A Look at the Scriptural Day

Yahweh's inspired scriptures say that an evening plus a morning equals a whole Day. Yahweh however gives us other scriptures which make it even clearer.

It is a Sabbath of rest to you, and you shall humble your souls in the ninth of the month at evening; from evening until evening you shall guard your Sabbath. (Leviticus 23:32)

The Day of Atonement was to be observed from evening to evening. Sunset causes the evening to begin which is the beginning of each day. In more precise terms we could say that from sunset to sunset you will keep your Sabbath. At the moment the second evening begins (sunset) another day begins and the Sabbath is over.

Does Leviticus 23:32 say from morning to evening you shall guard your Sabbath or from sunrise to sunset you shall guard your Sabbath? Of course not, Yahweh’s word is clear "evening to evening".

In Old Testament times anyone who touched something unclean was himself unclean until sunset when a new day began.

Any man of the seed of Aaron that is leprous or has an discharge, he shall not eat of the holy things until he is clean. And he who touches any uncleanness of a person, or a man whose semen has gone out of him; or a man who touches any swarming thing which is unclean to him, or touches a man who is unclean to him, by any of his uncleanness, the person who touches it shall even be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat of the holy things, but shall bathe his flesh with water. And when the sun goes in, he shall be clean, and afterwards he shall eat of the holy things, for it is his food; he shall not eat a dead body or torn thing, for it is unclean; I am Yahweh. (Leviticus 22:4-8)

Notice verses 6 and 7 -- verse 6 says “evening” and, verse 7 clarifies, “when the sun goes in” in other words -- sunset. Yahweh is consistent throughout scripture, He is not the author of confusion.

Yahweh also commanded that criminals who were hanged should not remain hanging overnight on a tree.

And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree; but you shall surely bury him the same day. For he that is hanged is a reproach to Elohim. And you shall not defile your land which Yahweh your Elohim is giving to you as an inheritance. (Deuteronomy 21:22-23)

If they were to leave the criminal hanging throughout the night then he would be hanging part of the next day and this would be in violation of Yahweh’s command. Joshua was very careful to follow this command.

And afterward Joshua struck them, and put them to death, and hung them on five trees. And they were hanging on the trees until the evening. And it happened at the time of the going of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees, and threw them into the cave where they had been hidden, and put great stones on the mouth of the cave until this very day. (Joshua 10:26-27)

In Judges we read that a Day fades toward evening.

And the man rose to go, he and his concubine, and his young man. And his father-in-law, the young woman's father, said to him, Please notice that the day has faded toward evening. Please stay the night. Behold, the day is declining. Stay here, and let your heart be good, and you shall rise early tomorrow for your journey. And you shall go to your tent. (Judges 19:9)

Scripture says that Yahweh's Sabbath begins as the previous day ends and it is getting dark.

In those days I saw in Judah ones treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves and loading asses; and also wine, grapes, and figs, and all burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I testified against them on the day they sold food. Men of Tyre also lived in it, who brought fish and all wares, and were selling on the Sabbath to the sons of Judah even in Jerusalem. And I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, What is this evil thing that you do, defiling the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers do this, and did not our Elohim bring all this evil on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by defiling the Sabbath. And it happened, when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, so that there should be no burden brought in on the Sabbath day. And the merchants and sellers of all the wares stayed the night outside Jerusalem once or twice. Then I testified against them and said to them, Why are you staying around the wall? If you do it again, I will send a hand against you. From that time they did not come on the Sabbath. (Nehemiah 13:15-21)

In verse 19 it is beginning to get dark before the Sabbath, it is not beginning to get light before the Sabbath. The Sabbath began at sunset as the skies grew dark, not the next morning as the skies grew light.

In John 11:9 Yahshua says there are 12 hours in a day. He is referring to the daylight portion of the day. Did Yahshua really teach that complete days were only twelve hours?

And even as "Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights," so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights (Matthew 12:40)

Here Yahshua is speaking of the time he would be in the grave. He fully defines the time period, “three days and three nights”. How does he refer to this time period in other verses?

said, This one said, I am able to destroy the Holy Place of Yahweh, and in three days to build it. (Matthew 26:61)

And on the morrow, which is after the Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees were assembled to Pilate, saying, Sir, we have recalled that that deceiver while living said, After three days I will rise . (Matthew 27:62-63)

And He began to teach them that it is necessary for the Son of man to suffer many things and to be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to be killed, and after three days to rise again. (Mark 8:31)

We heard Him saying, I will throw down this temple made with hands, and through three days I will build another not made with hands. (Mark 14:58)

Yahshua said to them, Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up. (John 2:19)

It is clear that Yahshua used the term “three days and three nights” interchangeably with “three days”. Yahshua obviously included the nighttime portion of the day as part of the TOTAL DAY.

Yahshua was obedient to His Father, he kept the Passover on Nisan 14 every year per the commandment. Scripture shows that He kept the Passover on the evening prior to His death.

And on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Yahshua, saying to Him, Where do you desire we should prepare for You to eat the Passover? And He said, Go into the city to a certain one and say to him, The Master says, My time is near; to you I will prepare the Passover with My disciples. And the disciples did as Yahshua ordered them, and prepared the Passover . And evening coming, He reclined with the Twelve. (Matthew 26:17-20)

And on the first day of the Unleavened Bread, when they killed the passover, His disciples said to Him, Where do You desire that going we may prepare that You may eat the passover? And He sent two of His disciples, and said to them, Go into the city. And you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him. And wherever he goes in, say to the housemaster, The Master says, Where is the guest room where I may eat the passover with My disciples? And he will show you a large upper room, having been spread and made ready. Prepare for us there. And His disciples went out and came into the city and found it as He told them. And they prepared the Passover . And evening having come, He came with the Twelve . (Mark 14:12-17)

And the day of the Unleavened Bread came, on which the passover must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, Going, prepare for us the passover, that we may eat . And they said to Him, Where do You desire that we prepare? And He said to them, Behold, you going into the city, you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house where he goes in. And you will say to the housemaster of that house, The Master says to you, Where is the guest room where I may eat the passover with My disciples? And that one will show you a large upper room which he has spread. Prepare there. And going, they found as He had told them, and they prepared the passover. And when the hour came, He reclined, and the twelve apostles with Him. And He said to them, With desire I desired to eat this passover with you before My suffering. For I say to you that never in any way I will eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of Yahweh. (Luke 22:7-16)

Yahshua clearly sent the disciples to prepare the Passover. They went to the owner of a house to obtain permission to use a room for a specific event – PASSOVER. The disciples prepared the PASSOVER. The disciples and Yahshua ate the PASSOVER. Even if Yahshua did not participate, (scripture clearly shows He did) but if for arguments sake he didn’t, the disciples obviously did. Nisan 14- is the only day when Yahshua would approve of them eating the Passover.

What day did Yahshua die? Scripture tells us that it was on Nisan 14 the Passover Day. Two events happened on Nisan 14 that year: Yahshua and the disciples ate the Passover meal and Yahshua died – both on the same day. Clearly the day begins in the evening at sunset. Later that day, they removed Yahshua’s body from the stake and buried Him prior to sunset (the beginning of the next day). Scripture is clear and consistent.

There is more Passover proof that the beginning of the day is at sunset. Let’s go back to the first Passover. At what time did the Destroyer kill the firstborn of Egypt?

And it shall be for you to keep until the fourteenth day of this month. And all the assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it between the evenings. And they shall take from the blood, and put it on the two side doorposts and on the upper doorpost, on the houses in which they eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in this night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat it raw, or at all boiled in water, but roasted with fire; its head with its legs and with its inward parts. And you shall not leave any of it until morning. And you shall burn with fire that left from it until morning. And you shall eat it this way: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Passover to Yahweh. And I will pass through in the land of Egypt in this night. And I will strike every first born in the land of Egypt, from man even to livestock. And I will execute judgments on all the gods of Egypt. I am Yahweh! (Exodus 12:6-12)

Yahweh says He will pass through the land of Egypt on this night. What night was He talking about. The night portion of the 14th of Abib. The Israelites on the other hand were to slaughter the lamb at twilight and eat it on the night portion of the 14th.

And it happened at midnight. Yahweh struck every first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh, the one sitting on the throne, to the first-born of the captive who was in the prison house, and every first-born of animals. (Exodus 12:29)

The original Passover occurred on the nighttime portion of the 14th of Abib.

Let’s look at another scripture which shows that the day begins at evening.

And on the first day of the week, the disciples having been assembled to break bread, being about to depart on the morrow, Paul reasoned to them. And he continued his speech until midnight. And many lamps were in the upper room where they were gathered. And a certain young man named Eutychus was sitting on the window sill, being overborne by deep sleep, Paul reasoning for a longer time, having been overborne by the sleep, he fell from the third floor down and was taken up dead. But going down Paul fell on him, and embracing him, he said, Do not be terrified, for his life is in him. And going up, and breaking bread, and tasting, and conversing over a long time, until daybreak, he went out thus. And they brought the boy alive and were comforted not a little. But going before onto the ship, we set sail for Assos, being about to take Paul in there; for so it had been arranged, he being about to go on foot. And when he met us in Assos, taking him up we came to Mitylene. And sailing away from there, on the next day we arrived off Chios, and on the next we crossed to Samos. And remaining at Trogyllium, the next day we came to Miletus. For Paul had decided to sail by Ephesus, so as it might not happen to him to spend time in Asia; for he hastened if it were possible for him to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. (Acts 20:7-16)

Here Paul is teaching on the first day of the week “nighttime portion” which began at sunset. Paul continued teaching until midnight, (midnight on the first day of the week which occurs prior to the sun rising) it’s still the first day of the week at daybreak when Paul begins his journey.

Let’s see when David made his daily prayers.

Evening and morning, and at noon, I will pray and cry aloud; and He shall hear my voice. (Psalms 55:17)