WHEN DOES A DAY BEGIN?

There are different opinions as to when a day begins. One opinion is that it begins at midnight, the other at sunset and the other at dawn, another says a twenty four hour period begins at sunset and the twelve hour period begins at dawn. In this article I will answer that question using the bible and nature which is the bible’s illustration book.

To answer that question we must first define what a day is. As I have already said I will use the bible. I believe the bible is inspired and is the word of the Creator so it is the best source of knowledge concerning all creation. The bible says: “And Elohiym called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.” Gen.1: 5. The Creator creates light and He names it day and the darkness He calls it night. This is a very clear statement the period of light is day and the period of darkness is night. Therefore the day would begin when light begins. Again the Creator further creates lights and assigns them tasks: “And Elohiym made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.” Gen. 1:16. This statement further amplifies the day as the period when the greater light, the sun, is ruling. If the sun is in the sky then it is day and when the moon and stars are in the sky then it is night.

The confusion seems to arise from the statement: “And the evening and the morning were the first day.” Gen.1: 5. This is a confusing statement indeed. It would mean that the period from evening to morning is day, which would be a contradiction to what the Creator said is day. As written the understanding of the statement as evening and morning being day is correct, but the problem is that day has already been defined as the period when it is light and when the sun is ruling. If the statement read: “Morning and evening were the first day,” there would be no controversy, that would be in harmony with what the Creator said is day. The statement “And the evening and the morning were…” is repeated at least six times, which establishes the doubt. The offending word is were. Therefore we are going to look at what it is in the original language, Hebrew.

Interpreters when faced with a word that has more than one application must choose the appropriate application based on the context, how it is used in other passages, and also their doctrinal leanings. It is an established belief within Christianity that the Hebrew begin their day at sunset, but is it biblical?

The Hebrew word translated “were” has more than one application. In 1Sam.13:14 and 2 Sam; 7:29, it is applied as continued. In 2Sam.2:10 and 1Ki.16:21 it is applied as followed. It is rendered were in Jos. 10:1, 26 and of course in the creation account. This Hebrew word Hayah has three applications, namely were, continued and followed. Turning to the passage   in Gen. 1: 5. Applying it as were creates confusion as to which is day and which is night. It gives the impression that the day begins in the evening and ends in the morning which is contradicting what the Creator said is day, therefore applying it thus is suspect to say the least. Applying it as continued would create the impression that day continues into the night, this again contradicts what the Creator says is day. It would mean that day is both light and darkness, but the Creator said light is day. As a position on the calendar day and night are one date. The first of the month is both day and night. Day and date don’t mean the same. Day refers to the period of light, when the sun is ruling and date refers to both day and night as a position in the month e.g. the first of the month covers Day and Night. The reading in the passage precludes this application; darkness can’t continue light. The other application is followed; the passage if rendered “evening and morning followed the first day,” would be in harmony with what the Creator said is day. Evening and morning is the period of darkness which is night, meaning night followed the first day. Does night follow day in the natural world? Yes definitely night follows day. Does the sun rule the day? Yes it does. Nature is in harmony with the bible! It seems the interpreters were influenced by their denominational creeds as opposite to context, and how it is used in other passages.

Having defined what is day and shown what the passage should have read, we are ready to answer the question when does the day begin?

From the above the day begins when the sun begins to rule that is at dawn and ends when the sun gives way to the moon and stars that is at dusk. Dusk to dawn is night following the day. If it is preparation day, from dusk to dawn is preparation night, not the Sabbath. This is night before the Sabbath; the Sabbath is to begin at dawn.  In Ne. 13:19 we are told: “And it came to pass, that when the gates of Yerushalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the Sabbath day.” Nehemiah had just rebuild Yerushalem and was reviving the worship of YAHUWAH and the services of the Sanctuary including the proper observance of the Sabbath.  Notice that he says that the gates of Yerushalem had begun to be dark. Things get dark at dusk, as we say in Ndebele “sekunqunda amehlo”, when you cannot see clearly the form and colour of things, the sun would have set. This time he says it was before the Sabbath. If as we believe the Sabbath starts at sunset or dusk, then it would be Sabbath not before the Sabbath.

Yahushua was tried, condemned and crucified in the morning and from the sixth hour of the day till the ninth hour there was darkness in the land. He died in the ninth hour of the day, this corresponds to three o’clock in the afternoon. If the ninth hour is in the afternoon when is the first hour of the day? Logic demands that we count backwards, and this count stops with six o’clock in the morning, meaning it is the beginning of the day, the first hour of the day. If the day began at sunset that would mean Messiah, died at 2 am having been tried after sunset and crucified around 9 pm; now the statement there was darkness from the sixth hour to the 9^th hour would be strange, because there is nothing unusual with being dark at that time, it is night.

 The bible says: “Yahushua answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.” Joh.11:9. Yahushua who created and mad everything says there are twelve hours of light in a day. The day was accepted then that it is twelve hours long, and there is light during those hours, which disappears when they end and darkness begins. The commandment to keep the Sabbath therefore means that one must abstain from work during these twelve hours of the Sabbath. There is no biblical injunction to keep the Sabbath from sunset preparation day to sunset Sabbath. The evening to evening applies to the Passover festival which begins at evening on the fourteenth and the Day of Atonement which is kept from the ninth in the evening of the ninth to the evening of the tenth. It does not apply to the weekly Sabbath.

In Matt. 28:1 we read: “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.” Please note that the passage says “in” not “at”, “in” implies a period and “at” implies a point in time. The passage above would mean the end of the Sabbath is from dusk to dawn and the first day begins at dawn; dusk to dawn following the preparation day, is in the preparation of the Sabbath, before the Sabbath begins at dawn.  So the Sabbath begins at dawn when the preparation ends, and ends at dusk when the end of the Sabbath begins.

Dear reader in this time of sealing, the truth of the Sabbath will play an important part in your salvation. It will mean you are sealed with the seal of Elohiym or not. The proper observance of the proper Sabbath is a sign that we believe that Elohiym is the one that makes us holy (refer Ex. 31:13; Eze. 20:12, 20), and His seal which is His name will be put on the foreheads. “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.” Rev. 14:1 “and I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living Elohiym: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our Elohiym in their foreheads.” Rev. 7:2, 3. The seal is the Father’s name. The Sabbath is a sign between us and Elohiym, much as the blood was a sign for the destroying angel to Passover. The Sabbath is a sign for the sealing angel to place the seal.

If your faith and practice is at variance with the above, it will be of eternal value to do your own study and make your own conclusions not based on any denominational creeds, but the bible. The above study is not exhaustive. If your study leads you to a different conclusion than the above, please share with me.

May our Holy and Spiritual Father be with you, keep you and bless you in His Son’s name!