Dear Doves,
      There are references in The Scriptures to the Midnight Hour. Death, in the plague for the first-born, visited Egypt as promised at the midnight hour of Nisan 14, the night of Passover. Those with faith, with the hyssop applied blood of the lambs on the doorposts and the lintels of their homes, were spared the plague and death. Nisan 14 had begun, Passover night deepened into greater darkness, and death passed over them. The trusting experienced Redemption at the Midnight Hour.
      For Messiah/Christ, the final Nisan 14 of His life on earth, was all important. The thought life of our Master is studied in "The Hidden Life of Christ series" by Johnny Tatum at http://radicalgrace.com/HiddenLifeSeries.htm to learn fascinating things. Of special interest are the articles about Gethsemane and the last 15 hours of Christ's life. The Lamb of Lambs sought and found great comfort and meaning in the Psalms at the ending of His earthly life. A favorite place, Gethsemane was where our Redeemer accepted assignment. The Sinless One began to experience the horrible crushing weight of the sins of others, and began to die. Death did not pass over Him at the midnight hour. He came close to death, sweat blood, and an angel helped Him to continue. That second midnight hour was of greatest consequence for Him and billions of others. Our Deliverer began to be the dregs, the judgment outpoured, the full wrath of Adonai for sins. But even in the deepening literal and spiritual darkness at the midnight hour, Freedom, Deliverance, Salvation and Victory were close to conclusion. Only hours later, He said "It is accomplished." We are reminded of the profound truth in the Torah, mentioned many times. "The life is in the blood."
      For the third reference in The Scriptures we look to the Third Midnight Hour, the beginning of The Third Day. This is implied in Matthew 25 in a wedding parable. The groom and the groomsmen arrive later than expected at the Midnight Hour. They are going to the wedding feast. But there has been the earlier event of the bridegroom and the bride off to the wedding canopy. The wedding comes before the wedding feast (the wedding supper) and a 7 day period ( a seven) in between them. Matthew 25 implies the earlier event, to which the later events are an extension of the former, this would have been The Third Day earlier for the groom and bride off to the chuppah. There are 2 phases to the finalization of the ancient Jewish wedding.  The first involves the chuppah for the groom and bride, then their consummation, and their period of 7 in the wedding chamber. Phase 2 is with the wedding feast(supper). Without this understanding of the ancient Jewish wedding model, Matthew 25 does not make sense. According to the ancient Jewish wedding model, when would the groom and groomsmen appear? Often it was between 11 and midnight. In The Scriptures This Hour is ironic since it combines Death and Life, Defeat and Victory, Doubt and Faith, Suffering and Deliverance. Symbolically, the 4 cups of Passover meet in This Hour of Freedom, Deliverance, Salvation, and Redemption. It is believed by some that The Master did not drink the Cup 4, of Redemption, with His friends at their final meal together. How did the wedding period begin according to the ancient Jewish wedding model used by Messiah/Christ? The groom offered a cup of wine to the bride with the following words. "This is the cup in my blood." He said this to His friends. They drank from the cup, the bride price(ransom) was paid in full (the life is in the blood) that same day by Messiah/Christ. The marriage began, awaiting the return of the groom and groomsmen, the sound of the trumpet (shofar), off to the wedding canopy (the chuppah), drinking from the cup ( the cup 4 of Redemption), then the intimacy in the wedding/marriage chamber. The wedding supper for relatives and friends to the groom and bride ( the 5 of the 10 virgins are symbolic of this joyous group) is later, after the delay of the 7. This Wedding Supper of THE LAMB will be after a 4th Midnight Hour and a 4th Day, implied in Matthew 25. The number 4 is the Servant Lamp number of The Messiah. The eternal family will be together for the beginning of The Millennial Reign. As Isaiah states, some are hidden in the pavilion until the time of wrath is over.
      Many Doves are eagerly awaiting The Last Day of Elul and Day 1 of Tishri, the Feast of Trumpets. Might there soon be a momentous third Midnight Hour for Israel? Will there be The Third Day, with The Blessed Hope and the Cup 4 of Redemption finally shared by the Groom of Grooms and His Bride with The Wedding of the Ages?
      For Israel the olive harvest is beginning for olives and the olive oil fresh from the olive press. Gethsemane means olive press. It will soon be The Hour to fill our lamps, trim the wicks, and depart with the Beloved. Rejoice greatly though the Hour of Trial, The Midnight Hour, of the darkening long night is near! Behold! The Bridegroom Comes!
 
With Love and Shalom,
Jean