So then, at evening (at ba erev) - do you see that? At evening, at sunset, of the fifteenth day, something was going to happen to let those people know that God had brought them out. Now, what was it? It was not the bread, the manna. That did not come until Sunday morning, the next day. But something was going to happen at sunset that was going to let them know that God was with them, and providing.
Meat at sunset. Manna at sunrise.
This absolutely proves that ben ha arbayim, twilight, follows ba erev.
Here is the order of events. Here are the Israelites - camped, listening to the message that Moses has for them from God. It is the Sabbath day. The reason God is giving this illustration (this living example, this lesson) was to teach them the importance of keeping the Sabbath. He does not want them working on the Sabbath. So, the lesson begins with an example of when the Sabbath ends; and then it ends with an example that they should not be working (because there is not going to be any manna out there).
If God had brought the quail before ba erev (sunset), what would the people have done? They would have run out, begun to gather the quail, kill the quail, clean the quail, roast the quail, and then all of that would have been done on the Sabbath day. So, in order for God to make sure that He gave them the lesson and that they did not work on the Sabbath day, He did not bring the quail until sunset. The [Sabbath] day was over!
And then, during ben ha arbayim - twilight (that period of light between the going down of the sun, ba erev) - they killed the quail, they cleaned the quail, and they began to roast the quail. Indeed, they may very well have begun to have eaten some of the quail during that period of time. Ben ha arbayim follows immediately on the heels of ba erev; and it is the actual beginning of the next day. It begins with light - not total darkness.
Is that not the way the creation began? The creation began with light for a short period of time; and then darkness descended upon the creation. There is a beautiful lesson here. Light is going to come with the return of Jesus Christ - which God's Sabbath represents (the coming of Light to mankind).
Ben ha arbayim follows ba erev. It is that period of time between the going down of the sun and complete darkness. How long is ben ha arbayim? Well, it depends upon what time of the year. It begins at the instant that the sun disappears below the horizon and it ends with the dark of night.
In winter (a three month period), it may be anywhere from as long as almost an hour to as short as about thirty minutes. In spring and fall, it will be about one hour to one hour and fifteen minutes long. In summer, about one hour and fifteen to one hour and thirty minutes long. Other factors (such as the cloud cover, or the phases of the moon) would also lengthen, or shorten, the period of ben ha arbayim.
At Passover time, we are in the spring. Passover also occurs when the full moon is occurring. So, ben ha arbayim is going to be a fairly long period of time because of the springtime element, and because of the phases of the moon (that phase being at full). So, it would probably be at least one hour and fifteen minutes long. They had plenty of time to kill the Passover lamb during that period of time, and even begin to get to roasting it, as well.
The second Passover (and this period of time that we are talking about here in Exodus 16) would be one month later. It would be into that period of time of late April, or early May - in our reckoning. And it would be a good hour and twenty minutes, as well as having a full moon, for these people to gather the quail and then begin to kill them, prepare them, and eat them.
Ben ha arbayim stands revealed as to its meaning by Bible usage. It is that period of time following ba erev (sunset). It is between the two evenings. It is twilight. It is dusk.
In Leviticus 23 that word is … . . .
