WHEN DOES THE SABBATH BEGIN?
- CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD
- May 20
- 6 min read
Which day is the Seventh Day Sabbath?
God decreed the last day of the week to be a day of spiritual refreshment and rest from daily chores. Genesis chapter 2 verses 1 to 3 tell us, “ Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them and on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made and they rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.”
This is a confirmation that the creation week ended with a day of rest; this day of rest is the seventh day and it is named the Sabbath.
Biblically there are several sabbaths. Leviticus chapter 23 and other Scriptures tell us about Feast Days which are followed by a Sabbath or ends with a Sabbath. These are the sabbaths that Paul mentioned in Colossians 2:16-17, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
These Feast Days are related to Christ and His Ministry and were completed by Him as it pertains to the salvation of the Gentiles in this dispensation.
We ought not to confuse these specific days of rest associated with the Feast Days with the seventh day, Sabbath.
How is time calculated biblically?
A day begins at sunset and ends at sunset. The Bible clearly proclaims this fact; it points to darkness being in place before light came. Genesis 1:1-5- In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 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.
In addition, we look at Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,23 and 31; each verse states, And the evening and the morning.
Let us examine other Scriptures which point to a day beginning or ending with sunset:
Nehemiah 13:19- And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the Sabbath day.
Nehemiah loved the Lord and knew that it was the disobedience of the nation of Israel that had caused them to go into captivity. Even though they had become subjects to ungodly rulers the descendants of Jacob did not repent they continued their sinful lifestyle. They engaged in and also allowed desecration of the Sabbath. Nehemiah put plans in place to stop the trading that was happening on the Sabbath at the Gate of Jerusalem and in the city.
Leviticus 23:32- 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.
The following Scriptures tell us that those in need of healing and restoration were taken to Jesus when the Sabbath was ending. This was done because the Scribes and the Pharisees were vigilantly watching to see what Jesus was doing on the Sabbath and they were eager to falsely accuse Him.
Mark 1:32– And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto Him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.
Matthew 8:16- When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick.
Luke 4:40 - Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them, and healed them.
The Mosaic Law stated the duration of time one would be unclean and when cleansing can be done.
Leviticus 22:6-7- The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.
7 And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food.
Deuteronomy 23:11- 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
Samson gave the Philistines a riddle which should be answered on the seventh day. This verse points to them meeting with him on the specific date.
Judges 14:18 – And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? and he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.
These verses pointed out the times when battles were being fought
2nd Samuel 3:35- And when all the people came to cause David to eat meat while it was yet day, David sware, saying, So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down.
2 Chronicles 18:34- And the battle increased that day: howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the even: and about the time of the sun going down he died.
Joshua 8:29 - And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.
Joshua 10:26-27 - 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.
How we should treat each other?
Deuteronomy 24:13,15- In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord thy God.
At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee.
How was time calculated in ancient times?
The Bible teaches us that time was calculated by using sunset and sunrise. In addition, in ancient years hourglass, shadow stick, water and the sundial among other methods were used. None of these was accurate and during those years no one thought of calculating time as we do now. Since the beginning the 20th century we have the timepieces that can help us to correctly divide time into hours. Due to our present competence in measuring time there is confusion as to when Sabbath should begin. Some are wondering if we should begin at 6 o’clock in the evening or should it be at sunset.
The question is asked what if one is living in areas with peculiar weather or climatic conditions for example Northern Norway, Svalbard, Iceland, Alaska, Finland, Sweden and Nunavut. Persons living in these regions would understand and relate to the climate and continue their daily routine such as going to school or work thus it would not prevent them from knowing when the Sabbath begins.
In summary how do you know when the Sabbath begins in this present time?
How do we know when the Sabbath begins is a controversial issue for some especially for those who are unable to relate our present concept of time to ancient concept of time. As previously stated, Genesis chapter 1 gives a clear indication of time measurement put in place by God. There is no biblical proof that the Sabbath begins at 6:00 Friday evening but there is every biblical proof that Sabbath begins at sunset on the day that we call Friday.
Writer - A. E. Fisher
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