(Joel 1:13 KJV) Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
It is a spiritual "night" in the house of God.....in the church.
Jesus tells us in the parable of the tares and wheat that the tares were sown while men SLEPT...as you know men sleep at NIGHT:
(Mat 13:25 KJV) But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
The 10 virgins slumbered and slept:
(Mat 25:5 KJV) While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
25: 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Jesus warned his disciples and his people not to go to sleep...to not fall into temptation:
Matthew 26:
40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
The drunks of the church get drunk at night....they think the Lord delays his coming:
(1 Th 5:6 KJV) Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
Th 5:7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
Jesus knew the night was coming when he was to be crucified but he also was letting us know there was a spiritual night coming when no man can work....because Satan was coming with all power to deceive many...even the elect were to stumble...and they have. False christs and false prophets have arisen and deceived many in the church today....the evening....the great falling away of the church.. The church can not see...the church at Laodicea is BLIND as well as wretched, spiritually poor and naked.
John 19:
4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
Immediately after he says this, he makes what seems to be eyesalve as mention in Revelation (18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.) The blind man goes to wash in the pool....the Laodicea church needs to wash its ways as well. Interestingly, also to the church of Laodicea, he is about to spit or spue the lukewarm out of his mouth before he says all this. Jesus spits on the ground...Jesus spues the lukewarm out of his mouth.
6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.:
We are told in Peter that we need to take heed what the prophets have said....because it is from there we learn how the church is in darkness...the understanding of the mysteries of God are like a light shining in a dark place...and we learn that the dawn is coming.
(2 Pet 1:19 KJV) We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
The morning is coming!!!!
Jesus says that to the one who overcomes, he will give the morning star:
(Rev 2:28 KJV) And I will give him the morning star.
We see the bright morning star early in the morning as the faint glow of the day is starting to show...Jesus says he is the bright morning star...who gives eyes that see the hidden knowledge...he gives us the hidden manna that no others can see as of yet. We learn who we really are and the events that are going to happen according to God's plans.
We see this picture when the messenger of the Lord opens the prison door by NIGHT and brings the disciples forth.....likewise, there are those in the church who will be released from bondage to their oppressors (church leaders,etc) who care nothing about the flock (it is spiritual night of the church). Their job is with understanding proclaim the full meaning of ALL the words of God (about this life) to the people of God (in the temple to the people). The NIV bible calls it the "full message"...the NRSV calls it the "whole message". Notice it was EARLY in the MORNING!
Acts 5:
19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,
20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.
21 And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.
Another picture of the night and morning...the hand of the Lord was upon Ezekiel in the evening and his mouth was opened and was no more silent in the morning when the escapee came to him:
Ezek 33:
21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.
22 Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.
Jesus taught people in the morning:
(John 8:2 KJV) And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
Jesus with his saints comes to break the bondage of the oppressors (unjust stewards of the flock) in the MORNING:
Jer 21:11 KJV) And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
21:12 O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
Again, the Messiah comes to save the spiritual needy and shall break in pieces the unjust stewards of the the flock.
(Psa 72:4 KJV) He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
Jesus stated that when one sees all these things coming upon the earth...to lift up our heads because our redemption is coming close:
(Luke 21:28 KJV) And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Redemption from what? Redemption from our sins as the people of God and redemption from the enemies of God. Our soul is BOWED DOWN like the woman who was held in bondage for 18 years.
Psalms 44:
24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
26 Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies' sake.
The people of God are like sheep laid in the grave....death feeds on them....we have become desolate because of the sins of the church....the wolves in sheep clothing have feed on the sheep....they are the vultures who gather at the carcase of the saints...they feed on the people. But the UPRIGHT will have dominion OVER THEM IN THE MORNING!! God redeems His people from the power of the grave (wicked leaders)....He will atone for our sins and we shall have power over the nations if we overcome.
Psalms 49:
14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.
The wicked (Satan's ministers of light) are like vultures who feed on the carcase of the people of God:
(Mat 24:28 KJV) For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Again, this is illustrated in Psalms 79:
79:1 A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.
2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.
The wicked church leaders who won't understand the message in the spiritual morning and repent are like the beasts that perish:
(Psa 49:20 KJV) Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.
Daniel saw the vision of these last days....and it was called the vision of the evening and the morning!
(Dan 8:26 KJV) And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.
There will be no longer night...the wicked will never come into the people of God again....nor His presence.
(Rev 22:5 KJV) And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.