Nighttime in Scripture is divided into four three-hour periods called "watches." In Mark 13:35 they are all four mentioned; namely, "even," "midnight," "cockcrowing," and "morning." According to our way of reckoning time, "even," or the evening watch, is from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.; the midnight watch, from 9 p.m. to midnight; cockcrowing, from 12 M to 3 a.m., and morning watch, from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m.
In Exod. 14:24 we read concerning the Egyptians, that "in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians." In Judg. 7:19 Gideon and his company came to the camp of Midian "in the beginning of the middle watch," or at midnight. See note, J.N.D. Translation. Psalm 63:6 and Psalm 119::148 speak of the night watches. In Psalm 90:4 the Psalmist says, "A thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night."
Again, in the New Testament, the Lord in Mark 13 outlines to some of His disciples what was to befall His faithful remnant from the destruction of the temple by Titus in A.D. 70 till they should see "the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory." That whole period of time was covered symbolically by the four watches of verse 35. He said, "Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning." The Lord came, the light of the world, but was rejected from the very beginning of His ministry. In these four watches of Mark 13, Jesus scanned the long night of His absence, looking forward to the bright morn when "The Sun of righteousness [shall] arise with healing in His wings." Mal. 4:2.
We find a most significant word of the Lord in Luke 12:38. "If He shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants." He mentions neither the first watch nor the fourth, but refers His coming to the second or the third watch. This we know is spoken to those who are to be with loins girded about and lights burning, and who shall be blessed when their Lord shall return from the wedding and shall find them watching. This indeed should be true of the Church, as well as each one of us individually, till He comes for us.
In Revelation 2 and 3 there is, we believe, the prophetic outline of the Church on earth; and it has become for us in its closing days here largely a historical one. It has often been pointed out that in the first three periods of this outline; namely, Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos, there is no mention whatever of the Lord's coming for the Church. These three marked the early days of the Church from the apostles' time down through the reign of Constantine, when the persecution of the Christians by the world ceased, and the world professedly accepted Christianity. During this time we have the first watch, or "even," of Mark 13:35. In Luke 12:38, as mentioned above, the Lord does not speak of this first watch.
However, beginning with the fourth church, Thyatira, and including the three following, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, He specifically calls the attention of each one to His coming. So it appears evident that these four churches must all continue simultaneously on earth till the Lord comes and takes His own to glory.
With the rise of Thyatira, Rev. 2:18-29, we see the development of Catholicism during the so-called dark ages. Then later, in these middle ages, the testimony of Protestantism began, represented by Sardis. But Sardis soon grew cold and formal, so that the Lord said to her in Rev. 3:1, "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." Thus Catholicism and Protestantism, especially in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, were aptly signified by the darkness of the second, or midnight, watch of Mark 13:35.
During this dark period, the hope of the Lord's coming for His bride was lost sight of almost entirely by the Church. That blessed hope again began to stir deeply the hearts of believers in various places early in the nineteenth century, or about 135 years ago. In Matt. 25:6 our Lord Himself foretold how the Holy Spirit would bring about this revival: "At midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." It would be. He said, "at midnight." The result of this awakening was Philadelphia, of whom the Lord said, "Thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name." Rev. 3:8.
Finally, along with Thyatira, Sardis, and Philadelphia, has appeared Laodicea, the last of the seven churches of Rev. 1:11. The Lord, who is the faithful and true witness, says that Laodicea is neither cold nor hot; and because she is "lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth" (Rev. 3:16). He does not even exhort her to repent, as He had exhorted Sardis, though He does solemnly warn her.
In Luke 12:38 the Lord had said He would come for His Church either in the second watch, which represented Thyatira and Sardis as they were during the dark ages before the revival of the blessed hope of His coming, or else He would come in the third watch when their responsibility to Him has become so much greater because of that revival, and when Philadelphia and Laodicea are now included with them to make up the whole professing church during that watch. In other words, it would appear that the present condition of Thyatira and Sardis after the second watch or midnight of the middle ages, along with Philadelphia and Laodicea, mark-all four of them-the third watch, or cockcrowing, of Mark 13:35. They bear the dim light of testimony committed to the Church just before the dawn of the fourth, or morning watch. They immediately precede the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Sun of righteousness.
In Mark 6:35-56 there is a striking typical view of the whole time from the Lord's first coming as Israel's Messiah till His return in the fourth watch, which the passage particularly mentions. Concerning this, another has said, "It was one of the great signs of the Messiah that He would satisfy His poor with bread, as you may remember in Psalm 132. The Lord ought to have been thus recognized; but He was not. Accordingly... the people, instead of being gathered to the Lord, as to their King, have been for a season, at least, put aside.... He has departed from Israel for a time, and gone on high to take the place of intercession. And while the Lord is there, the disciples are exposed to all the storms and fluctuations of this lower scene.... He has left the Jews for the time. He is also away from His disciples. But in the midst of the contrariety of all things around them, He comes again. 'About the fourth watch of the night He cometh unto them.' v. 48." And verses 54-56 are "a little picture of what will be the consequence of the Lord's return to the earth.... Whatever there is of human woe, wretchedness, weakness, sickness in the world will all flee before the presence and touch of the Son of God." W. K.
May we never forget that in order to sustain and encourage the weary watcher, the Lord graciously promises the overcomer in each of the last four churches that He will come with His blessing before the morning, or fourth watch.
"The gloomy night will soon be past,
The morning will appear;
The harbinger of day at last
Each waiting eye will cheer.
"Thou Bright and Morning Star, Thy light
Will to our joy be seen;
Thou, Lord, wilt meet our longing sight,
Without a cloud between."
At the very beginning of the second watch the blessed Lord said to the individual overcomer then, "I will give him the morning star." Rev. 2:28. Now we are at the other end of the "gloomy night." How very near His coming must be! At the close of that third watch He says. "Behold, I come quickly." Rev. 3:11. When He comes, may He find us truly watching. "We have the prophetic word made surer, to which ye do well taking heed, (as to a lamp shining in an obscure place) until the day dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts." 2 Pet. 1:19;