What Is So Special About Midnight?
Good Morning Friends,
Midnight is not just a dramatic time it is an important time in the Bible. On several instances the power of a midnight deliverance is revealed. The children of Israel were delivered from bondage in the land of Egypt at midnight. Jacob wrestled an angel in the dark. God did not choose the hours of the day but a time of intense darkness to destroy the power of evil. David prayed at midnight and Paul and Silas were freed from prison around midnight. Jesus was born in the night. What Is So Special About Midnight?
Scripture: At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his officials and all the Egyptians; and there was a loud cry in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron in the night, and said, “Rise up, go away from my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord, as you said.
Exodus 12:29-31 (NRSV)
At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous ordinances.
Psalm 119:62 (NRSV)
After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.
Acts 16:23-26 (NRSV)
And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
Luke 11:5-8 (NRSV)
But Samson lay only until midnight. Then at midnight he rose up, took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two posts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.
Judges 16:3 (NRSV)
At midnight the man was startled, and turned over, and there, lying at his feet, was a woman!
Ruth 3:8 (NRSV)
For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
Psalm 30:5 (NRSV)
Message: Midnight is a dark time not only in a physical way but also in the form of a metaphor relating to a dark time in a person’s life. Sometimes evil lurks in the darkness but not always. At midnight one might very well find out what is real and what is only a supposition. It is lonely in a way for it is unencumbered but it is also a point where one discovers what one truly believes and puts it to the test. In the Bible references about midnight, typically the darkness does not prevail. There is hope and justice. Evenings are dark times, testing times, times that cause tears of pain. But one tick after midnight in the Hebrew reckoning of time is morning time, and our own a new day, a turning point and a time of breakthrough and victory. It seems as if God uses midnights in a person’s life to reveal to them where their mind is set. Midnight in the Bible was not only a time of night, but certain things happened during that time which was beneficial to the individual. Even though it was the darkest time in the person’s life, it was also a turning point for bigger and brighter things. But the brighter things could not be obtained if the individual’s mind had not been changed. A biblical example of what I am talking about can be seen in Acts 16 where at midnight Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown in prison, but their darkest hour revealed their positive mindset which was to pray and sing praises to God to the point of not even caring that the other prisoners heard them. Another example can be seen in Judges when Samson arose at midnight and took the doors of the gate of the city and the two post and went away with them bar and all and put them upon his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill that is before Hebron. Samson’s enemies the Philistines were trying to sneak up on him to capture him which parallels a dark hour at that time in his life. His turning point came when he arose at midnight, because had he remained asleep he would have been captured by his enemies. For Christians today it is important to have the mindset to remain active and awake for God. Friends, weeping only endures for a night but joy comes in the morning. And the morning is already here and the dawn soon to follow.
Pray that in our midnights we praise God like Paul and Silas. Pray that we discover love in the darkness like Boaz and Ruth. Pray we are delivered from our bondage like Israel. Pray we find new strength like Sampson. Pray we find persistence and generosity and somehow a way for our needs to be met. Pray we overcome that which is evil. Pray our midnights be turning points that glorify God. Pray we awake to a new day.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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