Replies

You responded a few posts back...

"There is indeed a Hebrew idiom that counts part of one day as a whole day......unless both days and nights are mentioned....and then the meaning is literal."

Where is your exception found? Here's something borrowed from a post from topcat54...

First of all, in the Hebrew culture, time doesn't start with zero, it starts with 1. So you have day 1, day 2, and day 3. Any part of day 1 is "one day". Any part of day 1 and day 2 is "two days". And so on.

Look at an example in Scripture:

"So when he had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights." (1 Sam. 30:12)

Now look at the next verse:

"Then David said to him, 'To whom do you belong, and where are you from?' And he said, 'I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick.'"

Note how "three days ago" corresponds to "three days and three nights". If a literal 72 hours period were in view, we would think of this time period as "four days ago", not three.

Jesus uses similar language in Luke 13:32,33:

"And He said to them, "Go, tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.' Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem."

Using the same language as Jesus, it is quite reasonable to speak of the days of His crucifixion as being "today" (Friday), "tomorrow" (Saturday/sabbath), "and the third day" (Sunday).

All these passages and other help us to understand the historical and cultural setting from which these phrases arise.

Plus when you look at the context of the "Jonah" quote, you see something else proclaimed in the other gospels...

Mat 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

Mat 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Now was it a sign or an exact, to the hour prediction? What about "a day is as a thousand years" thing? Look at the Greek word for sign, semeion. It means a miracle, wonder, token. Was the miracle of Jonah the time or the fact that he was thought dead, but then was back doing what God wanted him to do. If you notice, the Matt. 16:4, Mark 8:12, and the Luke 11:29 account doesn't even mention the "three days and nights." Which leads to you to understand that the miracle wasn't in the exact "days and nights" like you would like it.

"Wednesday sundown/Thursday sundown = First 24 hour day."

Until you can prove that your "unless..." at the start of this is acurate from the bible, Wednesday until Sunset would be day 1. From Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset would be day 2. and so forth.

Diego, we have been around this already. I do not see Sabbath keeping as a command to Christians. If you wish to worship on Saturday, that's fine. In fact, even if you proved that Jesus rose on Saturday, that would not change anything as far as Sabbath keeping goes. Jesus said to worship him in spirit and in truth, so the actual day that you do it, doesn't matter.

You and Douglas have presented your cases quite well, but I still see the evidence lacking. I feel for us to continue on this, hashing and rehashing, does not serve the Body of Christ. We have defended our faith, and the rest is in God's hands. I look forward to reading your posts in the future.

Your Brother in Christ,