Again, we ask, "When does Sabbath begin?"

by Bill & Karen Bishop

Here's a new blog post to address a previous blog post from 2 years ago, "When Does Sabbath Begin?" where we introduced an article titled "Evening or Morning?"  We have recently revised the article due to some feedback from a reader that it contained some strongly worded opinion by us which was unintentionally abrasive.  Then upon further investigation, we weren't very happy with the old blog post either as it seemed to have some attitude embedded within it too!  So we took it down.

Please forgive us for letting our biases and emotions get in the way of presenting a thoughtful, cohesive and helpful writing.  We hope you will gain some useful insight (without any emotional baggage from us) in this upgraded attempt to further clarify our understanding of the rather controversial subject regarding when a Biblical day begins and ends.

When you look at the picture above, what do you see?
Is it a sunrise?  - OR -  Is it a sunset?

,what we perceive as Valid arguments can be made to support either answer - sunrise or sunset.  Perhaps this is a picture that was taken by a newlywed couple on their honeymoon, going for a leisurely walk on the beach to finish a perfect day together before going back to their resort for the night,  taking in the serenity of a beautiful sunset with the coolness of a slight evening breeze wafting in off the water.  -  OR  -  Perhaps this picture was captured by an older couple, coming to their favorite spot to catch the morning sunrise before the grandkids who are visiting wake up, praising YHWH for bringing one more magnificent day loaded with the opportunity of making new memories!

Sunrise or sunset doesn't really matter in our musing about the picture above.  It can be anything we want it to be.  Both sunrise and sunset are times of transition when the light of day and the darkness of night "mingle".  Evening and morning, sunrise and sunset are great for taking a timeout from the business of everyday life for some inner reflection, time alone, peaceful appreciation of the little things, feeling Yah's presence in our lives, and so forth.  These are special moments when we can experience an amazing and mystical tranquility in the transitions of light with darkness - when the day is beginning or ending.

Well for the majority of us, our "day" begins when we wake up, and it ends when we go to sleep.  Many of us live in a somewhat artificial environment where sunrise and sunset really have no bearing on when our day starts or ends.  Usually whenever we wake up, the actual 24-hour day of modern society has already begun, and this 24-hour period will normally end during the night after we are asleep.  Of course there are lots of exceptions to this since many people are working or otherwise active during the late night/wee morning hours, and their "day" overlaps the official ending/beginning of a day at midnight. 

So simply based on this discussion of the modern "day", we can see that the word "day" can mean different things.  The Hebrew word for "day" is "yom", and it works the same way in the Hebrew language as "day" does in English.  We must always consider the context used in conjunction with the actual word, "day" or "yom" to know how to apply its intended meaning. 

A great many times in Scripture, the daytime or light portion of a 24-hour day is being referred to.  It is often simply mentioned as a matter of something taking place during the time of day when people are awake and active - the daytime as contrasted to nighttime.  It is usually not in any kind of a context to mark the beginning or the ending of a complete daily cycle.  This is critically important to keep in mind when studying Scripture to determine the Biblical definition of when a "day" or "yom" begins and ends a complete cycle of time.

Unfortunately, we've seen many videos where people are using verses without considering their proper context.  Here is an example where the videographer is looking at a verse in English and using it as a proof text that the Biblical day begins in the morning:

• (13)  And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.   (Exodus 18:13)

First of all, while "the morrow" can be considered as a "day", the Hebrew word used here is not even "yom" or any form thereof.  It is H4283 - "mochorath" which means "tomorrow".   So in an effort to define the Biblical "day", this person is not looking at how Scripture defines the word "yom".  Rather he chooses to look at something that might represent a "day", which is not a proper methodology.  "Day" is first mentioned in Genesis with the word "yom", so this is the word that we need to be concerned with to see how Scripture defines it.   However in all fairness, we can glean more understanding when we study ancillary words such as "mochorath" that can have a relational bearing on the meaning of "day", but the primary focus needs to be directed at the actual Hebrew word for "day" which is "yom".

Secondly, and more importantly, the actual content being stated within this verse, much less its context, does not lend itself to anything that says the people were standing by Moses at the beginning of a day for a complete daily cycle.  It says they stood by him from morning to evening which doesn't even cover a whole day, and it certainly does not mean that the morning began this 24-hour day.  When we go to a job in the morning and stay there all day until evening, we cannot say that we actually worked a complete 24-hour day.  Maybe we worked a very long work-day, but that is something entirely different. 

This is just one example of how so many verses are being misappropriated, misunderstood and misaligned without their proper content or context.  We can find plenty of verses that might seem to say that the day begins at sunrise, but please be aware of the context in these verses.  Most references to "yom" in Scripture are referencing the daylight portion of a day; they are not referencing the complete period of a daily rotation.  These verses are generally showing that the content of the passage is occurring during the day (daytime vs nighttime).

The determination for the beginning of a Biblical "yom" is most important to us when it comes to properly observing the weekly Sabbath, the annual Holy Days and the Feasts.  On the Zadokite Sabbath Calendar, we need to know how to calculate the date of the vernal equinox accurately for establishing whether or not the new year can begin at the conclusion of the 52nd week (learn about intercalation here).  Therefore, correctly determining the beginning of a day has a colossal impact on correctly beginning the new year too!

We've revised our previous article "Evening or Morning?" to hopefully present a clear and concise writing (without any emotionally influenced baggage) to help sort through any confusion that exists about determining when a Biblical day begins and ends.  We believe that Scripture is actually quite clear on this subject, and it is very specific in one instance that should hold true for all the days of human history.

We do not want to spend too much time refuting the work of others; everyone of us are working within a certain amount of finite reasoning that can cultivate error.  Our desire is to simply contribute our understanding of Yah's Word as we all continue to seek and learn the truth brought to us through Scripture, especially the Torah.  As always, please consider anything we say with an honest assessment in your own studies and prayers.  If you see something out of line with our work, please bring it to our attention.  Not one of us has a complete understanding of the Truth, and together, through the grace and wisdom of our Messiah, we are finding that narrow way - returning to the garden!

Click Here for the Revised Article:
Evening or Morning?