I’ve recently compiled a study on When a Day Begins and Ends according to Genesis 1 that I thought would be helpful to those who are seeking this matter out. I also addressed several of the most popular texts used to justify an evening-to-evening reckoning of a Day. Check it out and let me know what you think in the comments below.
You might also be interested in this video presentation by the same name:
See my website for additional studies on the topic of the start of the day, as well as the Biblical calendar as a whole. Thanks for your studies.
http://www.teachmetonumbermydays.blogspot.com
Hi Shari, I just came across your site about a week ago. I found it inspiring. 😉 Very cool to see so many coming to these understandings from all over the world independent of each other.
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Hello Carrie,
Found your site when researching another subject. Glad I happened it. Listened to When the Day Begins. This is a subject I am still seeking knowledge on currently. Have not listened to all the other posts yet but have a few questions.
1st. Did not darkness come first in Genesis 1:2?
2nd. Why does evening come before morning in the scripture of the Creation Story?
3rd. Did YHVH Our Creator only rest twelve (about) hours for the Sabbath?
Seems YHVH’s pattern in Genesis was darkness first then light. Our Creator is about patterns I believe. I still have much to learn. Thanks A Bible Believer
Hi Deborah,
I’m glad you found me. Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
1. Yes, the story being told in Genesis starts with darkness and then God speaks. And when He speaks, light comes into being.
2. In my view, when God spoke into the darkness, and light came into being, that was a picture of “morning” — the breaking forth of light in the darkness (or the break of day). It’s just not specifically identified at that point.
Then, during that period of light, God saw that the light was good and separated it from the darkness, calling the light “day” and the darkness “night”. We’re then told “and there was evening”, indicating that it grew dark, which naturally would have been the end of “day” 1, transitioning into “night”.
“…and there was morning” is the transition from the “night” to the following “day”…and God speaks again.
3. YHVH only created in the “Day” time, so technically He rested from his work of creation *every Night*.
The 7th *Day* was set apart from the previous six days, because on that day when He ordinarily would have worked, He didn’t. None of the nights were set apart, because they were all the same in that no work of creation was done in them.
So, while YHVH rested the night before the seventh day (and even the night following the seventh day), what He blessed and sanctified was the DAY (not the night) — and that is what is commonly referred to as the “Sabbath DAY”.
Typically, the pattern of night & day (or day & night) is that one follows the other, always. There is never day, followed by day, or night, followed by night. It’s day, night, day, night, etc. As far as which comes first, it depends on the circumstance.
If it rains for “40 days and 40 nights”, day comes first because the rain began in the day. But if one prays “night and day”, then evidently night comes first, because that is when the praying begins.
When it comes to the work of Creation, YHVH began His creation at the break of “day” when He spoke into the darkness and light came into being. While it may have been dark just before He spoke, it wasn’t *growing* dark, which would have been indicative of the evening. Instead, it was simply dark and then light broke forth at His speaking, indicating morning.
Does that sound reasonable to you?
More to study and digest. Going to study on the “Day” concept with word study. Thanks and Blessings
Sounds good. 🙂