CONTENTS
- 0.1 RelatedPosts
- 0.2 When Does the Sabbath Begin (When Does a Day Begin)? Interesting Proof!
- 0.3 Lunar Sabbath Debunked: Powerful Biblical and Historical Proof That It Is a Fallacy
- 1 SABBATH 12 OR 24 HOURS?
- 2 12 HOUR SABBATH
- 3 24 HOUR SABBATH
- 4 2 USES OF THE WORD DAY
- 5 NO SABBATH NIGHT IN THE BIBLE?
- 6 THE DOOR OF THE TEMPLE SHALL BE SHUT AT EVENING
- 7 NEW TESTAMENT: IS THE SABBATH 12 OR 24 HOURS?
- 8 HOW MARK 16 PROVES A 12 HOUR SABBATH
- 9 ADDING TO THE WORD
SABBATH 12 OR 24 HOURS?
The length of the Sabbath is another debated issue. Now we did extensive teachings on the question: when does the Sabbath begin? Well, it is now time for us to closely examine the length of the Sabbath.
Overwhelmingly, most celebrate the Sabbath for 24 hours, following the influence of the Jews in the land called Israel.
12 HOUR SABBATH
Yet there are some people who celebrate a 12-hour Sabbath. Which one is right?
Well, when we discovered that the Sabbath begins in the morning, and not in the evening as we were taught, we also saw a 12 hour Sabbath ending in the same evening.
And we even have an article entitled 12 hour Sabbath. However, we are bible truth seekers, so if we are wrong, we will have to declare it. Let us see how this transpires.
24 HOUR SABBATH
Why am I writing this post? Someone pointed out to us the Hebrew word boqer in Genesis 1, which he says points to the Sabbath day being 24 hours.
H1242
בֹּקֶר
bôqer
bo’-ker
From H1239; properly dawn (as the break of day); generally morning: – (+) day, early, morning, morrow.
Total KJV occurrences: 214
His thinking is that when the verse says “and the evening and the morning were the first day.
Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
He is thinking it means from morning to evening to morning is the first day, which would make 24 hours. However, he is not seeing that He called the LIGHT day!
So the evening and the morning, being daylight hours would be day and the darkness would be night!
Anyway, we already looked at the evening and the morning in this post. We will continue.
2 USES OF THE WORD DAY
Now we know that the scripture points to two uses of the word “day” (yom). One for 12 hours and another for 24 four hours. Take a look at this verse below.
Leviticus 8:35
[35]Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of YAHUAH, that ye die not: for so I am commanded.
It speaks of day (12 hours) and night (12 hours) for 7 days (24 hour days).
So it gets interesting. Is the Sabbath 24 hours or 12 hours?
For us who believe the Sabbath begins at dawn, the question is, is it in the daytime or does it stretch until the next morning?
NO SABBATH NIGHT IN THE BIBLE?
Well, we plan to make this short, not like the long articles we used to write here on Just a Word.
First and foremost though, the phrase Sabbath day is found in the Bible 18 times, but there is no Sabbath nights. That should really make one think, shouldn’t it? Hmm.
THE DOOR OF THE TEMPLE SHALL BE SHUT AT EVENING
More profoundly, in the book of Ezekiel, it tells us that the gates of the temple will be closed on the evenings of the Sabbaths and the evenings of the new moons. Worship should therefore only be from morning to evening.
Ezekiel 46:1-3
[1]Thus saith YAHUAH Aluah; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.[2]And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.
[3]Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before YAHUAH in the sabbaths and in the new moons.
Very interestingly then, it tells us that the gates shall be “shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.”
So shut six working days, but open on the Sabbath (and closed at evening) is blatantly, plainly telling me that the Sabbath is between the morning and evening.
But some may not take that as sufficient proof. So let’s go to the new testament.
PROOF OF EVENING ENDING SABBATH WORSHIP FROM THE HISTORIAN JOSEPHUS
Now to confirm an evening end of worship, let us look at the historical record of Josephus. Who was he?
Flavius Josephus (/dʒoʊˈsiːfəs/;[8] Greek: Ἰώσηπος, Iṓsēpos; c. AD 37 – c. 100) or Yosef ben Mattityahu (Hebrew: יוסף בן מתתיהו) was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing The Jewish War, he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry.
He initially fought against the Roman Empire during the First Jewish–Roman War as general of the Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in AD 67 to the Roman army led by military commander Vespasian after the six-week siege of Yodfat.
Josephus records that Agatharchides, a 2nd century BCE Greek Historian, wrote something quite interesting about Ptolemy’s defeat of Jerusalem:??
“209 “There are a people called Jews, and dwell in a city the strongest of all other cities, which the inhabitants call Jerusalem, and are accustomed to rest on every seventh day;”
“on which times they make no use of their arms, nor meddle with husbandry, nor take care of any affairs of life, but spread out their hands in their holy places, and pray till the evening.”
NEW TESTAMENT: IS THE SABBATH 12 OR 24 HOURS?
Continuing, we go to the new testament by looking at the account of the two Marys going to Yahusha’s tomb.
Matthew 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.
Now some people take that to mean a 24 hour Sabbath, because it says “in the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn…”
But if we look at the meaning of the phrase “in the end.”
G3796
ὀψέ
opse
op-seh’
From the same as G3694 (through the idea of backwardness); (adverbially) late in the day; by extension after the close of the day: – (at) even, in the end.
Total KJV occurrences: 3
It means late in the day, after the close of day, at evening.
So if the day begins in the morning and it says after the close of day at evening, it means that the Sabbath was done in the evening, then they were given a different account of the first day of the week.
Well some naysayers will still say they are not convinced. So how do we prove the truth in this case?
Isaiah 28:9-10
[9]Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
[10]For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
This means finding matching confirmation in the scriptures as witness to prove the word.
HOW MARK 16 PROVES A 12 HOUR SABBATH
So we have to find the match for Matthew 28:1, and this should clear up this question of 12 hour or 24 hour Sabbath. And here is the match in the book of Mark chapter 16.
Mark 16:1-2
[1]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.
WHEN THE SABBATH WAS PAST, THEY PURCHASED THE SPICES
Now in the book of Matthew 28:1, it let’s us know that after the Sabbath, then the first day of the week. We are trying to prove that the Sabbath ended from the evening before.
In Mark 16:1, it tells us that they bought spices. So between the Sabbath and the 1st day of the week, there must be a time for buying and selling!
Remember, the Sabbath is when there is no buying or selling. So if they bought something after the Sabbath, there must be a gap before the first day of the week.
Well. let’s look at Mark 16:1 again.
Mark 16:1
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.
The meaning of the word bought?
G59
ἀγοράζω
agorazō
ag-or-ad’-zo
From G58; properly to go to market, that is, (by implication) to purchase; specifically to redeem: – buy, redeem.
Total KJV occurrences: 31
WHEN DID THEY HAVE TIME TO GO TO BUY?
It means to go to market to purchase. So if the Sabbath ended in the morning right before the start of the 1st day of the week, when would they have the time to go to market?
Therefore, the Sabbath must end in the evening, then they went to market. Then in the morning they woke up to go to the tomb as in verse 2.
Mark 16:1-2
[1]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.
Got it?
This again. Proves a 12 hour Sabbath that begins in the morning and ends in the evening.
ADDING TO THE WORD
A 24 hour Sabbath is doing what the Jews did by giving us a evening to evening Sabbath. We are adding to the word. And what did our Aluah say?
Deuteronomy 12:32
What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Please don’t let us add to the word. Please share this post to someone who keeps a 24 hour Sabbath.
You may also check out the several teachings in our Sabbath series to get more clarity on when the Sabbath begins and ends. Shalom, and please check out our related posts below.
