The Reckoning of the Day in the Bible
In Genesis 1, we read, “The evening and the morning were the first day…the evening and the morning were the second…and third,” etc. The evening introduces the dark part of the day and the morning introduces the light part of the day. All through the Old and New Testaments, we find the day begins at sunset and ends at sunset.
In Leviticus 23: 32 we read: “It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, …in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.” “Even” means “evening.” The Israelites were to celebrate the tenth of the month, and that day began on the ninth at “even.”
Now, having shown that a day begins at evening and ends at evening, let’s show that evening is introduced by the going down of the sun. In Joshua 10:26, 27, we read this: “They were hanging upon the trees until the evening. And it came to pass, at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees.” This clearly shows that evening comes at the going down of the sun.
Also, in Mark 1:32 we read this: “And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.” Here, we see again that when the sun did set it was even.
Another verse, found in Luke 24: 28, 29, says,”And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” This shows that the day would be spent when evening came on at sunset.
It was during the Dark Ages that the new, pagan system of reckoning from midnight to midnight was introduced. But according to the Bible it is always evening-to-evening or sunset-to-sunset.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
