According to divine teaching, time should not be measured in the same way as human chronology. The Holy Bible, the rule of faith for believers, teaches what is necessary for us to walk in righteousness and live in holiness; after all, without holiness no one will see God.
When God made the heavenly bodies, He said: ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens, to separate the day from the night; and let them serve as signs for appointed times, and for days and years. And let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth.’ And so it was. And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and He made the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and the night, and to make a distinction between light and darkness. And God saw that it was good.’ (Gen 1:14–18).
Furthermore, when He created the universe and all that is in it, He marked the intervals of time as follows: there was evening and there was morning—the first day; and there was evening and there was morning—the second day, and so on until the sixth day (Genesis 1).
Biblical Definitions of Time Periods
Evening: A period of time preceding the morning. It normally lasts 12 hours and is referred to as twilight, the evening of the day, darkness and the darkness of night (Prov 7:9). It extends from sunset on one day until sunrise the following morning.
Day: A period of time between two sunsets, normally corresponding to 24 hours (Lev 23:32).
Morning: A 12-hour period of time between two nights, two afternoons, or from sunrise to sunset. It is also called a ‘day’ (John 11:9).
Before there was light in the universe, there was darkness. Thus, night comes before day in the 24-hour cycle.
The way the day is counted today, from midnight to midnight, is incorrect, and this was prophesied by Daniel: ‘He will speak against the Most High, oppress the saints of the Most High, and seek to change the times and the law’ (Dan 7:25, first and second parts).
If the day began at midnight, then the night would consist of only six hours, and the day would have eighteen hours, whereas Jesus stated that it had twelve (John 11:9). How can the day begin at midnight? Those who are ignorant of the time cannot properly sanctify the Lord’s Day. According to the instruction given to God’s people, the Sabbath must be observed from sunset to sunset. The day, the light part of the 24-hour cycle according to modern human chronology, begins at 6.00 am and ends at 6.00 pm, but it should correctly be calculated from sunrise to sunset.
The Restoration of Observance by Nehemiah
When Nehemiah sought to correct the transgression the people were committing regarding His time, as soon as the shadow of evening fell upon the gates of Jerusalem, he ordered the city gates to be closed. We shall quote the text to better understand how we too should proceed:
‘In those days I saw in Judah some who were treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in sheaves, which they carried on donkeys; as well as wine, grapes and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; and I rebuked them on the day they were selling provisions. There were also Tyrians living within the city, who brought in fish and all manner of merchandise, which they sold on the Sabbath to the people of Judah and in Jerusalem. So I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them: ‘What is this evil thing you are doing, desecrating the Sabbath? Did not your fathers do the same, and did not our God bring all this calamity upon us and upon this city? And you are adding to the heat of his wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath. It came to pass that, as the shadows lengthened at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, on my command the gates were shut; and I ordered that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath; and I stationed some of my young men at the gates, so that no load might enter on the Sabbath day. Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem, once or twice. So I protested against them and said to them, ‘Why do you spend the night outside the city wall? If you do this again, I will lay hands on you.’ From that day onwards they did not come on the Sabbath.” (Neh 13:15–21).
The things written earlier were written for our instruction.
If a Christian does not know the time and the way—for there is a time and a way for all things—he is incapable of attaining perfection in charity and will not be a perfect man as God requires (Mt 5:48, 2 Tim 3:17 and Col 3:14). And they will receive the rebuke of the Lord, who says: ‘I have not found your deeds perfect in the sight of God’ (Rev 3:2). And these deeds are the works of righteousness and love spoken of by John (1 John 3:18).
Respect for and Observance of the Sabbath
As the Spirit revealed to Isaiah, we must not concern ourselves with anything material on the Lord’s Sabbath; see:
‘If you keep your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing your own will on my holy day, and if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy day of the Lord, an honourable day, and honour it by not following your own ways, nor seeking to do your own will, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride upon the heights of the earth, and I will sustain you with the inheritance of your father Jacob; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.’ (Isaiah 58:13–14).
And just as in the past, we must not cook on that day either, for Scripture states:
‘For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy to you, a Sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.’ (Ex 35:2–3).
Some argue that this concept was intended for the Israel of old, when the task of kindling a fire required physical effort. However, God does not change. Even before His law was ratified at Sinai, God spoke thus: ‘How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?’ (Ex 16:28). And before that, Moses had instructed the people as follows:
‘This is what the Lord has said: Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; whatever you wish to bake in the oven, bake it, and whatever you wish to boil in water, boil it in water; and whatever is left over, set it aside for yourselves, keeping it for tomorrow.’ (Ex 16:23).
Note that they were to bake or cook, and whatever was left over was to be set aside for the Sabbath. Therefore, the food was to be stored ready for consumption.
Today we are far better equipped to keep the Sabbath. Our cookers run on gas; we have fridges, lighting, electricity and running water. And even where these resources are not available, with a little goodwill it is possible to keep the Sabbath; after all, this will be our proof of love for Jesus (John 14:15). Except on the Sabbath, we may do whatever is necessary—that is, before sunset on Friday or after sunset on Saturday—for we believe that all things work together for good for those who love God (Romans 8:28). ‘And what shall separate us from the love of God?’ Hunger, nakedness? Nothing can separate us from the love of God, the keeping of His Commandments (Rom 8:35).
As we have seen in the manifestation of the Lord’s will through Isaiah, we must not seek to do our own will nor speak our own words on His holy day (Isa 58:13).
But there are those who contradict this, claiming that the Lord’s Sabbath is not the Lord’s Day; and they put forward spurious reasons; they do not stand firm in the truth, for there is no truth in them. They say that the Lord’s Day is now Sunday, presuming from their own calculations and conjectures that Jesus rose on that day. Anyone who thinks and believes this is not properly instructed in the word of God.
Since accepting God’s Commandments is a prerequisite for gaining wisdom, attaining the fear of the Lord and finding ‘the knowledge of God’, those who do not accept His Commandments do not attain wisdom, nor the fear of the Lord, nor the knowledge of God (Prov 2:1–6, 28:7–9 and 10:8).
Doctrinal errors abound in churches that do not uphold God’s Commandments, just as those who do not keep His Commandments do not understand God’s words, since this is a prerequisite for such understanding. Some churches, even though they have the Commandments, do not keep them, and therefore do not love God (John 14:21 and 15:9–10).
Jesus loved the world and proved that love by dying for us; and now He demands proof of our love, saying: ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments’ (John 14:15). And He loves only those who love Him (Prov 8:17, in part). And the Holy Spirit reveals that we are fools for the sake of Christ (1 Cor 4:10). And: ‘Let no one deceive himself. If any of you think you are wise in this world, you should become fools so that you may become wise’ (1 Cor 3:18).
The Seventh Day of the Week or One Day in Seven?
When the Lord created the heavens and the earth, He established the divisions of time: the week, the months, and the years. The seven-day week, the thirty-day month, and the twelve-month year.
When He brought the people of Israel out of Egypt, He established the month of Abib as the first of the months for His people. Today, this month corresponds to the period from March to April, encompassing part of one and part of the other.
The Lord named the days of the week: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. And God called this day of the week the Sabbath, for on that day He rested, and therefore He sanctified and blessed it.
Sanctification means separation. Thus, He set that day apart for rest and blessed it for that reason. His Sabbath is fixed: it is the seventh day of the week. The Sabbaths of the Israelites, however, were variable; that is to say, they varied, as the first and last days of the solemnities ordained by the Lord fell on different days of the week, being ‘solemn Sabbaths’ or feast days (Lev 23:32 and references).
The Sabbath on the seventh day is order, whilst a Sabbath every seven days is disorder. Imagine everyone addressing the congregation on a different day, and seeking to observe their own day of rest.
Even on the Sabbaths instituted by God, and which He called ‘your Sabbaths’, there was order. One need only read the texts carefully. Their times were fixed within the course of a year. The things instituted by God are full of wisdom, and He is perfect.
There are those who use the following statement by Jesus as an argument for not observing the Sabbath: ‘My Father is still at work, and I am working too’ (John 5:17), as well as what the apostle Paul said: ‘for we worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you’ (1 Thessalonians 2:9). But they forget what the Master also said: ‘Do not work for the bread that perishes, but for the bread that endures’ (John 6:27).
Jesus’ work was his ministry, which must also be that of those who are called. In this way, it is possible to carry out this work night and day, just as the Father does.
The language used by the prophets and apostles was in keeping with the language adopted by God in the Holy Scriptures, since they were inspired by Him and acted as His spokesmen. Thus, when Scripture says that Peter and John went up to the temple to pray, it states that it was the ninth hour. And this hour is what is called the fifteenth hour or three o’clock in the afternoon. However, as the sun rises in the morning and the day consists of twelve hours, the ninth hour is what has come to be known as three o’clock in the afternoon or the fifteenth hour, in the current chronology.
When John was on the island of Patmos and wrote the Book of Revelation, he said: ‘And I was caught up in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day…’ (Rev 1:10). This inspired language is none other than that inspired by God to Isaiah, who wrote: ‘If you call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy day of the Lord, and honour it, by not following your own ways, nor seeking to do your own will, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride upon the heights of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of your father Jacob; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken’ (Isa 58:13–14). This is what the apostle did: he called the Sabbath the Lord’s Day.
For God, a period of time may consist of: twelve hours, a day, a year, a millennium, or a span of time or an occasion. Thus, His day may also be His Sabbath, the day of His coming, or a specific period of time. However, His intention is clear from the context, for His Spirit within us makes this known to us; after all, He searches all things, even the depths of God (1 Cor 2:10).
Some think that because the Lord speaks of Jacob the father, He is addressing nominal Israel or the Israel of Palestine. But note what the apostle Paul says:
“But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written: ‘Rejoice, O barren one, who does not give birth; break forth and cry aloud, you who do not travail; for the children of the desolate one are more numerous than those of the one who has a husband. But we, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, like Isaac. So then, brothers and sisters, we are children not of the slave woman, but of the free woman’ (Gal 4:26–28, 31).
Thus, we who have believed are the offspring promised to Abraham, from whom the patriarchs are descended, and to Isaac, the father of Jacob—the son of the promise, just as we who were promised to Abraham, and who are as numerous as the stars of the heavens and the sand of the sea (Gen 15:5, 22:17 and 32:12).
But there are those who say that no one can keep the Commandments and that there is not a single righteous person. However, even before the laws were given at Sinai, the Scriptures tell us that Abraham kept the Lord’s Commandments. And God Himself said this; see:
And the Lord said: ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed?’ For I have seen that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord, to do what is right and just; so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken concerning him.’ (Gen 18:17–19).
And as demonstrated in the questionnaire, the ways of the Lord and the righteousness of the Lord are His Commandments (Mal 2:8–9 and Ps 119:172). And the righteousness of God is eternal (Ps 119:142). And whoever practises righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous (1 John 3:7).
God bore witness to Abraham through Isaac, saying:
‘For Abraham obeyed my word and kept my commandments, my decrees, my statutes and my laws.’ (Genesis 26:5).
Furthermore, Scripture tells us that Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were righteous. And they were righteous because they observed God’s righteousness and kept His commandments, as we see here:
‘In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah; and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the Lord’s commandments and decrees.” (Luke 1:5–6).
Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, was also righteous (Matthew 1:19).
Consequently, all who practise God’s righteousness—that is, who keep His commandments—are righteous as God is righteous; see:
‘Little children, let no one deceive you: whoever practises righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.’ (1 John 3:7).
Anyone who does not believe in God’s Commandments cannot keep them, for He is the Law of Faith (Romans 3:27 and 31). And they are not burdensome, as John said under inspiration (1 John 5:3). And whoever does not observe them cannot abide in God (1 John 3:24). Consequently, the Father’s love cannot abide in them (John 15:9–10).
Distinction between Ceremonial Laws and the Moral Law
But there are those who cite as evidence biblical passages that do not say what they wish them to say. In one of them, the apostle says: ‘You observe days, months and years’. Or another which says: ‘Let no one judge you regarding food or drink, or regarding Sabbaths’.
As we saw when we cited the laws prescribing ‘solemn Sabbaths’, there were solemn days, solemn months and solemn years, and these were observed by the Jews even in Paul’s time. These Jews sought to compel the Gentiles who were joining ‘the Way’ to observe these days, claiming that if they did not observe them, they would not be keeping the Law. They also insisted that they must be circumcised in order to fulfil the Law of Moses. This led Paul to write the Epistle ‘to the Galatians’, addressing this very issue.
In all cases, as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews states, God sets aside the first covenant in order to establish the second. The first involved the observance of sacred ordinances, which consisted of the offering of food, drink and sacrifices (Heb 9). It also included precepts such as ‘do not touch’ and ‘do not handle’, which Paul describes as ordinances (Col 2:20–21). But Christ has set these things aside—which brought no perfection—by cancelling the debt certificate that stood against us in its ordinances, and by taking it out of our midst and nailing it to the cross (Col 2:14). Thus, since these were ordinances and there was a time for them to be observed, Jesus, the High Priest of the good things to come, upon his arrival, set aside the first and established the second; he annulled what was done at Horeb and ratified what was done in the land of Moab.
That is why Isaiah said:
‘Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who wounds a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who slits a dog’s throat; whoever offers a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever burns incense is like one who blesses an idol; these choose their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations.’ (Isaiah 66:3).
Thus, when the prophets received these things, they wished to know whether they were for their own time, and they were told that they were not for them, but for the Gentiles to whom they ministered (1 Pet 1:11–12).
Isaiah wrote what the Lord spoke through him:
‘When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, that you should come and trample upon my courts? Bring no more vain offerings: incense is an abomination to me, as are the new moons, the Sabbaths and the solemn assemblies; I cannot endure iniquity, nor even the solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts—my soul loathes them; they have become a burden; I am weary of bearing them.’ (Isaiah 1:12–14).
However, look carefully at the context and check Leviticus 23, and you will see what the Lord is referring to: the assembly of the congregation, your solemn assemblies (see Lev 23:1, 8, 9, 17, 21, 28 and 29). Thus, those Sabbaths were your Sabbaths.
And of them the Lord also says through Hosea: “E I will put an end to all their joy, their feasts, their new moons, their Sabbaths and all their festivals” (Hos 2:11). And further on the Lord says: “E I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord” (vv. 19–20). Furthermore, the Lord warns through Jeremiah:
‘Thus says the Lord: Take heed to yourselves, and do not carry any loads on the Sabbath day, nor bring them through the gates of Jerusalem. Nor shall you take any loads out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work; but you shall keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. If you will indeed listen to me, says the Lord, and not bring any loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it; then kings and princes shall enter through the gates of this city, seated on the throne of David, travelling in chariots and riding on horses—they and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall be inhabited for ever. But if you do not listen, so as to keep the Sabbath holy and not to bring in any load when you enter through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire at its gates, which will consume the palaces of Jerusalem, and it will not be quenched.” (Jer 17:21–22, 24–25, 27).
The Sabbath, as well as being a memorial of creation, is also the sign between God and His people; see:
‘And I also gave them my Sabbaths, to serve as a sign between me and them; so that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. And you shall keep my Sabbaths holy, and they shall serve as a sign between me and you, so that you may know that I am the Lord your God. But the children also rebelled against me; they did not walk in my statutes, nor did they keep my ordinances, by which, if a man keeps them, he shall live by them; they defiled my Sabbaths; therefore I declared that I would pour out my fury upon them, to execute my wrath against them in the wilderness. Yet I held back my hand, and did so for the sake of my name, lest it be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose presence I had brought them out. I also raised my hand against them in the wilderness, to scatter them amongst the nations and to disperse them throughout the lands; for they did not carry out my decrees, but rejected my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on the idols of their fathers.’ (Ezekiel 20:12, 20–24).
When the Lord proclaimed His Law before the people in the wilderness of Sinai, He Himself spoke from the clouds and said concerning the Sabbath:
‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; thou shalt not do any work—neither thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger who is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and on the seventh day He rested; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” (Ex 20:8–11).
Let us consider the details:
At the beginning of chapter twenty, it says: ‘Then God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God.”’ Thus, He begins to dictate His laws directly to the people, and this is unequivocally recorded in Deuteronomy, where it is stated:
‘On the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when the Lord said to me: “Gather this people to me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn them and fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and teach them to their children’; and you drew near and stood at the foot of the mountain; and the mountain was ablaze with fire to the very midst of the heavens, and there was darkness, and clouds, and gloom. Then the Lord spoke to you from within the fire; you heard the sound of the words, but saw no form apart from the voice. Then He set out for you His covenant, which He commanded you to keep—the Ten Commandments—and wrote them on two stone tablets.” (Deut. 4:10–13).
Furthermore, in the verses where the commandments are cited, we can observe other important details, such as: ‘but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.’ And it was not only the people of Israel who were not to work on that day, but also their animals, which served them, and their servants, and the foreigner sojourning amongst them. This was because there were servants of the people, as well as those who had joined the people of Israel, either by agreement or through intermarriage. Thus God spoke to Moses and commanded him to instruct the people: ‘You shall have one law; so the foreigner shall be as the native-born’ (Lev 24:22).
He said further: ‘But if any foreigner sojourns with you and wishes to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, every male among them must be circumcised; then he may come and celebrate it, and he shall be as a native of the land; but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native-born and for the stranger who sojourns amongst you’ (Ex 12:48–49; Lev 24:22; Num 15:16, 29).
It is important to emphasise that when God imparted His laws to the people, Moses had not yet ascended the mountain and, consequently, had not received the stone tablets on which the Decalogue was inscribed. However, the first covenant had already been established, which therefore contained the laws of ordinance. At the same time as God gave Moses His Law, He also gave him the statutes, precepts and judgements; see:
‘These are the statutes, the judgements and the laws which the Lord made between Himself and the Israelites on Mount Sinai through Moses.’ (Lev 26:46).
It is important to note that, although the ceremonial laws were abolished following the death of Jesus—who nailed them to the cross—the statutes and judgements established by God and given to Moses were not abolished. That is why God spoke through Malachi: “Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel—the statutes and ordinances” (Mal 4:4).

Oli Prestes
Missionary