It's common
knowledge that in Bible times "the day is reckoned
from evening to evening—i.e., night and day" (1906
Jewish Encyclopedia). However, this posed a problem
for WLC (.com), as it would disprove their idea that
the Sabbath always falls on the 15th, and
the week resets with the month on the day of the new
moon. So to respond to this they say that a day
begins from morning till evening, and that the
Sabbath is only during daylight hours—a private
interpretation with no Biblical support.
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Q: Why does WLC (.com) ignore that a day
is made up of an evening and morning?
A: Because to accept the Word and say
that the day is made up of an
evening and morning will disprove their
teaching that the Sabbath always falls
on the 15th, for the children
of Israel travelled on the 15th,
and we know that the Children of Israel
would not have packed, traveled, set up
camp, etc. on the Sabbath.
"And they took their journey from
Elim, and all the congregation of
the children of Israel came unto the
wilderness of Sin, which is between
Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day
of the second month after their
departing out of the land of Egypt."
Exodus 16:1
To respond to this, WLC (.com) created
the excuse that
they travelled in the night, and that the
night is not part of the Sabbath ... Of
course providing no Biblical support to
this claim. |
To answer the
question "when does a day begin?"
we should avoid our own conclusions
and interpretations, and use the scriptures
to speak for itself.
First of all, we
must establish what the word "day" means. In the Old
Testament, thus the Hebrew, the original word for
day used was יוֹם or "yowm". In the New
Testament, thus Greek, the word for day used was
ἡμέρα or "hēmera". Both words, yowm and hēmera,
can be used to represent day light, or a day in a
week. So when WLC asks "when does a day begin?" they
must first clarify "day" as in day light (12 hours)
or day as in a calendar date (24 hours).
When does the
period of "day light" begin?
There is no
debate as when the day for day light begins, as the
Bible clearly states that its the time of day when
there's light:
"And God
called the light
Day,
and the darkness he called Night. And the
evening and the morning were the first
day"
Genesis 1:5
The light is
called day,
and the dark is called night, and the completion of
evening (sundown to sunset) and the completion of
morning (sunrise to sunset) make up a
day.
This brings up the next question:
When does a
complete 24 hour day begin?
WLC (.com)
believes that the day is only the period of day
light, and that the 24 hour day begins at sunrise.
We at WLC (.org) choose to believe as the Bible says,
that "the evening and morning" were the first,
second, third, etc... day:
"And the
evening and the morning were the first day ...
And the evening and the morning
were the second day ... And the evening
and the morning were the third day ... And
the evening and the morning were the fourth day
... And the evening and the morning were
the fifth day ... And the evening and the
morning were the sixth day."
Genesis 1:5,8,13, 18, 23, & 31.
WLC (.com)
ignored the fact that the evening and morning make
up a day, and as a result, they not only begin their day
at morning, but also only keep the Sabbath hours
during the hours of the day (morning until sundown).
Instead of Biblical support, they try and use fear
to support their view:
When does the
Bible say the Sabbath begins?
Again, trying not
to include our own private interpretation, let us
look at what the Bible has to say:
"Remember
the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt
thou labour, and do all thy work: But the
seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God:
in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy
son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy
maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger
that is within thy gates: For in six days the
LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all
that in them is, and rested the seventh day:
wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and
hallowed it." Exodus 20:8-11
In the 4th
commandment, the Lord in His wisdom referenced the
creation week, where we just saw that He created all
things in six days. Looking back in Genesis we see
that each day was the compilation of an "evening and
morning", so when the Creator created the day as
an evening and morning, who are we to say that the
seventh day is only the period of day light?
Furthermore
the Bible has to say more on the Sabbath hours:
"It shall
be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye
shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of
the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye
celebrate your sabbath." Leviticus 23:32
Here when the
Creator is telling us that our Sabbath is to be from
even unto even, who are we to say no? WLC (.com)
chooses to explain the above verse by saying that
that only applies to the day atonement, but again,
we choose to leave aside our own private
interpretation and read the Word.
Ellen White
did not leave this matter unaddressed. A man by the
name of Joseph Bates introduced the idea that even
unto even represented 6:00pm Friday to 6:00pm
Saturday, which both James and Ellen White accepted.
However, there was a small group that believed that
the Sabbath hours were from sundown Friday to
sundown Saturday. To resolve the matter, James White
requested from John Andrews to address the matter,
which he did. Upon completion of the study, James
and Ellen White along with Joseph Bates and the
church leaders studied the matter one Sabbath
morning in Battle Creek, until all the congregation
agreed that the Sabbath was from sundown to sundown,
all but Ellen White and Joseph Bates. They continued
to discuss the matter throughout the Sabbath, until
Sunday morning where the Creator Himself had to
intervene and take Mrs. White in vision {1BIO
322.3}:
"I
saw that it is even so: “From even unto
even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.”
Said the angel: “Take the word of God, read it,
understand,
and ye
cannot err. Read carefully, and ye shall
there find what even is, and when it is. I asked
the angel if the frown of God had been upon His
people for commencing the Sabbath as they had. I
was directed back to the first rise of the
Sabbath, and followed the people of God up to
this time, but did not see that the Lord was
displeased, or frowned upon them. I inquired why
it had been thus, that at this late day we must
change the time of commencing the Sabbath. Said
the angel: “Ye shall understand, but not yet,
not yet.” Said the angel: “If light come, and
that light is set aside or rejected, then comes
condemnation and the frown of God; but before
the light comes, there is no sin, for there is
no light for them to reject.”
I saw
that it was in the minds of some that the Lord
had shown that the Sabbath commenced at six
o’clock, when I had only seen that it
commenced at “even,” and it was inferred
that even was at six. I saw that the
servants of God must draw together, press
together." {1T 116.1}
The Creator
would not have intervened and shown Ellen White the
truth, and a few years later change the truth
completely. The angel assured Mrs. White that she
would not err in the matter, and Mrs. White saw that
it was in fact from "even unto even". So who are we
to say that these words are not true, and instead,
let us listen to the words of men that contradict
these words?
The Passover
Finally the
Passover is a matter that they give, however unlike
them, let us just use the Word rather then the
interpretations of man.
WLC (.com)
believes that on the 14th the Children of Israel
did the Passover sacrifice, and later at
midnight the angel of the Lord killed the first
born of Egypt. The next day on the 15th, at
sunrise, was the Sabbath, so the Children of
Israel stayed in Egypt until sundown, where the
Pharaoh told Moses that the people were free to
go, so they left at night.
WLC (.org)
believes that on the 14th the Children of Israel
did the Passover sacrifice, and as the sun went
down the 15th began, where they had the feast of
unleavened bread. Later that night, the angel of
the Lord killed the first born of Egypt, and the
Pharaoh called Moses and told him that the
people of Israel were free to go, thus they left
early morning at dawn of the 15th.
WLC (.com)
uses Deuteronomy 16:1 to say that the Children of
Israel left Egypt by night, when the verse just says
that's when they became free:
“Observe
the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto
the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the
LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by
night.”
After all, we
know from Exodus 12:31 that that's when the Children
of Israel receive the release to be free men:
"And he
called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said,
Rise up, and get you forth from among my people,
both ye and the children of Israel; and go,
serve the LORD, as ye have said."
Then the Bible
speaks about the "day" when Israel left Egypt, not
night:
“And Moses
said unto the people,
Remember
this day, in which ye came out from
Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by
strength of hand the LORD brought you out from
this place: there shall no leavened bread be
eaten.
This day came ye out in the month Abib.”
Exodus 13:3
Thou shalt
eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt
thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the
bread of affliction;
for thou
camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste:
that thou mayest remember
the day
when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt
all the days of thy life. (Deut. 16:3)
So either WLC
(.com) has to accept night as part of the day,
or that the Children of Israel left in the day time.
Either way, it will disprove that the Sabbath fell
on the 15th. Second, over and over it was used that
the Children left with haste (Ex. 12:11, Ex. 12:33 &
Deut. 16:3), so to say that they did not leave in
haste, but instead waited in Egypt another day for
the Sabbath to end, would contradict the Bible.
Another point
is that the feast of unleavened bread begins on the
night of the 15th, so how could they have the feast
and leave on the same night? Finally, let us look at
Ex. 12:33, 34, which brings up some good points:
“And
the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that
they might send them out of the land in haste;
for they said, We be all dead men.
And the people took their dough before it was
leavened, their kneading troughs being
bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.”
So if the
Children of Israel took dough before it was
leavened, that would be a short time, and not a full
day...
"Beware lest
any man spoil you through philosophy and vain
deceit, after the tradition of men,
after the rudiments of the world, and not after
Christ." Colossians 2:8
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