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If
we are seeking, He says we will find and He will reveal Himself to
those who show their love by keeping His commandments (John
14:21).
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Most
of us who have come out from Christianity, following traditions of
man and honouring the first day of the week rather than the seventh
look to Yisra'ĕl
and seek the Jewish roots because we assumed they are keeping the
First Covenant to the letter.
What we really find is that the
Israelites of today have their own traditions which, according to
Talmud, are above Scripture. Some of the traditions within Judaism
are simply inherited from the Pagan nations that they were
assimilated into during the exile in Babylon and Assyria. Some of
these traditions include: naming months after false elohim (Tammuz,
Nisan, Siwan), replacing the Name of Yahweh with “Adonai”,
etc.
It should come as no surprise because Yahushua, himself saved some of
His most scathing rebukes for the “experts” in the Torah.
The
Yisra’ĕlites also had an earlier form of writing which changed to
the Babylonian style of modern Aramaic we know today.
The truth
is, that there is only one truth! “Thy
Word is truth” (John
17:17) So, there is no point in looking to
others to find how to please Yahweh. He has given us the truth in His
Word.
For the Yehudim, the Shabbat traditionally starts at
evening, when the sun has gone down, and ends 24 hours later. This is
what a number of Messianics follow in regard to the Sabbath. Let's
examine the Scriptures and see where the truth is.
The best place
to start is at the start. What does the creation in Genesis reveal?
Genesis:
chapter 1:1-5
“1
In the beginning Elohim created the shamayim and the earth. 2
And the earth came to be formless and empty, and darkness was on the
face of the deep. And the Ruaḥ̣ of Elohim was moving on
the face of
the waters.3
And Elohim said, “Let light come to be,” and light came to
be. 4
And Elohim saw the light, that it was good. And Elohim separated the
light from the darkness. 5
And Elohim called
the light ‘day’ (yom)
and the darkness He called ‘night.’ And there came to be
evening
and there came to be morning, day one.”
Note:
The Light was not sunlight for the first 3
days and 3 nights, this is a picture of Yahushua, in the earth.
John
12:46
“I
am come as a light into the world...”
We
know that the "light" (Yahushua) was the first
creation:
Colossians
1:15-17
“15
...who is the likeness of the invisible Elohim, the first-born
of all creation. 16
Because in Him were created all that are in the shamayim and that are
on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or rulerships or
principalities or authorities – all
have been created through Him
and for Him. 17
And He is
before all,
and in Him all hold together.”
Note:
LIGHT=Or=Yom,
DARKNESS=Night=Layelah, EVENING=Erev, MORNING=Boker,
FIRST=Echad.
Hebrew
is cyclic rather than linear thinking.
Erev
= mixing or a blending.
You can't have it without both Light and darkness, which means the
Light was there prior to the darkness.
Morning
= Boker,
boker is a breaking, dividing, separation, delineation or
demarcation
All
was stated as happening in
order,
then boker occurs, and that was the Echad
or unified day. This is not the word Rishone
for first.
So,
to simplify:
The
daylight part of a 24 hour period is called “DAY” (Hebrew:
YOM).
EVENING
(EREV)
=Mixing of the Light and darkness after sunset
MORNING (BOKER)
=break of day, which is the sun breaking the horizon.
Note: It
is true that “yom” can mean an
undefined period of
time unless it is defined, as it is in the
Genesis account (“there came to be evening and there came to be
morning”)
This account of
day one is no different than describing the age of a child. You are
not one year old to you have lived a whole year. Likewise, Genesis
describes the events that took place, then night to morning an is
called "the first day".
The
six day creation defines for us when a day starts:
In
the beginning there is nothingness, or darkness, then Elohim creates
light and calls it “day”. That is the start. Scripture
states
that evening came, then morning (start of the next day), that was the
first day.
The
creation process continues like this for six days:
DAY
(Create) – EVENING – MORNING. It's really that simple. A
day is
morning to morning.
At
the end of the six days of creation we read:
Genesis
2:1-3
“1
Thus the shamayim and the earth were completed, and all their array. 2
And on
the seventh day (yom) Elohim
completed His work which He had done, and He
rested on the seventh day (yom) from
all His work which He had made. 3
And Elohim
baruḵ the seventh day (yom) and qadosh it,
because on it He rested from all His work which Elohim
in creating
had made.”
So
to clarify when a day starts, scripture informs that Elohim rested
and blessed the SEVENTH DAYLIGHT PERIOD (YOM).
Not the sixth night!
This is NOT saying
a day
is 12 hours. A full "day" in the creation account is
defined as 24 hours starting in the morning.
If you believe that "there
came to be evening and there came to be morning, the first day"
supports a day beginning in the evening then you must believe that a
day is 12 hours. As we will see from Scripture this is not the
case.
WHAT SAITH THE
SCRIPTURES?
As
we continue through Scripture, we find many narratives that define
a 24 hour day beginning in the morning, The following are some
of the most straightforward:
Genesis
1:16
“16
And Elohim made two great lights: the
greater light to rule the day,
and the
lesser
light to rule the night,
and the stars.”
Note:
Why would Yahweh start a day with the 'lesser light'?
Genesis
1:18
“18
and to rule over the day
and over the night,
and to separate the light
from the darkness...”
Note:
The order: day-night, light-darkness...
Genesis
19:33-34
“33
So they made their father drink wine that
night. And
the first-born went in and lay with her father, and he was not aware
of it when she lay down or when she arose. 34
And it came to be on the
next day
that the first-born said to the younger, “See, I lay with my
father last
night.”
Note:
The "next" day followed the night.
Exodus
10:13
“13
And Mosheh stretched out his rod over the land of Mitsrayim, and YHWH
brought
an east wind on the land all that
day
and all that
night. Morning
came,
and the east wind brought the locusts.”
Note: “that
day”
belongs to “that
night”, then the “Morning came”
Exodus
16:22-27
“22
And it came to be, on the sixth
day,
that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And
all the rulers of the congregation came and told Mosheh. 23
And he said to them, “This is what YHWH
has said, ‘Tomorrow
is a rest, a Shabbath qadosh to YHWH. That which you bake, bake;
and that which you cook, cook. And lay up for yourselves all that is
left over, to keep it until morning.’
” 24
And they laid it up till morning,
as Mosheh commanded. And it did not stink, and no worm was in it. 25
And Mosheh said, “Eat it today,
for today
is a Shabbath
to YHWH, today you do not find it in the field. 26
“Gather it six days, but on the seventh day,
which is the Shabbath, there is none.” 27
And it came to be that some of the people went out on the seventh day to
gather, but they found none.”
Note:
Yahweh said “Tomorrow” was Sabbath, then
“morning” comes and
Mosheh said “eat it today, for today is a Sabbath”.
Exodus
18:13
“13
And it came to be, on the next
day,
that Mosheh sat to rightly rule the people. And the people stood
before Mosheh from morning
until evening.”
Note:
the “next day” starts in the “morning”.
Exodus 32:5-6
“5
And Aharon saw and built an altar before it. And Aharon called out
and said, “Tomorrow
is a festival to YHWH” 6
And they rose early
on the next day,
and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. And the
people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”
Note:
Aaron said “tomorrow” is a festival and the “next
day” they
“rose early”. You don't rise at night.
Leviticus 6:20
“20 This
is the offering of Aharon and his sons, which they bring near to YHWH beginning
on the day when
he is anointed: one-tenth of an ĕphah of fine flour as a daily grain
offering, half of it in
the morning
and half of it at
night.”
Note:
The offering was to be brought to Yahweh in “the morning”,
the
“beginning of the day”.
Leviticus
7:15
“15
As for the flesh of the slaughtering of his peace offering for
thanksgiving, it is eaten
the same day
it is offered, he does
not leave any of it until morning.”
Note:
How can you eat your peace offering "the same day" and "not
leave any of it till morning" if your day starts at
night!?
Numbers
11:32
“32
And the people were up all that
day,
and all that
night,
and all the next
day,
and gathered the quail. He who has least gathered ten omers. And they
spread them out for themselves all around the camp.”
Note:
“that day” belongs to “that night”, then the
“next day”
comes
Joshua
7:6-13
“6 And
Yahoshua tore his garments, and fell to the earth on his face before
the ark of YHWH until
evening,
both he and the elders of Yisra’ĕl, and they put dust on their
heads... 10 And YHWH said
to Yahoshua, “Rise up! Why are you lying on your face?... 13
“Rise up, qadosh the people, and you shall say, ‘Qadosh
yourselves for tomorrow,
because thus said YHWH Elohim
of Yisra’ĕl, “That which is under the ban is in your
midst...”
Note:
It was already “evening” when Yahweh told Yahoshua to set
themselves apart for “tomorrow”, so a day cannot begin at
evening.
Judges
19:9
“9
And the man arose to go, he and his concubine and his servant. But
his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him,
“See, the
day
is now
drawing toward evening.
Please spend the night. See, the day is coming to an end. Stay here,
and let your heart be glad. And you shall rise
early tomorrow
for your journey, and you shall go to your tent.”
Note:
Rising "early tomorrow" implies the start of the day being
morning. You will never see the words "early, at
night..."
Samuel
9:19-26
“And
Shemu’ĕl answered Sha’ul and said, “I am the seer. Go
up
before me to the high place, for you shall eat
with me today.
And tomorrow
I
shall let you
go and make known to you all that is in your heart...26
And they rose
early. And
it came to be about the
dawning of the day
that Shemu’ĕl called to Sha’ul on the roof, saying,
“Rise, so
that I send
you on your way.”
Note:
Rising "early" at "the dawning of the day" again
equates the start of the day being morning.
1
Samuel 19:10-11
“10
and Sha’ul sought to smite the spear through Dawid, and into the
wall, but he slipped away from the presence of Sha’ul, so he
smote
the spear into the wall. And Dawid fled and escaped that
night. 11
And Sha’ul sent messengers to Dawid’s house to watch him
and to
put him to death in
the morning.
And Mikal, Dawid’s wife, informed him, saying, “If you do
not
save your life tonight, tomorrow
you are put to death.”
Note:
Again, It was already “night” when Mikal told Dawid to flee
for
“in the morning”, or “tomorrow” he was to be
killed, so a day
cannot begin at evening.
1
Samuel 28:8-19
“8
And Sha’ul disguised himself and put on other garments, and went,
he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by
night.
And he said, “Please divine for me, and bring up for me the one I
shall name.”... 11 So
he said, “Bring up Shemu’ĕl for me.”... 16 Then
Shemu’ĕl said, “And why do you ask me, seeing YHWH has
turned aside from you and has become your enemy?... 19
“Further, YHWH also
gives Yisra’ĕl with you into the hand of the Pelishtites. And tomorrow you
and your sons are with me. YHWH
also
gives the army of Yisra’ĕl into the hand of the Pelishtites.”
Note:
If Sha'ul came at “night” how could fight the Philistines
“tomorrow”?
1
Samuel 30:17
“17
And Dawid smote them from
twilight
until the evening
of the next day.
And none of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on
camels and fled.”
Note:
If a day were from evening to evening the Scripture would not read
“the next day”.
2
Samuel 24:13-15
“13
Gad then came to Dawid and informed him. And he said to him,
“Should
seven years of scarcity of food come to you in your land? Or would
you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or
should there be three
days’
plague in your land? Now know and see what answer I take back to Him
who sent me.” 14
And Dawid said to Gad, “I am in great trouble. Please let us fall
into the hand of YHWH,
for His compassion is great, but do not let me fall into the hand of
man.” 15
And YHWH sent
a plague upon Yisra’ĕl from
the morning
till the appointed time, and from Dan to Be’ĕrsheba
seventy thousand men of the people died.”
Note:
The “three day” plague started in the
“morning”, not at
night.
Lamentations
3:22
“22 The kindnesses
of
YHWH! For
we have not been consumed, For His compassions have not ended. 23
They are new
every morning,
Great is Your trustworthiness.”
Note:
“new every morning”, because morning is a new day.
Jonah 4:6-7
“6
And YHWH Elohim appointed a plant and made it come up over Yonah, to
be a shade for his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Yonah
greatly rejoiced over the plant. 7
But as morning
dawned
the next
day Elohim
appointed a worm which attacked the plant so that it withered.”
Note:
“morning” starts the “next day”.
Zecharyah
14:7
“7 And
it shall be one day which
is known to YHWH, neither day nor night,
but at evening time there shall be light.”
Note:
A 24 hour day is mentioned here with the day preceding the
night.
Matthew
28:1
“1
Now after
the Shabbath,
toward dawn
on one of the shabbathoth,
Miryam from Magdala and the other Miryam came to see the tomb.”
Note:
In all these examples the Sabbath ended at “dawn”
Mark 16:2
“2
And very
early
on one of the
shabbathoth,
they came to the tomb when the sun
had risen.”
Luke
24:1
“1 And
on one of the
shabbathoth,
at early
dawn,
they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had
prepared”
Note: - John 20:1 "And
on one of the shabbathoth Miryam from Magdala came early to the tomb,
while it was still dim, and
saw that the stone had been removed from
the tomb." Most translations translate the words "still dim" as "still dark" which would make the account
inconsistent with the other three! In
fact, the Greek word “skotia” Strong's# 4653 primarily means
'dim'.
John
6:16-22
“16
And when
evening came,
His talmidim went down to the sea, 17
and entering into the boat, they were going over the sea toward
Kephar Nahum. And it
had already become dark,
and Yahushua had not yet come to them. 18
And the sea was rising because a great wind was blowing. 19
When they had rowed about five or six kilometres, they saw Yahushua walking
on the sea
and
coming near the boat, and they were afraid. 20
And He said to them, “It is I, do not be afraid.” 21
They wished therefore to take Him into the boat, and at once the boat
was at the land where they were going. 22 On
the
next
day...”
Note:
This is straightforward. It was already dark at night when these
things took place... the the next day.
John
13:27-30 “And after the piece of bread, Satan entered into
him. Yahushua, therefore, said to him, ''What you do, do quickly.'' 28
But no one at the
table knew why He said this to him, 29
for some were supposing, because Yahudah had the bag,
that Yahushua was saying to him, ''Buy what we need for the
Festival,'' or that he should give somewhat to the poor. 30
So, having received the piece of bread, he then went out
straightaway, and it was night.”
Note:
Why would the disciples even be thinking that Yahushua would be
asking Yahudah to BUY if the Festival of Unleavened Bread had
started that night? It would be considered a High Sabbath on which no
one would buy or sell! The obvious fact is that the Festival started
in the MORNING on the 15th.
Acts
4:3
“3
And they arrested them, and put them in jail until the
next day,
for it was already
evening.”
Note:
Again dark, then the next day.
Acts
16:9-11
“9
And in the
night a
vision appeared to Sha’ul: A man of Makedonia was standing,
begging
him and saying, “Come over to Makedonia and help us.” 10
And when he saw the vision, immediately
we sought to go to Makedonia, concluding that the Master had called
us to bring the Good News to them. 11
Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to
Samothrakĕ, and the
next day
came to Neapolis.”
Note:
The next day follows the night yet again....
Acts
23:31-32
“31
So the soldiers, as they were commanded, took Sha’ul and brought
him by night
to Antipatris. 32
And on the
next day
they left the horsemen to go on with him, and returned to the
barracks.”
Note:
Again, the next day follows the night.
Having the night as the
first
part of the day seems to be a reversal of many of Yahushua's parables
which He describes Himself as the us as “light
of the world”
(Jn 8:12, Jn 9:5, Jn 12:46,
etc.) and we should “walk
in the light”
and “not
in darkness”
(Jn 8:12, Jn 11:9-10, Jn
12:35, Jn 9:4, etc.)
Many of the New
Covenant letters likewise use similar parables.
1
Thessalonians 5:5
“5
You are all sons of light and sons
of the day.
We are not
of the night
nor of darkness.”
See
also: Rom
13:12-13, Eph 5:8, 1Thess 5:7-8.
Why start a day when we all sleep?
ANOMOLIES
With
so many Scriptural references defining the day and when it begins,
one wonders what compels some to hold to the traditions of the
evening to evening Sabbath? To be fair there are a couple of
references that can cause confusion if taken out of context.
Leviticus 23:26-32
“26
And YHWH spoke
to Mosheh, saying, 27
“On the tenth
day
of this seventh month is Yom ha'Kippurim. It shall be a qodesh
gathering for you. And you shall afflict
your beings,
and shall bring an offering made by fire to YHWH 28
“And you do no work on that same day, for it is a Yom
ha'Kippurim, to make atonement
for you before YHWH
Elohim. 29
“For any being who is not afflicted on that same day, he shall be
cut off from his people. 30
“And any being who does any work on that same day, that being I
shall destroy from the midst of his people. 31
“You do no work – a Law forever throughout your generations
in
all your dwellings. 32
‘It
is a Shabbath of
rest to you, and you shall afflict your beings. On the ninth
day
of the month at
evening, from evening to evening, you observe your Shabbath.”
It
is quite clear in the context of this Law that the Sabbath for the
day of atonement differs from other Sabbaths, in that Yahweh
Specified this particular High Sabbath to be kept from evening
to evening. Notice that Yahweh makes it clear by numbering the days;
that the day of atonement is on the "tenth day"
but the fast commences on the "ninth day"
at evening.
Why
would Yahweh Command us to start the fast on the ninth
day at evening if
the tenth day
started at evening anyhow? It also makes sense to keep this fast this
way, as some children may find it difficult waking; having not eaten
all night, to fast throughout the day and then another night; a total
72 hours.
Another exception is the
night of the Passover in which Yahweh led His people out of Egypt:
Leviticus
23:5
“5
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, between
the evenings,
is the Pesaḥ to YHWH.”
One
glaring problem of the evening to evening observance is that it is
impossible to celebrate your passover on the evening of the 14th and
eat your celebration meal “that
night”!
If your
“day” starts in the evening then celebrate at night, then
you
have passed into the 15th according to an evening to evening
reckoning...
Exodus
12:6
“6
And you shall keep it until the fourteenth
day
of the same month. Then all the assembly of the congregation of
Yisra’ĕl shall kill it between
the evenings. 7
‘And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two
doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8
‘And they shall eat the flesh on
that night,
roasted in fire - with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they
shall eat it.”
Note:
This whole Festival takes place on the one
day
of the 14th, starting “between the evenings and continuing that
night!
Some
express difficulty in correlating the morning to morning reckoning
with the Passover, yet the timing of this important festival is not
defining when a day starts or ends; Yahweh simply wants us to honour
the feast on the night of the 14th because that is the time He led
His people out of Mitsrayim...
Deuteronomy
16:1
“1
Guard the month of Aḇiḇ, and perform
the Pesaḥ to YHWH your
Elohim, for in the month of Aḇiḇ
YHWH
your
Elohim brought you out of Mitsrayim by
night.”
Deuteronomy
16:6
“6...you
slaughter the Pesaḥ in
the evening,
at the going
down of the sun,
at the Appointed Time
you came out of Mitsrayim.”
The
Feast of unleavened Bread follows on from the Passover and we are
also commanded to remove leaven from our homes from that
night:
Exodus 12:18
“18
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in
the evening, you
shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month in
the evening.”
something
to take into account: If someone keeps Passover at the
“beginning”
of the 14th (end of the 13th), they sit with 8 days of unleavended
bread, where the command is clear to eat unleavened bread from the
eating of the Pesach for 7 days. Ex.
12:15, 19; 13:6,7; 23:15; 34:18; Lev. 23:6; Num. 28:17 ; Deut. 17:8.
Most importantly:
Deuteronomy.
16: 2-3
“2
And you shall slaughter the Pesaḥ to YHWH your Elohim, from
the flock and the herd, in the place where YHWH chooses to put His
Name. 3
“Eat no leavened bread with it.
For seven days you eat unleavened bread with
it, bread of affliction…”
Note:
This suggests that Passover is the start of the 7 day unleavened bread
period, which is a continuous 7 day period and not an 8 day
period.
The
festival of Unleavened bread simply cannot begin at sundown after the
Passover as Scripture commands the leftovers to be burnt "before
morning" which involves kindling a fire; something forbidden on
a Sabbath.
For
a detailed article and comparison of the different
traditions of celebrating Pesach, click the link below:
Another
apparent anomaly is:
Nehemyah
13:18-21
“18
Did not your fathers do the same so that our Elohim brought all this
evil on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on
Yisra’ĕl
by profaning the Shabbath.” 19
And it came to be, at the gates of Yerushalayim, as
it began to be dark before the Shabbath,
that I commanded the gates to be shut, and commanded that they should
not be opened till after the Shabbath.
And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, so that no
burdens would be brought in on the Shabbath day. 20
And the merchants
and sellers
of all kinds of wares spent the night outside Yerushalayim once or
twice, 21
and I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night
around the wall? If you do so again, I lay hands on you!” From
that
time on they came no more on the Shabbath.”
“As
it began to be dark before the Shabbath”
could infer that Sabbath starts when the sun goes down, but does not
have to be the case. Against the weight of all other Scripture it
would be foolish to base your Sabbath on this one verse. In fact, it
was customary to close the gates at night and earlier in Nehemyah we
see why they were closing the gates:
Nehemyah
7:3
“3 And I said to them,
“Let not
the
gates of Yerushalayim be opened until the sun is hot.
And while they are standing by, let
them shut the doors and bolt them.
And appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, each
at his post, and each in front of his own house.”
Nehemyah
had ordered them to shut the gates at night anyhow and were not to be
opened "until the sun was hot", and as we can see from
the context of the Scripture, Nehemyah did not want the Sabbath
profaned by merchants carrying in their wares and selling on the day
of rest. The merchants undoubtedly travelled on the sixth day and
arrived toward the end of the day, so Nehemyah simply shut the gates
on them.
Notice also the text, “Why do you
spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I lay hands on
you!” "Laying hands" on someone
(obviously forcefully) is not something one would do on the Sabbath
which
tends to infer that the evening they arrived was not when the Sabbath
commenced.
It should also be noted that this all took
place after more than 150 years of captivity in Babylon which, as
stated is where the Yisra’ĕlites had absorbed so many of the
Babylonian traditions (see references below). It is unlikely but this
may well be the first account of an evening to evening Sabbath.
There are also a great number of Scriptures that
declare uncleanliness till evening and certain events taking place
before evening that could add to the error of assumption that a day
starts in the
evening. None of these Scriptures actually state this, and it is common
sense to be made clean at evening so the persons may come into the
camp to spend the night, as it was unlawful for an unclean person to
come into the camp. More importantly, if the next day were a Sabbath
an individual would not be able to participate in any qodesh
assembly and would have to wait for the next evening.
Some see
evidence that this is how the Pharisees, instituting an evening to
evening day created a “fence law” around this.
It was for
this reason that dead bodies were removed before evening (Josh
8:29, Mark 15:42) and that it was
Commanded in the Torah (Deut
21:23), but not because it was the start
of a
new day.
SUN
WORSHIP OR MOON WORSHIP?
Some may
use the excuse that starting the day in the morning is based on sun
worship, but this is an invalid argument as the same can be said
about evening start being based on moon worship since moon worship is
equally as ancient as sun worship. In fact, looking at many
historical commentaries (see below) it appears the Yisra’ĕlites
inheriteded lunar observance from the Babylonians who revered the
moon above the sun in that it was more mysterious at night.
It
is also interesting to note that the phrase “night and day”
appears 13 times in Scripture, yet the phrase “day and
night”
appears 28 times (twice as many).
The order of "day" preceding
"night"
in Scripture is used 84 times
compared to only 19
of
the opposite (over four times as many).
When determining a set
period of time (e.g. "forty days and forty nights" which
appears 11 times) the Scriptures always
use the order of day and night. Why would the Scriptures record a
count of days starting with the "day" if a day starts with
a night?
Notice the order of the natural processes that Yahweh
has ordered:
Genesis
8:22 “As
long
as the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and
winter and summer, and day
and night
shall not cease.”
Many
who observe evening start try to claim that Scripture shows a picture
of darkness first, then Yahweh
sent Yahushua as the light,
yet
Yahushua Himself uses the reverse
showing that He indeed is the light,
but darkness follows:
John
9:4-5 “It is necessary for Me to work the works of Him who
sent
Me while it is day - night is coming,
when no one is able to work. 5
While I am in the world, I
am the Light of the world.”
This is what
Yahweh has to say about the order of day and night:
Jeremiah
33:20-21
“Thus
said YHWH, ‘If you could break My
covenant with the day
and My
covenant with the night,
so that there be not day
and night in their season, 21 then
My covenant could also be broken...”
and
continuing...
Jeremiah
33:25-26
“Thus
said YHWH, ‘If My covenant
is not with day
and night,
and if I have not appointed
the laws of the shamayim and earth, 26
then I would also reject the descendants of Yaʽaqob...”
OTHER
COMMENTARIES
So far we have
examined the Scriptures from which should come all our docrine, but
it is also interesting to delve into some of the studies of
historians and commentaries...
"...The
nighttime is considered as belonging to the preceding period of
daylight. from this there developed the meaning of "day"
in the sense of the cycle made up of one period of daylight
and one period of darkness, or according
to our modern reckoning, twenty-four hours...from the
natural viewpoint the twenty-four hour day begins
at sunrise...
however, beside this
conception there
arose another
idea of the
twenty-four hour day, according to which this daily period began at sunset.
it was no doubt the lunar calendar of the Jews which gave rise to
this viewpoint...
although
the earlier
computation
did not die out completely, the custom
of considering the day as beginning at sunset
became general in later
Jewish times..."
(Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible. p.497)
"There
can be no
doubt
that in
pre-exilic
times
the Israelites reckoned the day from morning
to morning.
The day
began
with the dawn
and closed
with the end
of the night
following it..." (Jacob
Zallel Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College
Press, 1951), p. 446)
"...To
the Light He gives the name Day, to the Darkness the name
Night...Thus the work of the first day, reckoned
probably from morning
to morning,
is accomplished. The period of Light
is followed
by Evening and Darkness,
which comes to an end
with the next morning
when the second
day begins..."
(Peake's Commentary on The Bible, p.136).
"In
the Old Testament the earlier
practice
seems to
have
been to consider that the
day began
in the morning.
In Gen. 19:34, for example, the "morrow" (ASV) or "Next
Day" (RSV) clearly begins
with the morning after the preceding
night..."
(Jack Finegan, The Handbook of Biblical Chronology, p.7-8).
"...In earlier
traditions a day apparently began at sunrise
(e.g., Lev. 7:15-17; Judg. 19:4-19)...
later
its beginning was at sunset
and its end at the following sunset...
this
system became normative...
and is still observed in Jewish
tradition,
where for example , the sabbath begins on Friday evening at sunset
and ends Saturday at sunset..."
(Oxford Companion to the Bible, p.744).
"That the custom
of reckoning
the day as beginning
in the evening and
lasting until the following evening was probably of late
origin
is shown by the phrase "tarry all night"
(Jdg 19:6-9); the
context shows that the day
is regarded as beginning
in the morning;
in the evening the day "declined," and until the new day
(morning) arrived it was necessary to "tarry all night" (compare
also Num
11:32)" (International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
"...It
is also interesting that according to the Karaite historian
Al-QirqisanI (ca. 975 CE), the dissident Meswi al-Okbari (ca.850 CE) broke
from traditional
Rabbinical
Judaism in
an attempt to get back to the original
religion and began the reckoning
of the day from sunrise. (The
Itinerary of R. Benjamin of Tudela, ix, 5-8, ed. Gruhut-Adler,
(1904), p. 23)
"Among
the Greeks
the day was reckoned from sunset
to sunset..."
(Handbook of Chronology, op.cit., p.8)
"Among
the ancient Israelites, as among the Greeks,
the day was reckoned from sunset
to sunset.
This was the custom
also of the Gauls
and ancient Germans,
and was probably
connected originally with the cult of the moon. There
is,
however, evidence that this was not
the custom at all times..."
(Delitzsch in Dillmann's commentary on Gen. i. 5)
"...Early
in the old testament period,
when Canaan was under Egypt's influence, the
day started at sunrise...
later,
perhaps under Babylonian
influence,
the calendar seems to have changed.
the day began at moonrise
(1800 hrs) and a whole day became an evening and a morning..."
(Lion Encyclopedia of the Bible - p.163).
"...The
Israelites, like the Babylonians,
counted their days from sunset
to sunset..."
(NIV Study Bible, p.707)
"We
know little about the old
Israelite calendar,
apart from the laws of the festivals. But the Mishnah
(the collection of Jewish law made at the end
of the 2nd century AD)
fully describes the system which the Jews had worked out under Babylonian
influence..."
(Eerdman's Handbook to the Bible).
"When
the Jews returned to Palestine after
their Babylonian
exile
(516 B.C.E.) they brought
back with them the Babylonian
astronomy
and way of reckoning
time..."
(What is a Jew, p. 108)
"In
order to fix the beginning
and ending of the Sabbath-day
and festivals and to determine the precise hour for certain religious
observances it becomes necessary to know the exact times of the
rising and setting of the sun. According
to the strict
interpretation of the Mosaic law, every day begins
with sunrise and
ends with sunset...
(Jewish
Encyclopedia,
p. 591-597)
"Days were
reckoned from morning
to morning...
Following
the reign of King Josia (c. 640-609), and especially after
the Babylonian exile
a number of significant and enduring changes
occurred in the Israelite calendar showing that the
Jews gradually adopted the Babylonian
calendar of the time...the
seven day week persisted despite its failure to divide evenly either
the month or the year. the
day however, was counted from evening
to evening,
after the Babylonian
fashion..."
(New Catholic Encyclopedia -Volume 11, p.1068)
"So
far as we know, the Babylonian
calendar
was at all periods truly lunar...
the
month began with the evening when the new crescent was for the first
time again visible shortly after sunset. consequently, the Babylonian
day
also begins
in the evening..."
(Exact Sciences in Antiquity, p.106)
"...Numerous
scholars have argued for the existence in Bible times of a sunrise
method of day reckoning...the evidence
for
the sunrise
reckoning is significant
and cannot be ignored..."
(The Time of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, Chapter 5)
"In
Israel, the day was for a long time reckoned from morning
to morning...and
it was in fact in the morning,
with the creation of light,
that the world began;
the distinction of day and night, and time too, began
on a morning
(Gen. 1:3-5, cf. 14:16, 18). The opposite
conclusion
has been drawn from the refrain which punctuates the story of
creation: “There was an evening and there was a morning, the
first,
second, etc., day”; This phrase, however, coming after the
description of each creative work (which
clearly happens during the period of light),
indicates rather the
vacant time till the morning,
the end
of a day
and the beginning
of the next work...The change
of reckoning must there fore have taken place between the end
of the monarchy and the age of Nehemias...
this would bring us to the
beginning of the exile..." (Ancient
Israel, p.181-182).
"The
first evening was not the
gloom, which
possibly preceded the full burst of light as it came forth from the
primary darkness, and intervened between the darkness and full broad
daylight. It
was not till after
the light had
been created, and the separation
of the light
from the darkness
had taken place,
that evening came,
and after the evening the morning...It
follows from this, that the days of creation are not reckoned
from evening
to evening,
but from morning to
morning..."
(Commentary on the Old Testament, The First Book of Moses, p.
51)
"In early
Jewish practice,...
it seems to have been customary to reckon
the day from sunrise to
sunrise,
or, rather, from
dawn to
dawn. Thus
the law for the "praise-offering" (lev. 7:17 (pt) specifies
that this sacrifice must be eaten on the day upon which it is
offered, and that nothing may be left until morning. The repetition
of the law in Lev. 22:30... is even more explicit: "On that very
day (when it was sacrificed) it shall be eaten; ye shall not leave
anything of it until morning. Clearly
the next morning is here reckoned as belonging to the next day,
and not the same day as the preceding evening and night. In other
words, the
day is reckoned here from sunrise to
sunrise...
Likewise
in Exod. 16:19f...the manna was given to the people in the morning,
just at dawn and before the sun had become warm (16:21). It was to be
eaten only on the day upon which it was gathered; nothing was to
remain over until the next morning; that which did so became foul. Here,
too, the day seems to have been reckoned from dawn
to dawn...From Matt. 28:1 It
may be inferred that the practice of reckoning the day from sunset to
sunset was not universal in Israel, but in certain circles the older
practice continued for several centuries...It is manifest that the
day is still reckoned here from dawn
to dawn. This
is also the implication of the parallel passage, Mark 16:1f...Luke
23:56b-24:1 seems to imply the same...
Finally,
it is significant that in the second
Temple, throughout its entire existence,
the practice seems to have been in all ritual matters to reckon the
day from dawn
to dawn,
and not according to the later
practice,
from sunset
to sunset...even
the rabbis, who, themselves, reckoned the day from sunset to sunset,
and refused to admit the legitimacy of any other practice, or rather,
absolutely ignored all divergent practice, none the less had to admit
the validity of the interpretation of Lev. 7:15...
the
day was at one time reckoned from sunrise
to sunrise...
The earlier
practice, which
continued until the time of the secondary strata of the Priestly
code, was to reckon
the day from dawn
to dawn...
The
later practice
was to reckon the day from sunset
to sunset...
It
is impossible to tell exactly when this change
in the mode of reckoning the day
took place in Israel, and what causes brought it about. Possibly it
may have had something to do with the introduction of the lunar
calendar instead of the solar, for the lunar calendar naturally
presupposes a reckoning of the day from nightfall to nightfall...
It
was probably coincident with the revision
of the festival calendar, which took place in
the period after
the time of Ezra,
and was, in all probability, the work of the soferim or of the Great
Synod in the
fourth century B.C. This
may also be inferred from the statement in the Talmud
(Berachoth 33a) that the men of the Great Synod instituted the
ceremonies of Kiddush and Havdalah, the solemn sanctification of the
Sabbath on Friday eve, and its equally solemn ushering out on
Saturday eve, in other words, ceremonies specifically marking the
beginning and close of the Sabbath as at sunset.
These were ceremonies for the Jewish home instead of the Temple.
This, coupled with the fact that in
the second Temple the old
system of reckoning
the day from dawn to
dawn
continued to be observed,
as we have seen, may perhaps indicate that this
entire innovation was the work of an anti-priestly group
or party in the Great Synod..."
(The Sources of the Creation Story - Gen. 1:1- 2:4, p. 169-212)
"A
new stage in the investigation of the problem of the calendar of
ancient Israel was marked by the appearance of a learned article by
E. Koenig in 1906...He maintains that two
distinct calendars
were current in ancient Israel. The first, a
solar calendar...This
solar calendar was well adapted to the conditions of the simple,
agricultural life which the Israelites lived during the first
period
of their sojourn in Palestine. It reckoned
the day from sunrise...
The
second calendar
was a luni-solar year...The
day now came quite naturally to be reckoned from sunset...This
second calendar was obviously based
upon Babylonian
models
and was adopted
under direct Babylonian
influence
at about 600
B.C.,
when Babylonian religion and general culture began to affect with
steadily increasing force the Jewish exiles in Babylonia and, through
those of them who return from exile, the Jews who had remained in
Palestine.
This broadly sums up Koenig's conclusions...
...the time of
the transition
from the reckoning
of the day as beginning
with morning
to the reckoning of it as beginning
with evening...
...that in the earlier
calendar and in the literature
which records this the day
was reckoned from the morning,
presumably from sunrise,
while in the later calendar
and the literature
pertaining thereto the day
was reckoned from the evening...must
be eaten upon the day upon which it is sacrificed, and that nothing
of it must be allowed to remain over until morning. Obviously
the implication here is that the next
morning
is no
longer a
part of the day upon which the sacrifice was offered, but mark the beginning of
the next
day...
...Elsewhere we have presented quite a mass of evidence which
establishes conclusively that the earlier
practice
in Israel during the biblical period was to reckon the day from sunrise to
sunrise...
...That in the earliest
period
of Israelite sojourn in Palestine, under
calendar 1, the
day was reckoned from morning to
morning
is established by a superabundance of evidence...
...This in
turn, together with other important considerations, would point to a
time approximately about the beginning
or the first half, of the third
century
B.C.
as that of the introduction
of the new
system
of reckoning the day." (Supplementary
Studies in
The Calendars of Ancient Israel, p. 1-148).
Note:
It is interesting to note the wide variety of commentators who may
not agree on many points of doctrine, but do agree that the
Scriptural day begins at first light in the morning.
FOR
EXTRA COMMENTARY FROM A RABBINIC TRADITION CLICK HERE
FOR
AN EXTENSIVE INDEPENDENT ARTICLE CLICK HERE FOR PART # 1
FOR
AN EXTENSIVE INDEPENDENT ARTICLE CLICK HERE FOR PART # 2
If
you have any verse in Scripture that clearly
states a day starts in the evening then we would love to know, but
the conclusion of the matter is: If
you have no Scriptures to support your belief then you have added to
Yahweh's Commands and are practicing vain traditions.
May Yahweh
bless you as you seek to obey...
CLICK
HERE FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION
An attempt has been made at a rebuttal to this study by
Tom Martincic of Eliyah.com which aside from this topic of when a day
begins is in agreement with practically everything on the 2besaved.com
website.
Sadly, Tom has given no Scriptural proof that a day
starts in the evening other than the three common misunderstandings
given earlier based on tradition.
To read the entire rubuttal and response, please click
the link below:
DAY START REBUTTAL AND RESPONSE
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