Let There Be Light - Part I

A Day by any other name is still a Day

But on the Seventh Day we are to Rest

This links to Part II 

of the study on YHWH's Method of Counting

It has come to my attention that there are those who believe in a New Moon Day separate unto itself, and that the day of rest is an eight day count, and these people even suggest counting backwards to the new moon to justify the dates of His Set Apart times. After a few days pondering this idea, it still does not set right within me.

If we cannot agree on when a day begins, then, really, none of this matters.

This is Mrs. G's comment that began the discussion and my study: "...the calendar from Scripture (shows) His weekly Sabbaths will fall on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th every time when using His calendar. Scripture verifies this in the OT and the NT" (end quote)

Therein is the challenge.

I figured I'd better take a closer look at Scriptures about this topic of 'day' and the first thing that came to mind was:  Wouldn't a seven day count be 7, 14, 21 and 28, every time?

YHWH did His work of creation in six days; blessed and rested from His work on the Seventh Day. Yah made the seventh day Sabbath for us, as a sign between Him and His people. Since He is Set Apart and rested on the 7th day of creation He desires that we also rest on the 7th day from our work. He set the pattern for us to follow, and this was just the first of many included in His Instructions for His created (that includes you and me). He began His count of days from the beginning of creation, when there was darkness over the face of the deep.

In Genesis 1:3 Our Creator said 'Let there be light." He separated the light (Day) from the darkness (Night) and there was evening and there was morning, a first day. 
(the way I read it, the definition of a Day is from evening, including the morning and on to the following evening. It consists of both the Light and the Dark phases of the time line called Day.)

Exodus 16:23 ...then he said to them, "This is what Yah meant: Tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, set apart to Him. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning." 35:2 "For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Set Apart day, a Sabbath of Complete Rest to Yahweh Elohim. 
(Set it aside to be kept until morning:  Set is aside at evening time, before the beginning of the next day... Get all preparations done before sundown, the beginning of the seventh day...)

Leviticus 23:3 'For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of Complete Rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath to your Elohim, in all your dwellings.

Deuteronomy 5:12 'Observe the Sabbath day to keep it set apart as YHWH your Elohim commanded you.

If the new moon is usually visible towards evening time, and the sighting of it denotes the beginning of another month (first day of that month), then wouldn't the time period called 'day' begin at evening? Each day from evening to evening.

The Pattern: 1. Darkness 2. Light 3. Day 4. Night

In the beginning the earth was unformed and void with darkness over the surface of the deep. Yah said Let there be light, and it was good, and He separated the light from the darkness = Day and Night.  And there was evening and there was morning, a first day.

Unformed defined:: not arranged in regular shape, order, or relations; undeveloped

Void defined:: containing nothing :not occupied :vacant :not inhabited :being without something specified

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Our Father counted days from the first day of creation. We begin our count of days from the sighting of the new moon. Each new moon begins a new count; the first crescent is Day One, the beginning of the month. Each seven day count from the new moon is the Sabbath Day of Rest.

Later on in Scriptures we read that Jeremiah tries to remind the people about that day of rest: 17:21 Thus says YHWH, "Take heed for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the Sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem.  You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the Sabbath day set apart, as I commanded your forefathers." Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction.…"  (no buying or selling, conducting commerce, doing work)

Quote from Mrs. G: Back in their day they worked from sunup to sundown. So in the creation account we see that the LIGHT was called the DAY part, and the darkness was called NIGHT. Now where people get thrown from is from "And the evening and the morning were the first day." He started His work in the morning and He finished in the evening as the sun was setting turning into night. The DAY part consists of the morning and the evening. (end quote)

This doesn't make sense to me, and Mrs. G assumes "He started His work in the morning and He finished in the evening as the sun was setting turning into night." In Genesis 1, in the beginning when our Creator began His work the first thing He created was Light, which He separated into Day and Night; so would it be safe to say He started His work at night, in darkness? He didn't even create the sun and the moon util day four.  Day and Night are a necessary part of living on this earth, and He did not curse these things.

Quote from Mrs. G: Remember He separated the light from the darkness, therefore what He separated we cannot then join together. Our heavenly Father is not about darkness but about light. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that Elohim is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (end quote)

This statement is partly true but her assumption is crazy to me because if you ever watched the sun set, day slowly blends into twilight at the setting of the sun. It's not like 'lights out!' a definite break between light and dark.  I'm pretty certain misunderstandings occur because of the use of words and our modern day perception of what we think those words mean. That sort of confusion comes from the Adversary if we don't study it out for ourselves.

This verse has been used to support a day begins at sunrise; Messiah said: "Is there not 12 hours in a day?" 

In John 11 we read the verse in context:  Y'shua's friend Lazar is sick and dies. Y'shua heard about him but stayed where he was for two days, then says to his disciples he's ready to go to Judea.  They promptly warn him that the Jews are ready to kill him, why would he want to go there now?  His reply is: "Are there not twelve hours in a day, and if a man walks during the daylight, he will not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But if a man should walk during the night, he will stumble because  there is no flame in him. "(Note: 'no flame in him' is an Hebrew idiom meaning one is not enlightened) How does his response tie in with the warning his disciples were concerned about?  They were afraid for his life because the Yehudeans were on the warpath. Messiah refers to twelve hours in a day, walking during daylight would be easier than traveling at night, perhaps meaning now during the daylight hours was a better time to go to Lazar's home than to try to sneak around in the night time to avoid being stoned by the Jews?

I note that as the seasons pass, the light of day grows shorter until the shortest day and then begin to grow longer. The amount of daylight changes... this verse does not define what a day is and may be another parable pointing to the fact that we are children of light and not of the devil. Children of Satan do enjoy living in the darkness of night.

Day and Night are not evil opposites and were clearly a necessary part of creation. Spiritual darkness came later and is an evil thing opposing Y'shua who is the Light of the World, and not just the daytime part only. According to what is written in John 11, one who is enlightened can walk day or night and not stumble.  We know that Satan is the 'prince of darkness' over this world, and not just the nighttime part only. It seems when folks forget to separate the physical occurrence from the spiritual implications of what we read in Scriptures an understandable misunderstanding can arise between the use of words, such as day/night and light/darkness, which makes it easier to choose the definition of a day as being from sunup to sundown and just ignore the night altogether; and just ignore YHWH. 

Creation of Man - Male and Female

I have never heard of the idea of 2 or even 3 accounts of creation. I will share a post by Mr. T that brought it to my attention. For the sake of clarity I have shortened it, corrected the spelling and replaced all the capitalization with lower case where appropriate, so I cannot say it is a direct quote, but the meat of the issue remains the same: Three Accounts of Creation.

In the original post he presumed we are all aware of the Masoretic texts and that is where the three accounts originate. Basically, he seems to think that they included three different accounts from different scrolls and fragments because they couldn't decide which one was true. At home, I read from an older edition of the Tanakh which is translated from traditional Hebrew Text. But even the  early scribes and rabbis took away from the ancient texts and replaced those words with meaningless substitutes. We are lucky to have any sort of version of His Word in today's world, but let's remember that men has handled Scriptures many times over the years which is why we need to read whatever version we have, day after day and study out topics so we gain understanding, not just by ourselves, but by allowing His Set Apart Spirit to reveal truth.

Here is the gist of Mr. T's post:

This is to address the three, not just two different accounts of the creation of man. I also want to address the fact that in Genesis Chapter 5 verses 1 and 2 show a different version that lines up with Genesis Chapter 1.  I just want to state that in Genesis 1 we see He created male and female and blessed them as one people. Now this is after the animals were made ..... So Lets take a look and see what the scripture says in Genesis 1: 26-27 -- Then Yah said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."  Elohim created man in His own image, He created him; male and female. 

So in Chapter 2 we see that it talks of how the man (Adam) was created and then the animals were created.... (Mr. T's assumption)

(Here I highlight Mr. T's Point of Confusion): ...I just want to point out this part because in Genesis 1 the animals were made before man, but chapter 2 we see it it was after Adam was created that the animals were created.  I just want people to see this is specifically a whole other account of the creation of Adam and Eve.  Lets look later on and we see that woman was not made the same time as the man but after him, from his rib, after the seventh day when Yah rested. But in Genesis 1 it says that He made them the male and the female...

Genesis 2:7-24 -- Then YHWH Elohim formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.  8 And YHWH planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 18 And YHWH said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a suitable helper for him. 19 And out of the ground EL formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 21 Yah caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof ... He made a woman, and brought her to the man 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 

Lets take a look at the last account of creation of the book of Genesis and you will see what I am trying to show you....  in a way it continues from Genesis chapter 1 or this is a totally different version of creation meaning a third account, as we can see very well. -- So, with all the information presented I believe there is either an insert between Genesis chapters 1 and 2 or chapters 1, 2 and 5 are different accounts of creation... give your opinions... my conception of this it that it is possible that there are three distinct accounts of creation. 

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I can easily see the cause of Mr. T's misunderstanding of the written word, but he compounded his own confusion by trying to use the Hebrew or Masoretic to explain it, dividing the account into three parts instead of understanding it at a whole. He also overlooked the fact that Man was described as both male and female (plural) when he was created: One man with 2 particular attributes. Mr. T was not too happy with 'my opinion' which was Scripture based, without reverting to ancient Hebrew text or Strong's or Greek interpretations.

Mr. T wrote: "Genesis Chapter 5 verses 1 and 2 show a different version that lines up with Genesis Chapter 1."  I showed him a side by side comparison and asked where he saw a difference, but he did not reply.

Genesis 1:27-28 And Yah created man in His image, He created him; male and female. He blessed them and said to be fertile and fill the earth. Genesis 5:1 When Yah created man He made him in His likeness; male and female He created them. And when they were created, He blessed them and called them Man.

I remember it was men who divided the ancient texts into chapter and verse. I understand the thought process behind it, making it easier for anyone to be on the 'same page' when in study. But, like most everything that begins with good intentions, they can become corrupted over time. For example, Genesis 1 looks like it should have ended with the final sentence in the first paragraph of chapter 2 - "Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created." (that's a wrap!) Chapt 2, beginning a few words before verse 5, reads like a summary of events leading up to the creation of a fitting helper for Adam. 

YHWH places Adam in the Garden and gives him that all important piece of information: "... but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; as soon as you do you shall die."  Verse 19 does not cause me any consternation whatsoever BUT I can see how the wording would catch the eye of Mr. T: 19 - And YHWH Elohim formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky.

Yes, the word "formed' is past tense, He did indeed form these critters and man (plural: male and female) was created as well, on the 6th day before He rested. After the man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds and wild beasts, Yah cause the man to sleep a deep sleep, removes one of his ribs and fashioned it into a woman. Can you see how when He created man, both male and female, as Adam, He included the female which came from man? She wasn't really a separate creation as she was already part of man, Adam.

Genesis 2 continues: When Yah made earth and heaven -- when no shrub of the field was yet on earth and no grasses had sprouted, because Yah had not caused it to rain >> and there was no man to till the soil << but a flow would well up from the ground and water the whole surface of the earth --  He formed man from the dust of the earth. He blew into his nostrils the breath of life... (doesn't this read as a recap of what had already happened, instead of a chronological report of things happening again?) Read on about the Garden and what grew there and the river that flows from there.  It tells us Yah placed man in the Garden, which reflects back to Day 6 of Creation, Genesis 1:29, when He shows Adam: See, I give you every seed bearing plant, seed bearing fruit; to all the animals, birds and everything that creeps I give all the green plants for food (in the Garden)... Genesis 2:15 After Yah places Adam in the Garden, he is given that instruction which is very important: ...but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it, for as soon as you so you shall die.  After that we learn that Yah wants a suitable helper for Adam.

Now, the question that comes to my mind is: 

Is it still Day 6? 

Yahweh is still working and doesn't rest until Day 7.

?

(This was part of Mr. T's concern as well, 

and this needs more attention on my behalf,

but I'll leave it be for now...)

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Mr. T had brought up Genesis 5:1; 2
This is the record of Adam's line: When Elohim created man, He made him in the likeness of Elohim, male and female... when they were created He blessed them and called them Man. (which confirms what we read earlier): Genesis 1:27 And Yah created man in His image, He created him; male and female.

Both accounts relate to the same event.

I would like to point out, 'Man' is the name of Yah's human creation. He created him in His likeness, not like the birds or fish or animals or creeping things, and He says Man is both 'male and female', plural in his essence. This makes perfect sense since part of Yah's plan was to form the woman from the man. They were both created as one on Day 6.  As far as I can see Scripture is in harmony with itself.

There is only one account of creation. The animals were made on Day 6 and so was 'man'.  Man was a plural being containing both male and female attributes. Those beasts that had been previously formed out of the earth were brought to Adam so that he could name them and find a fitting helper.  Yahweh saw there was not a suitable helper among the animals and then brought the female into being from the man.  And, think about this connection: when a man and a woman marry they are said to become 'one flesh'. They were separated at creation and spiritually rejoined in marriage. Are we separated from our Creator now, yet waiting to be rejoined with Him after the thousand year reign of His Son?

I'd like to take a moment now to draw your attention to this little tidbit: The accounts given by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are four different accounts concerning the same events throughout the life and times of Y'shua.  The style of writing differs slightly and one remembers a detail not recorded by another, but they all harmonize, they all tell the same story. James, Peter and Paul's writings all confirm what was recorded by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I see the same sort of rhythm when reading Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

I have been giving a lot of thought to Mr. T's view on this topic, and his reaction to my response which led him to remove himself from my old FB group.  I kept wondering, after all was said and done, what is the real lesson in all this?  What caused most of the confusion for Mr. T? How did I offend him?  Let me point out this wasn't our first time conversing but appears to have been the last. One of the first things I noticed about him was his obsession with the Hebrew language but also mixing in Greek interpretations.  I complimented him on his zeal and endeavor to learn but also cautioned him about getting snared while on a rabbit trail.  I was never rude or self righteous, but always willing to share from my own experience in an effort to guide him, trying to shine that light a little brighter onto Yah's Path of Righteousness. Apparently he wasn't 100% in love with my approach. 

If this is an indication of what the end times are going to be like for those of us who consider ourselves Set Apart Believers, then there is no time like the present to finally dump all that excess baggage in order to stay on the straight path that leads to the Narrow Gate.  Satan is the author of confusion, so beware any topic or idea or suggestion that seems contrary to what our Creator says. Satan knows Scriptures better than any of us and can use it expertly against us.  

I always use the written Word as the foundation, the truth and the proving ground for all things. I don't want anyone who comes out of 'churchianity' to fall into another religion: Judaism. Learning about Torah is not a Jewish thing; it's about regular folks learning to read Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, and studying what they read.  The more we read the more His Spirit has to work with.

When Yah gathers His people and sets them back down on the promised land is when I believe we'll all be speaking Hebrew.  He confounded language when He scattered those trying to build that tower in Babel so it makes sense that when we come together as one people we'll have one language.  Trying to master it now is not required, although some knowledge of the culture, its idioms and poetic prose is helping in learning the intended meanings and gaining a deeper understanding of Scriptures.