Day יוֹם-Yom

We usually consider the start of our day to be in the early morning once the sun begins rising. However, the Hebrews’ concept of day was different. For them, the day began once the sun began setting in the evening and ended at the sunset of the next day. That is why in Genesis, G-d says there was evening first. And then there was morning and that this equaled the first day.

“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God 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

In the above verses, we can see that G-d also called the light (owr) he had created “day” or “yom”. As with most ancient peoples, given that there weren’t any mechanical timekeeping gadgets in biblical times, the Israelites had to rely on the physical manifestations of nature to keep track of time and the seasons. Of course, in terms of precise clockwork timekeeping, the sun did not always rise and set at the exact set time. Depending on what part of the year it was, it would have been “give or take a couple of hours” here or there.

Nevertheless, it is here in Genesis that the global one week standard was established with the seventh day to be set apart as a day of rest. We get a glimpse of the organized nature of the awesome mind of G-d and it is also impressed upon us how important He views time and that it is not a commodity to be wasted.

How we use our time more than anything in this world will determine our future, whether it is prosperous or riddled with disappointment and regret. G-d cares very much about how we use our time. It is one of the few equalizing factors in this world. We may not be born into wealth or gifted with the talents and skills that others have. But no matter who we are, we are all given the same 24 hours in a day. Let us pray that YHVH will guide us daily in the proper use of our time on this planet before we are finally called home.

Amen.