God's Day: When does it Start (Part 1 of 5)?

After 6,000 years under God, you'd think we could all agree exactly when God says the day starts.

The ancient Babylonians and medieval Europeans said the day began at sundown.  The ancient Romans and Chinese said it began at midnight.  The ancient Egyptian said the day began at first light (dawn, before sunrise).  Others said it began at sunrise.

What does God say?

There are many verses in the Holy Bible that describe the start of the day.  Unfortunately, most of these can be interpreted either way (sunrise or sunset) as being the start of the day.  Fortunately, there are a few verses which provide clarity.  Since a picture is worth 10,000 years, I have made a picture, one for each of the possible assumptions (sunrise or sunset).

Row 1 (ie. the top row) describes the assumption for this chart.
Row 2 gives a gray scale representation of light levels from black (night), gray (dawn and dusk), and white (full daylight).
Row 3 describes the part of the day (ie. sunrise, noon, sunset, midnight).
Row 4 gives the time of day (eg. 6:00 AM, 6:00 PM, etc.)
Row 5 gives the names for the day of the week (eg. Saturday, Sunday, etc.).  Note that Jewish Sabbath is Saturday, the 6th day of the week.
Row 6 gives the Bible verse under study, placed in the assumed square so that the text matches up with the time scale (first 5 rows).

Click on the Figure to get a full sized view.

Figure 1:  Diagram for Matthew 28:1, assuming day starts as Sundown

Looking at Figure 1, we can see we have a conflict.  The Bible text in Matthew 28:1 says:

Matt 28:1   In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

"In the end of the Sabbath" would tell us we are still inside the Sabbath day, but we are towards the end, getting ready to jump over to the next day (ie. almost at the first day of the week, Sunday).

For clarity, the Bible adds, "as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week".  This part tells us that we are at, or it will soon be within a few moments, be at the dawn of the 1st day of the week (Sunday).  This conflicts with the previous clause, or conflicts with our assumption (ie. when the day starts).

If the Bible had said, "In the end of the sabbath, as the sun began to set toward the first day of the week...", there would have been no conflict between our assumed timeline and the Bible text.  However, this is not what the Bible says.

Therefore we have discovered one of two possibilities:

A.  The first clause in Matthew 28:1 conflicts with the second clause in Matthew 28:1;

or

B.  Our assumption that God's day begins at sunset is in error.

To find out which of these two possibilities is true, lets look at the other possible assumption, as shown in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2:  Diagram for Matthew 28:1, assuming day starts at Sunrise

Figure 2 has the same layout as Figure 1 above, except the assumption has changed, and the most appropriate square for the Biblical text has changed.

In Figure 2, with the assumption of God's day starting at sunrise, we see there is no conflict with the Biblical text in Matthew 28:1.

I have come to learn that the Bible is the inspired writings from God.  God has ensured His Word has survived without corruption.  We have thousands of manuscripts, all or most that agree with each other except for obvious typos, and/or obvious corruptions, additions, or deletions which are easily spotted upon comparison of the various manuscrips, so as to disregard the imposters and obvious errors.

I have consulted the Blue Letter Bible Interlinear Greek for Matt 28:1 and the KJV English seems to match up with the original Greek manuscript shown there. I have also consulted my Greek-Hebrew-English Interlinear Bible textbook, and it agrees also that KJV English matches the original Greek.  Therefore I conclude that the English in the KJV Bible is correct, and respects the original Greek manuscript.

The KJV also agrees with all or most of the modern Bible versions available (eg. NKJV, NIV, CEB, ESV, etc.).

Mark 16:1-2 says:

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

Here, we see similar timing to Matthew 28:1.  However, due to the wording, we could assume that Sabbath ended at sundown, then the Marys go buy spices, go back home to sleep, get up early before sunrise, and arrive at the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.  This makes it insufficient for our evidential requirements.  However, Mark 16:1-2 does not conflict with Matthew 28:1, but it does collaborate Matthew 28:1.

Luke 24:1 says:

"Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them."

Again, Luke 24:1 supports both Matthew 28:1 and Mark 16:1-2.  However, Luke 24:1 does not adequately describe exactly when the day changes.

John 20:1 says:

"The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre."

Again, John 20:1 supports Luke 24:1, Matthew 28:1, and Mark 16:1-2.  However, again John 20:1 lacks the specific details needed to define when one day ends and the next day begins.

Contrary Interpretation of Matthew 28:1

Some people may choose to say, "Yes, the plain English in Matthew 28:1 KJV certainly says that, but I can't believe that plain English meaning is what the author or God intended."  In that case, you should be prepared to provide a mountain of evidence that clearly instructs us to ignore the plain English meaning, so as to justify us to adopt some whimsical, far flung interpretation of Matthew 28:1.  If so, where is your mountain of data?

Failing a mountain of data to over-ride the plain English, we can recognize the accuracy of the KJV Bible, and avoid the conflict by choosing the assumption that the day begins as sunrise.

I therefore conclude that Matthew 28:1 instructs us that God's day begins at sunrise.

Three years ago, when I was awakened from my spiritual coma, I had assumed that the Jews knew what time it was, God's Word, the Bible, and all related topics.  I now come to the realization that the disruptions caused by Babylonians, Alexander the Great, Egypt, Rome, and Muslims was too much for the Hebrew nation, and they became corrupted in their timekeeping (and otherwise).  Fortunately, we have the Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, and a few other sources to help us reconstruct God's message and God's Laws. 

Per the Bible and God's Law, we need 2 to 3 witnesses before we can render a just verdict.  We will see another witness on our next posting.  Stay tuned!

God said that Satan and Anti-Christ would change laws and time.  Do we need to hear more on how man became confused?

If you believe, or don't believe yet, please add your comments below.

---> To Part 2