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Conclusive Proof the 24hr Day Cannot Begin At Sunrise,

but the 12hr Day Does.

 
 First let me say this, 
 
The morning/dawn light comes before the evening/dusk light, but
the night comes before both!
 
 The 24 hour day does not begin at the beginning of the evening/dusk light, but
AT THE END of it!!! 

 A new 24 hour day begins at dark, just like the first 24hr day in creation, and to begin a new 24 hr day at the beginning of evening, which
means dusk, or twilight in Hebrew, you have about 30 minutes of evening/dusk light (Twilight),
and then 12 hours of darkness and then about 30 minutes of morning/dawn Twilight, on the
first day in creation, but that changes the Biblical evening and morning 24 hr day to only 13 hours.          
 This problem goes away when we understand the biblical day begins at dark, instead of the biginning of the evening dusk light!

The evening and morning belongs to the burning or light part of the 24 hr day, which is preceded by 12 hrs of night, making the 24 hr day/space of time.
         
If I am going to reckon biblical time correctly, and believe that the morning/dawn light, and the evening/dusk light, is part of the light that he called day, and that light belongs to the day, I am going to have to believe that in creation, night/darkness  came first, then the morning light, and then the evening light, which equals one 24hr day, and the first work day of the week came "after" the creation of heaven! 

This puts the first weekly sabbath on the eighth day of the month in creation, same as in scripture and today.

 The scripture teaches that the 12 hrs of night came FIRST, and then there was morning/dawn light, and then evening/dusk light, which was the second 12 hrs, and the second 12 hrs was called the first day/burning, but the whole was a 24 hour space of time, when counting the 12hrs of darkness! 

The scripture does not not teach that there was 30 minutes of evening twilight and then 12 hrs of night and then 30 minutes of morning light, on the the first day, but that the evening light and the morning light was the first day/burning, preceded by the night darkness, and not have 12 hrs of night in between the evening and morning light!

Just because it mentions evening before morning, does not mean that that is the order they came in, and I will present other scriptures showing where the 24hr day was spoken of in reverse order, same as in Gen-1, but it is an undeniable scriptural fact that the night came first, just like in creation and today, i.e. before the morning and evening 12 hr day/burning. 

It appears that he was counting the evening and morning days/burnings, and the nights were not mentioned, but each of the 12hr days/burnings is preceded by a 12hr of night, making it a 24 hour space of time, which, by the broader definition of day, is also called day.

In creation, there was darkness, then morning, and then evening, and the evening and morning was the first 12hr day/burning, but you had darkness before both the morning and evening, making the 24hr day, i.e. the morning/dawn came before the evening/dusk, but the darkness came before both of them!

In other words, the morning/dawn light  certainly came before the evening/dusk light, but the night/darkness absolutely came before both of them, i.e. we have darkness, then morning, and then evening, "three" things mentioned, not just "two", and the night, along with the evening and morning light, or morning and evening light, makes one 24 hr creation day!

It doesn't matter how you say it, whether you say evening first or not, the morning light/dawn came "before" the evening light/dusk, but the key is that on one side of the earth, the darkness that he called "night" (which literally means twisting away of the light), came first, and then the morning light, and then the evening light, making a 24hr space of time/day. 

This means that when the light came on, it came on in a position that ended the first creation day, or new moon day/Space of time, on one side of the earth, and it simultaneously began twisting away from the other side of the earth, leaving 12hrs of "night", which was followed by 12hrs of morning light, beginning at dawn, and going all the way “through” the evening light/dusk, and then the next night of the next 24hr day began. 

When speaking of the creation darkness, it is spelled differently in JP Green’s Hebrew, Greek Interlinear, and is only mention two places in the Bible, one in Genesis, and one in Job, where he is actually speaking of the creation darkness.  38:19 KJVS
“Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,”

 At creation, the whole earth had creation darkness, but on one side of the earth, it was immediately followed by the light that came on, making morning first, and then evening on that side, which had "no night"/twisting away of light for that side, but the other side of the earth had creation darkness followed by 12hrs of night (twisting away of light), followed by 12 hours of morning dawn light which lasted all the way through to the “end” of evening dusk light, and the process begins anew at dark. 

The creation darkness/space of time, was the first day of the month, or new moon day, and happened before he worked on his creation for six days, beginning with light on the first work day of the work week. This puts the weekly Sabbath on the eighth day of the month in creation.

The very first night, morning and evening day, “followed” the new moon day/space of time. The King James version says, “the evening and morning “were” the first day”, but should have said FOLLOWED the first, or chief day, which was the new moon day/space of time. 

The Hebrew definition of the word for “were”, can mean “followed”, see 1 Kings 16:21 KJVS

 “Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people “followed” Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king;”. The word “followed”, is the same word as the word for “were” in Genesis 1.

At any rate, it makes perfect sense for each day, to have morning/dawn before the evening/dusk, instead of the evening/dusk before the morning/dawn. Why split the day? Why put part of the light on one side of the 24 hour day and part on the other, with night in between?

If evening/dusk ends the 24 hour day, which obviously has already had its light, or one sunrise, how can the next morning, or sunrise, belong to that 24 hour day that has ended at evening??? 

 In other words, does the evening belong to the sunrise that preceded it, or the next sunrise that is coming up???

 If the evening belongs to the day in which the sunrise and light which came before it, how can the next morning sunrise also belong to it?  
 
This problem goes away, when we understand that the evening/dusk light, does not end the 24 hour day, but belongs to the the light part of the 12hr day, and that the 24 hour day ends at night, “after” the evening/dusk!

 Then you have the “night” that comes first, and then morning/dawn and evening/dusk light, and when dusk has ended, then you have night again, then morning, and then evening, just like that first workday in creation.

 The sacrifices were only made during the daylight hours, and the evening and morning sacrifices were on the same side of the 24hr day, and the morning sacrifice came before the evening sacrifice, it is just mentioned in reverse order, as were many things in Scripture.

 A few things to remember,

#1. The creation example of the 24 hour day has all the light on one side of the day and is not broken up, as in the above example.

#2. The 12hrs of night came before the 12hrs of morning and evening light. This disapproves the 24 hour day beginning in the morning, although the 12 hour day does begin in the morning, but was preceded by 12 hours of night/darkness.

#3. While it is light on one side of the earth, it is dark on the other. One side of the earth will have light, immediately after the creation darkness, but no night. While the other side of the earth “will have 12 hrs of  “night” after the creation darkness”, followed by morning and then evening, in that order.          

I guess a good question would be, did he include the morning light/dawn and the evening light/dusk, in with the light that he called day?

After he said let there be light, and divided the light from the darkness, it produced  a different kind of darkness which he called "night" which is caused by the twisting away of the light. 

Creation darkness is different from "night" darkness, because it was without any light at all, and would have been much darker than the night darkness, which has some light in it from the stars etc, and is actually spelled different in the Hebrew, maybe to distinguish it from regular night darkness.

The civil twilight/dusk begins, when the sun sets at the horizon, and it ends at nautical twilight when the sun is 6° below the horizon. In the civil twilight, you can still read the Bible without artificial light, for about 30 minutes after the sun sets at the Horizon, before nautical twilight begins.

 The morning light/dawn, or Civil twilight, also begins when the sun is 6° below the horizon, and ends at sunrise at the horizon, which also last for about 30 minutes, at which time you can also still read your Bible before sunrise, without artificial light, and  both of these lights, which is ruled by the sun, i.e. the dusk light and dawn light, belong to the light that he called day, and the night, which happens at the "end" of dusk/evening, and goes to the "beginning" of morning/dawn, all the way through the evening/dusk light.


The conclusion is that each "24" hour day ends at the "end" of dusk/evening, and a new one begins, and each new 24hr day has a 12hr morning/dawn to evening/dusk day attached to it, which is preceded by 12hrs of night. Although in reality, the morning comes before the evening in each 24 hour day, it is sometimes pronounced from right to left as evening and morning, even though the morning comes first.

The light that he calls today, includes the civil twilights, and when we count the twi-light in with the light, it makes a full 12 hrs of day light. This twilight "does "not" end at the "beginning" of evening/dusk/Civil Twilight, but at the "end" of it, otherwise we do not get all the evening/dusk/Twilight in with the light that he called day.

Reverse 28 times 

It is obvious in Genesis 1, that the night came before the day, but there are 28 times that the Bible speaks of the 24hr day in the reverse order, i.e. day and night, and only 13 times in the correct order, i.e. night and day. Here are a few of each,

Genesis 8:22 KJVS
[22] While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and "day and night" shall not cease."

Notice the reverse order of day and night, instead of the correct order, night and day! The Septuagint has summer and spring instead of summer and winter, which is also a reverse order, because spring comes before summer in one year/revolution.

Leviticus 8:35 KJVS
[35] "Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation "day and night" "seven days", and keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die not: for so I am commanded."

Notice in creation, the 24 hour 7 days began at night.

Jeremiah 33:20 KJVS
[20] Thus saith the LORD ; If ye can break my "covenant of the day", and my "covenant of the night", and that there should not be "day and night" in their season";"

Jeremiah 33:25-26 KJVS
[25] "Thus saith the LORD ; If my covenant be not with "day and night", and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; [26] Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:"

Now, a few of the 13 times night and day in correct order.

1 Samuel 25:16 KJVS
[16] They were a wall unto us both by "night and day", all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.

Isaiah 27:3 KJVS
[3] "I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it "night and day."

1 Kings 8:29 KJVS
[29] "That thine eyes may be open toward this house "night and day", even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there:"

Acts 20:31 KJVS
[31] "Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of "three years" I ceased not to warn every one "night and day" with tears."

We have conclusive historical evidence, from Hesiod, who Live during the time of Daniel, before they change the seasons, That spring began, and the year ended, 60 days after the winter Solstice, instead of 90. See Hesiod Works and Days.

We also have historical evidence from Josephus, that teaches the Priests blew the trumpet in the “evening twilight”,  for the people to stop working, “before” the Sabbath began, which Sabbath began at night! 

Both Nehemiah and Josephus prove the 24 hr day does not end at the beginning of the evening twilight, but at the end of it, see Nehemiah 13:19, where the gates “began” to grow dark “before” the Sabbath, in other words the Sabbath would begin at dark.

 The light, that he call day, don’t end at the traditional sunset at the horizon, and neither does the light begin at sunrise at the horizon. The light begins at dawn, before sunrise, when the sun is 6° below the horizon, and ends at the end of dusk, when the sun is 6° below the horizon, and when the light, that he call day, is gone, then the day is gone, and a new day begins at night, just like it did in creation.
 

The following Scriptures conclusively proves the day could NOT begin at sunrise or YHWH would be guilty of breaking His own Law and teaching His children of Israel to do the same.  YHWH is not the minister of Sin?  (Law breaking)

 Exodus the 16th chapter conclusively pinpoints a weekly Sabbath on the 15th day of the second month after leaving Egypt. “IF” that Sabbath day began at sunrise as some suggest, the children of Israel would have been gathering quail that “evening”, on the weekly Sabbath day, which is a against the Law of YHWH.Exodus 16:1-13 teaches how YHWH spoke to Moses on the 15th day of the second month, (which is irrefutably proven to be a weekly Sabbath,) telling him that he had heard their murmurings and would give them quail in the “evening” and manna in the morning.

12I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At “even” ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am YHWH your Elohim.13And it came to pass, that at “even” the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.” 

The reason YHWH waited until evening before giving quail is because the Sabbath day which YHWH sanctified and hallowed at creation would end at evening, and the children would not be gathering the quail in Holy Time.

He would not be delivering Quail on this Holy sanctified Sabbath day for the children of Israel to catch, clean, cook and eat, and therefore the 15th day had to have “ended at evening” or the Creator would have broken His own Law and caused his people to commit sin by delivering the quails on the Holy Sabbath for them to catch, clean, cook and eat.  It seems that some people are willing to believe this in order to protect an erroneous understanding of Genesis 1. Is this what you want?   

Do you really want to believe that YHWH was a SINNER and broken His own Law???

Sin is this transgression of the Law and the Law teaches not to do any work on the weekly Sabbath. They were not even allowed to gather manna on the Sabbath, let alone quail.  The sunrise proponents have to believe that quail was given and gathered on the Holy Shabbat and I wont “nothing” to do with a doctrine that forces me to believe such. The quails arrived that night after the weekly Sabbath was over at evening, and it was on the first day of the week that the children of Israel gathered and ate them between the evenings i.e. the evening that ended the seventh day/15th and the evening that would end the first day of the week/16th.  If this be not the case, a very serious death penalty sin had taken place, for them to have done this on the sacred Holy Sabbath day. If they were not allowed to gather manna on the Holey seventh day, they would not be allowed to gather quail either. 

If” the quails were given on the holy Sabbath for the people to clean and eat, then the people that went out to gather manna on the next Sabbath (22nd) could “justifiably” say that they gathered the quails on the previous Sabbath/15th and could truthfully say that gathering manna would not be nearly as bad as gathering quails because you do not have to clean manna as you would a quail. 
 Of course I don't believe the quails were gathered on the weekly Sabbath/15 and neither would anyone that did not have a doctrine to protect.  As I said before, the quails did not come until the evening which ended the Sabbath day and began the first day of the week and this is what Moses and Aaron says, in verse 6,

6"And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that YHWH hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:”….     8And Moses said, This shall be, when YHWH shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full;” 13And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. (The Hebrew word for even and evening in this verse is the same word for evening in Gen-1).
 

These verses show how that nothing was going to happen until evening, the reasoning for this is the weekly Sabbath would not be over until then.  I would ask the question, why wait until evening unless for the reason that the weekly seventh day ended at evening?????

It is very important to notice that it says in Ex 12:8 "And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread;". This is refering to the "first day" of Unleaving Bread WHICH BEGAN AT NIGHT!

Notice it does not say, And they shall eat the flesh in that "evening", with Unleaving Bread, but in that night!

Ex 12:42 "It is a night to be much observed unto YHWH for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of YHWH to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations." Other places calls it the "day" YHWH brought them out from the land of Egypt and says to observe "this day", WHICH BEGAN AT NIGHT.
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SPICES Disproves Sunrise TheoryThe next proof that the day COULD NOT scripturally begin at sunrise is taken from the New Testament and is much like the case in Ex- 16. The women bought spices “after” the Sabbath was over and brought these spices with them to the grave on the first day of the week while it was yet dark (before sunrise) on the same first day of the week.  If the Sabbath was not over until sunrise, how is it possible to bring spices that they bought after the Sabbath was over and bring them (while it is yet dark) on the first day of the week BEFORE sunrise??  Or even at the rising of the sun on the first day of the week?

 

There would be no time to buy spices after the Seventh day was over and bring them on the first day of the week at sunrise if the day began and ended at sunrise.  This is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE . Yet the sunrise proponents must believe this, and it is a real embarrassment to their doctrine.

 

Instead of burying the truth in a sea of papers and lengthy fair speeches, I will give a few conclusive proofs from Scripture and historical evidence why the day “CAN NOT” begin at sunrise.

 

The following will show that the Last Supper was eaten on the night of the 14th and we all know that our Saviour was crucified on the day light portion of the 14th and therefore the 14th day had to have begun at evening.

 

He ate the last supper on the day that the lambs are to be slain (Luke 22:7-71 and Mark 14:12-17) and we know from the Old Testament Scriptures that the lambs are slain on the 14th  and both Luke and Mark teaches that they came together at evening on the day that the Passover lambs are slain therefore they had to have came together on the night that began the 14th, because the 14th is the day that the lambs are slain, and he died during the day light portion of the same 14th and according to this the Scriptural day begins at evening.

 

The Scripture teaches that the first day of unleavened bread is on the 15th day of the first month (Leviticus 23:6) and continues for seven days (Exodus 12:15).  The Scripture teaches that these seven days shall be observed from the 14th day at evening until the 21st day at evening (Exodus 12:17-18).

 

Notice that it is conclusive that the 15th which is first of these seven days begins on the 14th day at evening.

 

I would like to point out that “if”the first day of unleavened bread “is” on the 15th and the 15th begins on the 14th day at evening, then by default and by deductive reasoning, the “14th day” would begin on the “13th day” at evening, and this chain reaction or domino effect will go all the way back to creation. This is an absolute and the following will prove it.  Side note, the same applies to the Day of Atonement.

 

 It is easy to say things like this, but I will prove from Scripture that the 14th day began on the 13th day at evening, same as I have proven from Scripture that the 15th day began on the 14th day at evening.

 

Our Saviour ate the Last Supper on the 14th, and then was crucified on the same 14th after sunrise during the daylight, and this could only happened if the day began at evening, therefore the 24-hour day CAN NOT began at sunrise if the Last Supper was eaten at the end of the 13th (at evening) which is the beginning of the 14th BECAUSE He was crucified on the “SAME” 14th during the day.  i.e. If the 24-hour day does not begin until sunrise, how could He have ate the last supper at evening on the 14th “before sunrise” and died around three o'clock on the same 14th after sunrise???

 

 

The following Scriptures will prove that He ate this last meal on the 14th at evening on the day that the lambs are be slain.  The Last Supper was at the beginning of the 14th and most everyone agrees that He was crucified on the 14th which is the preparation day and the Sabbath (15th) drew on.

 

We know from Mark and Luke that the supper took place at the beginning of the 14th , which is after the 13th day at evening, because it says in Mark 14:17-18, “and in the evening He cometh with the twelve.  And as they sat and did eat”

 

Notice this would have to be at the end of the 13th day at evening which is the beginning of the 14th because it says in Luke 22:7 “then came the day of unleavened bread when the Passover must be killed” and we know the Passover is killed on the 14th therefore they had to have ate the Last Supper on the beginning of the 14th day which is the same day that the lambs are to be killed.

 

Mark 14:12 reads “and the first day of unleavened bread when they killed the Passover.” We know from Scripture that the Passover lambs are killed on the 14th and eaten that night/15th with unleavened bread and the 15th began on the 14th day at evening and as I have shown and will show that the 14th began on the 13th day at evening, same as the 15th began on the 14th day at evening.

 

Some say the word “first” in Mark 14:12 can and should have been translated “before” and then the verse would read “before the first day of unleavened bread when they killed the Passover” but it is not my intent to deal with the seemingly contradictions here but to show that they ate the Last Supper at the beginning of the 14th which actually begun on the 13th day at evening, same as the 15th day actually begun on the 14th day at evening at evening which is the first day of the seven days of unleavened bread.

 

 SUMMARY

Most people correctly acknowledge that the 7 days of Unleavened Bread begins and ends at evening i.e. from the14th day at evening UNTIL the 21st day at evening, the 7 days ENDS at evening, and above I have demonstrated how the “day before” the 7 days of Unleavened Bread “also” began and ended at evening and this domino effect would go all the way back to creation, by using deductive reasoning. i.e. if the seven days of unleavened bread begins and ends at evening and the day before the seven days of unleavened bread begins and ends at evening then by default the other days follow suit all the way back to creation where He said the evening and the morning were the first day or there was evening and there was morning day one.

 

I also demonstrated how our Saviour ate the last supper on the evening of the 14th and was crucified on the morning of the same 14th, which is in perfect harmony with creation which says there was evening and there was morning day one. Now I will move on to some abominations that those who accept the sunrise theory must be involved in.

 

You can not even have a 3rd day resurrection with the sunrise theory and the Scripture clearly teaches He must rise the third day. Here is something to consider for those who believe the day begins at sunrise or only begins in the morning and consists only of 12 hours.  We agree that one definition (the narrow) of the word “day” consists of only 12 hours, but when this same word is studied in different contexts in the totality of Scripture we see it can have several meanings. 

Our Messiah died on the 14th of Aviv, the same day the Passover lambs had been slaughtered for centuries prior to his death.  For those who reckon the day from sunrise to sunrise, the Messiah died on the 14th of Aviv and then the evening of the 14th came afterwards, with the weekly Sabbath beginning the morning of the 15th at sunrise.  This poses a serious problem when it comes to the resurrection day of the Messiah.  If the 1st day of the week will not begin until the sunrise of the 16th of Aviv, and then the Messiah would have resurrected BEFORE sunrise on the SECOND day, instead of the 3rd day.

  All the gospel accounts agree that when the women came to the tomb it was very early in the morning, and the gospel according to John (20th chapter) tells us this occurred “while it was yet dark” (KJV).  How can it be then that the Messiah rose the 3RD DAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES if He rose before the 3rd day began???? The day of his death (14th) would be day one, and the day of the Sabbath (15th) would be day two, and day three would not begin until sunrise of the 16th for the sunrise to sunrise proponents.  This means it is an impossibility for this theology to align its understanding with what the Bible teaches about the third day resurrection predicted by the Messiah himself over 10 times and corroborated by the Apostle Shaul in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.   This is not to mention that this teaching also has the Messiah rising on the Sabbath, rather than the 1st day of the week; a teaching that shows similarity with 72 hour proponents.  The Scriptures make it very clear that the sheaf of first-fruits (barley) was to be waved on the MORROW AFTER THE SABBATH (Lev. 23:10-16), and NOT on the Sabbath itself.  A sunrise to sunrise view has our Messiah resurrected on the Sabbath (2nd day) instead of the morrow after the Sabbath (3rd day) as the Scripture teaches. In closing, we must also mention that for those espousing a 12 hour Sabbath, one which begins at morning and ends at dusk, has the Messiah rising on a NON-DAY, during the night.  This teaching has the Messiah not rising on the Sabbath OR the first day of the week (the 3rd day, 16th), but on what they consider to not be a day at all. The 12 noon people have the same problems. The Scriptures will all harmonize if we can only see that the word “day” in Scripture has a broader definition, and not only one narrow definition of the daylight hours.  With an evening to evening day, which the Bible clearly teaches (Gen. 1:5;Ex. 12:17; Lev. 23:32) the Messiah can be impaled on the 14th, rest on the Sabbath for the entire 15th day, and as the next day begins (the evening of the 16th) he resurrects (ready to work) before morning, but yet still on the 3rd day – according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:1-4) – on the morrow after the Sabbath (Lev. 23:10-16). 

PS. Some may object to our line of reasoning by saying that the Messiah resurrected the split second the daylight hours began on the 16th, but this is unsound for the following reason(s).  All four gospel accounts agree that the women came to the tomb very early in the morning, with John’s gospel elaborating a bit further that this was while it was yet dark, and another says, as it began to dawn toward the 1st day of the week. All gospel accounts show that the women were amazed that he was not there, and as the angelic messenger(s) proclaimed “HE IS NOT HERE, HE HAS RISEN.”  This proves beyond doubt that our Messiah had already risen prior to the daylight hours, but yet, as noted above, this was still on the 3rd day according to the evening to evening view, but the 2nd day according to the sunrise or 12 noon view.

 

We see from the above that the sunrise proponents can NOT have a third day resurrection and this alone kills the sunrise doctrine.

Numbers 19:16 teaches that a man that touches a dead body shall be unclean for SEVEN DAYS and in verse 19 it teaches the seventh day ENDED at evening, therefore all the seven 24-hour days ended at evening. These seven days were obviously 24-hour day periods.

Verse 19 says “and on the SEVENTH DAY he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be CLEAN at even.”

RESPONSE; "if" the seventh day ended at sunrise as some suggest, instead of evening, that would only be 6 and 1/2 days of being unclean instead of seven days. You would be a half-day short, disobeying scripture, but if the seventh day ended at evening when the man was made CLEAN, it would be a full seven days of being UNCLEAN as verse 19 teaches. This alone disapproves the day beginning at sunrise theory.

Remember the man was made clean at evening of the full seventh day, according to scripture, not sun rise.
Verse 16 specifically says that the man shall be unclean for SEVEN DAYS and if the seven days did not end until sunrise, then the man WOULD NOT be unclean for seven days as the Scripture teaches.


Guinness 8:3 says that it was the END of the hundred and 50 days that the waters were abated and verse 11 says that the Dove came to Noah in the EVENING and then he knew that the waters had abated off the face of the earth. These hundred and 50 days were 24-hour day periods that ended at evening when the Dove returned.


In the book of Judges Chapter 14:12 Sampson made a bet with some men, that they could not answer his riddle WITHIN a period of SEVEN DAYS. In verse 18 the riddle was answered WITHIN the seven-day period. Verse 18 says, “and the men of the city said unto him on the SEVENTH DAY “BEFORE” the sun went down,” (they answered the riddle before sundown on the seventh day)

Why was the phrase “BEFORE the sun went down” used, unless it emphasized that the time would have been up at sundown, but they answered it before the seventh day ended. I.e. it ended the seven days that were allotted to answer the riddle?

We all know that any bet such as the one above has to have a “DEADLINE” as to when the time is up and according to the conditions of verse 12, they had to answer it out WITHIN the seven-day period.

The above is like saying, in today’s speech, “and the men of the city said unto him on the SEVENTH DAY “BEFORE” 12 midnight,”

The reason for this is because in today’s speech the day ends at 12 midnight and back then, they used sundown to end the day instead of 12 midnight.

They did not have to add “before the sun went down”, they could have just said they answered it WITHIN the seven day period. They were merely stressing that the Riddle was answered before the seven days were up, at sundown. When you coupled this with Numbers 19:16-19, and the many other scriptures that conclusively proves the 24-hour day cannot scripturally began at morning, we should not waste each others time discussing something like this.


 

“Historical Evidence”  Another way to find the truth as to how the Jews of our Saviors day understood when a day begins and ends is to go to someone that was there.  We should not accept “modern” history but when you go back to the time of the Messiah and read the writings of those that lived in that day, it gives us an understanding of how the writers and those who read the writings understood things. The following Historical evidence teaches the seventh day ended at evening/night.  

Josephus writes in

 

WARS OF THE JEWS book 4 CHAPTER 9 (582)

 THAT VESPASIAN, AFTER HE HAD TAKEN GADARA, MADE PREPARATION FOR THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM; BUT THAT, UPON HIS HEARING OF THE DEATH OF NERO, HE CHANGED HIS INTENTIONS; AS ALSO, CONCERNING SIMON OF GERASA 

“(580) but having the advantage of situation, and having withal erected four very large towers aforehand, that their darts might come from higher places, (581) one at the northeast corner of the court, one above the Xystus, the third at another corner over against the lower city, (582) and the last was erected above the top of the Pastophoria, where one of the priests stood of course, and gave a signal beforehand, with a trumpet, at the “beginning” of every seventh day, in the “evening twilight,” as also at the “evening” when the “day was finished,” as giving notice to the people when they were to “leave off work,” and when they were to go to “work again.” (583) These men also set their engines to cast darts and stones withal, upon those towers, with their archers and slingers.”

 In the above Josephus is saying that the trumpet was blown at evening which is the beginning of every seventh day and at the evening at the end of every seventh day for the people to go back to work again. Remember Josephus is writing this during the time of the destruction of the Temple when the priesthood was still active and the Temple still standing which conclusively proves the Jews at this time understood the day begins and ends at evening and the day consisted of 24 hours.  I know the sunrise proponents will not like this because it does not leave them any wiggle room at all.  Even The Dead Sea Scrolls proves the day begins at “sunset”To prove day ends at evening and the weeks were originally connected to the moon we read fragments of lunar days 4 through 25 which were uncovered at Qumran describing the moon's appearance and movements in relation to the sun and the ancient weeks, it also reveals how they under stood when a day begins. Wise, Abegg and Cooke, in their book The Dead Sea Scrolls, A New Translation, translate the fragment for lunar day 8 as follows –
4Q317
“On the eighth of the month [chodesh], the moon rules all the day in the midst of the sky...and when the sun sets, its light ceases to be obscured, and thus the moon begins to be revealed on the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK" (pp. 301-303).
 This not only Proves that the 8th of the month was always the 7th day of the week but this is conclusive evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls that the "9th" day of each month is the first day of the week and begins at “sun set”. This is an absolute when using deductive reasoning.” The scroll teaches it is the 8th day before sunset and when the sun sets it begins the 9th at sunset. This proves they understood the day passes from the 8th day to the 9th day at sunset, NOT sunrise. Remember all this is in harmony with the scriptures I gave above. We also have eyewitness from Philo the Jew who actually lived at the same time our Saviour did. In his writings Philo spoke very highly of a group of Orthodox Jews, referring to them as the disciples of Moses and how they had forsaken all, and devoted their whole lives following the law of Moses and even stated that they could not be deceived.

ON THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE Chapter V11-(63) … through Chapter V111 (65) page 704.  We read,

“but they are despised by the disciples of Moses, who in the abundance of their wisdom have learnt from their earliest infancy to love truth, and also continue to the end of their lives impossible to be deceived. VIII. (64) But since the entertainments of the greatest celebrity are full of such trifling and folly, bearing conviction in themselves, if any one should think fit not to regard vague opinion and the character which has been commonly handed down concerning them as feasts which have gone off with the most eminent success, I will oppose to them the entertainments of those persons who have devoted their whole life and themselves to the knowledge and contemplation of the affairs of nature in accordance with the most sacred admonitions and precepts of the prophet Moses. 

(65) In the first place, these men assemble at the “end “ of seven weeks, venerating not only the simple week of seven days, but also its multiplied power, for they know it to be pure and always virgin; and it is a prelude and a kind of forefeast of the greatest feast, which is assigned to the number fifty, the most holy and natural of numbers, being compounded of the power of the right-angled triangle, which is the principle of the origination and condition of the whole

.

(66) Therefore when they come together clothed in white garments, and joyful with the most exceeding gravity……..(81) And when each individual has finished his psalm, then the young men bring in the table which was mentioned a little while ago, on which was placed that most holy food, the leavened bread, with a seasoning of salt, with which hyssop is mingled, out of reverence for the sacred table, which lies thus in the holy outer temple; for on this table are placed loaves and salt without seasoning, and the bread is unleavened, and the salt unmixed with anything else, (82) for it was becoming that the simplest and purest things should be allotted to the most excellent portion of the priests, as a reward for their ministrations, and that the others should admire similar things, but should abstain from the loaves, in order that those who are the more excellent person may have the precedence.

XI. (83) And after the feast they celebrate the sacred festival during the whole night; and this nocturnal festival is celebrated in the following manner:”

  Notice this sacred festival begins at the “end of seven weeks which was at night/evening when the day ends which conclusive proves the Jews of our Savior’s day understood the day ends at evening and another 24-hour space of time begins. I could give many more Scriptures and Historical records that conclusively prove the 24hr day CAN NOT begin at sunrise but this should be enough for the honest hearted and that is who this is for.

 

The sunrise doctrine is a new doctrine and is not sound because it is not found is Scripture or History, so I will show how they got off and are not thinking this thing through. First of all the sunrise theory is based on an assumption that on day one when He said “let there be light”, the light that appeared was the beginning of day one and the darkness that was upon the earth was not part of the first 24-hour day.  Are they forgetting something????? 

When light appeared on one side of the earth whether on day one, day 4, or day seven and began to move around the earth, would not there still be darkness on the other side of the earth on day one, four, or seven???? i.e. when He began resting on the seventh day, what side of the earth was He speaking from??? If the 7th began at sunrise, did He begin resting at sunrise or at evening??? 

The earth is the same age on both sides of it and time began on both sides of the earth at the same time. Someone might say that is not the way it happened, welI lets move on to day four when He appointed two great lights and placed them in the firmament to not only give light on the earth and to divide the light from the darkness but to be for days and years and signs and seasons/appointments, would not one side of the earth be light/day on day four and the other side of the earth be darkness/night on day four at the exact same time??? i.e. at the beginning of day four on one side of the earth it is light and the beginning the day four on the other side of the earth it is night, so which side of the earth do you reckoned the 24-hour day from, evening then morning, or morning then evening??? 

If someone was standing on the dark side of the earth on day four, they would have 12 hrs of night  first then 12 hrs of day and if someone was standing on the light side of the earth on day four, they would have 12 hrs of day first then 12 hrs of night. i.e. one side of the earth has it's fourth day of night/evening BEFORE it has it's fourth day of light/morning and the other side of the earth has it's fourth day of light/morning before it has it's fourth day of night/darkness unless you count the darkness that was here before he said let there be light.  But some will say you cannot count that darkness but I will show, and have shown conclusive evidence from Scripture where Moses could have counted it as part of day one. It is day four on both sides of the earth because the earth is the same age on both sides and yet it is light on one side and dark on the other Is there any evidence as to which side of the earth the creation is taken place from or from what perspective did the writer of Genesis view this? 

I believe there is evidence that YHWH was speaking from a westward perspective of the earth when he said let there be light and if the light came from an eastward direction headed west around to where He was speaking from, the sun could set in the west 12 hours later, then the west would began receiving its light on the first day, after 12 hours of darkness/evening had passed, and you would have evening then morning on that side of the earth. There is evidence to support that YHWH's creative speaking was from a westward perspective and the creation took place from a westward perspective because it teaches in Genesis 2:8 that the man was created westward of the Garden of Eden and he was carried eastward and placed in it. “ And the YHWH God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed."

  

Notice that the Garden was planted eastward of where YHWH had formed Adam and He placed the man there.  This seems to indicate that the man and YHWH was westward of the Garden of Eden and if the sun originally appeared in the East at creation when he said let there be light, then the west would have had 12 hours of darkness/evening before they received any light. 

This is only one possibility and shows there are other ways of looking at Gen-1 and when looked at in this way it lines up with Ex-16, The Spices, the third day resurrection, last Supper and MANY more Scriptures, not to mention the Historical evidence and The Dead Sea Scrolls that shows how it was done in our Saviour’s day.

The Prophet Moses, in Exodus 20:11 when he says “for in six days YHWH made “heaven” and earth, “the sea”, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day:”

Notice “heaven” is included in the six days therefore the darkness/night that came before the light/day is counted as part of the first day of the six days.

When the Spirit moved on the face of the water, it was “AFTER” heaven and earth was created in darkness, therefore heaven is counted in the six days that Moses spoke of, therefore the darkness that was on the face of the deep was counted in the six day time period and this conclusively proves the 24-hour day begins at evening/darkness.

The following conclusively proves that in each 24 hr day, the EVENING came BEFORE the sunrise/morning.

"1In the beginning YHWH created the heaven and the earth. 2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of YHWH moved upon the face of the waters."

Notice that when heaven and earth was created it became three things, it became without form and void with darkness upon the face of the deep.

3And YHWH said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4And YHWH saw the light, that it was good: and YHWH divided the light from the darkness.


Notice also the darkness that the light is divided from is the darkness that was here before the light, not some future darkness as some suggest.

 "5And YHWH called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." (24hr period)

Notice that the darkness that he called night is the “same” darkness that was here “before” the light that he called day and therefore it became night BEFORE it became light, in the day that YHWH created the heavens and earth and the process is repeated up unto this day in which we live.  And when Moses is giving the account of creation and looking back and says it became evening and it became morning day one, he is referring to the 12 hrs of evening darkness that came before the 12 hrs of light came, not some darkness that came after the light. 

In order to get a sunrise to sunrise day, you must “ignore” the darkness that he called night and refuse to believe that it was here before the light and this is vital to the sunrise theor, that the darkness that was here before He said let there be light was not part of the first day.  But they are so many Scriptures that disprove the sunrise theory, as all the above show.

In closing I would like to say that anyone who keeps the day from sunrise to sunrise instead of evening to evening is justice as guilty of breaking the weekly Sabbath as the people who keeps Saturday or Sunday.


Another thing is if the day began at sunrise at creation, and ever one observes it from sunrise to sunrise up to the time of the Messiah, when did the Jews begin keeping it from evening to evening???

  All of the New Testament scriptures show that the Messiah observed the same Sabbath as did the Jews and the Jews observe the same evening to evening as they do today unless someone can show where they changed.  If the Messiah observed a sunrise to sunrise 24 hour day, then He would have been on a differed day than those who began the 24 hour day the following evening, assuming everyone understood the day originally began at sunrise in creation but now they start the day at evening.

For the lunar Sabbatarians that followed the sunrise doctrine and the conjunction happens at evening, then their first day of that new month will begin at sunrise but those of us that believe the day begins at evening will be a day later and if this were the case during the time the Messiah, the Jews would have been on a differed day but we know from Scripture that this is not so because they all observed the same Sabbath. 

There is no Historical record of a change from the Messiah to the Jews today.  If there is no record of a change from sunrise to evening, from the Messiah to the Jews today, that means the Messiah observed evening to evening or else they would have had two differed Sabbaths and according to the New Testament that is not the case.

For more Info you can call (404) 483-8542 or go to  http://lunarsabbath.us/id2.html or you can write to Brother Arnold at 3466 Hightower Trail Conyers, GA 30012.

Defination of EVENING
I believe the Scriptural 24 hour day begins and ends in darkness. I also believe that in the multitude of counsel there is safety especially in doctoral matters and that is why the early assembly was instructed to ordained elders/plural. The Pastors are sometimes understandably very busy in their duties to be able to do everything by themselves.  

First of all the original Scriptural definition of evening in Genesis 1:5 was the 12 hour period of darkness that was called night and the scriptural definition of morning was the 12 hour period of light that was called Day, no other division of time was mentioned at this time in Genesis 1, and I don't see how this can be intelligently argued against.  We must scripturally conclude that evening and morning is referring to the light and darkness which makes up the 24-hour day. To deny this fundamental truth because it does not fit our doctrine is no difference than when the enemy of truth told Eve that she would surely “not die” which is opposite of what the Almighty said. The book of James says, “lie not against the truth”.

We are only deceiving our own selves when we change the definition of evening and morning that was carefully laid out and defined in Genesis 1. He was very careful to stress that the light was called day and the darkness was called night, and referred to these 2 halves of the 24-hour day as “evening” and “morning”. We must not try to edit the word of the Almighty.

Some try to say that the light that he called day does not start until the orb or disk of the Sun rises to the horizon even though the light lights up the Earth at least 30 minutes before you see the orb. Others will not recognize that same light that is still lighting up the Earth for at least 30 minutes after the Sun is below the horizon until dark/night. To deny this “natural light” that he called day, which our sensors/eyes can easily detect causes us to deny the spiritual light of His definition of evening and morning in Genesis 1, even though our spiritual senses/eyes can see that it is there. but because this does not square with our doctrine or theology we do not understand and thus the fulfill the prophecy which says they have eyes to see but see not and ears to hear but hear not neither do they understand. There is none so blind as he that “refuses” to see, except those who the Almighty has blinded. At any rate the definition of evening and morning is clearly laid out very early in Scripture and those who will not accept these definitions WILL NEVER be able to correctly keep ANY the appointments of the Creator of days.
 

Now for Scripture in support of the scriptural definition of evening and morning in Genesis 1.  I believe they understood sundown as dark. See Genesis 15:17 “and it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark,”  When the sun is completely down it is dark because at that time the light that he called day/morning will be gone and darkness that he called night/evening begins.


Amos 8:9 says “I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:”
 Notice: when the sun goes down at noon, it will be dark according to the Almighty’s own words.


Micah 3:6 “the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.” Here again we see that when the sun goes down, the day is dark. 

These verses clearly show that true sundown is considered dark and these next verses shows that evening and sundown and dark are synonymous which will harmonize with Genesis 1: where it refers to evening as dark. 

“Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath; The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water. And when the “sun is down”, he shall be clean…"

[LEVITICUS 22:5-7]
 Notice in the previous verses that the Sun is not down until it is dark. Sundown, evening and dark are synonymous in the verse above which is in perfect harmony with the definition of evening given in Genesis 1.  Again, the Scriptures teaches that true sundown is dark which is in harmony with the very first day in creation and all the other evening and morning days followed the same pattern.

I do not know of one conclusive Scripture that refers to sundown in other way other than dark. I believe the ones I gave above are conclusive and it is not easy for my flesh to accept because the opposite has been instilled in us.

Above are a few Scripture that support my understanding of sundown and evening as being dark.  We know from Genesis 1 where He said, “the light He called day”, i.e. day is the name for light, and if you still see light you are seeing that day but when it gets completely dark at conjunction, same as the conjunction of the moon, the light is gone and the new day or month begins.

I believe the Scriptures will interpret themselves as to what sundown and evening is. In Genesis we read, “the light he called day and the darkness he called night and the evening (darkness) and the morning (light) were the first day (24hr period).”

I believe this is a Scripture definition of evening, and I believe the above concerning sundown being dark is a scriptural definition of sundown and therefore a new 24 hr period begins at dark/sundown. Try to picture the first day in creation when the light popped on, there would be one half of the Earth light and the other half dark, 50 50 equals 100.

People's understanding of words today are different than two thousand years ago I gave scripture where sundown is referring to dark but our understanding of sundown is different.

 Proverbs 7:9 “in the twilight in the evening, in the black and dark night:"

The Scripture teaches that there are different degrees of light and twilight is the period of light just after the orb of the sun is below Horizon before dark. There is another twilight just after the darkness is over just before the orb of the sun is seen at the horizon. These twilights should be counted with the light, NOT with the darkness.

The morning twilight is called dawn. These degrees of light are counted in with the day. The traditional Roman calendar counts the two degrees of twilights in with the dark half of the day.
 

Nehemiah-13:19 "When the gates of Jerusalem began to “be” dark “before” the Sabbath"  Notice it does not say anything about the orb of the sun touching the horizon etc. it says, “when Gates “began” to be dark “before” the Sabbath. i.e. the Sabbath had not begun yet and would not begin until dark, even though the Sun would have been below the horizon the Sabbath WOULD “begin at dark”, NOT dusk. 

Evening is defined as follows, by Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, and Brown, Drivers, Briggs Hebrew Lexicon: H6153 / SEC Definition / ‛ereb / eh'-reb / From H6150; dusk:— + day, even (-ing, tide), night.H6153 / ‛ereb / BDB Definition: / 1) evening, night, sunset / 1a) evening, sunset / 1b) night 

To conclusively prove that evening ends a day I offer the following Historical evidence from a time period when the Temple was still standing.

WARS OF THE JEWS book 4 CHAPTER 9 (582)  “and the last was erected above the top of the Pastophoria, where one of the priests stood of course, and gave a signal beforehand, with a trumpet, at the “beginning” of every seventh day, in the “evening twilight,” as also at the “evening” when the “day was finished,” as giving notice to the people when they were to “leave off work,” and when they were to go to “work again.” (583) These men also set their engines to cast darts and stones withal, upon those towers, with their archers and slingers.” In the above Josephus is saying that the trumpet was blown at evening twilight which is before the beginning of every seventh day and at the evening which is at the end of every seventh day for the people to go back to work again."

Remember Josephus is writing this during the time of the destruction of the Temple when the priesthood was still active which conclusively proves the Jews at this time understood the day ends at evening/dark and the day consisted of 24 hours.  I don’t believe he would’ve blown the trumpets after the Sabbath began but in the evening twilight before dark and again at evening which is dark and the Sabbath would be over.

If you will notice the quote again, it says that the priest blew the trumpets BEFOREHAND in the evening twilight to begin the Sabbath, i.e. he did not wait until the Sabbath was upon them to blow the trumpets but beforehand in the evening twilight BEFORE dark or evening. Whether the priest done it right or wrong does not matter it merely shows how they understood it at the time the Temple was still standing and our Savior was in line with the Sabbath that the priest were keeping, according to the New Testament writings. At any rate the trumpet was blown in the evening twilight BEFOREHAND of the Sabbath and the Sabbath did not start till evening or dark according to the Historical evidence when the Temple was still standing.

If people will reject the Holy Word concerning the definition of “evening” in Genesis 1 because it does not line up with what they think, there will surely not accept the eyewitness of someone who lived at the time the Temple was standing as to how they understood “evening”.
 I have much more on this subject but this should be enough to get us started thinking and if I am wrong I want to get off of it. I believe the multitude of cancel is a built-in safety net for his people. 
 

It is self evident that at creation, it is impossible that the morning/dawn light was part of the darkness/night!

“For YHWH, commanded the light to shine out of darkness” (2 Corinthians 4:6 KJVS).

Ask yourself this question, at creation, did the light that shined out of darkness, which produced the first 12 hr day, begin with the dawn/light, at which time you can actually read your Bible, which you cannot do in darkness, or did it skip over the 30 minutes of morning/dawn light, and begin the 12 hr day at the horizon? 

Ask yourself, at creation, why would we even think that we come out of darkness skipping over the 30 minutes of morning dawn light, when that is not the way it happens today?

Again, It is self evident that at creation, it is impossible that the morning/dawn light was part of the darkness/night!

No matter how small or dim the light is, it is still light, and not part of the darkness because the Scripture teaches that light and darkness will not mix. 

The brightest part of the 12 hr day is at 12 noon, and the dimmest part of the same day is morning and evening, or dawn and dusk, and it is the same sun that produces all three stages of light in the same 12 hr day. We should not take the evening light of the day and carry it through 12 hrs of darkness to the next day, which is a total different sunrise from the one that produced the morning/dawn and 12 noon and evening dusk!