When Does the Sabbath Commence?
The majority of people celebrate the seventh-day Sabbath from evening to evening, or sunset to sunset. This is a practice that is not backed by Scripture, but is founded on tradition. The Bible clearly defines a Day as: from morning to evening or sunrise to sunset. On the first Day of creation Aluahim separated the light from the darkness, and the Day from the Night. We read,
Genesis 1:3-5: And Aluahim said, Let there be light: and there was light. And Aluahim saw the light, that it was good: and Aluahim DIVIDED the light from the darkness. And Aluahim called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
The word, “were” is very important here, “And the evening and the morning were the first day”, because it refers to past tense. YAHUAH is referring back to His Day of work, and implying that He worked (created) from morning to evening (during the light hours), and now that the Night (the dark hours) has come, He is no longer working.
Yahushua asks the rhetorical question,
“Are there not twelve hours in the Day?” – John 11:9
Yahushua further says,
John 9:4: I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is Day. The night comes, when no man can work.
I must ask this question. If the Sabbath starts in the evening or after the sun goes down on the sixth Day of YAHUAH’S week (based on the phases of the moon), then what labor would we be resting from since we usually rest at Night anyways? Let’s carefully examine what the fourth commandment states:
Exodus 20:8-9: Remember the Sabbath Day (Yom), to keep it holy. Six Days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
The Hebrew word for Day that is used in both Genesis chapter 1, and Exodus chapter 20, is Yom. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance says this about the word Yom: From an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours).
Our work or labor is typically done during the time period when the sun is out (warm hours). Before the modern era of electricity, all men needed sunlight in order to perform their duties. This is why the Hebrews considered the start of the evening sometime in the late afternoon, because they needed the last few hours of daylight to clean up from their works and prepare for the following Day. The fourth commandment tells us to rest from our labor which is done during the Day; warm hours when the sun is out (from morning to evening). Now let’s finish the rest of the passage,
Exodus 20:10-11: But the seventh Day (Yom) is the Sabbath of YAHUAH thy Aluahim: in it (the Day or warm hours when the sun is out) 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 (from morning to evening) YAHUAH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh Day: wherefore YAHUAH blessed the Sabbath Day (morning to evening), and hallowed it.
If the Sabbath was meant to be 24-hours long, then YAHUAH would have had Moses write, the seventh Day and Night is the Sabbath of YAHUAH thy Aluahim. He purposely leaves out Night, because the Sabbath is to be kept during the time period of the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun, which is the definition of a Day. Moses was though very specific to write Day and Night when he traveled up to Mount Sinai to receive the tablets of stone,
Exodus 34:28: And he was there with YAHUAH forty Days and forty Nights.
Notice how careful the Prophet Moses is in separating the Day from the Night. The Gospel of Matthew does the very same thing,
Matthew 4:2: And when He had fasted forty Days and forty Nights, afterward He was hungry.
Side note, one of the reasons why the Hebrew writers were very specific in telling us that they fasted both Day and Night, is because the Hebrews had specific Days when they would fast only during daylight hours and specific Nights when they would fast during the dark hours.
Understanding the separation of both light and darkness, and Day and Night is essential in defining the time period of a Day. The Apostle Paul writes, “You are all children of light, and the children of the Day”. Here we can plainly see that light and Day are considered the same. He further writes, “we are not of the Night, nor of darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). Likewise, the Night and darkness are the same. Paul also was very careful to separate these two concepts. He further writes,
2 Corinthians 6:14: What communion has light with darkness?
We are supposed to celebrate the Sabbath during the light, during the Day, and during the time when YAHUAH created – from morning to evening. The Sabbath is the Day in which we show our Creator worship and respect for the six Days He took to create our world, in which He did from morning to evening. We rest on the seventh Day, just like He did.
For a more detailed study on the Biblical definition of a Day, please read, What Constitutes as a Day in Scripture?
Two Verses
There are two main verses people use to back up their claim that the Sabbath commences at evening on the sixth Day of YAHUAH’S week, and ends at evening on the seventh Day of YAHUAH’S week. The first is in Leviticus chapter 23 when Aluahim gives instructions to Yasharal about Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). Now, let’s take a look at that verse alone.
Leviticus 23:32: It shall be unto you a Sabbath (sabbat) of rest (sabbatown),and you shall afflict your souls: in the ninth Day of the month at evening, from evening unto evening, shall you celebrate your Sabbath (šab·bat·tə·ḵem).
Notice how I put in parenthesis the Hebrew words used for Sabbath. The last word used for Sabbath (šab·bat·tə·ḵem), is the only occurrence throughout the entire Bible. This particular Sabbath (Day of Atonement) is called “your Sabbath”, to denote a difference between this very specific high Sabbath and other Sabbaths; for the weekly Sabbath is often called the Sabbath of YAHUAH (refer to Exodus 20:10). It was only this Appointed Time; Day of Atonement, where YAHUAH specifically commands us to celebrate from evening to evening. Throughout the entire chapter of Leviticus 23, this is the only time when we are commanded to celebrate a Sabbath that is supposed to commence the evening before the actual Sabbath Day.
It is quite presumptuous to take this verse, “from evening to evening, shall you celebrate your Sabbath”, and use it to say that all of the high days (appointed times) including the weekly seventh-day Sabbath should be celebrated from evening to evening. And it is even more far-fetched to use it in order to define the beginning of a Day. The evening to evening seventh-Day Sabbath, and along with the evening to evening Day is purely Babylonian tradition.
Moses purposely breaks up the directions YAHUAH gives him pertaining to each one of these Appointed Times by starting off with, “And YAHUAH spoke unto Moses, saying,”. Very similar to when Moses writes in Genesis 1 and the account of each creation Day, he starts off each Day by stating, “And Aluahim said”.
The second Scripture that is used as supposed evidence that the Sabbath is a 24-hour period from evening the sixth Day to evening the seventh Day is in Nehemiah. The Prophet writes,
Nehemiah 13:19: And it came to pass, that when the gates of Yarushalam began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath Day.
Some people will look at this passage and say right here it says that the Sabbath begins after sunset on the sixth Day of the week. But if the gates were being shut while it was becoming dark, then it would be considered twilight or dusk (after sunset). Therefore, would have technically been during Sabbath hours (that is if your belief is that the Sabbath is from evening to evening). But the verse says, “before the Sabbath”. I could easily add, “before the Sabbath Day”, and it would completely align with both the directions given on the fourth commandment in Exodus chapter 20, and the rest of the passage written by the Prophet Nehemiah. This would give clarity to when the Sabbath begins.
“Before the Sabbath”, is simply implying that it was the late-evening on the sixth Day of the week, and before it was too dark to close the gates. The gates were commanded to be shut around twilight – “began to be dark”, not because Sabbath was about to begin that Night, but because it would have been work closing them on the morning of the Sabbath (seventh Day of the week). And, it couldn’t be done without some sunlight, so it was done before it became fully dark out on the sixth Day of the week. The gates were purposely shut in the late evening (twilight) to ensure that no vendors would enter into the city in the early morning hours on the Sabbath Day, because buying and selling is prohibited on the Sabbath Day (refer to Amos 8:5).
There are two verses in this same book of Nehemiah which clearly outline what a Day is. We read,
Nehemiah 4:21: So we labored in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.
This time period of labor was from sunrise (morning) to sunset (twilight) when the stars appeared. And,
Nehemiah 4:22: Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let everyone with his servant lodge within Yarushalam, that in the Night they may be a guard to us, and labor on the Day.
Just like all of the other prophets, Nehemiah is very careful to separate the Day from the Night. Just like every other Day, the Sabbath Day begins in the morning when the sun rises, and ends at sunset. The Psalmist clearly tells us when the Sabbath Day is. He writes,
Psalm 113:3: From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same YAHUAH’S name is to be praised.
Lunar Sabbath
Some may say, that the Jews today keep the Sabbath both on Saturdays according to the Roman calendar, and from evening to evening, and that this tradition has been kept since the Mashiach was walking amongst us. So why did Yahushua not rebuke this practice? Well, my first response is that that is simply just not true. This switch from keeping the Sabbath from morning to evening (sunrise to sunset) to evening the night before to the evening of, was changed near the 4th and 5th Century A.D. when the modern religion of Judaism was created. The modern religion of Judaism was born out of the Roman Empire (Babylon the Great), and they adopted the Babylonian Talmud along with Babylonian time keeping.
Let’s read some historical quotes pertaining to this topic,
“At the beginning of the Common Era… In order to assure against profanation of the Sabbath, the Jews added the late Friday afternoon hours to the Sabbath”
– The Jewish Festivals: History & Observance, p. 13.
“… the time of the transition from the reckoning of the day as beginning with morning to the reckoning of it as beginning with evening … that in the earlier calendar and in the literature which records this, the day was reckoned from the morning, presumably from sunrise, while in the later calendar and the literature pertaining thereto the day was reckoned from the evening… Elsewhere we have presented quite a mass of evidence which establishes conclusively that the earlier practice in Israel [Yasharal] during the Biblical period was to reckon the [24-hour] day from sunrise to sunrise… That in the earliest period of Israelite sojourn in Palestine, under calendar 1, the day was reckoned from morning to morning is established by a super abundance of evidence… This in turn, together with other important considerations, would point to a time approximately about the beginning or the first half, of the third century B.C. as that of the introduction of the new system of reckoning day.”
– Supplementary Studies in the Calendars of Ancient Israel, p. 1-148
“Evening to Evening as a New Concept – “The original meaning of the word “day” is the period of the daylight, from sunrise to sunset, as distinct from the night, the period of darkness … in this sense the “day” is said to “decline” (Jer. 6:4) in the late afternoon, and is followed by night. Hence the earlier sequence, “day and night … The flesh of the thanksgiving sacrifice shall be eaten on the day it is offered; none of it may be kept till the next day” (Lev. 7:15), the nighttime is considered as belonging to the preceding period of daylight. From this there developed the meaning of “day” in the sense of the cycle made up of one period of daylight and one period of darkness, or according to our modern reckoning, twenty-four hours … from the natural viewpoint the twenty-four hour day begins at sunrise… However, beside this conception there arose another idea of the twenty-four hour day, according to which this daily period began at sunset… Although the earlier computation did not die out completely, the custom of considering the day as beginning at sunset became general in later Jewish [Rabbinical Babylonian Pharisees] times…”
– Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible, p. 497
The 24-hour day along with the 24-hour Sabbath is a newer concept. Even the Romans during the time of Yahushua separated the Day from the Night. They all used a sundial to track time during the Day, and separated the Night into four watches. The Gospels give us proof that the Yahudim (Judeans) in Yahushua’s time separated the Day from the Night. The first hour of the Day is around sunrise between 6am – 7 a.m. We can clearly read that Yahushua was crucified around 9 a.m., because Mark records,
Mark 15:25: And it was the third hour (of the Day), and they crucified him.
The Gospels also give us proof that the Night was divided into four watches. Matthew records,
Matthew 14:25: And in the fourth watch of the Night Yahushua went unto them, walking on the sea.
And Yahushua even mentions all four Night watches,
Mark 13:35: Watch you therefore: for you know not when the Master of the house comes, at evening, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning.
The modern concept of a universal 24-hour Day beginning at midnight is an old Babylonian pagan tradition that has been recently drafted into our modern society. The Jews today are wrongfully keeping an age-old Babylonian tradition when it comes to the definition of a Day along with the keeping of Sabbath. This tradition was enforced by Rome along with the pagan continuous seven-day weekly cycle. David Ewing Duncan writes,
“Even after Constantine’s edict about Sunday, it took another generation or two for the seven-day week to catch on throughout the empire. The 24-hour system took longer, having to wait until the invention of the mechanical clock in the Middle Ages by monks anxious to observe with precision their canonical hours. Before this, people marked the passage of time during the night by using the stars and during the day either by eyeballing the sun or by listening to public announcements of the time.”
– Calendar, David Ewing Duncan, p. 47, New York, Avon Books, 1998.
The modern Jews are also wrongfully celebrating the seventh-Day Sabbath on Saturdays (the seventh-day of the Roman calendar), but this was not practiced by the Mashiach. In the article Shawui Sabbath, we read,
“Most theologians and some scholars assume that mainstream Jewish society, at the time of Jesus [Yahushua]… was practicing a fixed seven-day week which was the same as the modern fixed [cycling planetary designations] seven-day week. This is extremely doubtful. The change, from a lunar to a fixed week, was brought about by the power and influence of Rome. As long as the Nazarenes held power in Jerusalem [Yarushalam], all Roman practices and customs, including that of the consecutive week, were held at bay.”
– Shawui Sabbath: Ancient Sabbath Observance
None of the Yahudim (Judeans) disagreed with Yahushua when He said, “Are there not twelve hours in the Day?” (John 11:9). Multiple times Yahushua corrected the Pharisees on the topic of the Sabbath, but He never once rebuked them on when they kept the Sabbath or the other Appointed Times (Moedim). This is because, during the time Yahushua walked in the earth the Hebrews kept all the Appointed Times including the seventh-day Sabbath in its appropriate season.
The months were, and still should be, based on the moon, which was given to us to mark the Appointed Times (refer to Psalm 104:19). In the same article, we further read,
“It is a mistake to assume the ancient followers of Yeshua (Yahushua) … kept the modern week consisting of Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They did not. Their week was a lunar week … At the time of the Messiah the observance of the weekly Sabbath was a national law for those in Judah [Yahuda]. All seven sects, including the Nazarenes and Osseaens, observed it … The Beni-Aumen [Nazarenes] observed the Sabbath according to the lunar quarters”
– Shawui Sabbath: Ancient Sabbath Observance
And Hutton Webster writes,
“The [early] Hebrews employed lunar seven-day weeks, which ended with special observances on the seventh day, but none the less were tied to the moon’s course.”
– Hutton Webster, Rest Days, p. 254-255
And in the Jewish Encyclopedia we read,
“Sabbath and New Moon (Rosh Hodesh), both periodically recur in the course of the year. The New Moon is still, and the Sabbath originally was, dependent upon the lunar cycle.
– Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 410.
And lastly, Sarah Belle Dougherty writes,
“Julius Caesar’s conquest of Egypt in the 1st century BC introduced this planetary week to the Roman Empire… Since the astrological and Jewish weeks were both seven days long, by the 1st century AD the day of Saturn had become identified with the Jewish Sabbath. After Christianity became the state religion, the Church integrated both cycles to produce our present week, used also by Jews and Muslims”
– Sarah Belle Dougherty in her book review of The Seven Day Circle: The History and Meaning of the Week by Eviatar Zerubavel, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1989. As published in Sunrise magazine, August/September 2003; copyright 2003 Theosophical University Press
The consecutive seven-day week is not Scriptural. For those who believe that the continuous seven-day cycle has continued since creation, have been deceived. The seven-day consecutive week has changed many times throughout history and within multiple civilizations, including the Roman Empire in which we are still currently under. The Roman Julian Calendar once had eight days, so how could you even know if the current seventh day, what they call Saturday, is even the seventh day of the supposed “week” since the beginning of Creation? You don’t know, and it is far-fetched to believe such a thing. There is only one way to know when YAHUAH’S Sabbath is, and that is based on the moon – the lesser light that rules the night, and was given to us for the appointed times.
Scripture tells us that a Day always begins at sunrise, which the sun was given to us to rule the Day (refer to Genesis 1:16-18). In A Summary of Biblical Antiquities we read,
“The time between the rising and the setting of the sun was divided into twelve equal parts, which were called hours. John 11:9. As this period of time, however, is longer at one season of the year than at another it is plain that the hours would also be of different length at different times. In the winter they were, of course, shorter than in summer. They [the Days] were numbered from the rising of the sun, and not from the middle of the day, as is common with us.”
– Nevin’s Biblical Antiquities, pp. 171, 172.
Nothing has changed. To this very Day we are expected to do the same. To keep the Sabbath from sunrise to sunset on the seventh day based on the lunar calendar.
Now, let’s read the verse about the time the Sabbath was reinstated in the wilderness. Moses writes,
Exodus 16:23: And he said unto them, This is that which YAHUAH has said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto YAHUAH: bake that which you will bake today, and boil that what you will boil; and that which remains over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
When Moses is given this commandment, multiple times Aluahim says, ‘tomorrow’, and ‘morning’. He’s making sure that His people are clear about when the Sabbath Day begins.
The ancient Hebrews were commanded to gather manna six Days; from morning to the hottest time of the Day (3pm – the beginning of evening time). But on the sixth Day of the lunar week they were supposed to gather twice as much, because the following ‘morning’ (tomorrow or next Day) was the seventh-Day Sabbath. The Sabbath does not start the Night of the sixth Day of the week. Moses further writes,
Exodus 16:19-20: And Moses said, Let no man leave of it until the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.
The above passage indicates that a new Day begins the following morning. If a Day began at evening or at sunset, then Moses would have commanded Yasharal to eat it before the sun went down. But this is clearly not the case, for the Hebrews would have been able to eat of the manna all Day and through part of the Night if needed. The manna represented Mashiach (refer to Matt 4:4, John 6:35), and just like the Passover lamb represented Mashiach (refer to Revelation 13:8). Both the manna and the lamb was commanded to eat all of it and leave none of it the following morning which would be the beginning of the next Day. Referring to the manna, we read,
Exodus 16:22: And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.
The Hebrews got up the next Day in the morning to gather their food for the entire Day, but the only catch was that it needed to be done by the beginning of evening-time (3 p.m. or ninth hour of the Day) before the sun reaches its hottest point. Therefore, the Hebrews would have enough sunlight (daylight) left in order to grind the manna, kneed it, and bake it.
Numbers 11:7-9: And the manna was as coriander seed, and the color thereof as the color of bdellium. And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.
Notice that the manna fell unto the earth right after the dew fell upon the camp. The dew or often times referred to as the morning dew is condensation that forms on the ground right before the sun rises (between the third and fourth watch of the night). So, when the ancient Hebrews would wake up in the morning, the manna had already fallen and was ready to be gathered.
In the wilderness, YAHUAH was bringing His children, Yasharal – Aluahim’s firstborn, back in alignment to His teachings. This happens for all who seek YAHUAH with their whole heart, soul, and mind (refer to Jeremiah 29:13). The ancient Hebrews were given manna to detox from their gluttonous diet in Egypt, and we too are supposed to follow His dietary guidelines (refer to Leviticus chapter 11, Deuteronomy chapter 14). They were isolated in the wilderness to cleanse themselves from the idolatry that they learned from Egypt, and to become closer to YAHUAH. We too are told to separate ourselves from non-believers (refer to 2 Cor. 6:14-18, Rev. 18:4). They were put back under YAHUAH’S time schedule – to work from morning to evening, six Days a week, as Aluahim did Himself when we created heaven and earth. This is the same schedule we are expected to keep (in accordance to the astro-lunar-solar calendar). And He taught them how, and when, to celebrate the seventh-Day Sabbath: from sunrise to sunset or morning to evening according to the phases of the moon. This goes for all of us today who profess to keep YAHUAH’S holy seventh-day Sabbath.
We are commanded by YAHUAH multiple times to keep the Sabbath. YAHUAH says,
Exodus 31:14: Therefore you are to keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it must be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.
It is of the upmost importance to learn how and when to keep this Day holy unto YAHUAH. For more information on when a Biblical Day begins, please read, What Constitutes as a Day in Scripture? And, to learn more about the Lunar Sabbath, please read the articles: Tradition or Sabbath, The Sabbath – YAHUAH’S Everlasting Covenant, and The Full Moon is the New Moon.
Time to Begin the Sabbath (For Seventh-day Adventists)
I will first say, that I do not believe that Ellen White was a Prophetess of YAHUAH Aluahim. I do not believe she spoke to an angel or messenger of YAHUAH, but I will not be bias in this study. I will provide the facts as it reads in order to perhaps open the eyes of a professed Seventh-Day Adventist and or a follower of the false prophet Ellen G. White. Now, let’s take a look at an excerpt from Time to Begin the Sabbath by Ellen G. White that pertains to this very specific topic. It reads:
“I saw that it is even so: “From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.” Said the angel: “Take the word of God [Aluahim], 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 [Aluahim] 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 [Aluahim] up to this time, but did not see that the Lord [YAHUAH] 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 [Aluahim]; 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 [YAHUAH] 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 [Aluahim] must draw together, press together.”
– 1T 116.1
I am going to break down this paragraph in sections.
“From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.”
– EGW
I presume Ellen White was taking this from Leviticus 23:32. In this verse, YAHUAH was specifically speaking about the Day of Atonement. This is the only Sabbath (high day) in which Yasharal (Israel) was told to keep from evening to evening. The actual verse in the KJV is a lower case “s” for this very specific sabbath, because it is not referring to the seventh-Day Sabbath. Quite possibly, Ellen White presumed it was referring to the seventh-Day Sabbath, because of the modern Jewish tradition (that began before Ellen White) of celebrating the seventh-Day Sabbath from evening to evening. She was celebrating the Sabbath time (evening to evening) according to the minimal knowledge she had. The KJV translates this verse as follows:
Leviticus 23:32: It shall be unto you a sabbath (sabbat) of rest (sabbatown), and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath (šab·bat·tə·ḵem).
Notice how I put in parenthesis all the places the Hebrew word sabbath is written by Moses. There is only one occurrence in the entire Bible where the last word used for sabbath – šab·bat·tə·ḵem is written. This particular sabbath (Day of Atonement) is called your sabbath, to denote a difference between this very specific high sabbath and other sabbaths; for the weekly Sabbath is often called the Sabbath of YAHUAH. It is only this Appointed Time; Day of Atonement, where YAHUAH specifically commands us to celebrate from evening to evening. Throughout the entire chapter of Leviticus 23, this is the only time when we are commanded to celebrate a sabbath that is to commence the evening before the actual sabbath Day. Now, let’s continue to read,
“Said the angel: ‘Take the word of God [Aluahim], read it, understand, and ye cannot err. Read carefully, and ye shall there find what even is, and when it is’.”
-EGW
The angel is simply telling us to be very careful when reading each line and each precept of YAHUAH’S Word. Truly, YAHUAH’S Word has defined what evening is, and when it is. Throughout Scripture we have uncovered that evening begins in the late afternoon (around 3 pm) and ends at sunset, and is part of that same Day. I have given examples below. Take note, that the word used for evening in these passages, is the Greek word opsias: Late, evening, afternoon, or nightfall.
Matthew 26:20: And when the evening had come.
Mark 4:35: And the same Day, when the evening was come, he said unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
John 20:19: Then the same Day at evening, being the first day of the week.
Matthew 27: 58-59: When the evening was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Yahushua’S disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Yahushua. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.
Why was it so important for Joseph to take down the body of Yahushua before the Night time came? Joseph was simply obeying the law of the land which states:
Deuteronomy 21:22-23: And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and you hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all Night upon the tree, but you shall in any wise bury him that day.
Now, let’s continue reading the excerpt,
“I asked the angel if the frown of God [Aluahim] 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 [Aluahim] up to this time, but did not see that the Lord [YAHUAH] was displeased, or frowned upon them.” -EGW
-EGW
Yes, at some point within the first few Centuries after Mashiach’S death it was not just this specific sabbath (Day of Atonement; “your sabbath”) that was celebrated from evening to evening, but every sabbath including the seventh-Day Sabbath. The modern religion of Judaism in which was established within the Roman Empire (Babylon the Great) made it a tradition. Ellen White is still not in the wrong here, for what she saw was true. Yet, it was and still is a pagan tradition.
“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 [Aluahim]; but before the light comes, there is no sin, for there is no light for them to reject’.”
-EGW
This goes right along with Counsels to Editors and Writers, referring to New Light. See, all of Aluahim’s people were not committing a sin by keeping the seventh-Day Sabbath from evening to evening, because they were still technically resting on the Sabbath Day (sunrise to sunset). Of course, only if they were keeping the Sabbath according to the lunar calendar and not the Roman Gregorian Calendar (on Saturdays).
The angel told us to not reject the new light that comes pertaining to when the Sabbath should be kept. “Before the light comes, there is not sin, for there is no light for them to reject” -the angel. Clearly, there is “new light” on this topic as YAHUAH has chosen to reveal to the remnant of what the definition of a Day is, and how the moon gives us the days of the week. This is part of the creation message (an end-time message), along with the flat earth model. Now that this light has come, the angel is very specific, by telling us that if it is rejected, it is now a sin.
Multiple times, has Ellen White written about “new light”. She often said that “God” (Aluahim) did not reveal everything to her, nor to the past Reformers or early church fathers. In the Spirit of Prophecy, she writes,
“The Reformation did not, as many suppose, end with Luther. It is to be continued to the close of this world’s history. Luther had a great work to do in reflecting to others the light which God [Aluahim] had permitted to shine upon him; yet he did not receive all the light which was to be given to the world. From that time to this, new light has been continually shining upon the Scriptures, and new truths have been constantly unfolding”
– Ellen White, SOP 1884 Vol. 4 p. 123
And she further writes,
“There are many at the present day thus clinging to the customs and traditions of their fathers. When the Lord [YAHUAH] sends them additional light, they refuse to accept it, because, not having been granted to their fathers, it was not received by them. We are not placed where our fathers were; consequently our duties and responsibilities are not the same as theirs. We shall not be approved of God [Aluahim] in looking to the example of our fathers to determine our duty instead of searching the word of truth for ourselves. Our responsibility is greater than was that of our ancestors. We are accountable for the light which they received, and which was handed down as an inheritance for us, and we are accountable also for the additional light which is now shining upon us from the word of God [Aluahim].”
SOP 1884 Vol 4 p. 137
There are many, who still hold on to the customs of the early church fathers, saying to themselves, “there is no more new light to be shed”. They think that since Ellen White used the title ‘Lord’ and ‘God’, or she used the name ‘Jehovah’ and ‘Jesus’, or she kept Saturday Sabbath from evening to evening, then it must be just fine for the current church to do so as well. Rejecting new light as it comes: closes ourselves off to a deeper relationship with Aluahim, and puts us in danger of sinning against the Holy Spirit.
Now, let’s read the last passage from Time to Begin the Sabbath,
“I saw that it was in the minds of some that the Lord [YAHUAH] 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 [Aluahim] must draw together, press together.”
-EGW
Ellen White is not in the wrong to say that evening is at six o’clock, for the Scriptures tells us that evening starts in the late afternoon and ends at sunset. Quite possibly sometime around 3pm (ninth hour of the Day) to sunset. Evening is not the same as sunset, for once the sun sets it is Night time. The Scriptures also define this. This excerpt from Ellen White has proven that this new light (definition of a Day along with the astro-lunar-solar calendar) has most definitely not undermined the foundation of Adventism, but indeed strengthens the remnant of her seed.
We should always tread carefully when studying the words of any person who is said to be a prophet, Ellen White included. She herself has stated multiple times that she is not infallible, and that “God” will continue to shed new light upon His church all the way up until the literal last days. So, if you are someone that clings to the writings of Ellen G. White, then you should show your faith in Aluahim by accepting that “new light” will continue to shed upon the remnant and that light will reveal that Ellen White did not hold all the truths. If you believe that she was a Prophetess, then the best thing you can do for her and for Aluahim is ask to grow in Mashiach and learn how to worship Him better. We should always study the Scriptures line upon line and precept upon precept (refer to Isaiah 28:9-10). Remember, never hold any other writings above the Word of Aluahim, “To the Law and the Testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). We are told that,
Psalm 118:8: It is better to trust in YAHUAH than to put confidence in man.
And I will end with one final quote regarding the seventh-day Sabbath. From the Global Catholic Radio Network, we read,
“…There was a distinct break between the Old Testament requirements… dealing with the Sabbath worship… They [Rome] wanted to show that Christianity was distinct from Judaism… The other thing that we should remember, too, is that our calendar tthat we follow [Roman Gregorian calendar], including Seventh-day Adventists, is not only a calendar that was devised by the Catholic Church, but also it is a calendar that’s based upon the solar year, not the lunar year. The Jewish [Yahudim] calendar that was observed in the time of Christ [Messiah] follows a lunar calendar… So the great irony is that even the Seventh-day Adventists themselves are not worshipping on exactly the same Sabbath day as the Jews [Yahudim] of the time of Christ [Messiah], because it is several days off now having switched [from] following the lunar calendar.”
– Patrick Madrid, Catholic Apologist, EWTN, Global Catholic Radio Network, January 5, 2006
