Thoughts on faith, life, and art.
4. What is the significance of 3:00 am?
What is it about 3 AM? I had long suspected that there was some special significance to it. First and foremost, because that was the time of night I had been harassed by that one demon every night. But also, because that was frequently the time of night I’d get woken up by nightmares. Now, I don’t have nightmares that often. And when I do, they’re usually just that—bad dreams. You know the type. A stress dream, a falling dream, a naked dream, the usual suspects. Sometimes, I even have a regular ol’ scary dream. But these aren’t the kind of nightmares I’m talking about.
I’m talking about a very specific kind of nightmare. You know the type—one where everything is grooving along, it’s totally normal and everything is fine, everything is flowing, when suddenly, out of the blue, something, or rather, someone, shows up who doesn’t belong. The dream instantly takes on a creepy sinister vibe, and before you can even process what’s happened, your dream has suddenly become a horrific nightmare. These dreams usually include the following factors: 1) some type of physical struggle or altercation—either with a person, animal, or some type of monster, 2) there is an instantaneous, off-the-charts anxiety, accompanied by a tight chest, or difficulty breathing, and 3) instantly waking up with a sense of fear and dread.
I began to notice that these types of dreams always seem to happen around the three o’clock hour. Other bad dreams, the normal kind, seem to happen at any time of day or night (when sleeping). But this other kind, always seems to happen, at least for me—somewhere between 3 and 4 o’clock in the morning. Now, we’ll talk about dreams, and demons in dreams at some other point later on. But for now, I want to focus specifically on the time of night that they happen and why. Remember the concept of not letting the sun go down on your anger (Ephesians 4:27)? The reason why is because it will give the devil a foothold. Giving the devil a foothold means that you have opened yourself up for demonization. Here’s a story from scripture that perfectly illustrates that point.
6 As they were coming home,
when David returned from striking down [Goliath],
the women came out of all the cities of Israel,
singing and dancing, to meet King Saul,
with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.
7 And the women sang to one another as they celebrated,
“Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”
8 And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him.
He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands,
and to me they have ascribed thousands,
and what more can he have but the kingdom?”
9 And Saul eyed David from that day on.
10 The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul,
and he raved within his house...
— 1 Samuel 18:6-10a
The women were celebrating and singing their song, and in verse 8, we see that this made Saul “very angry.” This anger was such that it changed the way Saul looked at David “from that day on.” How Saul “eyed David,” is very reminiscent of how Cain responded to Abel when God did not regard Cain’s sacrifice, yet accepted Abel’s. In fact, just like the passage said, “Saul was very Angry,” the story of Cain and Abel uses the same exact language: “Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it’” (Genesis 4:5-7).
Saul was very angry at David. Sin was crouching at the door for him just like it was for Cain. And Saul, just like Cain, failed to rule over it as well. We know the end result for Cain, he killed his brother—and in the story with Saul and David, it ends with Saul trying to kill David!
10 while David was playing the lyre,
as he did day by day.
Saul had his spear in his hand.
11 And Saul hurled the spear,
for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.”
But David evaded him twice.
— 1 Samuel 18:10b-11
Saul very clearly sinned in his anger. He had murder in his heart, just like Cain. But here’s the point: verse 10 begins with, “the next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul.” Why? Because the sun had gone down on Saul’s anger. The next day, when the sun came back up, Saul had given the devil an opportunity / foothold / ground against him, and that opened him up to allow a harmful spirit to rush upon him. In other words, he became demonized, “and he raved within his house.” Yes, but what does this have to do with 3:00 AM? Because 3:00 AM is the cutoff for when the sun has gone down. Let’s look at the military “night watches” found in the Bible to understand this deeper. One scholar writes this about the watches:
The Jews, like the Greeks and Romans, divided the night into military watches instead of hours, each watch representing the period for which sentinels or pickets remained on duty. The proper Jewish reckoning recognized only three such watches, entitled the first or "beginning of the watches" (Lamentations 2:19), the middle watch (Judges 7:19), and the morning watch (Exodus 14:24; 1 Samuel 11:11). These would last respectively from sunset to 10 PM; from 10 PM to 2 AM; and from 2 AM to sunrise. . . Subsequently to the establishment of the Roman supremacy, the number of watches was increased to four, which were described either according to their numerical order, as in the case of the "fourth watch" (Matthew 14:25), or by the terms “even, midnight, cock-crowing and morning” (Mark 13:35). These terminated respectively at 9 P.M., midnight, 3 A.M. and 6 A.M. [1]
That first excerpt showed the beginning and end times of each of the night watches. Now, here’s another scholar who explains the names by which these individual watches were called:
The precise beginning and ending of each of the four watches, is thus determined.
1. Οψε, “the late,” began at sun-set, and ended with the third hour of the night, including the evening dawn, or twilight. It was also called οψια ὡρα, even-tide, Mark 11:11; or simply οψια, evening, John 20:19, etc.
2. Μεσονυκτιον, “the midnight,” lasted from the third hour till midnight.
3. Αλεκτοροφωνια, “the cock-crowing,” midnight till the third hour after, or the ninth hour of the night. It included the two cock-crowings, with the second or principal of which, it ended.
4. Πρωι, “the early,” lasted from the ninth to the twelfth hour of the night, or sun-rise, including the morning dawn, or twilight. It was also called πρωια, morning, or morning-tide, (ὡρα being understood,) John 18:28, etc. [2]
Putting it all together, and hopefully making things more succinct—the four military night watches are as follows:
First Watch, “the evening watch,” 6:00 P.M. — 9:00 P.M.
Second Watch, “the midnight watch,” 9:00 P.M. — 12:00 A.M.
Third Watch, “the cock-crowing watch,” 12:00 A.M. — 3:00 A.M.
Fourth Watch, “the sun-rise watch,” 3:00 A.M. — 6:00 A.M.
Why might we need to know wartime military watches? Because the Bible reminds us that we are at war against the spiritual powers of darkness. “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh” (2 Corinthians 10:3). “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). And that is why the Apostle writes, “Be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). We are at war, and we are told to be watchful—because our enemy is also being watchful, “seeking someone to devour.” And our enemy, the devil, is watching for one thing in particular—an “opportunity.” And that opportunity just so happens to come at 3:00 AM.
God’s word tells us not to “let the sun go down” on our sin, and if you look at the military watches—it is after the Third Watch that the sun can no longer be said to be “going down.” Why? Because the Fourth Watch is called “the sun-rise watch,” where the sun actually starts rising again. The enemy, who prowls around like a lion, is looking for someone to devour. If by the third watch, we have not confessed and repented of our sin, we will have given the devil an opportunity, and in the Fourth Watch, he will take it. Keep in mind, this has nothing to do with salvation. Our sins, past, present, and future, were forgiven at the cross of Calvary. But make no mistake—in the hundreds of cases of demonization that I have personally dealt with—the demon always ends up being present in a person’s life because of some unconfessed and unrepentant sin. And most importantly, when they finally confess and repent of that sin—the demon always has to go.
So, let us conclude by reminding ourselves to be watchful. Be watchful, as God’s word says, for an enemy who is always watching us, looking for an opportunity to take hold of us and devour us. But more importantly, let us be watchful for the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who will deal with our enemy once and for all. And in his own words, Jesus reminds us the very same thing—to be watchful for his return. And quick side note: he just so happens to reference all four of the military watches in the process!
32 “But concerning that day or that hour,
no one knows, not even the angels in heaven,
nor the Son, but only the Father.
33 Be on guard, keep awake.
For you do not know when the time will come.
34 It is like a man going on a journey,
when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge,
each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.
35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come,
in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—
36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.
37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
— Mark 13:32-37
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1. William Smith, A Dictionary of the Bible: Comprising its Antiquities, Biography, Geography, and Natural History, (John Murray, 1893), Page 1722.
2. William Hales, A New Analysis of Chronology and Geography, History and Prophecy, Vol. 1, (C.J.G. & F. Rivington, 1830), page 14, 15.
(posted 04-06-23)