Three days and Three Nights Do Not
Necessarily Equal 72 Hours

This page is part of a larger study of What Day of the Week Was Jesus Christ Crucified?

Some proponents of the Wednesday theory of the day Christ was crucified, claim that when Jesus said he would rise after "three days and three nights" it means exactly 72 hours. They use statements from the stories of the Flood of Noah in Genesis 6-8 (it rained for forty days and forty nights) and Esther 4 (praying and fasting for three days and three nights) to try and prove this theory.

They claim these events also had 12 hour days and nights because the Hebrew day began at sunset and ended at the next sunset. They use Jesus statement "Are there not twelve hours of daylight?" in John 11:9 to try and prove this theory. However, as can be seen by the analysis below this is not true.

There were indeed about 12 hours of day, and 12 hours of night, around the time of the Passover. However, this is not true for other times of the year because the exact time of sunset varies depending on the season of the year. If you will look at a map of the world you will see that Isreal is at the same latitude as Central USA. This means the timing of our sunrise and sunset will be similar for that location.

When Jesus said the above statement about their being 12 hours of daylight, in John 11:9, it was shortly before Passover, and therefore he was referring to 12 hour increments around the time of Passover. During Passover the sun rose about 6 AM and set about 6 PM

Day and Night Time During the Flood of Noah:

Keeping in mind that Mt. Aarat is about the same longitude as most of the USA--as you can see by the analysis of Noah's flood below-- the 40 days and 40 nights occurred in the months of Heshvan and Kislev (our Oct-Dec). By our December we are experiencing the shortest days of the year and longer nights and therefore this theory is invalid when they claim the days and nights have equal portions of 12 hours each.

Day and Night Time During the Fast of Esther:

Also, as I will show below, the event in Esther does not have equal portions of day and night either. That event occurred in the month of Sivan (our May/June) which would have meant it was 2 months after Passover/Nisan 14 and therefore the days would have been longer than the nights at that time also.

Therefore neither of these events entail the same amount of hours between day and night as during Passover. Therefore the 72 hour theory for the period between the burial and resurrection of Jesus cannot stand on this evidence.

CALCULATING THE FLOOD OF NOAH

Using the 360 day prophetic calendar, follow the story in Genesis 6-8.

The 17th of Nisan is also the day the Isrealites entered Egypt, walked through the red sea when leaving Egypt, the day of first fruits eaten in the promised land, the walls of Jericho fell down, the cleansing of the Temple by Hezekiah, Queen Esther saved Hebrews from elimination, and finally the day Jesus was resurrected.

Waters continued to recede until 10th month .

CALCULATING ESTHER'S FAST

Proponents of the 72 hour theory as to how long before Christ rose from the dead also claim that when Esther requested that all the Jews fast for her, she said "do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. . ." (Est. 4:16), and "On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court" (Est. 5:1). They believe this means that Esther meant three complete days, or 72 hours. They use The Companion Bible, appendix 144, page 170 as the source for this theory.

However, if one reads this account and counts the days, it will become apparent that this event occurred around the 18th day of the month of Sivan (23 minus 5 days) (Esther 8:9). This is two months after Passover.

The date I am writing this up (May 4, 1999) is only one month after the current Passover and already Sunset and Sunrise differ by three or more hours--Sunset being 8:03 PM and Sunrise 5:30 AM. This will increase even more by next month when we will have entered the Jewish month of Sivan.

Therefore the sun will not be setting and rising in exactly twelve hour increments during the month of Sivan--the days will be longer than the nights.

Therefore this scripture does not support the 72 hour theory either. (see below for a 360 day prophetic calendar--keep in mind that God had changed the numbering of the months by this time so that Nisan was the first month)

As you can see from the above, the periods of daylight and night time will vary according to the season. So, events other than around the time of Passover cannot be used to prove the 72 hour theory.

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Lori Eldridge
Copyright 5-6-99 --Updated 9-15-19
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