Most people who are familiar with Christianity or Judaism hold the belief that the “calendar day” starts at sunset. It is through this lens that they interpret the scriptures and attempt to reconstruct history. If this understanding is completely wrong, then it would have a profound impact that ripples through our understanding of what year Yeshua died and when He will return. Furthermore, it would expose the corruptness of the modern Rabbinic Judaism which descended from the Pharisees of Yeshua’s day.
I have a passion for the truth and hate logical contradictions. I previously abandoned my faith in our Creator because of the apparent abundance contradictions, only to find even more contradictions in the faith of “official” science. I am now seeking to resolve the apparent contradictions in the Bible rather than dismiss it.
In this article I will compare the arguments put forth by both sides of the debate on sunrise vs sunset to that you can see which one is more reasonable and whether or not we have inherited falsehoods from our fathers in which there is no profit. If you have a better argument for sunset then I would like to see it so that it can be addressed.
Exodus 12 - Passover Instructions
YHVH said to Moses... "Take care of the lambs until the fourteenth day of the same month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them between noon and sunset... that same night they are to eat the meat... do not leave any of it until morning. ... on that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn". -- Exodus 12
Sunrise Interpretation
YHVH, in a direct quote, clearly considers the night after slaughtering the Passover lamb to be the same day as the fourteenth day of the month. There is actually a Hebrew word in the original text that corresponds to the word same and that same word was used in the passage to mean the 14th day of the same month as the 10th day previously referenced.
Sunset Interpretation
YHVH is using imprecise "common vernacular" that contradicts the "technical" definition of the day because people commonly associate the night with the day before. The technical definition of a day is derived from other passages and evidence from tradition.
Leviticus 23:26 - The Day of Atonement Instructions
YHVH said to Moses, "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to YHVH... It is a day of sabbath rest for you, and you must deny yourselves from the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath" -- Leviticus 23:26-32
Sunrise Interpretation
YHVH, in a direct quote, references the evening of the 9th day to signal the start of a 24 hour fast that ends on the following evening (10th day). There is no ambiguity over what calendar day the evening falls on. These instructions were given this way because the Day of Atonement is a fast and normal Sabbaths start at sunrise and end at sunset. Eating breakfast before sunrise would have defeated the spirit of the fast.
Sunset Interpretation
While the evening is associated with the start of the day, there can be some ambiguity on which calendar day a sunset is associated with. This is similar to modern ambiguity of which calendar day midnight falls on. YHVH mentioned the evening of the 9th day because the technically incorrect common vernacular associated an evening with the daylight before it.
Imagine this text read "the day of atonement will be on the 10th day of the month, from midnight on the 9th day until the following midnight." Even though, technically, 12:00AM (aka midnight) on the 9th day is 24 hours before the start of the 10th day, the word choice by YHVH was inline with common misunderstandings of the day.
Yeshua and Sign of Jonah
Just as Jonah was in the stomach of the sea creature for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. - Matthew 12:40
We know Yeshua died on the 14th day and rose before sunrise on the 1st day of the week. The association of days and nights with the calendar has profound consequences on how we understanding the timing of Yeshua's resurrection and is return.
Sunrise Interpretation
Yeshua died (D) on the 6th day of the week (currently thought of as Friday) and rose (R) just before sunrise on the 1st day of the week. This allowed Joseph (J) to ask Pilot for the body and get it in the tomb before the Sabbath and gave the women time to buy spices (BS) during the daylight hours on the 1st day after the Sabbath. This gives us three days and three nights using inclusive reckoning that was utilized at the time. Yeshua must have died in 27 AD or 30 AD and the calendar month started with the first sighting of the crescent moon or a Lunar Sabbath calendar may have been in use if evidence shows he died in a different year.
Sunset Interpretation
Yeshua died (D) on the 5th day (Thursday) and rose (R) just before sunrise on the 1st day (Sunday). The women prepared spices (PS) before the Sabbath, but Joseph (J) had to move the body, wrap it, place it in the tomb, and move the heavy rock over it during the night of the High Sabbath. While this kind of "work" might offend Pharisees of the day, Yeshua would likely classify it as pulling your Ox out of the ditch. After sunset on Saturday, the women bought spices which they brought to the tomb early the next morning. This assumes the markets for spices would open up at sunset and the women would be out after dark. This gives three days and three nights. Yeshua must have died in 27 AD, 30 AD or 34 AD and the Rabbinic Jews must be wrong about the month starting at the first visible crescent. Furthermore, those that hold astrological conjunction as the start of the month are also wrong. The calendar month must start on the first day after the astrological conjunction regardless of whether the moon is visible or not. If evidence shows Yeshua rose in 28, 29, 31, or 32 AD then sunset interpretation is invalid.
There are many prominent ministries (119 ministries, Rood Awakening) that have adopted an alternative means of counting only the days He was in the tomb. This website does a good job debunking the Wednesday interpretation which has Him rising after the 3rd day instead of on the 3rd day.
Manna and Quail
That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. ... On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much[manna]—two Omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’” -- Exodus 16:22-23
Sunrise Interpretation
Quail is gathered in the evening, and on the 6th day, after they had gathered twice as much manna, Moses told them to bake/boil it and save it for the next day. The relevant portion is that he also told them to boil quail, implying that quail will be coming that night and that the evening of the 6th day follows the daylight of the 6th day. There was no need to deliver 2x quail on any night because the Sabbath only applies during daylight hours.
Sunset Interpretation
They must have boiled the quail gathered the night before even though they didn't know they needed to gather twice as much. The fact that the Bible doesn't mention 2x quail doesn't mean it didn't happen.
Scripture Verses that Imply Day before Night
All the days of the earth, seed-time and harvest shall never cease, cold and heat, summer and winter, and DAY and NIGHT shall not change their order nor cease forever. Jubilees 6:4-5
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease. - Genesis 8:22
These verses are fairly clear, but sunrise skeptics will argue that Jubilees isn't scripture and therefore cannot be trusted. When looking at a similar verse in Genesis they will claim that the order of the words is imprecise common vernacular and not technically accurate based upon definitions elsewhere and that there are also verses that refer to "night and day". More on this below.
Miscellaneous Interpretation Comparison
| Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|
| Sabbath begins at Sunrise | Sabbath begins at sunset |
| Sabbath Ends at Sunset | Sabbath ends at Sunset |
| Nehemiah closes gates earlier than necessary | Nehemiah closes gates just in time |
| tomorrow (to morning) means next day | tomorrow means next daylight |
| 31 references to "day and night" | 13 references to "night and day" |
| 3 whole/complete and 1 means unity | 13 is unlucky, evil, wickedness |
| First Sabbath on 7th day after leaving Egypt | First Sabbath day after they leave |
| Unclean until evening is end of temple day | Unclean until evening is end of calendar day |
| Evening to Evening means 24 hours | Evening to Evening is one Day |
| Evening to Morning means Night | Evening to Morning is one Day |
End at the Beginning - The "Technical Definition"
In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of Elohim was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then Elohim said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. Elohim saw that the light was good; and Elohim separated the light from the darkness. Elohim called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening and there was morning, one day. - Genesis 1
Sunset Interpretation
In the beginning there was darkness (Night) and then Elohim said "Let there be light" which created the Day; furthermore, the phrase "and there was evening and there was morning Nth day" is repeated six times to drive home the point that evening comes before morning and that this comprises a day.
The initial darkness described was presumably an eternity, but Elohim waited for 12 hours after the start of the "technical day" to say "Let there be light." There could be no darkness during the part of the official daylight on the first day. This would imply that Elohim said "Let there be" 3 seconds before the technical sunrise so that "light" could be spoken exactly on sunrise even though the Earth and Sun wouldn't be created for several more days.
Sunrise Interpretation
The opening verse is an introduction to what will happen, creating the heavens and earth, but the heavens and earth are not created and named until days 3 and 4. The next verse establishes that there was nothing, darkness being the absent of light. However, "In the beginning Elohim" combined with "Elohim is light and in Him there is no darkness" from 1 John 1:5 establishes that Light created the heavens and the earth and that it came before darkness. Furthermore, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim." combined with the first spoken words "Let there be light" makes a strong case for Light entering the picture before darkness.
That said, each of the 6 daylights where creation occurs is followed by an evening and morning. Morning ends at sunrise and evening begins at sunset. So the time period from evening to morning defines a single Night and no part of the daylight. This means that sunset promoters are assigning the definition of the Night to the meaning of Day.
After going through all the possible interpretations of Genesis 1, I came to the conclusion that while I can see more ways to interpret it in favor of sunrise than sunset, I can also see an interpretation for sunset. Given that reasonable men can have different conclusions about the implications of Genesis 1 and that the passage is not entirely incompatible with either sunrise or sunset; I cannot see Genesis 1 as definitively defining a "technical" day.
Conclusion
I think there is incontrovertible evidence straight from the mouth of YHVH that He defines a calendar day as daylight followed by evening through morning and ending at sunrise. The rationalizations and appeal to "Tradition!" of the Pharisees is simply not compelling.
The implications of this conclusion are far reaching and I will explore them in future posts.
