2187.-The Beginning of the Sabbath by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Aug 21, 1907

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 34.

2187.—The Beginning of the Sabbath

By Editor

I live in a cove of a bay by the sea, surrounded by mountains on the back. The sun sets on the longest days a little after seven. Shall we keep the Sabbath as we see the sun, or shall we allow for the high, near mountains? W. G.

Begin and close the Sabbath, not by the shadow of the mountain, but as near as possible to actual sunset. The Jews closed the Sabbath when the first star appeared. The rule given in Nehemiah to begin it is when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark (Neh. 13:19), that is, when the heavy shadows begin to fall. The sky will usually tell us better than the deeper shadows of earth, when it is not cloudy.