By Russell Earl Kelly, PHD
www.tithing-russkelly.com
russkellyphd@yahoo.com
Updated March 226, 2016
Note: If you disagree, don’t simply
tell me I am wrong. Please write me a detailed rebuttal and cover every point
as I would do with your article. Thanks.
1. Matthew 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.
Only once, in Mathew
12:40, the Bible records Jesus saying that He would be resurrected after “three
days and three nights.” So the cry goes out “if this is not literally true,
then Jesus is a liar. Absolutely no other explanation can be accepted.”
However, Matthew alone subsequently
records SEVEN TIMES Jesus’ words that He would be resurrected “in three days”
(26:61; 27:40), “after three days” (27:63) and “the third day) (16:21; 17:23;
20:19; 27:64). Why, why, why do not
these same people cry out saying the same words about these texts? --- “if these
are not literally true, then Jesus is a liar”???
When Mark, Luke and John
are added to Matthew’s list, a total of 17 (SEVENTEEN) statements of Jesus read
“in three days; after three days” and/ or “the third day.” That 17:1. Every word is inspired. However, rather than reconcile all 18
references, those who insist on Matthew 12:40 (by their actions) teach that the
17 other quotations of Jesus are wrong.
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Book
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“In three days”
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“After three days”
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“The third day”
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Matthew
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Mark
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14:58 (within)
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Luke
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John
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It is obvious from the
above chart that “in three days,” “after three days,” “the third day” and even
“three days and three nights” are all equivalent.” Matthew uses all four phrases
for the same period. Mark. Luke and John have 10 (TEN) phrases among them and
do not repeat Mathew 12:40 even once. The interval from Friday afternoon to
Sunday morning is three days and three nights, by inclusive reckoning.
2. INCLUSIVE RECKONING: The common mode of counting employed in
the Bible is shown to have been inclusive reckoning, that is, counting both the
first and the last unit of time in calculating an interval. The following commentaries agree with the
inclusive majority reckoning position: Adam Clarke; Barnes Notes; Jamieson, Fausset
and Brown; Mathew Henry; and The Bible
Knowledge Commentary. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary takes the 72-hour position
and Wilmington’s King James Bible Commentary is neutral.
3. JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA: [This should not be ignored.] “A short
time in the morning of the seventh day is counted as the seventh day;
circumcision takes place on the eighth day, even though, of the first day only
a few minutes after the birth of the child, these being counted as one day.”
Vol. 4, p. 475.
Scores of contradictions
would appear in both Old and New Testament if this principle were ignored
–especially with the kings’ list of accession and regnal years in Kings and
Chronicles.
4. EGYPT, GREECE AND ROME: Inclusive reckoning was also used
generally by other ancient nations.
(1) An EGYPTIAN inscription
recording the death of a priestess on the 4th day of the 12th month relates
that her successor arrived on the 15th, “when 12 days had elapsed.” Today, we
would say that when 12 days had elapsed after the 4th, the date would be the
16th.
(2) The GREEKS followed
the same inclusive method. They called the Olympiad, or the four-year period
between the Olympic Games, a pentaeteris (five-year period), and used
other similar numerical terms.
(3) The ROMANS also, in
common usage, reckoned inclusively; they had nundinae (from nonus,
ninth), or market days, every ninth day, inclusive, actually every eight days,
as indicated on ancient calendars by the letters, A through H.
(4) TODAY our current
musical OCTAVE (8) is actually only 7 notes long since the 7th note
of one octave is the first note of the next octave.
SOME BIBLICAL OF
INCLUSIVE RECKONING:
5. Genesis 17:12 A Hebrew boy was circumcised when “eight days
old”, that is, “in the eighth day” (Levites 12:3).
Luke 1:59; 2:21 Similarly
Luke speaks of circumcision “on the eighth day” or “when eight days were
accomplished”. Evidently “when eight days were accomplished” does not mean
eight full days from the date of birth, but eight inclusive.
6. I KINGS 12:5, 12; 2 CHRONILE3S 10:5, 12 When, at the death of
Solomon, Rehoboam was petitioned to lighten the tax burden, he told the people
to depart “for three days” (1 Kings 12:5) and then return for his decision
“after three days” (2 Chronicles 10:5). They came “the third day, as the king
had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day” (1 Kings 12:12; cf. 2
Chronicles 10:12).
7. 2 KINGS 14: 2, 17, 23 Jeroboam II of Israel succeeded his father
Jehoash in the 15th year of Amaziah of Judah (2 Kings 14:23), and Amaziah
“lived after the death of Jehoash … of Israel fifteen years” (2 Kings 14:17). A
modern reader would mentally add 15 to 15, reaching Amaziah’s 30th year, yet
Amaziah reigned only 29 years (verse 2). Inclusive reckoning is again the most
logical explanation, since 15 years, inclusive, from the 15th year is the 29th,
in which he evidently died.
87. 2 Kings 18:9-10. The siege of Samaria lasted
from the fourth to the sixth year of Hezekiah, which is equated with the
seventh to the ninth year of Hoshea, and yet the city is said to have been
taken “at the end of three years.” In modern usage we would say two years, by
straight subtraction. Obviously the Bible writer reckoned inclusively (years
four, five, and six totaling three years).
8. ESTHER 4:16; 5:1 Esther
asked the Jews of Shushan to fast, and by implication, to pray, for her before
she went in to the king unbidden, and then she approached the king “on the
third day” (Esther 4:16; 5:1). Obviously a period of “three days” ended on the
third day, not after the completion of the three days, as we would reckon it.
9. JOHN 20:26 “And
after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then
came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be
unto you.”
“After eight days” – not
“seven days later” or “a week later”—means “the following first day of the
week. This extremely evident use of inclusive reckoning is attested by the all
eight commentaries at my disposal – including Wycliffe which supports the 72-hour
theory: Adam Clarke; Barnes Notes,
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown; Matthew Henry; The Bible Knowledge
Commentary; Wiersbe’s Bible Exposition Commentary; and Wilmington’s King James
Bible Commentary.
10. HEBREW CALENDAR: WIKIPEDIA
The Hebrew lunar year is about
eleven days shorter than the solar cycle and uses their own 19-year cycle to
bring it into line with the solar cycle, with additional months every two or
three years, for a total of seven times per 19 years. Even with this, the
average Hebrew calendar year is longer by about 6 minutes and 40 seconds than
the current mean tropical year, so that every 216 years the
Hebrew calendar will fall a day behind the current mean solar year; and about
every 231 years it will fall a day behind the Gregorian calendar year. When to
add extra months was based on observation of natural agriculture-related
events.
The system was gradually displaced
by the mathematical rules used today. The principles and rules were fully
codified by Maimonides in the Mishneh
Torah in the 12th century. Maimonides' work also replaced
counting "years since the destruction of the Temple" with the modern
creation-era Anno Mundi.
11. A CHART OF THE 72-HOUR THEORY:
According
to BeyndToday.tv, this is the sequence of events for the 72-hour crucifixion
theory. It is true that Jewish months began at the first sighting of the new
moon. While this did not affect the day of the week or the weekly Sabbath, it did
affect the timing of all non-weekly holy days such as Passover, Firstfruits and
The Day of Atonement. Passover always fell on the 14th day of the
first month determined by the new moon and was always on a full moon. Since non-weekly
holy days did not normally fall on the weekly Sabbath (one to seven chance),
they were called High Sabbaths. Historically the Passover which followed Jesus’
crucifixion coincidentally also fell on the weekly Sabbath. However, the 72-hour-crucifixion
theorists teach that Jesus was crucified in the middle of the week on a
Wednesday and the Passover which followed was a Thursday High Sabbath.
______________________________________________________
WEDNESDAY:
(1)
Jesus was placed on a cross at the 3rd hour of the day at 9 AM (Mark
15:25); darkness covered the earth between the 6th and 9th
hours between 12PM and 3PM; He died at the 9th hour at 3PM on
Wednesday, the preparation day for the High Passover Sabbath (Mt 27:45-46; Mk
15:33-34; Lk 23:44; Jn 19:14).
(2)
Joseph bought linen and wrapped Jesus’ body (Mk 15:46; Mt 27:59; Lk 23:53; Jn
19:40).
(3)
The women observed Joseph’s entombment (Mt 27:61; Mk 15:47; Lk 23:55). .
THURSDAY:
(4)
PASSOVER, the 14th day of the first month, is determined by the first
sighting of the new moon. Since it must be on a full moon, the odds are one in
seven that it will fall on the weekly Sabbath day (Ex 12:1-6).
(5)
“And they [the women] returned … (Luke 23:56a)
The
72-hour-theorists teach that there are 5 (FIVE) days and two Sabbaths involved
in Luke 23:56 and 24:1. They returned home Wednesday before sunset
(6)
[and rested Thursday during the High Passover Sabbath] (no texts!).
FRIDAY:
(7)
“… and bought and prepared spices and ointments” Luke 23:56b [on Friday following
Thursday Passover] (no texts)
(8)
[and did nothing else all day Friday] (no texts)
SATURDAY;
WEEKLY SABBATH:
(9)
“… and rested [a second] Sabbath day [that week] according to the commandment”
(Luke 23:56c).
(10)
Jesus arises on the weekly Sabbath just before sunset exactly 72 hours after he
was buried on Wednesday.
______________________________________________________
SUNDAY:
(10)
The women come to anoint the body which is gone.
PROBLEMS
WITH THE CHART:
(1)
There is no proof that “preparation day” does not refer to the day before the
weekly Sabbath in Mt 27:62; Mk 16:42; Lk 23:54 and John 19:14, 31, 42. One must
reason in reverse in order to force the texts to refer to Wednesday rather than
Friday. Neither Matthew, Mark, Luke, nor John mention or allude to more than
one Sabbath.
(2)
The fact that Joseph bought linen late on the day before the Sabbath proves
that stores stayed open until the last moment. Sunset dates for Easter allowed
for at least four hours of daylight before sunset.
(3)
A plain simple literal reading of Matthew, Mark. Luke and John reveals that the
women intended to anoint the body at the earliest possible time.
(4)
Literal conservative Christians almost always reason from God’s Word outward
and reject scientific methodology. Yet here some get their “proof” from a Naval
Observatory. Even then they disagree about the exact year of Christ’s
crucifixion. The odds are that sometime between 30 and 33 AD Passover fell on
the weekly Sabbath.
(5)
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all say that the women rested on the Sabbath. None
say that they rested TWICE that week as is taught by the 72-hour theorists.
(6) This is fabrication to force God’s Word to
agree with the 72-hour theory. The Bible does not tell us “when” the women
bought their spices. Since there were about 4 hours between Christ’s death and
sunset, there was time to buy them (as Joseph had done in Mark 15:46) before
sundown on Friday.
(7)
This is a very weak point in the 72-hour theory. If the women had bought their
spices at the earliest opportunity on Friday following a Thursday High Sabbath
Passover, they would have certainly gone directly to the tomb on that Friday to
anoint the body. They would not have wasted all day Friday.
(8)
This is another very weak point in the 72-hour theory. A very careful reading
of the last two chapters of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John reveals nothing about
a mid-week Thursday Sabbath, two preparation days, two Sabbath days and the
women resting twice before finally reaching the tomb to anoint it.
(10)
Common sense should alert the Bible student of error in logic. It makes no sense to teach that the women would
not go to the tomb after buying spices on Friday after a Thursday High Sabbath,
yet they rush at the very earliest possible moment 3 ½ days after a Wednesday
crucifixion to anoint the body on the following first day of the week. Why the
great rush when there was no rush the preceding Friday?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12. COMPARING MATTHEW, MARK AND LUKE
Matthew
27:57 to 28:1
Matt
27:57-61 “When the even was come”
Joseph “took the body, wrapped it, and placed it in his own tomb” while the women watched 27:57-61). “Now the next day” (Saturday) the soldiers guarded the tomb (Mt 27:62-66). “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week (Matt 28:1).
Joseph “took the body, wrapped it, and placed it in his own tomb” while the women watched 27:57-61). “Now the next day” (Saturday) the soldiers guarded the tomb (Mt 27:62-66). “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week (Matt 28:1).
……………….
Mark
15:42 to 16:2
Mk
15:42-47 only adds that Joseph “bought fine linen.” The next verse, 16:1-2 says
“And when the sabbath was past” the women came on “the first day of the week.”
…………….
Luke
23:54 to 24:1 reads “the preparation day” of “the Sabbath” (23:54). “The women
returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day
according to the commandment” (23:56). They returned “the first day of the
week, very early in the morning.”
13. 72-hour theorists must conclude that either:
A.
Jesus told the truth in Mt 12:40 and lied 17 other times.
B.
Jesus lied in Mt 12:40 and told the truth 17 times.
C. All 18 references are to the same time
using inclusive reckoning as was common to Jews.
14. “BeondToday.tv” errs when he says that the
women bought spices on a Friday following a Thursday High Sabbath. This makes
no sense. After buying spices they had the almost all of Friday to go to the
tomb to anoint the body; thus it would have been unnecessary to rest during the
weekly Sabbath!!! Think this through.
15.
The argument that the women must have waited until Friday morning to buy spices
has no biblical validity.
A. All
agree that Jesus died around 3PM. Passover is always a full moon.
B. Passover (Easter) Sunset in Jerusalem this
year is between 6:55 and 7:16. (Washington, GA is 6:43 PM, Wednesday, March 23,
2016).
C. Therefore there was between 3 hours and 55
minutes to 4 hours and 16 minutes before sunset for Joseph to purchase the
linen shroud and the women to purchase spices after Christ died.
D.
According to Mark 15:45-46, after Joseph of Arimathea had received permission
from Pilate to have the body, he “bought” the “fine linen,” removed and wrapped
the body. This must have occurred Friday before sunset.
E.
According to Mark 16:1 the women “had bought sweet spices”. The 72-hour advocates state categorically
that the women could only have bought their spices on Friday following a Thursday
High Sabbath. This is not true. Like Joseph of Arimathea, they still had time
to buy spices after seeing the tomb and before sunset Friday. As previously
mentioned, if the 72-hour theory is correct, the women had all day Friday to
anoint the body and would not have needed to do so on the first day of the week.
16. Vallowe very seriously errs when he uses Daniel
9:27’s “in the midst of the week” to argue that it pointed to Wednesday as the
day of crucifixion. This is horribly wrong!!! “Week” and “weeks” in 9:24-27 (6
times) are “weeks OF YEARS” --- not days of the week. Even worse, the reference
in 9:27 is to ANTICHRIST, not Christ!!! “In the midst of the week” is 3 1/2
YEARS after ANTICHRIST makes his covenant with Israel in the last days. Vallowe
is evidently not dispensational.
17. Vallowe makes another error when he uses
Leviticus 23:10-11 to argue that Christ arose on Sunday as the “firstfruits” of
Pentecost –the 50th day after the second High Sabbath of Passover.
A. This argument has no relevance to the
72-hour resurrection theory.
B. This argument counters “BeyondToday’s”
weekly Sabbath resurrection argument.
C. The Passover Sabbath could fall on any day
of the week – a full moon depending upon which day the New Moon began the New
Month.
D. Traditional interpretation (which I agree
with) teaches that Christ was crucified on Friday when High Sabbath was also a
weekly Sabbath.
18. Vallowe errs when he categorically states
that Jewish days are from 6 AM until 6 PM. In reality, even today Jewish days
begin at sunrise and sunset which change every day.
19. Vallowe greatly errs when he states that
Jewish months are 28 days long. In reality, their months have always begun at the
first sighting of the new moon and ends with no moon at all to be seen. Lunar
months are 29.53 days long, or 29 ½ days
long. Thus each Jewish year is 11.5+ days shorter than a solar year. Because of
this Jews add extra days 7 times every 19 years to keep current. [In 2016 there
are Adar I and Adar II beginning the year.] Yet Vallowe plays games with “28”
to reach 1512 years from the Exodus (when most scholars only guess at the correct
date).
CONCLUSION:
It is far easier to reconcile “three days and three nights” using inclusive
reckoning than to ignore the 13 texts which state that Jesus would rise again
on the third day itself (and not “after the third day”).
20. THIS IS HOW THE 72-HOUR CRUCIFIXION THEORY
INERPRETS Luke 23:56:
A. And the women “returned” home Wednesday
before sunset …
B. and rested Thursday the High Sabbath
Passover day
C. “and prepared spieces and ointments” two days later on Friday
D. and did absolutely nothing the remainder of
that Friday
E. “and rested the [weekly] Sabath
F. but rushed to anoint the body following
the weekly Sabbath
THE
SIMPLE TRUTH IS:
A. [FRIDAY] They “returned and prepared
spices and ointments” Friday evening before sunset
B. [SATURDAY] “and rested the weekly sabbath
day according to the commandment
C. [SUNDAY] “and upon the first day of the
week” rushed to anoint the body.
D. Thus fulfilling 17 times Jesus promised to
rise “the third day,” “on the third day” and “after three days.”
