The Ninth Hour | The Institute for Creation Research

The Ninth Hour

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

At the apex of the sufferings of the Lamb of God for the sins of the world, it was fitting that He should utter this desolate cry at the ninth hour, for this was the time of the regular evening sacrifice, as well as the time of evening prayers, among the people of ancient Israel.

It was at this hour that Elijah prayed to God against the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, and God answered by fire from heaven (I Kings 18:36–39). This was also the hour of Ezra’s great prayer of confession and intercession (Ezra 9:5), followed by a wonderful revival among the backslidden people of Israel. When Daniel uttered his own prayer of confession and intercession “about the time of the evening oblation” (Daniel 9:21), God sent the angel Gabriel to answer his prayer. In the New Testament, “Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour” (Acts 3:1), and the result was the first apostolic miracle. The first Gentile convert to Christ was Cornelius, who was praying “about the ninth hour of the day” (Acts 10:3) when he, like Daniel, received a visit from an angel of God to tell him to send for Peter, who would lead him to Christ.

In all recorded instances of prayer at the ninth hour, at the daily evening sacrifice, God answered the prayer in a marvelous way. But when the Lord Jesus Christ prayed, God did not answer, for He had forsaken His own Son.

“Why?” He cried, but He knew, and now we know that it was simply because He “loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). The measure of His love is the cross and separation from the Father, “that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Hebrews 2:9). This is why He died! HMM

The Latest
NEWS
Did Teeth First Evolve as Sensory Tissue?
One of the mysteries of evolution (there are so many) is the origin of teeth. The past few years have witnessed a remarkable flurry of research...

NEWS
''The Flood of Death'': A Mass Dino Grave in Canada
Paleontologists in Alberta, Canada, have recently unearthed “a mass grave on a monumental scale.”1 The BBC story speaks of Thousands...

CREATION PODCAST
The 100th Episode of The Creation Podcast! | Let's Talk About...
What role do in-person events play for a creation science ministry? How can you host an event through ICR? Are these events still important...

NEWS
Bone, Skin, Claw Lasted…150 Million Years?
Experts and educators have long assumed Archaeopteryx represents a transition from theropod dinosaurs to modern birds. All of this speculation depends...

NEWS
How Did Earth Get Its Water?
Earth’s oceans contain 321 million cubic miles (1.335 billion cubic kilometers) of water. The moon causes ebb and flow of tides twice in a 24-hour...

NEWS
New Fossil Discovery Upends Animal Evolution...Again
Reptiles belong to a group of animals called amniotes that also include birds and mammals. A new Australian fossil discovery of a clawed amniote demonstrates...

NEWS
100% Cicada Fossil
Cicadas are an unusual-looking insect belonging to the order Hemiptera (the true bugs, including bed bugs and aphids). If you live in the eastern United...

CREATION PODCAST
Earth’s Origins: Science, Theology, and a New Geology Textbook...
Since the late eighteenth century, most scientists have argued for a uniformitarian view of Earth’s history. They claim the world...

NEWS
June 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from...

CREATION.LIVE PODCAST
Getting the Gospel into People's Hands | Creation.Live Podcast:...
Can God use an atheist airline pilot to reach other nations with the truth of the Gospel? The answer, obviously, is yes.   Host...