Messiah in Yom Kippur Chapter 22
- Revelation of the Four Times in the Fourth Jewish Gospel
- From the Beginning of the Night to the End of the Night
- From the Cool of the Day to the Heat of the Day
- The Jewish Sixth Hour
- The Seventh Hour
- The Gentile Sixth Hour
- The former Gentile times go forward
- The latter Jewish times go backward
- The Jewish Tenth Hour
- The Gentile Seventh Hour
Revelation of the Four times in the Fourth Jewish Gospel
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the revelation of the Four Times in the Fourth Jewish Gospel and the relationship of these times to Yom Kippur. The numbers of these four times are 10, 6, 7 and 6. The first two hours of the Tenth Hour and the Sixth Hour are Jewish times. The latter two hours of the Seventh Hour and the Sixth Hour are times of the Gentiles.
These references to time are tethered to four events which will be discussed later. The four scripture verses that allude to these Four Times are as follows:
Time #1. The Messiah said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the Tenth Hour (Jewish time, about 4 p.m. ; i.e. in the Cool of the Day).
Time #2. And Jacob’s well was there. Yeshua therefore, being wearied from his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about the Sixth Hour (Jewish time, about 12 noon; i.e. in the Heat of the Day).
Time #3. So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the Seventh Hour (Gentile time, about 7 p.m.; i.e. the Beginning of the Evening) the fever left him.”
Time #4. Now it was the day of preparation for the Pesach (Passover); it was about the Sixth Hour (Gentile time, about 6 a.m.; i.e. End of the Evening & Beginning of the Morning). And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”
From the Beginning of the Night to the End of the Night:
What we find fascinating about these *four times is that the ‘former times’ are Gentile and the ‘latter times’ are Jewish.
We discover in the besorah of Yochanan that there is always a generous equality assigned by the Jewish writer to the Gentiles. Just as there were fourteen names used, seven Jewish names and seven Gentile, in the introductory portion of the besorah of Yochanan ben Zebedee: so now there is an equality of time. The former times of the Gentiles processes forward from the Seventh Hour (7 P.M.) to the Sixth Hour (6 A.M.). This expanse of time is from:
The beginning of the Night to the End of the Night
The Gentile Sixth Hour (6 A.M.) is right at the threshold of the End of the Night and the Beginning of the New Day!
From the Cool of the Day to the Heat of the Day:
The latter Jewish times span from the Seventh Hour (7 P.M.) to the Sixth Hour (6 A.M.). However the Jewish times go backwards instead of forwards. The Jewish times go backwards in time:
From the Cool of the Day to the Heat of the Day.
The Jewish times begin in the middle of the Cool of the Day at the Jewish Tenth Hour (4 P.M.) and then go backwards in time to the beginning of the Heat of the Day at the Jewish Sixth Hour (12 Noon). First, the former Jewish time of the Tenth Hour (4 P.M.) brings to mind the fellowship between Adam and Adonai when they would walk together in the Garden of Eden in the Cool of the Day. The Cool of the Day occurs in the three hours from 3 to 6 P.M.; when the heat of the day is in decline, leading up to sunset and nightfall. Second, the latter Jewish time of the Sixth Hour (12 Noon) brings to mind the sufferings of the Messiah, when he bore our sins on the accursed tree in the Heat of the Day.
The Jewish Sixth Hour:
As just stated the revelation of the Jewish Sixth Hour is the time when the Messiah was in a state of immeasurable suffering and torment beginning at the Sixth Hour (noon, midday) and continuing for three hours until the Ninth Hour (about 3 p.m.).
The Seventh Hour:
“Seven” is the number of completion, perfection and rest. The seventh hour speaks of a completion and rest that is brought about by the universal redemptive ministry of the Messiah here on earth. We read in Genesis that on the seventh (הַשְּׁבִיעִי) day:
וַיְכַל אֱלֹהִים בַּיֹּום הַשְּׁבִיעִי מְלַאכְתֹּו אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וַיִּשְׁבֹּת בַּיֹּום הַשְּׁבִיעִי מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתֹּו אֲשֶׁר עָשָֽׂה׃ וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹהִים אֶת־יֹום הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתֹו כִּי בֹו שָׁבַת מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתֹּו אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים לַעֲשֹֽׂות׃
“By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”
Needless to say the selection of these four times (four being the number of universality in the scriptures) is very interesting.
Why? Because although salvation is of the Jews it is incumbent upon us that we understand the equally important love the heavenly Father has for the Gentiles. It is the calling of the Jewish people—this New Generation of Israel—to take the faith of our fathers, the prophets, the Messiah, and the Messiah’s chosen sent ones (Hebrew: shlichim; Greek: apostles) to all of the nations and peoples of the world. This is what the first Jewish followers of Messiah did almost two thousand years ago. Now all Israel must follow. Only then will Israel be fully Restored and the Shiloh of Adonai come to reign over all the earth!
The Gentile Sixth Hour:
The Gentile Sixth Hour occurs at the End of the Gentile Night, at the very threshold of a New Day. About this end-time (the end of the Gentile night) the Messiah made a very simple comment that is profoundly related to the Revelation of the Four Times:
“Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
What this means simply put is: there are twelve hours of night and there are twelve hours of day. Metaphorically speaking, whether you are a Jew or a Gentile there is twelve hours of night and there is twelve hours of day. In the night we both stumble because we don’t have adequate light to see (i.e. moonlight; cf. written Torah and reflective presence). In the day, however, we do not stumble because we have adequate light to see (i.e. sunlight; cf. Living Torah of the Spirit and Face to face Presence). In the written Torah we see the reflection of the beauty of the Face of Adonai (moonlight; the reflection, not the Source). In the Messiah the Word of God we see the all-surpassing beauty of the actual Face of Adonai (sunlight; the Source):
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt (literally in a Tent) among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten (the only one born out of eternity into Creation) from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Therefore, the Tent of Adonai is the Perfect Adam. He is the Messiah. The Messiah is the Word become Man. He is not a reflection of the Light. He is the Light:
“All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
All the Prophets and the Writings bear witness to the Messiah that He is the Light. Therefore, the Messiah Yeshua said:
“For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become Sons of Light.”
What are we to make of this teaching? Simply put when we are studying the written Torah we are reading only in the reflected light at night-time. However, in the glorious age of the Messiah’s actual physical and spiritual Presence we are studying in the full-light of the day. What does this mean in light of the revelation of the Sixth Hour of the Gentiles? It means in symbolic language that:
Israel is at the end of the Night and the dawning of the New Day!
The former Gentile times go forward:
Since the Gentiles are considered our (Israel’s) *Guests in the Jewish order of time (night to day, day to night) the times of the gentiles occur in the first half of the day (from the evening to the morning). The gentile times happen first and they go forward (7 PM to 6 AM) {selah}. These former Gentile times begin at nightfall (about 7 PM) and end at sunset (6 AM, the first hour of the Jewish day). [*Beta Search Hospitality, Hachnasat Orchim (הכנסת אורחים)]
The latter Jewish times go backward:
The Jewish times occur in the second half of the day (from the morning to the evening). Curiously, the Jewish times do not go forwards. They go backwards {selah}. The latter Jewish times start in the Cool of the Day at the Tenth hour (4 PM) and go backwards to the six hour, to the beginning of the Heat of the Day (12 Noon). As to the general meanings of the three numbers (10, 6, 7). “Ten” is the number of sanctification and it is the number of a legal quorum for worship (cf. chapter 31, Messiah in Rosh HaShanah & Yom Teruah). “Six” is universally the number of Adam-Man.
The Jewish Tenth Hour:
The one unique Jewish time mentioned in the Fourth Jewish Gospel is the Tenth Hour. Ten is a legal number. Ten is the number of a legal quorum for worship (an assembly called a minyan). The number Ten is a symbol of “sanctification.” This why there must be Ten men in a minyan. This why there are Ten Commandments. This is why the most sacred, somber day of the Jewish Calendar must occur on the Tenth day, of the seventh month, Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement).