This present period of time, from the Cross to the Coming of the Lord, is looked at in two ways, viz., it is a day to be followed by a night; it is a night to be succeeded by a day (Isa. 21:11-12).
Speaking of His service as the perfect Servant of God, our Lord said, “I must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9:4). Judging of the times we are living in, we may indeed say, “The day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out “(Jer. 6:4). It is quite evident there remains very little “daylight “now, ere the darkness closes in, and we are compelled to rest from our labours for the Lord.
The great Apostle Paul, viewing things from a different standpoint, says, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand “(Rom. 13:12). In the Gospel of Mark we find the night divided into the four watches—even, midnight, cock-crowing and morning (chap. 13:35). The “Sun of Righteousness “set at Calvary in a stormy scene, and the night set in—long, dark and dreary; no light anywhere visible, but as seen by faith in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:3-6).
The question of Isa 21:11, is given in the margin of the Revised Version as, “Watchman, what hour of the night? “Not the state of the night, as in the text, but what is the time? Weary watchers are longingly looking for the “break of day,” and the rising of the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings (Mai. 4:2). What joy thrills the heart as the watchman’s cry is at last heard, “The morning cometh!” which means the long night vigil is ended.
To all who compose the Church, the Coming One will first appear in the morning watch as “The Bright and Morning Star,” the forerunner of the day (Rev. 22:16). They say, “The darkest hour is just before the dawning”; and as this world state seems to have reached its darkest, then let us comfort our hearts by the words of the beloved apostle John, “We know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:18, R.V.). The hour is made up of moments, quickly passing. It may be any moment now, and we shall hear the thrilling “shout” of our descending Lord, and we shall be “caught up” (the raised and the living saints together) to meet Him “in the air,” in the “twinkling of an eye” (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-58).
But what of the night? Christ who is the only source of Divine light, is “despised and rejected of men”; therefore spiritual darkness covers the face of this evil world, notwithstanding man’s boasted light and knowledge. Make no mistake about this age: it is an age of grossest darkness and fearful retrogression, having rejected the true Light. “The morning cometh, and also the night.” We look for the dawning of a perfect day, without clouds; afterward will come the night of outer darkness for the wicked, that will know no morning!