Post by BYT YHWH on Dec 27, 2005 20:12:41 GMT -5
PART 1
Shalom Everyone!
Here below we are forwarding a Scriptural Study, "When Does The
Weekly Sabbath Begin and End?" (that you can find also at
www.intergate.com/~jcordaro/Sunset_Sabbath.html), by John
Cordaro, that we have read from his website "The Everlasting Good
News of Yahweh", that is addressing the Booklet "The Scriptural
Weekly Sabbath Is Not From Sunset To Sunset", by Gary Miller
(International Congregation of Yahweh), trying to refute the
Scriptural Teaching on the Weekly Sabbath beginning in the morning
(dawn to sunrise, according to some teachings), and ending in the
evening (sunset to dark, according to some teachings), and not
beginning in the evening (sunset to dark, according to some
teachings), and ending in the next evening (sunset to dark,
according to some teachings).
We have inserted OUR COMMENTS on it, into the body of John Cordaro's
Scriptural Study, refuting his refutation to the key points used to
support his belief on the Weekly Sabbath from evening (sunset) to
evening (sunset), and to refute Gary Miller's, and our beliefs on
the Scriptural Weekly Sabbath from morning (dawn to sunrise) to
evening (sunset to dark)!
When Does The Weekly Sabbath Begin and End?
by John V. Cordaro
This question is becoming more common as the belief that Sabbath
begins at dawn and ends at dark (night) is promoted. One publication
in particular, "The Scriptural Weekly Sabbath Is Not From Sunset To
Sunset", Gary C. Miller; International Congregation of Yahweh, 1986,
will be addressed.
This study is a refutation to the key points used to support that
belief. It will also address the use of "deductive reasoning" which
the author heavily relies upon to prove his point.
A Sunset Sabbath is Rooted in Paganism?
The author begins by quoting Unger's Bible Dictionary, "Day", page
1098, which states;
"From a very early period the time of reckoning the day was from
sunset to sunset, and this BECAME THE JEWISH METHOD. . . The
Phoenicians, Numidians, and other nations of the East are said to
have followed the same custom, if it was not indeed the custom
generally followed in remote antiquity. . ." [Emphasis author's]
He also quotes two other sources to establish the fact that the
Babylonians observed days from evening to evening with divisions of
the day into twelve hours.
This is not much evidence to prove the Jews adopted the Babylonian
way of reckoning days. Consider the following quote from the
jewishencyclopedia.com under the heading, "Eve of Holidays".
"Unlike the early Babylonians, whose day began with sunrise, the
Jews began theirs with sunset." [Emphasis mine]
Assuming, however, that it is true that the Jews adopted that
Babylonian practice, let's use that same logic concerning days
beginning at dawn. A note in the NIV Bible for Ne 13:19 says,
"When evening shadows fell on the gates. Before sunset, when the
Sabbath began. The Israelites, like the Babylonians, counted their
days from sunset to sunset (the Egyptians reckoned theirs from dawn
to dawn)." [Emphasis mine]
What do we do now? If a day beginning at sunset is pagan and a day
beginning at dawn is pagan, does a day really begin at noon or
midnight?
The author quotes the following;
"So far as we know, the Babylonian calendar was at ALL PERIODS truly
lunar, . . .the month BEGAN with the EVENING when the new crescent
was for the first time again visible shortly after sunset.
Consequently, the BABYLONIAN DAY ALSO BEGAN IN THE EVENING. . ."
(The Exact Sciences in Antiquity, O. Neugebauer, 1957; Brown
University Press;1969 Dover Publications, Inc.; New York; p.106;"
[Emphasis author's]
In other words, from Babylon's foundation they began months and days
with the evening. When was Babylon founded? It was founded by Nimrod
in Gen 10:10 ("Babel" in the Greek Septuagint is "Babylon"). Nimrod
was the son of Cush who was the son of Ham who was the son of Noah.
Did Noah know when to begin a day? Did he teach Ham when days begin?
Since Nimrod was such a close relative of Noah, it is very likely he
kept days just as his great grandfather did. In Gen 11:1-5, we are
told the earth was still of one language when the tower of Babel was
being built. The were most likely of one calendar as well.
If it is true that Babylon reckoned days from evening, then the most
likely scenario is that Babylon and Israel used the same calendar
from their earliest history. However, since there are sources that
say Babylon reckoned days from evening and others that say they
reckoned days from sunrise, it would profit us to seek the truth in
Scripture only.
---------------------------------------------------------
OUR COMMENTS:
John Cordaro begins his refutation to Gary Miller's Booklet, by
saying that sunset (or dark) keeping could be adopted by pagans,
just as sunrise (or dawn) keeping could be adopted by pagans too.
Yes, that could have been, but that does not prove anything for any
of the two views. In fact, pagans could have adopted it from
Israelites, or vice versa.
But YAHWEH, in the Beginning, clearly called The Light DAY, and the
Darkness HE called NIGHT, dividing / separating one from another
(Genesis 1:3-5, 14-18), so that should take off any whatsoever doubt
about it!
Then, if pagans adopted it from Israelites, that should be the Day
from the morning to the evening, and NOT from the evening to the
evening.
And, consequently, the Israelites, in their frequent apostasies from
YAHWEH's Torah, and in their captivity and slavery among pagans,
could have adopted the Day from evening to evening from the pagans
that they lived together with.
By the way, Nimrod was an EVIL man against YAHWEH's Way (Genesis
Chapter 10), so it would be very strange that he would have
continued the RIGHT Scriptural Way to start and end the Day, as his
RIGHTEOUS great-grandfather Noah, or even as his grandfather Ham
did, as John Cordaro is wrongly inferring!
---------------------------------------------------------
Shalom Everyone!
Here below we are forwarding a Scriptural Study, "When Does The
Weekly Sabbath Begin and End?" (that you can find also at
www.intergate.com/~jcordaro/Sunset_Sabbath.html), by John
Cordaro, that we have read from his website "The Everlasting Good
News of Yahweh", that is addressing the Booklet "The Scriptural
Weekly Sabbath Is Not From Sunset To Sunset", by Gary Miller
(International Congregation of Yahweh), trying to refute the
Scriptural Teaching on the Weekly Sabbath beginning in the morning
(dawn to sunrise, according to some teachings), and ending in the
evening (sunset to dark, according to some teachings), and not
beginning in the evening (sunset to dark, according to some
teachings), and ending in the next evening (sunset to dark,
according to some teachings).
We have inserted OUR COMMENTS on it, into the body of John Cordaro's
Scriptural Study, refuting his refutation to the key points used to
support his belief on the Weekly Sabbath from evening (sunset) to
evening (sunset), and to refute Gary Miller's, and our beliefs on
the Scriptural Weekly Sabbath from morning (dawn to sunrise) to
evening (sunset to dark)!
When Does The Weekly Sabbath Begin and End?
by John V. Cordaro
This question is becoming more common as the belief that Sabbath
begins at dawn and ends at dark (night) is promoted. One publication
in particular, "The Scriptural Weekly Sabbath Is Not From Sunset To
Sunset", Gary C. Miller; International Congregation of Yahweh, 1986,
will be addressed.
This study is a refutation to the key points used to support that
belief. It will also address the use of "deductive reasoning" which
the author heavily relies upon to prove his point.
A Sunset Sabbath is Rooted in Paganism?
The author begins by quoting Unger's Bible Dictionary, "Day", page
1098, which states;
"From a very early period the time of reckoning the day was from
sunset to sunset, and this BECAME THE JEWISH METHOD. . . The
Phoenicians, Numidians, and other nations of the East are said to
have followed the same custom, if it was not indeed the custom
generally followed in remote antiquity. . ." [Emphasis author's]
He also quotes two other sources to establish the fact that the
Babylonians observed days from evening to evening with divisions of
the day into twelve hours.
This is not much evidence to prove the Jews adopted the Babylonian
way of reckoning days. Consider the following quote from the
jewishencyclopedia.com under the heading, "Eve of Holidays".
"Unlike the early Babylonians, whose day began with sunrise, the
Jews began theirs with sunset." [Emphasis mine]
Assuming, however, that it is true that the Jews adopted that
Babylonian practice, let's use that same logic concerning days
beginning at dawn. A note in the NIV Bible for Ne 13:19 says,
"When evening shadows fell on the gates. Before sunset, when the
Sabbath began. The Israelites, like the Babylonians, counted their
days from sunset to sunset (the Egyptians reckoned theirs from dawn
to dawn)." [Emphasis mine]
What do we do now? If a day beginning at sunset is pagan and a day
beginning at dawn is pagan, does a day really begin at noon or
midnight?
The author quotes the following;
"So far as we know, the Babylonian calendar was at ALL PERIODS truly
lunar, . . .the month BEGAN with the EVENING when the new crescent
was for the first time again visible shortly after sunset.
Consequently, the BABYLONIAN DAY ALSO BEGAN IN THE EVENING. . ."
(The Exact Sciences in Antiquity, O. Neugebauer, 1957; Brown
University Press;1969 Dover Publications, Inc.; New York; p.106;"
[Emphasis author's]
In other words, from Babylon's foundation they began months and days
with the evening. When was Babylon founded? It was founded by Nimrod
in Gen 10:10 ("Babel" in the Greek Septuagint is "Babylon"). Nimrod
was the son of Cush who was the son of Ham who was the son of Noah.
Did Noah know when to begin a day? Did he teach Ham when days begin?
Since Nimrod was such a close relative of Noah, it is very likely he
kept days just as his great grandfather did. In Gen 11:1-5, we are
told the earth was still of one language when the tower of Babel was
being built. The were most likely of one calendar as well.
If it is true that Babylon reckoned days from evening, then the most
likely scenario is that Babylon and Israel used the same calendar
from their earliest history. However, since there are sources that
say Babylon reckoned days from evening and others that say they
reckoned days from sunrise, it would profit us to seek the truth in
Scripture only.
---------------------------------------------------------
OUR COMMENTS:
John Cordaro begins his refutation to Gary Miller's Booklet, by
saying that sunset (or dark) keeping could be adopted by pagans,
just as sunrise (or dawn) keeping could be adopted by pagans too.
Yes, that could have been, but that does not prove anything for any
of the two views. In fact, pagans could have adopted it from
Israelites, or vice versa.
But YAHWEH, in the Beginning, clearly called The Light DAY, and the
Darkness HE called NIGHT, dividing / separating one from another
(Genesis 1:3-5, 14-18), so that should take off any whatsoever doubt
about it!
Then, if pagans adopted it from Israelites, that should be the Day
from the morning to the evening, and NOT from the evening to the
evening.
And, consequently, the Israelites, in their frequent apostasies from
YAHWEH's Torah, and in their captivity and slavery among pagans,
could have adopted the Day from evening to evening from the pagans
that they lived together with.
By the way, Nimrod was an EVIL man against YAHWEH's Way (Genesis
Chapter 10), so it would be very strange that he would have
continued the RIGHT Scriptural Way to start and end the Day, as his
RIGHTEOUS great-grandfather Noah, or even as his grandfather Ham
did, as John Cordaro is wrongly inferring!
---------------------------------------------------------