Dear Saints

Dear Saints,

To Watch or not to Watch

Luke 12:37-39 (KJV)

“Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.

And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.

And this know, that if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.”

The second watch is from 9h00 till 12h00 at night.
The third watch is from 12h00 till 3h00 in the morning.

Notice that if the good man “had known what hour the thief would come” is directly applicable to Revelation 3:3 which states:

“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”

Mark 13:35 (KJV)

“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:”

Notice the time periods mentioned here;

At even
At midnight
At the cockcrowing
In the morning

Notice here also the Scripture is referred to time period as on a time piece meaning that it is related to a clock.

There is a relationship between the different ‘watches’ and the different ‘periods’ thought out the night.

First watch (6h00-9h00) – At Even
Second watch (9h00-12h00) – At Midnight
Third watch (12h00-3h00) – At the Cockcrowing
Fourth watch (3h00-6h00) – In the Morning

According to John Gill’s exposition of the Bible, this is what he had to say about the watches in the night;

“The first watch began at six o'clock in the evening, and lasted till nine; the second began at nine, and ended at twelve, which was midnight; the third began at twelve, and closed at three; the fourth began at three, and ended at six in the morning.”

Dear Saints, look at the following Scripture:

Matthew 25:6 (KJV)

“And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.”

Notice the Bridegroom comes “at Midnight” and there was a “cry”.

From the above comparisons between the ‘watches’ and ‘time periods’ one will notice that the ‘time period’ called “at midnight” doesn’t refer to “12h00” but it refers to the “Watch period” of “09h00 – 12h00”.

So to just throw in a thought, is it possible that the LORD has given us the “time period” of His coming right before our eyes, and that we could expect His Glorious Appearing at this time? (Titus 2:13)

Much Grace

Steven Braun

South Africa