Understanding God's Day and Time
First, It should be as no surprise that God is AWESOME, and FEARFUL in His Holiness, GLORIOUS in Power and ability! The Holy Bible says that by His Words are things formed and made so.
Psalm 33:6 (KJV)
By the Word of YHWH ( the LORD) were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
To understand the Bible fully, we must take the full sum of God’s Word and take it in Its entirely— to make sure It all lines up.
Psalm 12:6 (KJV)
The words of YHWH (the LORD) are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Now we also need to understand that God’s knowledge is far Higher and Superior than our own.
Isaiah 55:8-9 (KJV)
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith YHWH (the LORD). [9] For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
A great deal of faith (and fear) is required to truly understand God’s will and ways. To Do this, He has left for us His Word.
Proverbs 1:1-7 (KJV)
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; [2] To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; [3] To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; [4] To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. [5] A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: [6] To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. [7] The fear of YHWH (the LORD) is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
For GOD can do anything; making the things that will seem impossible, a reality.
Matthew 19:26 (KJV)
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Jeremiah 32:17 (KJV)
Ah YHWH (LORD) God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
God also has a mathematical system. In His math, all things are possible. Often in our math and reading God's Word, things often can seem impossible.
For instance, if you take two people they cannot become one. But in God’s reality and ability, He can take two and form a perfect one.
The Bible speaks of the "mystery" of God, of the Father, and [the] Christ.
Colossians 2:2 (KJV)
That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
God’s math also can also merge three into one, as the Bible says that three agree in one.
1st John 5:7-8 (KJV)
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. [8] And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
So God’s concept of math is far more sophisticated than our own math. This is a problem for many studying the Bible. Many often get caught up in numerology or a kabalistic (Jewish magic) number system or “gematria” where all the letters of the Greek and Hebrew alphabets have numbers assigned to them counting those letter-numbers in words and phrases. Still others claim to have found an extra code in the Bible.
These concepts all use man’s finite understanding of math to attempt to figure out God’s math.
Far too many times Christians use things that are in the world to explain God’s ways, when in fact we should very careful and closely be reading what the actual word of GOD states. For all we have to go by is the WORD.
So therefore, we need to match the Word to the Word and measure all of It against the Word, not our own finite understanding.
This is often very confusing or hard for many to do (author included), as it would seem today. But just as God had a system for mathematics, He fully understood that man needed to be able to witness the things of God’s perfect creation.
God created man with eyes to see, with ears to hear with, and with a brain to process all this information to use it to figure out what God wanted man to do.
And unless God decrees otherwise, and changes something, for the most part man witnesses things in the realm of man; meaning that to man, one plus one was still two — not one.
So God’s math might say “1+1=1 or 2=1 or even 3=1,” whereas in man’s realm (in which he lives) he is only knows (in the physical) that “1+1 =2” and “two can only be two” and “1+1+1=3 it can never equal 2 or 1
If one takes three marbles, and counts them, you will likely have three marbles.
So the Holy Spirit, and man’s realm in which the Spirit of GOD often uses to communicate with man, therefore works something like this:
6+1 =7 or 2+5 =7 or Three score (60) and ten =70. or 2+10=12 , just as 10+2+2 = 14 and 14 - 7 =7 and 29 +15=44+6=50.
So we understand that God uses numerals or numbers often to communicate ideas to man and God also uses things which GOD created to be a physical witnesses to man.
Now, with this in mind, let's begin this study noticing what it says in the creation story in Genesis.
Genesis 1:14-19 (KJV)
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: [15] And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. [16] And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. [17] And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, [18] And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. [19] And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
It says that God made “lights.”
Actually, the word “lights” in our English Bibles is perhaps not the best translated word.
The Hebrew for this word is “Maowr,” to mean “a luminary” or to be “a luminous body.”
ma'owr, maw-ore'; or ma'or, maw-ore'; also (in plural) feminine me'owrah, meh-o-raw'; or me'orah, meh-o-raw'; from Hebrew 215 ('owr); properly a luminous body or luminary, i.e. (abstract) light (as an element); figurative brightness, i.e. cheerfulness; specifically a chandelier :- bright, light.
It says “And God said, Let there be lights [luminaries] in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:”
The word "firmament" in this Scripture is the Hebrew word “Raqiya” meaning expanse or the sky—most likely the huge air of “space” above we perceive as “the sky.”
raqiya`, Hebrew 7549, Strong’s
raqiya`, raw-kee'-ah; from Hebrew 7554 (raqa`); properly an expanse, i.e. the firmament or (apparently) visible arch of the sky :- firmament.
Notice what it says here. This Scripture is describing a physical item— the luminaries—to be seen as a witness for man to discern "signs, for seasons, for days, and years."
Note that all of these with the exception of the "signs" are abstract concepts of time or divisions of time.
So God created the luminaries to serve as witnesses to be seen to measure time, or for determining events or signifying a special appointed time for an event about to happen.
This is a true witness. It is a fact that almost all ancient cultures throughout the ages have used the stars, the moon, the sun and all luminaries for times, for signs, for days, and seasons and telling times and placing of times. Each one had a different way of doing this.
The creation story also mentions how GOD and His time works. Not only did He give a Seven day time frame to His people, the Hebrews and the children of Israel, but he also gave all men a daily time frame.
Genesis 1:3-5 (KJV)
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. [4] And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. [5] And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
We have a definition of the time of GOD briefly shown above—showing that God created light or “owr” as the Hebrew says.
'owr, Hebrew 216, Strong’s
'owr, ore; from Hebrew 215 ('owr); illumination or (concrete) luminary (in every sense, including lightning, happiness, etc.) :- bright, clear, + day, light (-ning), morning, sun.
Notice that this “light” is called “day.”
Light itself, is something today we cannot really explain fully. Nor can we create light from darkness, or from nothing into light. Light or illumination is what illuminates that which is dark or darkness.
The scientists or astronomers in their finite knowledge would tell us that the sun shines continually on the earth, which rotates. Therefore the earth receives light from the sun for a period time, while the other half of the earth is temporarily in darkness. Likewise we are told by astronomers and scientists that the seasons change according the proximity from the earth’s angle and distance to the Sun.
For this study we have to rely upon the Word of God, not the scientist's word.
The word says God created the luminaries and luminosity or light in the general sense, to “divide the light from the darkness.” These are time frames of light and darkness, or “DAY” and “NIGHT.”
The Hebrew word for “Day” is "yowm."
yowm, yome; from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), [often used adverbially] :- age, + always, + chronicles, continually (-ance), daily, ([birth-], each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), + elder, × end, + evening, + (for) ever (-lasting, -more), × full, life, as (so) long as (...live), (even) now, + old, + outlived, + perpetually, presently, + remaineth, × required, season, × since, space, then, (process of) time, + as at other times, + in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), × whole (+ age), (full) year (-ly), + younger.
Yowm means “to be hot” as in “the warm hours” of the day. Again, according to man’s finite knowledge of the sun, the sun when it hits the earth facing it, the earth is warmed and the part of the earth not facing sun is then in a cooler or darker time of night.
The Hebrew word for “night” in this verse is “layil.”
layil, lah'-yil; or (Isa. 21:11) leyl, lale; also layelah, lah'-yel-aw; from the same as Hebrew 3883 (luwl); properly a twist (away of the light), i.e. night; figurative adversity :- ([mid-]) night (season).
luwl, lool; from an unused root meaning to fold back; a spiral step :- winding stair. Compare Hebrew 3924 (lula'ah).
We can see that this is twisting away of the light. It's very fascinating that the Hebrew root and the word almost describes rather beautifully in ancient and holy language, what actually is happening with the earth’s rotation and transition of day to night timing.
Now that we can see that we have both day and night times. We now discover —for those who read carefully—that God divided these into further more segments of times, within His concept of a “day.”
The Scriptures say six times in the creation story alone, in Genesis, that a “day” (in the general concept of what “a day” is) is actually from “evening to morning.”
Genesis 1:5 (KJV)
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Genesis 1:8 (KJV)
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
Genesis 1:13 (KJV)
And the evening and the morning were the third day.
Genesis 1:19 (KJV)
And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
Genesis 1:23 (KJV)
And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
Genesis 1:31 (KJV)
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Notice the Word stops short of mentioning the seventh day. The author’s guess, that the seventh day is yet to be fully completed —for God is surely still working! Praise JAH (YAH)!
Now carefully read and look at this.
Genesis 1:5 (KJV)
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
This is not understood the first time reading it. Indeed this author was truly lost as to the significance of this brief yet repeated sentence. The first many times I read my Bible, only a year or two later did I realize (yet not without others help who saw it first) its important significance.
Even though I had missed it, I can't help but feel that God and His Holy Spirit planted in me a notion of its importance— unbeknownst to myself at the time. For it always puzzled me when I read in the Law that God [YHWH] stated repeatedly that those who are defiled shall be clean until “even” (or the evening).
Numbers 19:21-22 (KJV)
And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even. [22] And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.
I always thought this was most bizarre. Why on earth would one who was washed in the day time (my finite understanding) not be clean until evening— when the day was over?
Well, the Hebrew word for evening is "ereb."
ereb, eh'-reb; from Hebrew 6150 (`arab); dusk :- + day, even (-ing, tide), night
Note ereb has a Hebrew primitive root of "arab."
`arab, Hebrew 6150, Strong’s
`arab, aw-rab'; a primitive root [rather identical with Hebrew 6148 (`arab) through the idea of covering with a texture]; to grow dusky at sundown :- be darkened, (toward) evening.
For some people, the “evening” takes place about 6:30 p.m. (or later) when the sun sets and goes down and the moon or the stars appear being visible.
The Bible text appears to give witness to the same understanding of the "evening."
Deuteronomy 23:11 (KJV)
But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again.
Joshua 10:26-27 (KJV)
And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening. [27] And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave's mouth, which remain until this very day.
Judges 19:9 (KJV)
And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou mayest go home.
Notice in the next Scripture it states in Hebrew describing the time of "midday"
1st Kings 18:29 (KJV)
And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.
The word "evening" was put in the King James Bible, but is not there in the actual original Hebrew text, as it is above in the proper italicized text denoting words not originally found in the Hebrew text. Yet notice the Hebrew word for the word "midday."
tsohar, Hebrew 6672, Strong’s
tsohar, tso'-har; from Hebrew 6671 (tsahar); a light (i.e. window); dual double light, i.e. noon :- midday, noon (-day, -tide), window.
Midday clearly represents a time of "dual" or "double light" or another way of saying twice the normal amount of light.
The word "noon (day, tide)" is also used here and the noon time of a day would the brightest or hottest part of the part of the day.
There are other parts of the day as well, such as "the twilight".
nesheph, Hebrew 5399, Strong’s
nesheph, neh'-shef; from Hebrew 5398 (nashaph); properly a breeze, i.e. (by implication) dusk (when the evening breeze prevails) :- dark, dawning of the day (morning), night, twilight.
So God’s Day—again, not our concept of “a day”, but a Biblical day— begins Evening to Morning.
The word “morning” is in the Hebrew tongue, the word “boqer.”
boqer, bo'-ker; from Hebrew 1239 (baqar); properly dawn (as the break of day); generally morning :- (+) day, early, morning, morrow.
The word morning is much like our sense of “the morning” we think of it as when the sun reappears from sleeping and is seen to rise at dawn.
But for most people’s thinking today, a day begins at the morning hours and closes at 12 am midnight.
But notice that the Hebrew Biblical day must begin at evening or even.
The day starts at evening and ends at morning.
So here is a question you might ask, much like I did:
If the day starts at evening and ends at morning, then how can it begin at evening again?
This cannot be physically or logically— unless, that is, it was to end just before the new even comes.
Now some may accuse the author of adding to God’s word, after all His ways are not our ways and He can do anything whereas we can’t fathom it many times. This is certainly true. Having said that, God did not always give us the answer clearly, and He expected us to dig into his Holy Word and use some logic, our brains whereby God would give us wisdom and knowledge in due time by His will alone.
He gave us a 66 books with thousands of words and scriptures and not all of them are clearly spelled out. Many are a great mystery waiting to be revealed by God in due time for our faith and our work in rightly dividing the Word of truth.
2nd Timothy 2:14-16 (KJV)
Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. [15] Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. [16] But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness
2nd Timothy 3:16-17 (KJV)
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: [17] That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
So if we use our brain, it only makes sense that morning extends to evening of same day and begins the new day at even. See the diagram below.
Obviously "the morning" is not the same meaning as our understanding today of the word "morning." The Hebrew "morning" constist of the entire daylight.
Another way of saying this, is a Hebrew day would begin when the moon or stars are visible in the evening tide, to extend till when they are visible again. So what you have is “a day” in God’s time—not our idea of the time of a day, but God’s time—where a day extends from star/moon light to star/moonlight or sun down to sun down (essentially the same time) when the sun light fades, the darkness and stars and the moon are now visible.
So God’s Word is True that a Day was divided into Day and Night using the Luminaries that HE created and ordained for time: for seasons and especially "for days.”
Let's continue to learn more!
Next article: Understanding the word "month"