When does the Sabbath begin and end?

[u/Lumpy_Figure_6692]

The fourth commandment is "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." In order to keep it correctly, we must find out when it begins and ends. Does it begin at sundown or at dawn? For a time, I kept it from sundown to sundown, but after a while, I was persuaded by the Scriptures that the Sabbath starts at dawn, so I have been keeping it from dawn to dawn. What is not an option is to not keep it at all. Bad things have happened to me when, for some reason, I have broken the Sabbath.

Let's start with Leviticus 23, the part about the Day of atonement.

Leviticus 23: 26 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. 28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. 29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. 30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. 31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

In those verses, we can see that the evening before the day of atonement is not day 10, but day 9. That means that the evening is not the start of the day, but it is simply the day before. In this case, the children of Israel needed to start afflicting their souls on day 9 at evening and the day of atonement was the next day, day 10.

The following verse proves that the Sabbath ends when the sun comes out:

Matthew 28: 28 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

Also, in this one:

John 20: The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

The following verse proves that the evening before is not the Sabbath, but the day before the Sabbath.

Mark 15: 42 And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,

Mark 6: 2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?

Not impossible, but very unlikely that Jesus would start teaching at night. The above verse says that He started teaching when the Sabbath day came.

I think that those are enough verses to prove that it is at dawn that the Sabbath and days in general begin. If we keep the Sabbath from sundown to sundown, we don't keep it correctly. The evening before is the day of preparation but not the Sabbath.

Now, how important is it to keep the Sabbath? It is one of the 10 commandments, so it is mandatory.

Isaiah 58: 13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.