The New Testament defines ‘evening’ as
sunset, which marks the end of the Sabbath (see Mark 1:32; Luke 4:40). However, in some parts of the earth
(the Arctic regions) it is difficult (or impossible) to determine the Sabbath
hours. That is due to the fact, that in these
areas of the earth the sun either rises too early or to too late, and not at
all during parts of the year.
Many Sabbath keepers living in the Arctic regions have adopted a policy of
observing the Sabbath, when there are no sunsets, on the basis of the times
recorded for the last visible sunset. In other words, they perpetuate the
timing of the occurrence of last visible sunset until the next visible occurrence
of sunset.
Other Sabbath keepers go by the sunset calendars just south of the Arctic
region, during the period of the year when they have no sunsets.
In Scandinavian countries, some have set a broader definition for ‘evening’
to mean a diminishing of light. Hence, they build up the beginning and end of
the Sabbath on when it begins to get darker.
The important thing to remember is that where dawn to dusk
reckoning is available,
then the Sabbath is to be observed on this basis. However, where such
reckoning is not possible, and in the absence of clear divine instructions on
this matter, then any of the above common practices adopted by Sabbath keepers
in these regions would do; as long as a 12-hour period is
set as holy and sacred on the seventh day of the week as defined by the Luni-solar calendar.
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