Postby BrotherArnold » 23 Feb 2008, 05:10
Shalom All,
We must find a conclusive scriptural definition of EVENING before we can keep the appointments of YHWH.
First of all the original Scriptural definition of evening is found in Genesis one and was the period of darkness that was called night and the definition of morning was the period of light that was called Day, no other division of time was mentioned, or needed. As time went on and men began to multiply they divided the night and day into more specific segments and used terms such as midnight, midday, noon, twilight, sunrise, sunset, and between the evenings etc. these terms allow them to be more specific in communicating with YHWH and each other. You had such terms as between the evenings before sunrise (Ex-16) and between the evenings at the going down of the sun (Deut-16) etc. In today’s fast pace we have hours, minuets and seconds of time but in the beginning the two basic periods of a day was evening and morning, the evening/darkness/night lasted until sunrise/light/morning/day, which in turn lasted until evening/dark and it began over again. And I will prove this from Scripture.
I am about to prove from Scripture from Scripture that evening is dark.
I will start by showing that the ancient ancestors understood sundown as dark. See Genesis 15:17
"And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark,
When the sun is completely down it is dark.
Amos 8:9 says "I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
Notice if the sun goes down at noon, the earth will be dark, why will the earth the dark??? Because the sun went down.
Micah 3:6 "The sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
Here again we see that when the sun goes down, it is dark. Why? Because the sun went down.
And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even. And whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. [LEVITICUS 11:24-25]
Compare this verse with the following and you will see that sundown and dark is synonymous with EVENING. "Whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath; The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water. And when the "sun is down", he shall be clean [LEVITICUS 22:5-7]
Notice: the two above Scriptures conclusively proves that sundown and evening are synonymous, one says, and be unclean until the even. [LEVITICUS 11:24-25]
And the other says, And when the "sun is down", he shall be clean… [LEVITICUS 22:5-7] this proves that sundown and evening are synonymous, and I have demonstrated how that sundown is dark. i.e. sundown equals evening and sundown equals dark according to scripture definitions, and by using deductive reasoning we can conclusively prove from Scripture that evening is dark.
Above are just a few Scripture that support my understanding of sundown as being dark and sundown being evening.
We know from Genesis where He said the light He called day, i.e. day is the name for light, and if you still see light you are seeing that day but when it gets completely dark at conjunction, another day began, same as the conjunction of the moon, when the light is gone the new month begins.
I believe the Scriptures will interpret themselves as to what sundown is and as to what evening is.
In Genesis we read, "The light he called day and the darkness he called night and the evening (darkness) and the morning (light) were the first day (24hr period).
I believe this is a Scripture definition of evening, and I believe the above concerning sundown being dark, in one place, and sundown being evening in another place, is a scriptural definition of sundown and therefore a new 24 hr period begins at dark/sundown/evening. We cannot count on the Strong's concordance or any concordance's definition of a word if it cannot be proven from Scripture. The concordance says evening is dusk but you cannot find no conclusive place in scriptures to support this.
People's understanding of words today are different than two thousand years ago. I gave scripture where sundown is referring to dark and evening but our understanding of sundown is different.
The same is true with the Hebrew word TWILIGHT. Twilight also was understood as dark but probably at different periods of the night/dark. i.e. when it 1st gets dark it is twilight dark. This would allow people to communicate what time of the evening it was. We today might say six or seven o'clock depending on what time it get's dark and they would say twilight.
Examples-
Proverbs 7:9 in the "twilight in the evening, in the black and dark night:"
This proves that they understood that Twilight, evening, black and dark night are all synonymous, same as sun down and evening and sundown and dark. I believe that twilight is the period of darkness just after the sun is completely down and it is dark at conjunction and there's another twilight in the darkness just before the sun comes up at conjunction, and the light gets brighter from that point on but in any case the scriptural definition of twilight is dark according to the above scriptures. I realize man has other understandings of twilight but can anyone show were twilight is not dark in Scripture?
Job 24:15-16 "The adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, no eye shall see me and distinguish his face. In the dark they dig through houses which they have marked for themselves in the daytime.
If someone want to say twilight is something different than dark, would it be asking too much for just one scripture? Remember that twilight is also synonymous with evening, same as sundown.
Twilight (dark/evening) or sundown/dark/evening it's all the same because the Scripture teaches when the sun is down, it is dark. I believe they understood the true sundown as being synonymous with dark.
"And in the evening I digged through the wall with my hands and brought it fourth in the twilight"
Again Twilight appears to be the early part of the darkness and begins right after dark, at conjunction, and Possibly the darkness right before any light appears in the morning, at conjunction.
[EZEKIEL 12:4-8]
Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity. Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel. And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the "even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the "twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight. And in the "morning came the word of Yahweh unto me…
Notice, even is mentioned as the equivalent or synonymous with twilight and as the above scripture proves, twilight is equivalent or synonymous with darkness and therefore evening is darkness also.
There is not one conclusive scripture that I know of that proves twilight to be anything but dark or that proves sundown to be anything but dark or that proves evening to be anything but dark but I have proved conclusively from the above scriptures that all three is referring to dark.
Job-3:9 "the stars of the twilight their of be dark."
The twilight stars are very bright right after it gets dark in the twilight, not some bogus twilight at dusk or BEFORE dark.
Ps. Ne-13:19 "when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark "before the Sabbath"
I believe were says "It began to be dark" could be referring to DUSK before the Sabbath which begins at DARK. If it BEGAN to be DARK before the Sabbath does not mean dusk, where would dusk come in at? Therefore the Sabbath day does not began at dusk.
It does not say anything about the sun touching the horizon etc. when it began to be dark before the Sabbath. i.e. the Sabbath would begin at dark, and he goes on to say that after the Sabbath the gates would be opened.
Evening is defined as follows, by Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, and Brown, Drivers, Briggs Hebrew Lexicon:
H6153 / SEC Definition / ›ereb / eh\'-reb / From H6150; dusk” + day, even (-ing, tide), night.
H6153 / ›ereb / BDB Definition: / 1) evening, night, sunset / 1a) evening, sunset / 1b) night
To Historically prove that evening and twilight end a day I offer the following Historical evidence from a time period when the Temple was still standing.
WARS OF THE JEWS book 4 CHAPTER 9 (582)
"(580) but having the advantage of situation, and having withal erected four very large towers aforehand, that their darts might come from higher places, (581) one at the northeast corner of the court, one above the Xystus, the third at another corner over against the lower city, (582) and the last was erected above the top of the Pastophoria, where one of the priests stood of course, and gave a signal beforehand, with a trumpet, at the "Beginning" of every seventh day, in the "evening twilight, as also at the "evening when the "day was finished, as giving notice to the people when they were to "leave off work, and when they were to go to "Work again. (583) These men also set their engines to cast darts and stones withal, upon those towers, with their archers and slingers.
In the above Josephus is saying that the trumpet was blown at evening twilight which is the beginning of every seventh day and at the evening at the end of every seventh day for the people to go back to work again. Remember Josephus is writing this during the time of the destruction of the Temple when the priesthood was still active which conclusively proves the Jews at this time understood the day ends at evening twilight which is dark/conjunction and the day consisted of 24 hours.
Judges 19:8-9
7And when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he lodged there again. 8And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel's father said, Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them.
9And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home. 10But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, "
The man tarried until afternoon, and they did eat both of them, and is told the day is almost over BECAUSE the day draweth toward evening, it was afternoon when he tries to get him to wait another day and leave tomorrow and tomorrow always means the next day. i.e. ALL tomorrows have an evening and morning, in that order, because when the day is over at evening, the morrow begins. It is evident in this case.
Last edited by
BrotherArnold on 24 Feb 2008, 04:06, edited 1 time in total.
Lunar Sabbaths is one of the most provable doctrines in Scripture...
Brother Arnold
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www.lunarsabbath.info