At Twilight Time

As the temperatures rise, I’ve developed a certain appreciation for the end of the day when the sun is going down. As evening draws on, the air gets a little cooler, the cool of the evening, maybe a light breeze.

Especially, those hot Texas days that are coming when even a couple of degrees cooler standing in the shadows is refreshing.

Sitting out on the back deck or patio, or evening walks

Just after the sun sets it starts to get quiet. You can still see the sunlit sky above the horizon. Often that’s when you see the most spectacular colors. And things seem to start to settle just a bit. They calm down just a bit. The street lights sense the impending darkness and start to turn on. When they first came out, we called them “electric eyes”. Now they’re photosensors. Either way, street lights and the devices in people’s yards that sense the changes in lighting begin turning on.

Maybe that’s why they call it nightfall, as night just begins to fall, things calm down. The birds and the people begin to settle in for the night. This period of time, between sundown and night we call dusk or my preference, twilight.

 

Twilight in the Old Testament

 

Twilight, a compound word combining two syllables, “twi-“ and “-light”. When you think of the syllable “twi” it might make you think of two as in twin. While it does convey a sense of two, it more precisely conveys a sense of “tween”, as in “between,” twi-light, the light between two events.

In Hebrew, there’s a phase that describes twilight perfectly. That phrase is “ben ha arbayim”.  And that phase will be the focus of our study today.

“Ben ha arbayim” is an interesting expression. And that is exactly what it is, an expression. You won’t find it in Strong’s Concordance. Strongs only translates words not expressions or phrases. In fact, in each of the eleven instances where the expression “ben ha arbayim” is used in the Bible, Strongs and the King James get it wrong and translate it as “erev”, at even.

 

Pronounced “beyn”, it means “between”

“ha” an article meaning “the” and

“arbayim”-

Arbayim is a bit more complex. It derives from the same root as the word “erev” (H6153) which is often translated as “even”, “evening”, “dusk”, or “eventide”.

Delving into the root, we find the word “arab” (H6150). Yes, that arab. It’s where we get the word Arabia. It means to grow dusky or dark, to become evening.

By adding the suffix “im” to “arbayim”, it becomes plural, “two darknesses or evenings.”

When translated to English, the phrase means, “between the (two) evenings” or just “between the evenings”. It describes twilight perfectly. The first darkness or evening occurs after the sun has just dropped fully below the horizon, we call this sunset. The word “erev” is used to describe sunset, when the sun touches the horizon to when it has dropped completely below the horizon. It is stated more precisely as “ba erev”, at sunset. That is the first evening. The second evening is when it gets totally dark. One evening when the sun has set and the second evening when it becomes totally dark.

During, this period of time it is still light out for another 30 minutes or so to maybe as long as an hour depending on location and time of year.

We view the sun setting as marking the end of the day and it does, yet the day isn’t over by our reckoning until midnight. But more importantly, in God’s view it marks the beginning of a new day.

Between the evenings is the time between when the sun has set below the horizon, no longer visible, and before total darkness. It is dusk or twilight time at the beginning of the day on God’s calendar.

Between the (Two) Evenings – “ben ha arbayim”

 

There are only eleven instances of the phrase “ben ha arbayim” in the Bible. So, we’re going to review each one. And if I do this correctly, we will see it has an important connection to the Passover.

Of the eleven times the phase “ben ha arbayim” is used in the Old Testament the King James translation somehow missed all eleven, choosing instead to translate it as “at even” or “evening”.

 

Passover killing the lamb in Egypt

Exo 12:1-8 KJV

(1)  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

(2)  This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

(3)  Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:

(4)  And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.

(5)  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

(6)  And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. [at sunset, ba erev]

(7)  And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. (at home)

(8)  And they shall eat the flesh in that night, [layelâh] roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

This has led to some confusion as to whether the lamb was to be killed at sunset on the 14th or the night before on the 13th just after sunset.

We are blessed to have Robert Young’s Literal Translation, the YLT, as it shows us when ben ha arbayim appears in the Hebrew and translates it correctly. First published in 1862, the Literal Translation is, as the name implies, a very literal translation of the original Hebrew and Greek texts.

 

Exo 12:6 YLT 

(6)  'And it hath become a charge to you, until the fourteenth day of this month, and the whole assembly of the company of Israel have slaughtered it between the evenings; [at twilight, ben ha arbayim]

(8)  'And they have eaten the flesh in this night, [layelâh] roast with fire; with unleavened things and bitters they do eat it;

 

For it to be killed at ben ha arbayim which occurs after sunset and to still be on the 14th, it would have to be killed after sunset the day before at the beginning of the 14th.

 

Passover Keeping

We will now look at a few passages instructing us in keeping the Passover.

Lev 23:4-6 KJV

(4)  These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.

(5)  In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover.

(6)  And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

This too has caused some confusion as to when to keep the Passover. In the fourteenth day at even has been interpreted by some to mean at the end of the 14th at sunset causing them to incorrectly keep the Passover on the 15th combining the 14th with the Feast of Unleavened starting the 15th. However, Young makes this passage plain by properly translating ben ha arbayim.

 

 

Lev 23:4-6 YLT 

(4)  'These are appointed seasons of Jehovah, holy convocations, which ye proclaim in their appointed seasons:

(5)  in the first month, on the fourteenth of the month, between the evenings, [at twilight, ben ha arbayim] is the passover to Jehovah;

(6)  and on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast of unleavened things to Jehovah; seven days unleavened things ye do eat;

 

Now, if it’s got to be on the fourteenth day of the month, when is ben ha arbayim on the fourteenth? Between the two evenings at the start of the fourteenth, which is after sunset on the thirteenth. If it were at sunset at the end of the fourteenth, it would actually be on the fifteenth.

The children of Israel are to continue to keep the Passover.

 

Num 9:1-5 KJV

(1)  And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

(2)  Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season.

(3)  In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, [ba erev] ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.

(4)  And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.

(5)  And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even [ba erev] in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.

 

What does Young’s Literal Translation say?

Num 9:3-5 YLT 

(3)  in the fourteenth day of this month between the evenings [at twilight, ben ha arbayim at the beginning of the 14th] ye prepare it in its appointed season; according to all its statutes, and according to all its ordinances ye prepare it.'

(4)  And Moses speaketh unto the sons of Israel to prepare the passover,

(5)  and they prepare the passover in the first month , on the fourteenth day of the month, between the evenings, [at twilight, ben ha arbayim] in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that Jehovah hath commanded Moses, so have the sons of Israel done.

 

 

Someone who couldn’t make the Passover ceremony when it was originally scheduled because he had been in contact with a dead body and was defiled, or was travelling, provision was made to keep it in the second month of the year.

 

Num 9:10-11 KJV

(10)  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.

(11)  The fourteenth day of the second month at even [ba erev] they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

 

 

Num 9:10-11 YLT 

(10)  'Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, Though any man is unclean by a body or in a distant journey (of you or of your generations), yet he hath prepared a passover to Jehovah;

(11)  in the second month, on the fourteenth day, between the evenings [at twilight, ben ha arbayim] they prepare it; with unleavened and bitter things they eat it;

This is very clear.

 

Daily sacrifices and offerings

Now we have a few passages with instructions on carrying out daily sacrifices and offerings.

Exo 29:38-41 KJV

(38)  Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually.

(39)  The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: [ba erev]

Now it’s unfortunate the morning is mentioned first as it causes confusion that the morning one comes first, when actually the evening sacrifice comes first being at the beginning of the day.

(40)  And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering.

(41)  And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, [ba erev] and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

 

Exo 29:39, 41 YLT 

(39)  the one lamb thou dost prepare in the morning, and the second lamb thou dost prepare between the evenings; [at twilight, ben ha arbayim]

(41)  'And the second lamb thou dost prepare between the evenings; [at twilight, ben ha arbayim] according to the present of the morning, and according to its libation, thou dost prepare for it, for sweet fragrance, a fire-offering, to Jehovah: —

 

He doesn’t correct the order but plainly says one occurs at ben ha arbayim, the beginning of the day.

 

Num 28:1-4, 8 KJV

(1)  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

(2)  Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season.

(3)  And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto the LORD; two lambs of the first year without spot day by day, for a continual burnt offering.

(4)  The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at even; [ba erev]

(8)  And the other lamb shalt thou offer at even: [ba erev] as the meat offering of the morning, and as the drink offering thereof, thou shalt offer it, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

 

Same issue. I can see how over time day after day it would seem that the first offering is done in the morning and the second is done at the end of the day. Young makes it clear though.

 

Num 28:4, 8 YLT 

(4)  the one lamb thou preparest in the morning, and the second lamb thou preparest between the evenings; [at twilight, ben ha arbayim]

 

(8)  'And the second lamb thou dost prepare between the evenings; [at twilight, ben ha arbayim] as the present of the morning, and as its libation thou preparest—a fire-offering, a sweet fragrance to Jehovah.

 

As we’ve learned ben ha arbayim, twilight, begins the day.

 

Lighting the Temple Lamps

And we have one passage regarding lighting the temple lamps.

 

Exo 30:7-8 KJV

(7)  And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.

(8)  And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, [ba erev] he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.

 

Exo 30:8 YLT 

(8)  and in Aaron's causing the lamps to go up between the evenings, [at twilight, ben ha arbayim] he doth perfume it; a continual perfume before Jehovah to your generations.

 

The Jews have mistakenly interpreted the evening to begin at the ninth hour, 3:00 pm in the afternoon and some even as early as right after noon when the sun begins its traverse towards going down. Traditions of men. Why would Aaron light the lamps during the daylight at 3:00 pm in the afternoon?

When do you turn the lights on at your house? In the middle of the afternoon or when it starts to get dark?

 

Proof of the Quails

 

Exo 16:1-3, 8-13 KJV

(1)  And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

(2)  And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

(3)  And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

(8)  And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening [ba erev] flesh to eat, and in the morning [boqer] bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.

(9)  And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the LORD: for he hath heard your murmurings.

(10)  And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.

(11)  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

(12)  I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even [ba erev] ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning [boqer] ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God.

(13)  And it came to pass, that at even [ba erev] the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.

 

Exo 16:6-8 YLT

(6)  And Moses saith—Aaron also—unto all the sons of Israel, 'Evening— [ba erev] and ye have known that Jehovah hath brought you out from the land of Egypt;

(7)  and morning—and ye have seen the honour of Jehovah, in His hearing your murmurings against Jehovah, and what are we, that ye murmur against us?'

(8)  And Moses saith, 'In Jehovah's giving to you in the evening [ba erev]  flesh to eat, and bread in the morning to satiety—in Jehovah's hearing your murmurings, which ye are murmuring against Him, and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against Jehovah.'

 

Notice he says, “evening” in both places. In the evening at sunset [ba erev] you will know it is the Lord Jehovah (v. 6 when you see the quails arrive) and (v. 8) when Jehovah gives you the quail in the evening at sunset [ba erev]. Young properly translates both of these as the evening sunset.

 

Exo 16:11-14 YLT

(11)  And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

(12)  'I have heard the murmurings of the sons of Israel; speak unto them, saying, Between the evenings ye eat flesh, and in the morning ye are satisfied with bread, and ye have known that I am Jehovah your God.'

(13)  And it cometh to pass in the evening, [ba erev]  that the quail cometh up, and covereth the camp, and in the morning there hath been the lying of dew round about the camp,

(14)  and the lying of the dew goeth up, and lo, on the face of the wilderness a thin, bare thing, thin as hoar-frost on the earth.

 

Take careful note as to when it says, God will give them quails at sunset and when God says they will eat the quails at twilight, between the evenings.

Verses 6, 8, and 13 talk about when God will give them the quails, when they will arrive in the camp. Both the King James and Youngs correctly say “at even” or “evening”, [ba erev] is when they will witness the quails falling all over the camp. The quail come up, they arrive at sunset.

Only verse 12 says when they will eat the quails. The King James says, “at even ye shall eat flesh” and Youngs says, “between the evenings ye eat flesh”. Once again the King James gets it wrong while Young gets it correct. They will begin to eat the quails between the evenings, at twilight, ben ha arbayim after sunset!

You can’t eat the quail before they arrive! They have to arrive at sunset before you can eat them after sunset at twilight. This proves once again that when God said to kill the lambs between the evenings, He meant after sunset the thirteenth at the beginning of the fourteenth. (Exo 12:6)

Why could they not eat the quail until after sunset?

 

Proof of the Manna

 

Notice what it says in the verses regarding the manna.

 

Exo 16:4-5, 8, 12-17 KJV

(4)  Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

(5)  And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.

(8)  And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD.

(12)  I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God.

 

Exo 16:12 YLT

(12)  'I have heard the murmurings of the sons of Israel; speak unto them, saying, Between the evenings ye eat flesh, and in the morning ye are satisfied with bread, and ye have known that I am Jehovah your God.'

At twilight you shall eat flesh and that morning you shall eat bread (manna)

 

 

Exo 16:13-17 KJV

(13)  And it came to pass, that at even [at sunset] the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.

(14)  And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.

(15)  And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

(16)  This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.

(17)  And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.

 

This was the first day they gathered manna. It was the first of the six days that they would gather it.

 

Exo 16:22-23 KJV

(22)  And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

(23)  And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

 

Exo 16:25-30 KJV

(25)  And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field.

(26)  Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.

(27)  And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.

(28)  And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?

(29)  See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.

(30)  So the people rested on the seventh day.

 

The seventh day, the 22^nd day of the second month, one week after the quail was a Sabbath.

And that means one week earlier, the 15^th day of the second month had to be a Sabbath also.

They couldn’t eat the quail until after sunset, beginning at twilight, because that day was the Sabbath! God wouldn’t let them violate the Sabbath by slaughtering and roasting quail over an open fire on the Sabbath.

Some may say, “Yeah, but I thought they arrived in the wilderness of Sin on the 15^th. They wouldn’t have been traveling on the 15^th, right?”

 

What day does it say they arrive in the wilderness of Sin? Verse one.

 

Exo 16:1-2 KJV

(1)  And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

(2)  And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

 

This is some unfortunate phrasing as it ignores a very important Hebrew accent mark, the atnah. The atnah is used to express division of thoughts in the Hebrew text. In other words, the atnah divides the verse into two units of thought, similar to the semicolon in English.

The word Sinai has an atnah attached to it in the Hebrew and as such requires a full pause separating it’s thought from the next portion of the text.

More proper phraseology would be read like this –

And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai; [full pause] And on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt, the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

In other words, they didn’t arrive on the 15^th on a Sabbath day. The 15^th was the day they murmured about not having anything to eat.

We know this has to be true because of the proof of the manna. The manna began the very next day after the 15^th, on the 16^th, the first day of the week and ended seven days later on the following Sabbath the 22^nd.

If the 22^nd was a Sabbath, the 15^th had to be a Sabbath!

 

The Selfsame Day

Now, what day did they depart Egypt? Numbers chapter thirty-three.

 

Num 33:3 KJV

(3)  And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.

It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD. (Exo 12:42)

Why am I pointing this out?

The Passover lambs were killed on the 14th of Nisan, the evening before on the 13th after sunset, between the two evenings. They ate the Passover lamb that night and burned the leftovers so nothing remained until morning. (Exo 12:10)

At midnight that same night the Lord passed over and spared their firstborn but killed the firstborn of Egypt. They did not go out of their houses until sunrise of the 14th. (Exo 12:22) They had no idea how long it would take for the firstborn of Egypt to be killed so the only command they had was to not go out of their houses until morning. No way they were going out! Once they saw the sunrise, they knew it was okay.

After sunrise during the Passover day, they began spoiling the Egyptians. (Exo 12:36)

The tribes of Israel then gathered in Rameses. After sunset of the 14th, they departed. It was the 15th of Nisan a Night to be Much Observed! (Exo 12:42)

Notice the days of the week on the calendar. The 14th of Nisan was a Wednesday. Christ was crucified also on a Wednesday some 1230 years later. He was laid to rest in His grave just before sunset. The night the Israelites left Egypt free from bondage in Egypt was the selfsame night we were freed from the bondage of sin and death.

A Night to be Much Observed!

 

Why is This Important?

Our study of the difference between “ba erev – at sunset” and “ben ha arbayim – between the (two) evenings proves that we are keeping the Passover on the correct day, the 14^th of Nisan, after sunset on the 13^th.

Our God is a God of order and precision. When we see evidence of His faithfulness we know we can trust Him and our faith grows.

 

Conclusion

I wish you all an enjoyable Night to be Much Observed when you go out with a high hand. I hope from now on you will always remember twilight time as an important time for the Israel of God.

It’s a wonderful time of transition to a new day.

And according the Platters 1958 #1 hit single entitled, “Twilight Time” it’s a wonderful time to rendezvous with your darling and fall in love again in the afterglow of day together at last at twilight time.

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Memorial Day - A Lesson of Service Before Self

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend and this Monday, in particular, is Memorial Day. What does Memorial Day mean to you? To many people, maybe most, it means the day off and hot dogs, hamburgers, and the pool opens. Generally, these are the things we look forward to on this day, family, friends, picnics, the beach, and maybe a beer or two. 

What should Memorial Day mean to us? Why do we have Memorial Day? 

It’s Not About Us – a Story 

The Patriot Guard Riders is a volunteer organization that provides motorcycle escort of the dead bodies of those who have died while serving in the military. They provide escort from the airport to the funeral home or from the funeral home to the cemetery. They will also stand a perimeter around the burial site during the funeral itself in silent respect while holding an American flag. 

Many are veterans themselves who recognize the tragedy the family is facing and want to bring a sense of meaning and honor to their sacrifice. Their motto – “Standing for those who stood for us”. Their unwritten byword – “It’s not about us”. 

With just a few days’ notice, the Patriot Guard Riders of Texas received the call that a military aircraft from Dover AFB would be arriving at Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport at 6:00 pm carrying the remains of a fallen soldier. The call went out. Many volunteers answered the call. 

The mission: to provide motorcycle escort of the casket from the Houston Airport to the Lake Jackson area, the Restwood Funeral Home in Clute, TX to be exact, a 74-mile trip where the family would be waiting. 

Twenty-five men or more awaited the arrival that evening. Men, many who had served in various branches of the armed forces, some who had lost comrades, a few who had had them die in their arms on the battlefield. Men who loved their country and fellow patriots. Rain was in the forecast that night, heavy rain, torrential rain. The Patriot Guard leader announced that those who preferred not to continue under such conditions could be released. The number dwindled to a dozen who were still willing to make the ride in the rain, in the dark to honor this young man and accompany him home to his Momma and his family. 

It reminds me of when Gideon was forming an army to go up against the Midianites. He started out with 32,000 men and then made the following announcement: 

Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. (Jdg 7:3) 

 Was this young man a hero? They didn’t know. They didn’t know how or why he died. The how and why didn’t matter. What mattered was, his mother was waiting on the other end. She was waiting for her boy who just a year earlier had left to join the Army and she hadn’t seen him since. 

The family had given him a sendoff with such fanfare and swelling pride in the choice he had made to serve his country. And here they were just a year later waiting on a rainy night for his return in a simple pine coffin wrapped in a cardboard box. 

And what an insult on top of tragedy it would have been for a single, lonely hearse to have arrived in the dark of night to deliver the body to the funeral home without any formalities, without any acknowledgement of the sacrifice that had been made, without any recognition of the shattering sense of loss the family experienced. Just a simple pine box wrapped in cardboard dropped off like some ordinary delivery. 

The men of the Patriot Guard were led in prayer that evening by one of those remaining as they always did. Asking for God’s protection and God’s blessing on the family that awaited on the other end. 

It was a most treacherous ride. The rain that had been forecasted did come and it was torrential as predicted. It came down in a deluge upon the riders. At times they could only see the tail light of the motorcycle in front of them in the procession as they rode through the dark, uncertain of the roadway beneath them and of the depth of the water they rode through. Each motorcycle with just two small patches of tire just 4 square inches each making contact with the highway holding them upright and on course. 

They could have given up at any point along the way, forsaking the mission in favor of safety and taking shelter under an overpass or at a gas station. No one would have thought less of them if they had. But they pressed on, determined, with the family ever in mind and the loss they surely felt for their beloved son. 

When they arrived, the whole family was there at the funeral home awaiting the arrival of the hearse containing the son they loved and lost. They had no idea anyone else was coming, just the hearse. They did not expect to see the dozen brave souls who had risked their own lives to make sure this boy was not forgotten but arrived with proper respect and honor. 

The boy’s mother hugged each and every rider so tightly, water from their rain-soaked clothing drenched the floor. She thanked them profusely over and over that they had not allowed her son’s arrival to have been in vain, a mere package dropped off at the door. She immediately understood the profound meaning of what these men had done for her son and for her and for her family. 

Virtually to a man, their response, “It’s my honor, ma’am. So sorry for your loss.” 

Meaning Behind “Memorial Day” 

Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. 

 Every year at the end of the month of May, we take time to remember those who have died in military service to our nation defending the freedoms and values we hold dear. Their service should not go unnoticed, nor their sacrifice unacknowledged. 

There’s nothing wrong with loving the country that God gave us and so richly blessed when he fulfilled his covenantal promise to Abraham. 

God put a hedge of protection around our nation and it’s our military that stands guard to enforce that protection. It is by God’s grace that we get to live in America and because of the sacrifice of those who serve that we get to live and enjoy a life of relative peace and safety. 

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, it was started in the years following the Civil War. The date of Decoration Day, May 30th, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle. 

But in 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees. The change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday. 

This change contributed to the loss of the true meaning of the day as it became about the three-day weekend, parties, picnics, trips to the beach, and the official opening of the swimming pool. Unofficially, it marks the beginning of the summer season. 

Memorial Day, as Decoration Day gradually came to be known, originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars, including World War I, World War II, The Vietnam War, The Korean War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, and participating in parades. 

 Just 17 months prior to Robert E. Lee’s surrender marking the end of the Civil War, then President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, gathered a congregation on the battlefield of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the location of one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War to dedicate the cemetery there where they buried the dead. He read these following words. Many of you have probably memorized some or all of this speech in grade school, as I did, known as "The Gettysburg Address". It’s words still ring true today. 

Address Delivered at the Dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg 

 Abraham Lincoln 

 November 19, 1863 

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

 Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. 

 I wonder if we’ve learned that lesson as we stand today on the precipice of what many believe will be another civil war to tear our nation apart. 

Yes, we honor those who have fallen in war. Their service makes the freedoms we hold dear possible. Abraham Lincoln described such men and women as those "who gave the last full measure of devotion to that cause,” that all men are created equal, created in the image of God. 

We too have a devotion to a cause, the cause of Christ and yes, a new government, the coming Kingdom of God. Where man shall beat his weapons into plowshares and pruning hooks and neither shall they learn war any more. 

Memorial Day does not glorify war. We’re not glorifying war by observing it. If anything, it reminds us of the futility and the senselessness of war. 

 Where does war come from? Why do we war? Man has not learned the lessons of war. Why not? He has a heart problem. Until God’s law is written in his heart, we’ll always be at war. 

James 4:1-4 KJV (1) From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? (2) Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. (3) Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. (4) Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 

All war – national wars, civil unrest, church wars, hate of all sorts. We want what we want and we want it now. And we’re willing to fight for it. 

We’ll always have war in this world as long as the present god of this evil age rules in the hearts of men. Until Christ comes. 

Some believe there is never a justification for war. They believe we should always be able to talk it out in a rational conversation, to work out our differences. They may be right. I wish they were but I think we see now that both sides are not always rational. So, will we say, “Peace, peace at any price?” 

We may think that honoring those who have fought and died in war is a terrible thing to do, that it somehow sanctions war. We hate war. We avoid war if at all possible and go to war only as a last resort. The loss of life is an inevitable, unavoidable consequence of war and we know that at the outset. So, we try every means possible to avoid war but all too often our grievances are too great. Once we convince ourselves there’s no other way, we steel ourselves for the inevitable and the unavoidable. 

So, instead of learning our lesson, we set aside time to visit the graves of those lost in war. We don’t visit the graves of our lost loved ones for their sake. They’re in their graves and the dead know nothing. 

No, we visit their graves for our sake. We mourn their loss and we remember their lives. We miss the individuals we knew and loved and we’re thankful and grateful for their sacrifice. We’re grateful for the sacrifice made by all those who took the war to the enemy in a foreign land and kept the horrors of war from our shores. We take the time to reflect and to appreciate the freedoms we have because of their efforts to ensure those back home can live in peace and safety. And hopefully, we’re reminded of the senselessness of war. Hopefully, this time we learn the lessons that war brings. 

There are those who decry our military. They call them warmongers, baby killers, and hawks and any sort of demeaning name you can name. They have that right. And yet it’s interesting to note, they do so from the comfort of their nice warm homes with a hot meal on the table, and no enemies pounding on the doors. 

 George Orwell is quoted as having said, “People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. " 

 I think he’s right. It’s easy to renounce violence when the evil hordes aren’t invading your neighborhood. 

Orwell cited a phrase from Rudyard Kipling's poem entitled, “Tommy” when he said, "making mock of uniforms that guard you while you sleep" (Kipling, Tommy), and further noted that Kipling's "grasp of function, of who protects whom, is very sound. He sees clearly that men can be highly civilized only while other men, inevitably less civilized, are there to guard … them." (1942)” 

Unfortunately, we live in a world that requires that men stand guard over us. 

In the famous scene from the movie, “A Few Good Men”, Jack Nicholson’s character, Col. Nathan Jessep says this in response to Tom Cruse’s character who shouted, “I want the truth!” – 

“You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has walls. And those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You?... You have the luxury of not knowing what I know:… And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty...we use these words as the backbone to a life spent defending something. You use 'em as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said 'thank you' and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post.” – Jack Nicholson as Col. Nathan Jessep in the movie, “A Few Good Men”. 

These men, “rough men” as Orwell calls them, are willing to stand in the gap to guard us because they believe in the values and freedoms with which we’re blessed, that our way of life is worth defending. They love their country and their fellow countrymen and are willing to die for it. 

 It’s okay to love our country. God gave it to us. We’re just sojourners here, it’s true, and we seek a better country, a heavenly. (Heb 11:16) But until that day comes, we live in this country and we should be thankful that we do. We live in America by the grace of God. We could live in China or Iran or North Korea or some other country where Christians are losing their lives for their faith. 

The prophet Samuel tried to warn the nation of Israel what would happen if they insisted on having a king to rule over them like the other nations. 

1Sa 8:10-22 KJV (10) And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. (11) And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. (12) And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 

 (18) And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. (19) Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; (20) That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. (21) And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. (22) And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. 

The king we, the nation of Israel, insisted upon has indeed conscripted our young men into military service. And they have been shipped off to strategic locations around the world. We can debate as to whether or not each war is just or unjust without ever coming to a consensus. 

But I think we can all agree that we should grieve for those who have died in those wars and that their families are worthy of our compassion and respect for the sacrifices they have made. 

We are all grateful for the sacrifice of the men and women who provide that blanket of freedom we sleep under, or at least we should be. And unfortunately, some have made the supreme sacrifice. They laid down their very lives for their families, friends, and countrymen. 

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 

The Ultimate Memorial Day 

The children of God have another “Memorial Day”, a spiritual one that supersedes all others, mandated by Christ himself and carries eternal significance, and ramifications, and expectations. 

Jesus Christ told his disciples, and us, many things the night before his crucifixion. We rehearse them and are reminded of them every Passover. 

He told us to remember, and to memorialize the occasion, AND to continue to do likewise every year. To DO! Not just remember but to do it. Do as he did, the bread and wine of the new covenant to refresh our memories of the vow we made and agreed to. 

Luk 22:19-20 KJV  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. (20)  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

 Paul reminds the Corinthians and us – 

1Cor 11:23-26 KJV (23) For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: (24) And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. (25) After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. (26) For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 

When we memorialize someone, we remember things about them, the things we did together, what they were like, how we felt, the emotions. We relive it in a sense. 

We’re told to relive that moment, to feel the sense of loss yet at the same time the love and compassion Jesus has towards us. That while we were yet unworthy He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, might live for righteousness— and by whose stripes we were healed. (1Pet 2:24; Isa 53:5) 

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, made the ultimate sacrifice dying in our stead that we may live and have life more abundantly. We’re reminded that he did this for us. He did it for all mankind, but personalizing it, he did it for you, he did it for me. Remembering that touches us deeply on a personal level. 

Christ showed us an example of how to love others - love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. On these hang all the law and the prophets. (Mark12:30-31; Matt 22:40) And he told us to love one another. (John 13:34-35) 

John 15:10-17 KJV (10) If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. (11) These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. (12) This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. (13) Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (14) Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. (15) Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. (16) Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. (17) These things I command you, that ye love one another. 

He told us that we should love each other as he loved us - watch over each other, care for each other, provide for each other, protect each other, even lay down our very lives for each other. 

1John 2:5-6 KJV  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.  (6)  He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

1John 3:14-16 KJV  We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.  (15)  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.  (16)  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

So, you see, when we observe Memorial Day, we get a glimpse of what that’s like. To stand up for someone else, to put their needs, their happiness, their safety before out own. 

Memorial Day isn’t about war. It’s about service. Service before self. 

We are to band together as brothers and sisters in Christ. Those Patriot Guard Riders, had it been a single rider he might have given up. But because they banded together, each fortified and strengthened the other. They were on this mission together to serve the cause, focused on the goal of the mission. 

We as brothers and sisters in Christ band together and fortify and strengthen each other too. We’re in this together to serve the cause, focused on the Kingdom. 

God gave us a number of – 

Memorials to Look Forward To 

We rehearse them every year lest we forget their true meaning and they devolve into little more than vacations and family gatherings. 

God has a Memorial Day Plan for us instilled from the foundation of the world. He instituted his Sabbath Day at the Creation. He dedicated it. He consecrated it. He hallowed it. He set it aside and made it holy to be remembered every seven days, every seven years, every fifty years. 

He instituted his annual Holy Days to be memorialized every year – Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Eighth Day, that Last Great Day. 

God tells us to remember his Sabbaths and to keep them holy. (Eze 20:12) 

God has a great plan of salvation and hope for those lost in war and for their families. Mankind’s prayers for peace and an end to war will finally be answered. The prophet Isaiah writes that nations will one day "beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore" (Isaiah 2:4). 

Never again will a heartbroken mother take receipt of her son in a pine box covered in cardboard. God will remove the scourge of war from mankind forever and install His great peace—the Kingdom of God. 

Amazingly the innumerable casualties and victims of war will experience physical life again: 

Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. (6) I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD." (Eze 37:5-6 NKJV ) 

You can imagine that distraught mother, seeing her son in the resurrection for the first time since he left for boot camp. It's difficult to picture this great reunion without choking up. 

Any injuries inflicted during war will be instantly healed. Blindness, hearing loss, and amputation will no longer scar and afflict these men and women of the military. 

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert. (Isa 35:5-6 NKJV) 

That young man will be just as strong and able-bodied as his mother once knew him. 

The Ride Home 

The rain had passed and a starlit night guided the rider’s way home. It was a glorious night! I’ll never forget that ride home, the balmy evening, the fresh air that dried my clothing, and the sense of accomplishment of a good deed done with a right heart and a purpose pleasing to God in heaven. 

I recalled the momentary smile on that mother’s forlorn face when she saw those twelve men bringing her son home with honor, braving a torrential rainstorm. I think God brought that rainstorm just for her. It made the sacrifice of the riders that much more precious to her. I have no doubt either that God watched over us that night to ensure our save arrival. 

On the ride home, at times it was equally as difficult to see the road ahead as it had been on the way down. Not because of the rain for it was now a clear night but it was the tears that were streaming down my face that clouded my vision. Tears of sadness, yet tears of joy for men willing to lay down their lives for the cause of freedom and everything we hold dear, and for mothers who made the supreme sacrifice and gave their sons and daughters to that cause. 

What is Memorial Day all about? It’s about service. Service before self. 

This Memorial Day, while you’re enjoying your family gatherings, remember those who have died in service to their country. 

Did you know? Each year on Memorial Day a national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time. There’s a movement called, Taps Across America, where those who have the ability step out of their homes and play Taps at 3:00 pm local. 

If you can’t play an instrument, take a minute at 3:00 pm to observe a moment of silence, a moment of remembrance for those that have made the supreme sacrifice. 

The God of the Bible has a clear vision for their future: freedom from war. And for the most heartbroken mother, He has the most powerful message of hope: you will see your son again. 

There will come a day that all creation’s waiting for, when God will wipe away every tear and man will war no more. May He hasten that day.

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See also - To All Of The Military Men That Fought, Bled And In Many Cases Died, We Salute You! (Video)

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