YEA Lesson Library

The Lesson

Teenagers have asked YEA to write a lesson answering the question, “Why do days begin at night?” Let’s explore this subject to see what we can discover. As you study the Bible, there’s an important principle to keep in mind – you often don’t find the complete answer in one place. Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search them out.” You’ll find a little gem here and another piece to the puzzle some place else in the Bible and they all go together. And God designed it that way.

Genesis gives the order of things that God created. At first the earth was formless and empty. Everything was dark. 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.’ And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day” (Genesis 1:3-5 The NIV Study Bible For Kids). Not only did God create the universe, He began the day cycle with the evening – evening and morning made up the first day.

“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. And God saw it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the fourth day” (verses 14-19).

The Great God has a purpose for everything He does. He has a plan that has order. “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace” ( 1 Corinthians14:33). Few things are as frustrating as having a friend that is unstable and changeable. This type person is totally unpredictable. If he says he’ll meet you at two this afternoon, he may or may not show up. People like him can leave you in a lurch and always guessing. But God is not that way. As the old saying goes, “He’s as predictable as the sun coming up in the morning.” He doesn’t do one thing today and then something contradictory at another time. “For I am the Lord – I do not change (Malachi 3:6).

We’ve seen that the first and fourth days of creation began at evening. With what you’ve learned so far, would you expect to find the same pattern as you proceed through the Bible?

In Leviticus 23 God lays out all of the Holy Days we are to celebrate. “The Lord said to Moses, The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. Anyone who does not deny himself on that day must be cut off from his people. I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on that day. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a Sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your Sabbath” (verses 26-32). God wanted no misunderstanding about when we are to begin and end the observance of this day. Just as the first and fourth day of creation, this day starts at evening – there is a consistent pattern.

Your next question might be “How do we know what time the evening begins?” Instructions about the observance of the Passover will shed more light on this subject. “The Passover is not to be eaten in your homes. It must be eaten at the place the Lord shall choose as his sanctuary. Sacrifice it there on the anniversary evening just as the sun goes down” (Deuteronomy 16:4-6 TLB).

What about the New Testament, did days begin at evening then? We all know that Jesus was our Passover Lamb and was crucified during the after- noon hours of the Passover day. We also know a Holy Day – the First Day of Unleavened Bread is the next day. We add another piece of the puzzle with Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus taking Jesus’ body and preparing it for burial. “The place of crucifixion was near a grove of trees, where there was a new tomb, never used before. And so, because of the need for haste before the Sabbath (a high day – the First Day of Unleavened Bread), and because the tomb was close at hand they laid him there” (John 19:41-42). This tells us they had to rush to get Jesus in the tomb because the First Day of Unleavened Bread would be starting as the sun was going down.

In our searching and digging, we are getting the answer to your question “Why Do Days Begin at Night? The answer is very simple. God made it that way from creation and never changed it. If you have problems with thinking of a day beginning at sunset, try turning it around and think of it as a day ends as the sun sets. Either way, the question for you is how does this impact your life? And more important, what are you going to do about it?

The question teenagers asked “Why do days begin at night” would probably not have been asked if it were not because the Sabbath begins as the sun is going down on Friday. This often presents teens with a problem because of ball games, proms, etc. are often scheduled on Friday nights. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Friday night is less holy than the time you are in Sabbath service on Saturday. It’s a commitment that you have to make before your God.

When Joshua was old, he called all the Israelites together and said, “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15). What about you? Ask your mom and dad when they decided to serve God and why? Ask them to tell you what a difference faithfully serving God has made in their lives?