It’s common knowledge that in Bible times “the day is reckoned from evening to evening—i.e., night and day” (1906 Jewish Encyclopedia). However, this posed a problem for WLC (.com), as it would disprove their idea that the Sabbath always falls on the 15th, and the week resets with the month on the day of the new moon. So to respond to this they say that a day begins from morning till evening, and that the Sabbath is only during daylight hours—a private interpretation with no Biblical support.
Q: Why does WLC (.com) ignore that a day is made up of an evening and morning?
A: Because to accept the Word and say that the day is made up of an evening and morning will disprove their teaching that the Sabbath always falls on the 15th, for the children of Israel travelled on the 15th, and we know that the Children of Israel would not have packed, traveled, set up camp, etc. on the Sabbath.
“And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.” Exodus 16:1
To respond to this, WLC (.com) created the excuse that they travelled in the night, and that the night is not part of the Sabbath … Of course providing no Biblical support to this claim.
To answer the question “when does a day begin?” we should avoid our own conclusions and interpretations, and use the scriptures to speak for itself.
First of all, we must establish what the word “day” means. In the Old Testament, thus the Hebrew, the original word for day used was יוֹם or “yowm”. In the New Testament, thus Greek, the word for day used was ἡμέρα or “hēmera”. Both words, yowm and hēmera, can be used to represent day light, or a day in a week. So when WLC asks “when does a day begin?” they must first clarify “day” as in day light (12 hours) or day as in a calendar date (24 hours).
When does the period of “day light” begin?
There is no debate as when the day for day light begins, as the Bible clearly states that its the time of day when there’s light:
“And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day” Genesis 1:5
The light is called day, and the dark is called night, and the completion of evening (sundown to sunset) and the completion of morning (sunrise to sunset) make up a day. This brings up the next question:
When does a complete 24 hour day begin?
WLC (.com) believes that the day is only the period of day light, and that the 24 hour day begins at sunrise. We at WLC (.org) choose to believe as the Bible says, that “the evening and morning” were the first, second, third, etc… day:
“And the evening and the morning were the first day … And the evening and the morning were the second day … And the evening and the morning were the third day … And the evening and the morning were the fourth day … And the evening and the morning were the fifth day … And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
Genesis 1:5,8,13, 18, 23, & 31.
WLC (.com) ignored the fact that the evening and morning make up a day, and as a result, they not only begin their day at morning, but also only keep the Sabbath hours during the hours of the day (morning until sundown). Instead of Biblical support, they try and use fear to support their view:
WLC Excerpt:
“Just as Light symbolizes the kingdom of Heaven, Darkness symbolizes Satan’s kingdom. By confusing minds over the issue of when a day begins, Satan has effectively begun his ‘sabbath’ (Saturday on the papal/pagan calendar) with the coming of darkness, thus claiming ownership of that ‘day.’”
When Does A Day Begin? Retrieved on November 14, 2011 from https://www.worldslastchance.com/ecourses/bible-study-lessons-ecourse/when-does-a-day-begin.html
When does the Bible say the Sabbath begins?
Again, trying not to include our own private interpretation, let us look at what the Bible has to say:
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11
In the 4th commandment, the Lord in His wisdom referenced the creation week, where we just saw that He created all things in six days. Looking back in Genesis we see that each day was the compilation of an “evening and morning”, so when the Creator created the day as an evening and morning, who are we to say that the seventh day is only the period of day light?
Furthermore the Bible has to say more on the Sabbath hours:
“It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.” Leviticus 23:32
Here when the Creator is telling us that our Sabbath is to be from even unto even, who are we to say no? WLC (.com) chooses to explain the above verse by saying that that only applies to the day atonement, but again, we choose to leave aside our own private interpretation and read the Word.
Ellen White did not leave this matter unaddressed. A man by the name of Joseph Bates introduced the idea that even unto even represented 6:00pm Friday to 6:00pm Saturday, which both James and Ellen White accepted. However, there was a small group that believed that the Sabbath hours were from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. To resolve the matter, James White requested from John Andrews to address the matter, which he did. Upon completion of the study, James and Ellen White along with Joseph Bates and the church leaders studied the matter one Sabbath morning in Battle Creek, until all the congregation agreed that the Sabbath was from sundown to sundown, all but Ellen White and Joseph Bates. They continued to discuss the matter throughout the Sabbath, until Sunday morning where the Creator Himself had to intervene and take Mrs. White in vision {1BIO 322.3}:
“I saw that it is even so: “From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.” Said the angel: “Take the word of God, read it, understand, and ye cannot err. Read carefully, and ye shall there find what even is, and when it is. I asked the angel if the frown of God had been upon His people for commencing the Sabbath as they had. I was directed back to the first rise of the Sabbath, and followed the people of God up to this time, but did not see that the Lord was displeased, or frowned upon them. I inquired why it had been thus, that at this late day we must change the time of commencing the Sabbath. Said the angel: “Ye shall understand, but not yet, not yet.” Said the angel: “If light come, and that light is set aside or rejected, then comes condemnation and the frown of God; but before the light comes, there is no sin, for there is no light for them to reject.” I saw that it was in the minds of some that the Lord had shown that the Sabbath commenced at six o’clock, when I had only seen that it commenced at “even,” and it was inferred that even was at six. I saw that the servants of God must draw together, press together.” {1T 116.1}
The Creator would not have intervened and shown Ellen White the truth, and a few years later change the truth completely. The angel assured Mrs. White that she would not err in the matter, and Mrs. White saw that it was in fact from “even unto even”. So who are we to say that these words are not true, and instead, let us listen to the words of men that contradict these words?
The Passover
Finally the Passover is a matter that they give, however unlike them, let us just use the Word rather then the interpretations of man.
WLC (.com) believes that on the 14th the Children of Israel did the Passover sacrifice, and later at midnight the angel of the Lord killed the first born of Egypt. The next day on the 15th, at sunrise, was the Sabbath, so the Children of Israel stayed in Egypt until sundown, where the Pharaoh told Moses that the people were free to go, so they left at night.
WLC (.org) believes that on the 14th the Children of Israel did the Passover sacrifice, and as the sun went down the 15th began, where they had the feast of unleavened bread. Later that night, the angel of the Lord killed the first born of Egypt, and the Pharaoh called Moses and told him that the people of Israel were free to go, thus they left early morning at dawn of the 15th.
WLC (.com) uses Deuteronomy 16:1 to say that the Children of Israel left Egypt by night, when the verse just says that’s when they became free:
“Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.”
After all, we know from Exodus 12:31 that that’s when the Children of Israel receive the release to be free men:
“And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said.”
Then the Bible speaks about the “day” when Israel left Egypt, not night:
“And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. This day came ye out in the month Abib.” Exodus 13:3
Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. (Deut. 16:3)
So either WLC (.com) has to accept night as part of the day, or that the Children of Israel left in the day time. Either way, it will disprove that the Sabbath fell on the 15th. Second, over and over it was used that the Children left with haste (Ex. 12:11, Ex. 12:33 & Deut. 16:3), so to say that they did not leave in haste, but instead waited in Egypt another day for the Sabbath to end, would contradict the Bible.
Another point is that the feast of unleavened bread begins on the night of the 15th, so how could they have the feast and leave on the same night? Finally, let us look at Ex. 12:33, 34, which brings up some good points:
“And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.”
So if the Children of Israel took dough before it was leavened, that would be a short time, and not a full day…
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Colossians 2:8
