[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Three Hard Questions About Scripture

We live in an amazing time where the Bible, God’s word, is one of the most widely available books on the planet. Whether on a bookshelf in your home or on an app on your phone, most of us have a Bible easily within reach.

But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to understand. The truths of the Bible are simple, but that doesn’t mean we don’t still have questions.

The good news is that God has answers! Join us on this episode of Tomorrow’s World for another installment of “Your Questions, the Bible’s Answers!” as we tackle three common and challenging questions and answer them directly from the pages of your Bible!

Who Was Cain’s Wife?

Greetings! Welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where we help you make sense of your world through the pages of the Bible.

You know, the Bible isn’t just a book—it’s the inspired word of God. The night before He was crucified, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, told His Father in prayer, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

However, that doesn’t mean it is always easy to understand. And—when you think about it—why should the Bible always be easy to understand? Its words are intended to convey to us the mind of God! And as our Creator tells us in Isaiah 55:8, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways.”

Yet the Bible can be understood with God’s help and a little effort. And comprehending God’s word is worth that effort!

But today, we’re going to focus on three specific Bible questions and, in each case, not only explain the Bible’s answer, but also highlight the broader principles you can use in the future to answer Bible questions for yourself.

Our three questions today are:

1. Where did Cain get his wife?
2. Which are the right “Ten Commandments”?
3. (And) Are Enoch and Elijah in heaven?

So, let’s get started!

Our first question is a favorite of atheists who seek to discredit the Bible, but also a legitimate question sometimes asked by sincere people simply trying to understand.

Genesis 1 and 2 are plain that the first human beings God created were Adam and Eve. And Genesis 4 speaks of their sons, Cain and Abel: “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, ‘I have acquired a man from the LORD.’ Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground” (Genesis 4:1–2).

You may know the story of Cain and Abel. Both brothers made offerings to God, but Cain’s offering was not as worthy as Abel’s. Instead of seeking to learn and improve, Cain became filled with anger, and, eventually, he killed his brother, Abel. Murder started early for the human race!

After God curses Cain for his sin, we read in Genesis 416–17, “Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch” (Genesis 4:16–17).

And THIS brings us to our first question! Many ask, “Where did Cain get his wife?” After all, Adam and Eve were the first humans, and the only two children mentioned here are Cain and Abel—two boys, one of which is dead. So, just whom did Cain eventually marry? Surely not a giraffe, or an oak tree! People marry people! And who was there for Cain to marry?

To answer this question, we need to consider the first principle we will apply for answering Bible questions: Examine the context around the verse or passage.

So, let’s examine additional verses near this tale in Genesis 4 to see if we can get more details. And, indeed, we can—right next door in Genesis 5! Beginning in verse one of Genesis 5, we read,

“This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters” (Genesis 5:1–4).

Now note that: Adam lived another eight hundred years and continued conceiving sons and daughters. Yes, Adam and Eve’s family did not just consist of Cain, Abel, and Seth. Instead, when God commanded them in Genesis 1:28 to “be fruitful and multiply,” they did exactly that! And for how long? Notice that Genesis 5:5 says that “all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years”—that is a long life! Given that the events of Genesis 1, 2, and 3 were about 6,000 years ago, Adam lived almost one-sixth of that time! And that is plenty of time to have many children.

So, the answer to “Where did Cain get his wife?” is plain: Cain married one of his sisters.

Now, of course, today no one should marry his sister! But remember, we’re talking about the very beginning of humanity! God directly created Adam and Eve, personally designing every feature of their bodies and biology. The genetic problems that plague children of close kin today would not have been a problem in the beginning. And while God later forbids such relationships in His law, as seen, for example, in Leviticus 18:9, it simply wasn’t necessary at the beginning. In fact, after Adam and Eve, but before the laws of Leviticus, the patriarch Abraham was married to his half-sister (Genesis 20:12).

The point is that there need be no difficulty at all in understanding the Bible’s statement. Yes, Cain had a wife, and that wife was his sister—another descendant of Adam and Eve. Simply reading a little more of the context around the passage immediately clears up the question.

Which Ten Commandments are the Right Ones?

Our next question has not only been used by some in attempts to discredit the Bible, but has also been a source of confusion in different denominations claiming to be Christian. It might be called “The Case of the Battling Commandments.”

If you’re a longtime viewer of Tomorrow’s World, you’ve heard us teach about the vital importance of the Ten Commandments numerous times in the program. Jesus Christ loved the commandments, and Christians everywhere are commanded to live by them.

Yet, just what are the Ten Commandments?

Well, the answer you get will vary depending on whom you ask! The list of ten commandments given in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 is parsed differently by different groups. Here are the two main approaches:

For example, many would give the following summarized list of the Ten Commandments:

1. You shall have no other gods.
2. You shall make no graven images.
3. You shall not take God’s name in vain.
4. You shall remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
5. You shall honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness.
10. [And] You shall not covet.

Yet, if you ask a Roman Catholic, you might get this list of summarized commandments:

1. You shall have no other gods.
2. You shall not take God’s name in vain.
3. You shall remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
4. You shall honor your father and your mother.
5. You shall not murder.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
10. [And] You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

You’ll surely notice that those two lists are not the same. The first one has a commandment against the use of idols, the Second Commandment. But that commandment doesn’t show up at all in the second list, the Roman Catholic one. And, in the first list, the last commandment is against coveting. But in the second list, the Roman Catholic one, that command is split into two commands: not coveting your neighbor’s wife and not coveting your neighbor’s goods.

So, that brings us to today’s second Bible question: “Which are the right ‘Ten Commandments’?”

We know that there are ten because the Bible says so, itself. We see this in Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13, and Deuteronomy 10:4.

But which are the Ten?

To find the answer, you might look at Deuteronomy 5, which lists all ten commandments. There we see the final passage stated this way in verse 21: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

But should “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife” be broken out as a separate commandment from “you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, etc.”? The verse numbering was added by scholars later, so that doesn’t help.

Looking at the verse, it seems that there is no way to tell—so is the answer to the question, “Which are the right ‘Ten Commandments’?,” “It depends on whom you ask”?

Nonsense! Because the truth is not determined by Roman Catholic councils or Lutheran synods or Evangelical conferences. The truth is determined by the word of God, and when it comes to His commandments, He makes the answer plain.

To discover it, we just need to use another helpful principle for understanding the Bible: Examine other scriptures that cover the same topic.

Jesus Christ said in John 10:35 that “the Scripture cannot be broken”—meaning God’s word does not contradict itself. So, if two passages of the Bible speak about the same subject, including the Ten Commandments, they must both be true.

In this case, we should ask ourselves: Is there any other passage that also lists the Ten Commandments, other than Deuteronomy 5?

And, yes, there is! The Ten Commandments are also listed in Exodus 20. In fact, that chapter comes before Deuteronomy 5, and is the chapter most would turn to first to read the Ten Commandments in the Bible. There, we can read the end of the commandments in verse 17: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Notice one very important difference from the way Moses worded the ending in Deuteronomy 5: When God spoke these words in Exodus 20, the part about not covering your neighbor’s wife is placed inside the rest—after the part about your neighbor’s house!

So, when God spoke the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, did He accidentally mix them up? Did He start by going from the eighth commandment and skipping the ninth to give part of the tenth commandment, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house,” then jump back to the ninth commandment, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,” only to suddenly jump forward again to finish the tenth? That’s ridiculous! If anyone understands the Ten Commandments, it’s the divine One who spoke them aloud at Mount Sinai!

And these two passages, Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, cannot both be right if the commandment against coveting is split into two pieces—coveting your neighbor’s wife and then coveting everything else. They only work if there is only one commandment—the tenth commandment—against coveting anything that is your neighbor’s!

So, which Ten Commandments is the real Ten Commandments? The one that includes an explicit second commandment against making and worshiping idols and that has one unified tenth commandment against coveting.

And you don’t have to take my word for it. Take the Apostle Paul’s, who summarized the single tenth commandment himself as, simply, “You shall not covet.”

So, if you are wondering who gets the Ten Commandments right—your local clergyman or the Creator of the Universe who thundered them to His people at Mount Sinai—I’d stick with your Creator!

What Happened to Enoch and Elijah?

Our third question involves two famous individuals in the Bible: Enoch and Elijah the prophet.

Now in the case of Enoch, Genesis 5 gives us an interesting tale concerning this ancient patriarch. Amidst many who were sinning and living unrighteously, we read of him beginning in verse 21: “Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:21–24).

The phrases “he was not” and “God took him” have led many to believe that Enoch was removed from earth and taken into heaven. In fact, when I was a child, I had a popular children’s Bible that told its version of the story of Enoch and titled it “The Man Who Walked into Heaven”! This understanding is bolstered in the eyes of many by the fact that the passage does not mention his death explicitly, and the Apostle Paul, writing in Hebrews, said that Enoch was “taken away so that he did not see death.”

Like Enoch, another biblical figure is thought by many to be in heaven: The prophet Elijah. In chapter 2 of the book of 2 Kings, we read how the time came for the mantle of prophetic leadership to be passed from Elijah to his protégé Elisha: “Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11).

Part of the challenge in these passages is that the language is ambiguous and open to interpretation. Nowhere in the story of Enoch are we told where he was taken, and nothing explicitly and clearly says that he did not die. And in the case of Elijah, the Bible speaks of three heavens: the air above us where birds fly and clouds move, the space above that in which the stars shine, and then what Paul calls “the third heaven” in which God dwells. Whenever “heaven” is mentioned in the pages of your Bible, it’s vital to keep in mind these three different possibilities and determine from the context which one applies to the passage. Which one applies here to Elijah’s chariot ride is not immediately clear.

All of this brings us to the common question: “Are Enoch and Elijah in heaven?”

That is, are Enoch and Elijah still living up in heaven, in the presence of God and the angels?

The details of what happened to Enoch and Elijah after their disappearance is a larger topic than we have time for, but the answer to the question itself is actually very easy—and it involves a third fundamental principle that is eminently helpful for anyone trying to understand the Bible: Use plain scriptures to help explain those that are more ambiguous.

In this case, the tales of Enoch and Elijah have ambiguities that we need to resolve. Yet, there are very plain passages that are far easier to understand. And these passages leave us no doubt as to whether or not Enoch and Elijah are alive in heaven.

Let’s look at one—spoken by none other than the Son of God, Himself: Jesus Christ! Speaking to a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who himself may have believed Enoch or Elijah were in heaven, Jesus is very plain, saying in John 3:13, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.”

There you have it from Jesus’ own mouth: no one has ascended into heaven. Jesus Christ, the Son of Man and the Son of God, is the only man to have traversed both heaven and earth. He didn’t say “No one but two…” or “No one but Enoch and Elijah….” He said “No one.” And that leaves no room for our two Old Testament friends.

In fact, we can go further. We mentioned earlier that Enoch is mentioned in Hebrews. That passage, Hebrews 11, is called by some the “Heroes of Faith” chapter, and Enoch is mentioned in verse 5. But later, in verse 13, we are told very plainly what has happened to all of these “heroes of faith”: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises….”

“These all” would include Enoch, eight verses earlier. In fact, of course Enoch and Elijah have died. Romans 3:23 promises us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and Romans 6:23 tells us that “the wages of sin is death.”

More could be said, but no matter what tale we might speculate about concerning Enoch and Elijah, these plain verses limit us to what must be true: That Enoch and Elijah are now dead, awaiting their reward, and are not in heaven. To claim otherwise would be to disagree with the declaration of Jesus Christ Himself. In this case, the plain verses of the Bible add clarity to those that are more open to misinterpretation and misunderstanding.

How to Study the Bible

Concerning where Cain could have gotten his wife, we’ve seen that Adam and Eve had many children, including daughters, easily providing a wife for Cain.

Concerning which collection are the right “Ten Commandments,” we’ve seen that skipping the second commandment about idols and splitting the tenth commandment about coveting into two different commandments violates the word of God.

And as for Enoch and Elijah, we have determined that, no, they are not in heaven—trusting Jesus Christ when He says that He is the only man to have trod both heaven and earth at this time.

But more than simply answering three questions, we’ve also illustrated three solid principles that you can use in your own Bible study:

• Examine the context around the verse or passage.
• Examine other scriptures that cover the same topic.
• [And] Use plain scriptures to help explain those that are more ambiguous.

And studying your Bible is worth the time you invest. As the Apostle Peter told Jesus Christ after His Master had just delivered a challenging message that was difficult to understand, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

And the inspired words of the Bible are just that: the words of eternal life. Your effort to understand them will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams!

Thanks so much for watching. If you’re interested in the first four lessons of our free 24-lesson Bible Study Course, I hope you’ll go out to TWTV.org/study and request those four lessons yourself. Or, of course, you can click on the link that we’ve provided in the description below.

And we hope that you enjoy what we make here at Tomorrow’s World, we really do want to help you understand your world through the pages of your Bible.

If you did enjoy it, we hope you’ll consider clicking on subscribe, and if you want to be notified when something comes out, just click that bell!

Thanks so much.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Why Easter and Not Passover?

Easter Sunday was a fun day when I was a child. Who doesn’t like a treasure hunt? We decorated eggs, wrote names on them, and hid them from one another. Then we set out to find those with our names on them. Sometimes we would go to larger treasure hunts where dozens of children ran about looking for any egg to add to their basket.

It all seemed like harmless fun. Who could possibly be against it?

But, we never stopped to ask:

• Why are we doing this?
• What does it have to do with the resurrection of Christ?
• How do eggs and rabbits fit into the picture?
• Where does the name Easter come from?
• And are any of these questions even relevant?
• What difference does any of this make?

Sadly, too many adults never ask these questions. It almost seems sacrilegious to question such longstanding traditions. But is it?

On today’s Tomorrow’s World program, I’ll answer these questions. I’ll also show you from the Bible what was the only sign Jesus said He would give, that He was the One He claimed to be—the Son of God—and how Easter traditions contradict that sign.

Easter’s Pagan Roots and False Traditions

A warm welcome to all of you from all of us here at Tomorrow’s World. On today’s program, I’m asking and answering questions about the holiday known as Easter. I’ll also show you from the pages of your own Bible that Jesus was not crucified on Friday, nor was He resurrected on Sunday morning. Now I know that is a shock to many, but you can prove it for yourself, and you need to, because that tradition contradicts Jesus’ own words about the one sign He said He would give that would show that He is the Messiah.

But before we get to that, let’s notice some other traditions that ought to make any thinking person sit up and ask some serious questions. Why, for example, is the holiday that supposedly celebrates the resurrection of Christ, named after a pagan goddess? Think about that. Why? Here is some documented history that you can read in our free resource Easter: The Untold Story:

The New World Encyclopedia suggests a connection between Eostre and Easter with the very popular and ancient goddess Ishtar: “Scholars likewise speculate that Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring whose name later gave rise to the modern English ‘Easter,’ may be etymologically connected to Ishtar” (“Ishtar”).

Interestingly, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church admits this about the origin of the name Easter, but gives a slightly different spelling from that of Ishtar: “The word ‘Easter’ comes from Old English and refers to the Norse Goddess of Fertility, ‘Istra’—who was symbolized by a rabbit” (“Great Lent and Holy Week,” Melkite.org, August 14, 2010).

Thus the connection between Easter and rabbits, but why was Istra symbolized by a rabbit? Historians confirm that this goddess, spelled variously as Ishtar and Istra, was known as the goddess of fertility, and the rabbit is a well-known fertility symbol.

The rabbit is not the only fertility symbol passed down from antiquity. The Oxford Companion to World Mythology explains this about Easter:

“The holiday comes in the early Spring and is clearly related to ancient fertility myths of reborn heroes.… For many, Easter is synonymous with fertility symbols such as the Easter Rabbit, Easter eggs, and the Easter lily” (“Easter,” p. 111). (pp. 2–3).

Now that’s from our resource Easter: the Untold Story, which can be yours free for the asking.

In addition to blending pagan customs and traditions into the worship of the true God, contrary to God’s command, we find that even the part of Easter that supposedly comes from the Bible is terribly flawed.

Good Friday Timeline Contradicts the Sign of Jonah

Most people believe that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, put in the tomb in the late afternoon of that day, and then He rose early Sunday morning. But is this what the Bible tells us?

After all, it is the Bible that is the only source that can properly answer this question. So what does it actually say?

Let’s begin in Matthew 12:38.

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:38–40).

Consider: Jesus said that no sign will be given to that generation except for the sign of Jonah.

What Is the SIgn of Jonah? Three Days, Three Nights in the Grave

Jesus would be in the grave the exact same length of time as Jonah was in the belly of a great fish. And what was that time? Three days and three nights!

Now, try as you might, you cannot come up with three days and three nights between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning. Even if you count parts of days you still come up short, but let’s try. Scripture tells us Jesus was put in the tomb right at sunset, but some count a few minutes on Friday before sunset as day one. Friday night would be one night; the daylight portion of Saturday would be the second day; and Saturday night would make the second night. Now IF Jesus rose Sunday morning after sunrise we might count that as day three, but where is the third night? It just isn’t there!

So, we must conclude one of three possibilities regarding the Good Friday/Easter Sunday tradition:

1. Jesus was wrong and He is not our Savior.
2. The Good Friday/Easter Sunday tradition is wrong.
3. Or we have not properly understood the sign Jesus gave.

Understanding the Sign of Jonah: Exactly Three Days

The Good Friday crucifixion and Easter Sunday resurrection does not fit the scriptural record. Jesus said He would be in the tomb three days and three nights, and try as you might, you cannot come up with the three days and three nights between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning. So, we must conclude one of three possibilities regarding the Good Friday/Easter Sunday tradition:

1. Jesus was wrong and He is not our Savior.
2. The Good Friday/Easter Sunday tradition is wrong.
3. Or we have not properly understood the sign Jesus gave.

So, which of these three is correct? If Jesus was wrong, we have a serious problem. But that is exactly what one source claims. Have we properly understood the sign? So let’s read from Matthew 12 and see what it says once again:

“An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:38–40).

Did Jesus literally mean three days AND three nights? As shocking as this may be, The Abingdon Bible Commentary bluntly tells us Jesus was mistaken:

The statement made is inaccurate, for Jesus was in the grave only from Friday evening to Sunday dawn (The Abingdon Bible Commentary, Matthew 12:40).

However, most commentators do not accept the statement to be literal. Why? It’s primarily because they do not want to give up tradition and they need to find a way to make the scriptures fit their tradition. Instead, they allege that a day and night combined simply means a single 24 hour day and any part of a day is sufficient. However, we must remember that Jesus’ words were recorded in the Greek language, and it MAY be true that the Greek expression used in this verse means parts of three days, although as I just read, The Abingdon Bible Commentary rejects that idea.

But, there is a greater problem here. Matthew 12:40 is not dependent on one language alone. More importantly, we must remember what Jesus said in Matthew 12:40.

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

So how long was Jonah in the belly of the fish? We learn from Jonah 1:17 the following:

And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17).

The book of Jonah was written in the Hebrew language, and we must look to that language and its common usage to understand this expression. Appendix 144 in The Companion Bible explores the meaning of three days and three nights in Hebrew usage. After giving a technical explanation, it sums it up this way:

Hence, when it says that “Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1.17) it means exactly what it says, and that this can be the only meaning of the expression in Matt. 12:40… (The Companion Bible, Appendix 144. Zondervan, 1932, p. 170).

This is the first reason we know that Jesus’ claim means a full three days and three nights.

• Proof #1: The meaning of Matthew 12:40 is not dependent on one language alone.

But there is a second proof.

• Proof #2: 72 hours is the only time that can satisfy all of Jesus’ statements on how long He would be in the grave.

Jesus spoke of His body figuratively as “this temple.” Notice it beginning in John 2:19:

Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body (John 2:19–21).

In three days means that it has to be within three days, but on other occasions it is recorded that he would be resurrected to life “after three days.” Mark 8:31:

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again (Mark 8:31).

Now following His resurrection, He explained to His disciples what had happened and why. We read of this in Luke 24:46:

Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day” (Luke 24:46–47).

So here we have three different expressions that help us understand how long He was in the tomb:

• In three days
• After three days
• The third day

When we put these expressions together with The Companion Bible’s explanation about the meaning of three days and three nights, there can be only one time that fits all four expressions—exactly 72 hours; not a minute before or a minute after. The time is exact.

But there is a third proof that He would be in the tomb a full three days and three nights, and that is:

• Proof #3: The biblical chronology of events.

The Friday Crucifixion Doesn’t Fit

Why is it that most assume that Jesus was crucified on Friday? The truth is that many have no idea, other than that is what they have been taught, but for those who know a little more about the Bible, they are familiar with the fact that He was crucified on the day leading up to a Sabbath. For example, we have Luke’s statement in chapter 23, beginning verse 52 where it describes how Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus:

This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near (Luke 23:52–54).

As all students of the Bible know, the biblical Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday. And so, it would therefore appear that Jesus was crucified Friday morning and put in the grave very late Friday afternoon—but are we missing something?

Many errors that we make are the result of a carelessly assumed false assumption, and this is the case on this subject. There is no doubt that Jesus was crucified on the Preparation day for a Sabbath, but the carelessly assumed assumption is that it was the weekly Sabbath. But was it?

What many call the Lord’s supper, or the last supper, was in fact the Passover. There can be no doubt about this, although some scholars try to say otherwise. But Matthew, Mark, and Luke all call Jesus’ final supper with the disciples the Passover. Let’s look at Luke’s account, beginning in chapter 22 and verse 7:

Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.” So they said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare?” And He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters. Then you shall say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’

So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover. When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:7–11, 13–15).

Can there be any doubt that the last supper was indeed the Passover?

The Day After Passover Is a High Holy Day (Leviticus 23:5-6)

The Passover was a very special day, but it was not a Sabbath day.

However, the day that follows the Passover IS a Sabbath day. Notice this from Leviticus 23.

On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD…. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it (Leviticus 23:5–7).

We know from this that the day following the Passover was a high day, an annual Sabbath day where customary work was not to be done.

Remember that God counts time from sunset to sunset. Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples at the beginning of the Passover day (shortly after sunset). He was then put in the grave at the end of Passover day, just before sunset. When the sun set that evening, it was the first day of Unleavened Bread, an annual High Day Sabbath. And this is exactly what the Apostle John reveals in John 19:31.

Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath [and note this:] (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away (John 19:31).

By Sunday Morning, Jesus Had Already Risen…

And as explained, the high day was an annual Sabbath, not the weekly Sabbath. Now let’s notice Mark 16:1.

Now when the Sabbath was past, [notice that it was after the Sabbath] Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him (Mark 16:1).

But Luke 23:54–56 tells us they prepared the spices and then rested on the Sabbath.

That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment (Luke 23:54–56).

Now think about it, friends. You cannot prepare the spices before you possess them! Mark tells us that the Sabbath (in this case the annual Sabbath) was almost there. Therefore, they had to wait until after that Sabbath to buy the spices. Then Luke tells us they prepared them and rested on the Sabbath (in this case, the weekly Sabbath).

These two passages give infallible proof that there were two Sabbaths that week with an ordinary day in between. This is the only way to understand these verses. Either there were two Sabbaths, with an ordinary day in between, or the Bible contradicts itself.

The Correct Crucifixion and Resurrection Timeline

Now let me diagram this for you. Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples after sunset on Tuesday evening. He was taken into custody later that night and crucified on Wednesday. He was put in the tomb right before sunset, late Wednesday afternoon. Now let’s count three days and three nights. Wednesday at sunset began the annual high day Sabbath. And:

• Night #1: Wednesday night was the first night.
• Day #1: The daylight portion of Thursday was still the annual High Day Sabbath and was the first day.

The Sabbath ended at sunset, and it was on this day between two Sabbaths that the women bought and prepared the spices.

• Night #2: Thursday night is our second night.
• Day #2: And the daylight portion of Friday is our second day—an ordinary day.

When the sun set Friday afternoon the weekly Sabbath began.

• Night #3: Friday night is our third night.
• Day #3: And Saturday is our third day.

And Jesus was raised from the grave late Saturday afternoon (right before sunset), but the women did not come until very early the next morning (what is commonly called Sunday). And when they arrived, He was already gone!

I hope you found this video profitable.

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