Time
The clock is a fairly modern invention. It has become a very useful tool that enables us to schedule our time right down to the very minute. In the case of computers, and other technologies, time is measured in milliseconds (millionths of a second). For technologies like GPS, time is measured in nanoseconds (billionths of a second) and require atomic clocks to maintain such precise measurements.
As useful as the clock is, it also brings a more hurried and hectic pace to life. We have an appointment. We don’t want to be late. We rush to get ready and be there at the exact time. If we are conscientious, maybe a little earlier. We have to be to work or school at a precise time. Our favorite TV program comes on at an exact time. It seems our entire lives become rushing from one scheduled event to the next.
In some cultures, this seems absurd. In my visits to Hawaii, I learned about “Hawaiian time“. Many other “backwards”, “less sophisticated”, or “less modern” cultures share this view of time. It is certainly a less stressful approach to life. Maybe there is a balance to be learned from those cultures.
With the invention of the clock, society also devised a new means of defining a day: It begins and ends at 12:00 AM or “midnight”. Before the clock, how did society define a day? Since a day is the length of time it takes for the earth to rotate a full 360 degrees on its axis, some objective daily event was used to determine this full rotation. In most societies, this was either sunrise or sunset. In ancient Egypt, sunrise defined the beginning of a day.
But how does God define a day?
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 KJ21
So, in the very first chapter of The Bible we see that the evening (ushering in of night) comes before the morning (ushering in of day). But that may be just a little too vague.
That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. Mark 1:32 NIV
From this verse we can see that sunset precedes evening.
When Is Sunset?
Or when is “sundown”? Or, in keeping with Bible terminology, when is “evening”? Is it when the sun begins to touch the western horizon? Or when it’s completely behind the horizon? Or later, at twilight? Or when we can see the first star? Or when it is dark? What about when it’s cloudy? What if you live in a valley with high mountains? And here’s the real clincher, what if you live in polar regions?
Of course, the Jewish religion has struggled with this same question for thousands of years. After the Jewish return from exile, which God sent them into because of their total disregard for God’s sabbath, they determined to make the beginning and ending of the sabbath more precise. In reality, though, the Jews were not sent into exile for starting sabbath 5 minutes too late, but for totally ignoring God’s Sabbath. Some Jews and Sabbath-observing Christians are very strict about an exact start time for the Sabbath, right down to the minute. Others may be more vague about the time.
Many Sabbath observers who prefer an exact time, will check the local papers or internet sunset calculator to get the precise time of sunset.
What does God expect? Apparently, the precise time is not that important to God. If it were, He would have given us exact instructions. Instead, we have the word “evening”. This word does not specify an exact time, but the process of the daylight becoming night.
Why did God choose such a vague way of directing us to start and end Sabbaths? Does this reveal something about His nature? Does this tell us that observing the Sabbath is not like “punching the clock”? This same approach from God is also demonstrated in the calendar, as we will see later.
As Christians who have received God’s Holy Spirit, we are imbued with God’s conscience. As long as we approach the Sabbath with consistency, sincerity and truth, God is not at all eager to knock us on our noggins for a few minutes here and a few there. But if we find ourselves regularly beginning Sabbath later and ending it earlier, that should be a strong warning sign for us to check our sincerity.
Like a conscientious person who has a dinner date, getting there a few minutes early is courteous, a sign of respect, and evidence of our desire to be with them. If we regularly practice this approach with our friends and family, they can easily overlook an occasional late arrival.
On the other hand, if we are constantly “watching the clock” to see when we can “punch out” or so consistently late to our engagements with others that they have to schedule their time with us 15 minutes, a half hour, or hour earlier just to make sure we show up “at the right time”, well…
God isn’t checking His watch and neither should we, but we should not keep Him waiting, either.
