-
Hello;
Passover is just around the corner so this seems an appropriate time to
begin discussing its events as they pertained to Christ back in his day.
I suggest that the best way to begin sleuthing the chronology of Christ's
crucifixion and resurrection is to first define what constituters a Day and
what constitutes a Night. The Bible does this for us so it's a no-brainer.
†. Gen 1:3-5 . . And God said: Let there be light-- and there was
light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light
from the darkness. God called the light Day and the darkness He
called Night.
In essence: Day and Night simply label two physical conditions-- the
absence of light, and/or the absence of darkness. Labeling those physical
conditions may seem like a superfluous detail, but when analyzing crucifixion
week in the New Testament, it's essential to keep those physical conditions
separate in regards to the Lord's burial and resurrection if one is to have any
hope of deducing the correct chronology.
†. Gen 1:14-18 . . God said: Let there be lights in the expanse of the
sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs
to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the
expanse of the sky to give light on the earth. And it was so. God
made two great lights-- the greater light to govern the day and the
lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set
them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern
the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.
On the first day; God decreed Day as a condition of light; and Night as a
condition of darkness. Then in Gen 1:14-18, He further decreed that days on
the earth are when the sun is up; and nights on the earth are when the sun
is down. These rules occur so early in the Bible that they easily escape the
memories of Bible students as they slip into the reflexive habit of always
thinking of days as periods of one earth rotation of 24 hours. That's okay for
calendars but can lead to gross misunderstandings when interpreting biblical
schedules, predictions, and/or chronologies.
†. John 11:9 . . Jesus answered: are there not twelve hours in the
day? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this
world's light.
A day divided into twelve equal periods was regulated by what's known as
temporal hours; which vary in length in accordance with the time of year.
There are times of the year at Jerusalem's latitude when days on earth
consist of less than 12 normal hours of daylight, and sometimes more; but
when Jesus was here; the official number of hours was always 12 regardless.
I don't exactly know why the Jews of that era divided their work day into
twelve equal periods regardless of the seasons, but I suspect it was just a
convenient way to operate the government and conduct civil affairs;
including the Temple's activities (e.g. the daily morning and evening
sacrifice)
Anyway; the point is: it's best to comply with God's decrees and let days be
daytime and nights be nighttime; viz: Days are when the sun is up, and
Nights are when the sun is down.
====================================
Hello;
Passover is just around the corner so this seems an appropriate time to
begin discussing its events as they pertained to Christ back in his day.
I suggest that the best way to begin sleuthing the chronology of Christ's
crucifixion and resurrection is to first define what constituters a Day and
what constitutes a Night. The Bible does this for us so it's a no-brainer.
†. Gen 1:3-5 . . And God said: Let there be light-- and there was
light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light
from the darkness. God called the light Day and the darkness He
called Night.
In essence: Day and Night simply label two physical conditions-- the
absence of light, and/or the absence of darkness. Labeling those physical
conditions may seem like a superfluous detail, but when analyzing crucifixion
week in the New Testament, it's essential to keep those physical conditions
separate in regards to the Lord's burial and resurrection if one is to have any
hope of deducing the correct chronology.
†. Gen 1:14-18 . . God said: Let there be lights in the expanse of the
sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs
to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the
expanse of the sky to give light on the earth. And it was so. God
made two great lights-- the greater light to govern the day and the
lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set
them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern
the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.
On the first day; God decreed Day as a condition of light; and Night as a
condition of darkness. Then in Gen 1:14-18, He further decreed that days on
the earth are when the sun is up; and nights on the earth are when the sun
is down. These rules occur so early in the Bible that they easily escape the
memories of Bible students as they slip into the reflexive habit of always
thinking of days as periods of one earth rotation of 24 hours. That's okay for
calendars but can lead to gross misunderstandings when interpreting biblical
schedules, predictions, and/or chronologies.
†. John 11:9 . . Jesus answered: are there not twelve hours in the
day? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this
world's light.
A day divided into twelve equal periods was regulated by what's known as
temporal hours; which vary in length in accordance with the time of year.
There are times of the year at Jerusalem's latitude when days on earth
consist of less than 12 normal hours of daylight, and sometimes more; but
when Jesus was here; the official number of hours was always 12 regardless.
I don't exactly know why the Jews of that era divided their work day into
twelve equal periods regardless of the seasons, but I suspect it was just a
convenient way to operate the government and conduct civil affairs;
including the Temple's activities (e.g. the daily morning and evening
sacrifice)
Anyway; the point is: it's best to comply with God's decrees and let days be
daytime and nights be nighttime; viz: Days are when the sun is up, and
Nights are when the sun is down.
====================================
