God's Day: When does it Start (Part 3 of 5)?

This is the 3rd of 5 parts in examining the issue of when does God's day begin.

In Part 1 (God's Day:  When Does It Start?), we offered the proof of Matthew 28:1 when Mary went to the sepulcher to find Jesus had risen.  In Part 2 (God's Day:  When Does It Start?_Part 2), we offered the biblical evidence of Genesis 19:30-38 when Lot's daughters were plotting on how to get pregnant.  In Part 3 (this posting), we offer the evidence of Exodus 10:1-14 when God brought the plague of locusts upon Egypt.

3rd Witness:  Exodus 10:1-14 Plague of Locusts

The Eighth Plague: Locusts

1And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him: 2And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD.

3And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me. 4Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast: 5And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field: 6And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh. 7And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? 8And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but who are they that shall go? 9And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD. 10And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. 11Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

12And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. 13And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 14And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.

In Verse 4, God promises a plague of locusts in Egypt the next day if Pharaoh refuses to let the Hebrews go.  In Verse 11, Pharaoh agrees to let the men go, but refuses permission for the women and children to leave Egypt.  Therefore in Verse 12, God tells Moses to bring on the locust plague upon Egypt.  In Verse 13 the wind comes out of the East all the rest of that day and all that night, then when it was morning, the locusts arrived in Egypt, exactly like God warned.

If we assume that the day starts at dawn, then the locusts came exactly when God said they would come.

Remember, locusts have attacked Egypt and other regions on Earth before the time of Moses, and have attacked since, even up to 2019.  Some swarms of locusts were less, some swarms were worse than the others.  A swarm of locusts does not prove God.  A particularly bad swarm of locusts doesn't prove God.  But when the worst swarm of locusts ever seen is predicted, then shows up exactly on cue, that could prove to Pharaoh the existence and power of God.

If we assume the day starts at sundown, the locusts came 12 hours late, and would therefore raise the question in Pharaoh's mind whether God controls the locusts, or perhaps there was just a partial coincidence.

Therefore it is suggested that God's locusts showed up exactly on-time, exactly as predicted by God, and therefore we conclude that God's day begins at sunrise.
 
We therefore conclude that God's day begins at sunrise.

I realize that this conclusion is against Jewish tradition.  Remember however, that the Jews of today name their months differently than what they are called in the Bible.  The Jewish months are currently named after Babylonian names.  If the Jews are influenced (or corrupted) by Babylon as to the names of the months, could the Jews also have been corrupted as to the start of the day?



Hebrew Emtymology, The 4th Witness

Based on Jewish Hebrew, we have the meaning of evening and sunrise, as follows:

Hebrew for Evening (Strong's H6153) is Ereb  ערב
means mixing or blending, which should be interpreted as blending of day and night.

Hebrew for Morning (Strong's H1242 ) is Boqer הבוקר הוא בוקר
is derived from breaking, delineation, separation, and demarcation; which should be interpreted as the point between yesterday and today.



Other Biblical References

There are many other Biblical descriptions for day starts in the Bible. For example:

Genesis 1:16-18, 8:22
Exodus 10:13, 12:6, 12:18, 16:2-3, 16:22-27, 18:13, 32:5-6
Deut 16:1, 16:6, 21:23
Lev 6:20, 7:15, 23:5, 23:26-32
Num 11:32
Joshua 7:6-13, 8:29
Jeremiah 33:20-21, 25-26
Judges 19:9
1 Sam 9:19-26, 19:10-11, 28:8-19, 30:17
2 Sam 24:13-15
Lam 3:22
Jonah 4:6-7
Zech 14:7
Nehemiah 7:3, 13:18-21
Mat 28:1
Mark 16:2, 15:42
Luke 24:1
John 6:16-22, 12:46 , 20:1
Acts 4:3, 16:9-11, 23:31-32



Summary Videos

You can watch a good summary of the various Biblical verses which are evidence towards sunrise as the start of God's Day.

When does the Day Start (Part 1)   https://youtu.be/R5xBdoWegTQ
   Part 2 (Old Testament References)   https://youtu.be/Vs19gS14qyk
   Part 3 (New Testament References)   https://youtu.be/UW3DdysjCb8
   Part 4  (More Old Testament References)    https://youtu.be/EtB5e-t981o
   Part 5   (Non-Biblical References) https://youtu.be/C9TwrazbbI0


Summary

To the best of my knowledge & belief, most or all of these other references are either silent, or could be reasonably interpreted by either assumption (either sunrise or sunset as the start of day).  Therefore all of the other biblical references are weak or of no benefit in resolving this issue.

I know of no Biblical reference that clearly supports sunset as the start of God's day. 

I know of no Biblical reference that clearly contradicts the sunrise as the start of God's day.


My Decision

For me and my family, we are now switching how we celebrate God's weekly Sabbath.  We will now  celebrate Sabbath for the 24 hour period from sunrise Saturday to sunrise Sunday. 

<--- Back to Part 2

On to Part 4 --->  (link added 2019-09-28)