils, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 14 (1900). Councils declared it abolished. Emperors made it illegal. Reformers rationalized the change. Theologians explained it away.
And still the commandment stands: "Remember."
The word testifies: God anticipated the attack before it came.
III. The Enemy
The Roman Catholic Church admits everything, not under torture, not in secret, but openly, proudly, in print.
Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers:
"You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday."
The Catholic Mirror, September 1893:
"The Catholic Church, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday."
Father Thomas Enright, 1889:
"The Bible says, 'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.' The Catholic Church says: 'No! By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day, and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.' And lo, the entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church!"
They call Sunday their "mark of authority" over Scripture.
The enemy testifies: When they tell you it's their mark, believe them.
IV. The Math
For the full prophecy explanation, see Chapter 8. The key point: Scripture predicted a power would reign for 1,260 years. History shows the papacy held civil authority from 538 to 1798--exactly 1,260 years.
The numbers cannot be argued.
Scripture contains no command to keep Sunday, no apostolic example of a changed day, and no hint that the Sabbath was transferred. Billions of Christians gather weekly on a day resting entirely on church tradition.
Daniel predicted 1,260 years. History confirmed 1,260 years.
Daniel 7:25 foretold a power that would "think to change times and laws" and persecute the saints for "a time and times and the dividing of time" (1,260 prophetic days).
In 538 AD, the Bishop of the Catholic Church gained civil authority over Western Christianity.3 Emperor Justinian's 533 AD decree recognized the Pope as "head of all the holy churches," but implementation required the removal of the Ostrogothic kingdom from Rome. When Belisarius defeated the Ostrogoths in 538 AD, the Pope gained effective civil authority over the Western Empire's religious affairs. See Justinian's Codex I.1.4 and Procopius, History of the Wars, Books V-VI. In 1798 AD, Napoleon's general Berthier captured Pope Pius VI, ending papal temporal power.
The calculation 538 + 1,260 = 1,798 demonstrates the prophecy was fulfilled remarkably precisely.The precision depends on which start date is selected. The 538 date marks Ostrogothic defeat and papal civil authority; historians also note Justinian's 533 decree and the 553 final defeat of the Goths. All fall within a 20-year range, making the 1798 endpoint remarkably close to any calculation. The interpretive framework determines which date best marks "beginning of papal supremacy."
The math testifies: Prophecy fulfilled cannot be unfulfilled.
V. The Blood
They died rather than worship on Sunday.
These are not theories or abstract arguments, but named witnesses with dates and methods of death.
- Moscow, 1503: The "Judaizers" executed (their specific Sabbath practices are debated, but they were condemned partly for adopting Jewish observances)
- Germany, 1529: Oswald Glait, Sabbatarian Anabaptist leader, martyred
- London, 1661: John James, Seventh Day Baptist pastor, hanged, drawn, and quartered
For 1,260 years, The Catholic Church hunted Sabbath-keepers across Europe. The Waldensians in the Alps.5 Catholic inquisitor Reinerius Saccho (d. 1259), who spent years hunting Waldensians, wrote that they "keep the Sabbath." See his Summa de Catharis et Leonistis. Robinson's Ecclesiastical Researches (1792) documents that the Waldenses "maintained that the Sabbath was appointed by God." The testimony of hostile inquisitors is particularly significant. The Sabbatati in Germany. The scattered remnant wherever they hid.
They could have recanted. They could have "just gone along" with Sunday worship and believed the Sabbath privately. They chose death instead.
Their blood cries from the ground.
The blood testifies: Truth worth dying for is truth worth living for.
VI. The Voice
In September 2025, Charlie Kirk (founder of Turning Point USA, voice of conservative evangelicalism, with millions of followers) was assassinated at Utah Valley University."What We Know About the Shooting of Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk," ABC News, September 10, 2025. Available at: https://abcnews.go.com/US/plans-estimated-600-people-event-charlie-kirk-shot/story?id=127610821. Archived at: https://web.archive.org/web/20251125085411/https://abcnews.go.com/US/plans-estimated-600-people-event-charlie-kirk-shot/story?id=127610821.
He left behind a completed manuscript: Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life, published posthumously in December 2025.Charlie Kirk, Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life (Winning Team Publishing, 2025). Pre-orders reached #1 on Amazon before release. His widow Erika Kirk added the foreword.
Kirk described his practice on the radio:
"If you tune into any of my Friday radio shows, you know that I observe a Shabbat day of rest from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday."
He kept the seventh day, from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset."Charlie Kirk and the Beauty of Rest," First Fruits of Zion, December 2025. Available at: https://ffoz.org/messiah/articles/charlie-kirk-rest. Mainstream coverage of his book consistently omits his explicit Saturday observance, using generic "Sabbath" language that allows readers to assume Sunday.
He was a mainstream conservative evangelical (not Adventist, not Messianic, not Hebrew Roots) who discovered what Scripture plainly teaches. He had kept the Saturday Sabbath since 2021, learned from Dennis Prager, and dedicated his final book to him.Adam Kovac, "Charlie Kirk Kept a 'Jewish Sabbath' from Friday Night to Saturday," The Forward, September 10, 2025. Available at: https://forward.com/culture/769042/charlie-kirk-jewish-sabbath-book/. Archived at: https://web.archive.org/web/20251125085409/https://forward.com/culture/769042/charlie-kirk-jewish-sabbath-book/. His posthumous book reached millions who would never read Adventist literature.
This is not about Kirk's politics or the circumstances of his death.
This is about an unexpected witness (a man with no theological connection to Sabbath-keeping Christianity) who discovered what Scripture plainly teaches and publicly stated what the Catholic Church openly admits: they changed the day.
The voice testifies: The truth is spreading beyond traditional channels.
VII. The Languages
In over one hundred languages, the name for the seventh day of the week is derived from "Sabbath":
- Spanish: sábado
- Italian: sabato
- Portuguese: sábado
- Russian: суббота (subbota)
- Polish: sobota
- Arabic: السبت (as-sabt)
- Hebrew: שַׁבָּת (Shabbat)
These languages evolved independently across continents, religions, and millennia. Spanish Catholics, Russian Orthodox, Arabic-speaking Muslims--none consulted each other about what to call the seventh day. Yet they all preserved the same ancient memory: the seventh day is "Sabbath day."
The languages testify: The world remembers what the churches abandoned.
For a complete multilingual reference across 100+ languages, see The Week Unchanged study.
The Testimony
Seven witnesses. Seven testimonies. Seven lines of evidence that invite examination.
The Stone: God wrote it Himself. Who has authority to unwrite it?
The Word: God said "Remember." Why would He warn against forgetting something He planned to abolish?
The Enemy: The Catholic Church admits they changed it. Why follow the institution that admits the change?
The Math: 1,260 years to the exact year. Coincidence or prophecy fulfilled?
The Blood: Martyrs died rather than comply. It prompts one to consider what they knew that might be missed.
The Voice: A mainstream evangelical discovered the Sabbath. Why is the truth spreading now?
The Languages: Over one hundred languages call Saturday "Sabbath day." Why did they all remember what the churches abandoned?
Seven witnesses testify from different angles: stone, Scripture, hostile confession, mathematical prophecy, blood, unexpected voice, and the silent testimony of language itself. None can be silenced. None have been.
What you do with their testimony is between you and the Father.
The Epilogue that follows traces the thread from Eden to eternity--and through you.