Noon to Noon Madness, Part 4

As I stated before, the pretzel factories are working overtime these days, and the so-called “noon to noon biblical day” hypothesis is the product of un-scholarly, unenlightened, self-aggrandized, puffed-up wannabes, which is likely an unders- tatement. The architect of this hocus-pocus seems to be one Gene Heck and his publication The Weekly Sabbath: Part I: “From When to When?”, Part II: “Which Day of the Week?”, Part III: “Yes, But What About…?” Heck dubs himself: Bible Research Institute, 11755 Bunco Road, Athol, Idaho 83801, Phone (208) 683-2147.

One in the crowd associated with and promoting Heck’s heresy is Pete Peters, who originally backed Heck’s subterfuge on the Sabbath issue and then suggested he put his flawed fabrications into book form. James Bruggeman, a pretzel twister extraordinaire, supposedly “improved the quality of [Heck’s] pre-sentation” and then published Heck’s ranting in an abridged form in his so-called “Christian Patriot Crusader” newsletter. Anyone who understands the machinations of this trio wrecking crew, can also comprehend the questionable atmosphere under which this poppycock was hatched. In addition to these three turkeys, Gene Heck also gobbles-up Charles Weisman’s phony baloney! Heck’s hypothesis is that the Biblical day begins and ends at high-noon.

In part three, we dealt entirely with the phrase “between the two evenings”, as used in the Old Testament. We will continue in this fourth paper and show the corresponding concept in the New Testament. To do this, I will turn to William Finck to demonstrate this:

The Hebrew idea of the two evenings, and so “between the evenings”, is never expressed in the New Testament Greek, where terms common to the Greeks are used instead. ὄψιος, according to Liddell & Scott, is late, and ὀψία(opsia, 3798) “the latter part of the day” or “evening”. Another word used in the N.T., ἑσπέρα(hespera, 2073), is evening also, and the same as the Latin vespera, from which we get “vespers”. According to L&Sἕσπερος is also “of or at evening”, or “of darkness”, and so ἑσπέρα is properly the evening of darkness, or dark part of evening, whereas ὀψίαis simply the latter part of the day. This hopefully shows the contrast between the two Greek words for “evening”. Other terms are found, such as the “going down” or “setting” of the sun (Luke 4:40), and another, “the decline of the day” (Luke 24:29) is late afternoon. Night is νύξ (3571) at least sixty times in the N.T. W.R.F.

We will now follow-up with some definitions from various Greek and Hebrew lexicons.

From the Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon we have: “1689a צרכ (‘ereb) evening, night ... This common masculine noun for ‘evening’ likely developed from the expression, ‘the setting of the sun, sunset.’ It is cognate to Akkadian erēbu, a common verb of wide usage which includes ‘to enter, go down (of the sun).’ Akkadian erib samsi means ‘sunset’.” Compare Arabic gʾaria to set (of the sun),’ and Ugaritic ʿrb sps(=mʿrb), ‘sunset.’ Other important Hebrew words for time periods of the day are: yôm‘day,’ ʿēt ‘time,’ bōker ‘morning,’ and laylâ 'night’ (all of which see) ...

“ʿerebis found 131 times in the OT ... This phrase would indicate that in ancient Israel a day began with sunrise. Some have felt this at variance with the Jewish [sic Israelite] practice of regarding sunset as the beginning of the next day. Cassuto, after dealing with the biblical data and the Jewish [sic Israelite] custom, concludes that there was ‘only one system of computing time; the day is considered to begin in the morning; but in regard to the festivals and appointed times, the Torah ordains that they shall be observed also on the night of the preceding day’ (U. Cassuto, Genesis, I, p. 29). This judgment appears vindicated in the employment of ʿereb in Levitical legislation respecting uncleanness. One was considered unclean because of certain acts ‘until the evening’ [ἑσπέρα in the LXX] (Lev 11:24, plus thirty times). That is, one was unclean for the duration of the day.

“Evenings were quite important for sacrificial acts and ceremonial meals in ancient Israel. The Passover began on the evening [ἑσπέρα in the LXX] of the fourteenth day of the first month (see Ex 12:6, 18). Sometimes, as in Ex 12:6, the Hebrew reads literally, ‘between the two evenings,’ likely ‘twilight,’ the time interval between sunset and darkness in which there is a state of illumination. Only in Job 7:4 does ʿereb denote ‘night’ proper.”

From the Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon: “3798 ὀψία, ὄψιος [opsios/op·see·os/] adj. From 3796; Goodrick-Kohlenberger 4068 and 4070; 15 occurrences; AV translates as ‘even’ eight times, ‘evening’ four times, ‘in the evening + 1096’ once, ‘eventide + 5610’ once, and ‘at even + 1096’ once. 1 late. 2 evening. 2a either from three to six o’clock p.m. 2b from six o’clock p.m. to the beginning of night.”

From the Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: “4067 ὀψέv (opse): adv.; = Strong’s 3796—1. Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon 67.76 late in the day, normally after sunset, but before night (Mk 11:19+); 2. Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon 67.197 evening, adj. segment of adj. time period (Mk 13:35+); 3. Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon 67.51 after, adj. time implying lateness (Mt 28:1+)”

From the Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon: “2073 ἑσπέρα [hespera/hes·per·ah/] n f. From an adjective hesperos (evening); Goodrick-Kohlenberger 2270; Three occurrences; AV translates as ‘evening’ twice, and ‘eventide’ once. 1 evening, eventide.”

The Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon: “3796 ὀψέv v [opse/op·seh/] v. From the same as 3694 (through the idea of backwardness); Goodrick-Kohlenberger 4067; Three occurrences; AV translates as ‘in the end’ once, ‘even’ once, and ‘at even’ once. 1 after a long time, long after, late. 1a late in the day, i.e. at evening. 1b the sabbath having just passed, after the sabbath. 1b1 at the early dawn of the first day of the week.”

This is enough to show the various Hebrew and Greek words for evening, and you will notice that not one of these definitions mentioned anything about noon! In fact, if one were taken out into an open field where one was not familiar with his directions, he could not identify the exact time for high noon! In ancient times, without any watches or compasses, there were only a few indicators to observe the exact time. Those indicators were sunrise, sunset, new moon, and if one wanted to get up early enough in the morning, one could observe the last cycle of the moon just before the dark of the moon. Take away man’s devices for observing time today, and he would do no better than ancient man. He would not be able to determine the exact night of the first quarter of the moon, the exact night of the full-moon (as there are about three nights when the moon appears to be full), or the exact night of the moon in its last quarter. Therefore, the only sign of the moon that could be determined exactly would be the new moon. What man did back then was to count the days between the new moons and divide in half, and he knew it was the full moon, and this is precisely what we read in our Bibles!

All one need do is to compare the Greek word #3798, translated “even” or “evening”, to understand the context of the passage in which it is used. A good example is to compare John 20:1 with John 20:19:

John 20:1: “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.”

John 20:19: “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Yahshua and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.”

John. 20:1 & John 20:19 have one thing in common: both take place “the first day of the week”. Verse 1 speaks of the morning of that day, while verse 19 speaks of the evening of that same day.

John 20:19 begs the question when it says: “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week”: how could high-noon be the end of one day and the beginning of another? The only conclusion which makes any sense is that the risen Yahshua met with His then eleven apostles just before sundown. Confirming criteria for this premise is found at Matt. 27:57, where Christ’s dead body is requested at “even” (#3798) by Joseph of Arimathæa, as the law required it to be buried and in the grave before sunset. This alone defeats Gene Heck’s and Pete Peter’s device. Further caution is advised with Pete Peters, as this is only one of several of his hang-ups (i.e. source of irresolvable mental or emotional difficulties). But it’s your nickel.

CONFUSION BREEDS CONFUSION

Now a lot of people get the prophetic timetables confused with the calendar. A prophetic month was always 30 days, which equaled 30 years. A time was 360 years. So if a prophetic “time, times and a dividing of time” is mentioned, it equals 1260 years (360+720+ 180=1260 years), and we have several of this length mentioned in our Bible. Sometimes this same time period is mentioned as 42 months of 30 years (or 42x30=1260 years), the same as the “time, times, and a dividing of time”. Sometimes this same period of 1260 years is simply mentioned as 1260 days (each day equaling a year), or 1260 years. It is simply amazing, since Revelation speaks of “forty-two months”, and there are a considerable number of people who think that it equals 3½ solar years rather than 1260 prophetic years. I heard one person say recently that he thought that there was a time when a year was exactly 360 days. I don’t believe so, for if our planet were changed just the slightest degree in distance from the sun, or length of a day, or length of a year, our civilization would have self-destructed long ago. (And there are probably other answers for the sun dial of Ahaz and Joshua’s long day.) So if you are under the impression that in ancient times the month was exactly 30 days, or the year exactly 360 days, forget it, for 1 Enoch testifies that the year was 365¼ days long!

In other words, a solar month is not a prophetic month and a prophetic month is not a solar month, and to confuse the two is simply fantastic! Is it any wonder then that some people refer to a future seven year period of tribulation with an imagined super-duper-pooper colossal “antichrist”? Greater still is the fantasized seventieth-week-of-years (seven years) and detaching it from Daniel’s seventy weeks-of-years (490 years) prophecy and projecting it 2000 years into the future! And still greater is the harebrained idea that somehow the Roman Empire is going to be restored, contrary to Daniel’s prophecy! Daniel said at 2:35: “Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.”

The Roman Empire became the “iron” mixed with the “clay”. Daniel’s prophecy says here that all the empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome would be no more. Question: How does one restore “chaff”? Maybe some of the people who proclaim that the Roman Empire is going to be restored should get a pair of tweezers and a magnifying glass and go out and follow a farmer’s combine during wheat harvest and demonstrate how such a fantastic thing could be done by collecting each and every particle of chaff, and then to fasten it back to the wheat! No-one could do such a thing, yet this is what the futurists’ school of biblical prophecy demandingly teaches. The truth is, the only kingdom to survive Daniel’s prophecy is the “stone” kingdom, which is none other than the German tribes who were and are the genuine Tribe of Judah (not to be confused with those calling themselves “Jews”). The Roman Empire, at its inception was settled by Zerah-Judah and other Israelite tribes, but once the “iron” started to be mixed with the “clay”, which represents race-mixing, Rome was no longer fit to have empire status, and that is exactly what is happening to America and other Israelite countries today! That was Sodom’s downfall – that was Egypt’s downfall – that was Jerusalem’s downfall – and that was Rome’s downfall! I’m demonstrating all this to show you that prophetic time-measure is not solar time-measure! It is simply silly to confuse the two. Yet this is no more silly than the concept of a noon-to-noon biblical day!

As I demonstrated in part three of this series, the Passover lamb that was sacrificed on the day of preparation was always killed and bled “between the two evenings”. I will repeat again the explanation of “between the two evenings” which I addressed in part three. Maybe here I can give a better clarification. In the hotter climates of the world, the men would awake early in the morning and go to their hard labor in the fields, or other places of endeavor, to avoid the blazing midday heat. Then about noon they would come in from the field for a noon lunch, and after lunch they would find a cool place under a shade tree or some other place for relief from the heat, and rest for a siesta. To them this siesta was like the evening, when they went to sleep for the night, thus the term “evening”. Then after a couple of hours of siesta, they would return to their hard labor for the rest of the day, or until the second evening. These two evenings were not an exact time throughout the year, but would vary with the seasons and how close to the equatorial zones one resided. We today, who live in more temperate climates, have a difficult time comprehending these things (especially people who live high up in the mountains of Idaho, like Gene Heck). For people like Gene Heck there is an old saying: “Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun.” When we consider that the exploring Englishmen came from a very temperate climate, they probably did look foolish not taking a siesta during the heat of the day! Not that I have anything against the English, for they are some of the finest people that ever walked the face of the earth. Of course, if you are not aware of it, the English were from German tribes. Bertrand L. Comparet once explained the difference between an Englishman and a German like this: “An Englishman is a German who went for a boat ride, and a German is a German who stayed home.” And what a tragedy, inasmuch as the “bad-fig” (race-mixed) Canaanite-Edomite variety, or “degenerate plant” of Judah (“Jews”), deceived England and Germany into fighting and killing each other, who were actually pure Israelite brothers from “a noble [unmixed] vine, wholly a right seed” of Judah, Jeremiah 2:21!

I will now paraphrase an excerpt from William Finck’s Broken Cisterns, #2: To understand from whence the bad-figs (called “Jews” today) came, we must comprehend the question of how some of the “noble vine [of Judah], a wholly right seed” became a “degenerate plant” by following the so-called “religious” cults of the alien peoples. It was necessary to have sexual relations with those peoples: for sex was at the core of those pagan cults! [end of excerpt]

Further support for such assertions is found in The Interpreter’s One Volume Commentary On The Bible by Charles M. Laymon, on page 455, which makes the following comment concerning Hosea 4:10-19: “The Absurdity of Baal Worship. The whole harlotrous system of Baal fertility rites is utterly ineffectual as well as degrading. Its purpose is to provide fertility for human beings, flocks, and crops; but though the people play the harlot, i.e. carry on the sexual fertility acts at the shrine, they do not multiply ... Despite woman’s usual secondary place in ancient society, there will be no double standard, for the men are responsible for the shame of cult prostitution. It is they who require their daughters to become cult prostitutes, lit. ‘holy women’ ...” And further on concerning Hosea 5:7: “In their Baal worship they give birth to alien children (vs. 7), the offspring of sexual cult rites ...” For Hosea 5:7 says: “They have dealt treacherously against Yahweh: for they have begotten strange children ...” Though Hosea was addressing Israel, Jer. 2:21 implies a similar situation for Judah, or how else does a portion among a “noble vine” become a “degenerate plant”?

Not only does Gene Heck misrepresent the Hebrew for the word “evening”, but also the word “noon”, as we shall see. Strong’s, for “noon”, has it: “6672 צחרים ,צחר [tsohar/tso·har/] n m f. From 6671; Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament 1883a, 1883b; Goodrick-Kohlenberger 7415 and 7416; 24 occurrences; AV translates as ‘noon’ 11 times, ‘noonday’ nine times, ‘day’ once, ‘midday’ once, ‘noontide + 6256’ once, and ‘window’ once. 1 noon, midday. 1a noon (as specific time of day). 1b noon (in simile as bright of happiness, blessing) ...”

From the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament on this same word we read: “1883 צחר (shr). Assumed root of the following: 1883a צחר () I, noon, midday. 1883B צחר (sōhar) II, roof (Gen 6:16). 1883c יצחר (yishār) fresh oil. 1883d צחר (sāhar) press oil. Denominative verb. Occurs only in the Hiphil, only in Job 24:11.

“צחר (sōhar). Noon, midday. (ASV, RSV similar; they use ‘noonday’; ASV also ‘noontide.’) Noon, being the hottest part of the day, is siesta time (II Sam 4:5). The brightness of that hour symbolizes the intense purity of justice (Ps 37:6; cf. Job 11:17) and the blessing that dispels gloom (Isa 59:10). It is also viewed as a time of security; thus a conquest carried on at this time indicates a conqueror’s superior strength (Jer 6:4; 15:8; 20:16; Zeph 2:4). Conversely, the rebellious grope in darkness even at noonday (Deut 28:28f.; Isa 58:10; Job 5:14). Since the sun will set at noon on the day of judgment, the troubles of that day will be very severe (Amos 8:9).”

From the Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: 7416 צחרים (tasharayim): n. [masc.]; = Strong 6672; Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament 1883a—Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon 67.73-67.77 noon, noonday, midday, i.e., a time in the day when the sun appears at the highest point in the daytime sky, a time which is most opposite of night and darkness, the mid-point of the daytime (Ge 43:16, 25; Dt 28:29; 2Sa 4:5; 1Ki 18:26, 27, 29; 20:16; 2Ki 4:20; Job 5:14; 11:17; Ps 37:6; 55:17 ...; 91:6; SS 1:7; Isa 16:3; 58:10; 59:10; Jer 6:4; 15:8; 20:16; Am 8:9; Zep 2:4+)”

If one will carefully check these last mentioned Biblical references immediately above, one will fathom that they speak of “noon” rather than “evening”, contrary to Gene Heck’s pretzel-twisting underhanded sleight-of- hand. When is all this tomfoolery going to cease?