GLOBAL  IMPACT  STUDIES

If you find the truth, will you believe it?

If any man desires to do God's will, he will have the needed illumination to recognize, and can tell for himself whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking from myself and on my own accord.  John 7:17 

Beginning of the Day

We believe the day starts at sunset and ends at the following sunset.  Our first example to be cited is from the book of Leviticus which tells us that the Day of Atonement is on the tenth day of the seventh month.  "Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement" (Leviticus 23:27).

In Leviticus 23:32 we are told the beginning and the ending of the time to observe this day.  "It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your soul:  in the ninth day of the month at even [the previous evening at sunset], from even [the previous evening of the ninth day at sunset] unto even [the evening at sunset of the tenth day of the seventh month], shall you celebrate your Sabbath" (Leviticus 23:32).  From the sunset of the ninth day of the seventh month until the sunset of the tenth day of the seventh month is when this day is to be observed, and all the days of the Lunar-solar calendar are to be observed in this manner; from sunset to sunset.  The yearly feast days were referred to as High Sabbaths. "The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation ['And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour'  (John 19:14, emphasis added). It was not the preparation day for the weekly sabbath.], that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and they might be taken away" (John 19:31, emphasis added).

Our second example to be cited is from the book of Genesis; the story of the creation of this earth, so that it could be inhabited, is given.  Let us look at Genesis 1:5 and see what is said there.  "And Elohim called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.  And the evening and the morning were the first day" (Genesis 1:5).  "And the evening" at sunset with "the darkness called Night" was followed by "the morning" at sunrise with "the light called Day."  The Night comes first beginning at sunset and then follows the Day at sunrise with the light.  This is repeated for each day of the Creation week.  Please see the Hours of the Sabbath by clicking on the shaded area for an depth study on what the Bible has to say about this subject.  

Our third example is found in the Gospel of John chapter 20.  Here we can see the darkness preceded the light and both periods are referred to as "the first day of the week."  "The first day of the week cometh Mary Magadalene early, when it is yet dark [before sunrise], unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre" (John 20:1, emphasis added).

"Then the same day at evening  [before sunset], being [still] the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Yahushua" (John 20:19, emphasis added).  It was the first day of the week while it was still dark, and it was still the first day of the week before sunset that evening.  The night preceded the day! The first day of the week began at sunset and ended at sunset the following evening.

Our fourth example is found in the book of Nehemiah.  In this book Nehemiah gives a command that the doors to the city of Jerusalem are to be closed at a certain time before the sabbath begins.  "When it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem 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" (Nehemiah 13:19, emphasis added).  If the sabbath does not begin until sunrise as some contend then it would begin to be light before the sabbath and not begin to be dark as it tells us in the book of Nehemiah!  At sunset in the evening when the gates "began to be dark" was when the sabbath was going to begin.

Our fifth example is found in the books of Leviticus and Exodus.  In the book of Leviticus we are told that "In the fifteenth day of the first month is the feast of unleavened bread unto Yahuwah: seven days you must eat unleavened bread" (Leviticus 23:6).  In the book of Exodus we are told "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even [sunset], you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even [sunset]" (Exodus 12:18).  Even though the Feast of Unleavened Bread did not begin until the fifteenth day of the first month as we are told in Leviticus 23:6, you were not to eat leavened bread from the evening [sunset] of the fourteenth day of the first month.  There are many that contend that the Biblical day does not begin until sunrise.  If that is so, then why does the fifteenth day as shown in Exodus 12:18 begin "on the fourteenth day of the month at even?" and the seven days end on "the one and twentieth day of the month at even"?  Just as the Day of Atonement began at sunset of the 9th of the month preceding the 10th day of the month, so does the feast of unleavened bread begins at sunset on the 14th day of the month preceding the 15th day of the month.

From all five portions of Scripture we can see that the night, which begins at sunset, precedes the light, which begins at sunrise, and both portions make up one single day. "What therefore Elohim hath joined together, let no man put asunder" (Mark 10:9).  While Yahushua is speaking specifically about marriage in this verse, the principle remains true in all instances where He joins two objects together.  He joined the Night and the Day to make up one Biblical day.

The single day and what we would call the 24 hours of the solar calendar was in Biblical times composed of the night which was divided into four periods called "watches" and 12 hours of daylight which were determined by the sundial.  Some will still argue that Yahushua said there are twelve hours in the day (John 11:9), but it is clear from the evidence seen in these five portions of Scripture that the Biblical day began at sunset and ended at the following sunset. Yahushua was referring to the time in which He was allotted to work for the Jews before He would be crucified and not what many contend to be a Biblical day.  Please go to the link we furnished you earlier which discusses the Hours of the Sabbath in greater depth. Clearly the Devil is deceiving the whole world (Revelation 12:9) and even those who are beginning to understand about the Lunar - solar calendar!  The Devil will do anything to discredit Elohim's truth by attaching error with Biblical truth.