Building on the Foundation

A question I have wrestled with for a while, as many have in the Church of God, is the definition of “between the evenings.” Most of the arguments regarding “between the evenings” are based on historical records, which are then used to work backward into the Bible to arrive at a definition.  Some of the other writers on this blog have undertaken to write about this, and until now, I have largely remained silent on the topic simply because I have not studied it for myself.  I was one of those who took others' papers on the topic and relied on historical sources to define what “between the evenings” actually meant, so this is no judgment of those who do the same. The main question I wanted to examine is whether or not, by strictly using Scripture, it’s possible to define the term “between the evenings.” My conclusion is that it is indeed possible to define the terms solely based on Scripture, and it’s not even that complicated. I realize this post may be quite controversial...

  In both Old and New Testaments, we occasionally find puzzling verses that require much thought, study, and prayer to understand. Today, let’s examine one such passage in the Book of Deuteronomy. The passage begins clearly enough. Deut. 22:25-27 plainly states that if a man rapes a woman who is betrothed to another man, the rapist must be put to death. Naturally, this would extend also to a fully married woman. The Bible deems raping another man’s wife to be just as terrible of a crime as murder: “For just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter” (Deut. 22:26). But in vv. 28-29, we read something different: “If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days.” Thos...