Sing with me, Tevye: “Sunrise, sunset….” Is it true, MB, that long ago, when the sun set, people retired for the night and when the sun rose, people got up to start a new day?
More or less, yes. In the Bible, Genesis records the evening and the morning as being the first day. Today, it is much the same in Israel where holidays and the Jewish day of rest always begin… the evening before. The time period spans a full 24 hours, from sunset to sunset. To me, that speaks of preparation, of being ready for the day ahead.
I recall as a young lady in Jerusalem, walking in the brisk winter air toward my responsibilities, my purse and briefcase loaded full. I couldn’t really afford several buses, so I walked whenever possible. Each morning, three ultra-Orthodox young boys, maybe 5 or 6 years old, came flying down the street at a full run, mittens dangling, jackets open, book bags almost dropping items. How I longed to tell them at that tender age about time management and laying out their necessary items the night before! Most likely their mom had a lot to juggle.
Genesis again speaks of times and seasons instituted by the Lord. The idea of pondering the brevity of life and making our days count was not invented by the White Rabbit: “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date!” Instead, God is the one who gives us life and breath and time, expecting us to live life fully for him.
Clocks existed in ancient times, prior to the sand-filled hourglasses (circa 14th century AD). Some consider the earliest timepieces to be shadow clocks used by the Egyptians approximately 3500 BCE in the form of obelisks with the ground marked around them. In the beginning, sun clocks measured the length of the shadow against a horizontal rule, then more intricate versions were fashioned.
An allusion to some sort of sundial comes in II Kings 20:11 with Isaiah, King Ahaz and the sundial incident which occurred in the 730s BC.
Later, the Greeks in the 500s BC fashioned hemispherical sundials, with a hollowed-out bowl. The sundial employed a gnomon, or shadow stick, whereby the sun’s rays would case a shadow against measures of various kinds—for hours, seasons, and astronomical observations such as solstices and equinoxes.
Roman sundials, while not exactly omnipresent, definitely figured prominantly in everyday life around 2000 years ago. One well-known archaeological excavation south of Rome featured the find of a small-town sundial donated by the victorious Marcus Novius Tubula, elected to the Plebian Tribune of Rome. There in the humble hamlet of Internamna Lirenas, archaeologists uncovered a large fragment of the limestone, concave sundial, engraved with 11 lines for time-telling and prominent thanks to the victorious benefactor-! In charge of excavations, the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Classics, believe that it had been placed prominently in the town’s forum or marketplace, available for all to use.
As seen in the Scripture, the Jewish people noted only three protective “watches of the night”—corresponding to: sunset to 10 pm, 10 pm to 2 am, and 2 am to sunrise (Lamentations 2, Judges 7, Exodus 14). The Greeks and Romans divided evenings into four watches: sunset to 9 pm, 9 pm to midnight, midnight to 3 am, 3 am to sunrise.
The New Testament is also filled with examples of timekeeping. On the Day of Pentecost, it was only the third hour of the day (9 am), so it was reasoned that the 120 disciples and women of the Upper Room could not have been drunk that early. Acts 3 records Peter and John going to prayer at the Temple at the ninth hour (3 pm) when they encounter the lame beggar and tell him to rise up and walk in the name of Jesus!
Today, Jewish men gather a quorum (“minyan” in Hebrew) of at least 10 men over the age of 13 to pray three times a day. Morning prayer (shacharit), afternoon prayer (minchah) and evening prayer (ma’ariv) are best done together, but in a pinch, you will glimpse devout men pulled over to the side of the highway, stepping out of the car and praying on their own. When you go on tour to Israel with me, no doubt Jewish men will ask you (men) to come and pray with them. It’s time: we pray! Times, seasons, holidays—all have a Divine purpose!
So yes, they kept time in the ancient world, even without wristwatches and smart phones. And yes, every hour of the day was, and is, a good time to serve the Lord. As David says in Psalm 55:17, “At evening, at morning, and at noon, will I pray….”
The Bible sets the pace: the right kind of day often starts the night before. Prepare your heart and your surroundings for a miraculously-wonderful day in him!
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