The Hour

James Jordan noted in a lecture on Zechariah that the date of Zechariah’s night visions is specified as day, month, and year. This stands in contrast to the introductory verses (1:1-6), which date only by the month and year. Jordan’s conclusion was that biblical datings are more precise in sanctuary-building contexts. We know the day of the planting of Eden’s garden, the completion of the tabernacle and temple. We know only month and year for many other events.

Jordan pointed to the use of “hour” in Acts as an indicator that Luke is concerned with the building of the new and permanent temple, the Christian church. In the context of that temple-building, we move even beyond dating by day and move to dating by hour.

He might alos have pointed to the use of “hour” in the gospels. From what I can tell, no Old Testament text mentions an event that took place in a certain “hour,” but the word is used regularly in the gospels. In particular, the gospels speak of the “hour” of Jesus’ crucifixion and the later “hour” of Jesus’ return, and specify the precise hours of various stages of His suffering and death (Matthew 27:45). The word “hour” is not used of the resurrection, but we know that the resurrection was revealed at “dawn” on the day after the Sabbath (Matthew 28:1). The human temple is torn down and rebuilt, and that climactic event of history, the rebuilding of the most holy, has to be recounted hour-by-hour.