That is a great question! We do know that the “Seven-day Week” began at the time that God made the earth habitable for man as recorded in Genesis chapter one. In verses 3-5 we read, “Then God said. ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So, the evening and the morning were the FIRST DAY.” The 24-hour day began right here and as we read on in verses 6-31, we see God continued the creation process for another FIVE DAYS. Then we read in 2:1-3, “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the SEVENTH DAY God ended His work which He had done, and He RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY from all the work which He had done. Then God BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY AND SANCTIFIED IT, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” This was the Dawn of the creation of Man (who was created on the SIXTH DAY) and to this day the “Biblical Week of Seven Days” is still acknowledged by the whole world.

If you consult an encyclopedia (or Wikipedia on a computer) you will learn that the actual “naming of the seven days” began with the Babylonians. They named Tuesday through Saturday after the five planetary bodies known to them and Sunday and Monday after the Sun and the Moon, which they worshiped. Later, the Roman Emperor Constantine established the seven-day week in the Roman calendar in 321 A.D. and designated Sunday and Monday as the first two days of the week. Like the Babylonians, each day was named for one of their gods that they had embraced from mythology. For example, Saturday comes from Saturn, the ancient Roman god of fun and feasting. That is the calendar used by most today, even Christians, though believers in Christ do not place any value on the names, knowing that they do come from the name of pagan gods.

We have no record in Scripture of anyone naming the seven days of the week. It seems they simply referred to them as the FIRST DAY, SECOND DAY, and so forth with the SEVENTH DAY being observed as the SABBATH. We saw that God RESTED on the Seventh-Day from His completed work of creation and then He “blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” The observing of this day became a commandment and was officially called “the Sabbath” (which means “rest”) when the Lord said to Moses, “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths YOU SHALL KEEP, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. You SHALL KEEP THE SABBATH, therefore, for IT IS HOLY TO YOU. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for WHOEVER DOES ANY WORK ON IT, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of REST, holy to the LORD…It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed” (Exodus 31:12-15, 17). Before the Ten Commandments were given to the nation of Israel the Patriarchs definitely regarded the “Seven-Day Week” and this is illustrated in the days of Noah (see Genesis 7:4, 10; 8:10, 12), in the story of Jacob and Leah (Genesis 29:27-28) and when Jacob was buried (Genesis 50:10).

After the Lord Jesus died on the cross (to bear the judgment and death that sin deserved…see Romans 6:23 and Hebrews 9:26), He arose victorious over sin and death on the “FIRST DAY of the week” (see Matthew 28:1). From that day on believers in Christ no longer observed the Sabbath; instead, they celebrated the Lord’s victory over sin and death on the day of His resurrection. Thus, we read in Acts 20:7, “Now on THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, when the disciples came together to break bread.” That day was set aside by them to partake of the Lord’s Supper which the Lord Himself had instituted (see Luke 22:19-20). In doing this, they were reflecting on the awful price the Lord Jesus had to pay in order to forgive them of their sins. It was time to “Remember Him” as He had asked them to do, “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). Ever since the Lord rose from the dead the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK has been precious to every born-again believer, for it affords them the opportunity to also partake of the Lord’s Supper and thus “Remember Him.” It has been 2,000 years since the Lord rose from the dead and by the grace of God THAT DAY is still celebrated and will continue to be celebrated until the Lord comes to take believers home. “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death TILL HE COMES” (1st Corinthians 11:23).  (464.1)  (DO)