Proverbs 7:9
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In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
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A young fool looking for a whore begins his search "in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night." He does not go near her house in broad daylight, for he would be seen; and she is not as easily found then either, for she must also hide her activities. Job describes adulterers by saying, "The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face" (Job 24:15). In this passage, Job goes much further to describe how various wicked men hate the light (Job 24:13-17).
Sin causes shame and guilt, and it brings punishment; so men hide sinful activities from view. Jesus said wicked men love darkness to hide their sins, lest the light reveal their evil (John 3:19-21). Adam and Eve tried to hide their nakedness with fig leaves and the trees of the garden (Gen 3:7-8). But darkness has always been the favorite cloak.
During the daylight, even the worst sections of a city look free from sin and vice; but those places after dark fill with wicked persons using the night to hide their identities and activities. Drunkenness, fornication, prostitution, robbery, and murder all greatly increase at night. Bars used for meeting the opposite sex for fornication are called nightclubs for good reason - they would never work as dayclubs! Our nation's cesspools, Las Vegas for example, do their big business late in the night.
Restaurants and lounges at night turn the lights down and the music up, for any woman looks better in dull light after a few drinks. And the boldness to pursue drunkenness, fornication, and other sins is greatly encouraged by the cover of darkness.
Prime time television is when sober people are already in bed, but the devil can best sow his wicked images in minds that are no longer occupied with legitimate and productive activities. They can go to bed with minds filled with ungodly images to corrupt their souls during the night. Movies are also mostly attended at night, and well into the night.
Our grandparents had the perfect routine before the invention of electricity, which led to television, movies, and more activity at night. They went to bed with the birds and got up with the birds; and there was no time for cruising, carousing, or clubbing at night. They kept a schedule that promoted that sober time of quietness in the morning that is now lost. Their emphasis was on how much they could get done in the morning rather than surviving the day to be able to play at night. Their sobriety condemns our generation.
It was once an adage of our nation that "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." And saints could rightly add holiness to that formula! Today's generation simply make fun of any "old fogey" that would go to bed before 9:00 P.M.
If David had stayed in bed with one of his beautiful and eager wives, he would never have seen Bathsheba using the cover of darkness to take a bath (II Sam 11:2). What a foolish choice to leave his bed and go forth at night from the safety of his own house!
Not all night activities are wrong, as Paul once preached to midnight and beyond (Acts 20:7-11). And our Lord prayed all night on occasion, due to the demands of the crowds during the day (Luke 6:12). Shepherds were abiding in the field at night when they heard the announcement of our Lord's birth. But these were exceptions and for godly purposes.
Curfews for youth are excellent rules, as the minds of foolish young people are much more prone to the lusts of the flesh after dark, when their actions will be hid and their consciences emboldened to try things they would otherwise avoid. Getting them up early and putting them to hard work will leave them tired and desiring bed when night arrives!
Dear reader, let our proverb adjust your schedule toward the morning and keep you sober about the night. Restrict your children's activities at night and teach them habits that will reduce the temptations of darkness. May the Light of the world save us and our children!
Throughout the New Testament, saints of God are described as the children of the day, and not of the darkness. We are to live and walk as children of light in this dark world - the lesson of our proverb being used extensively by our Lord and His apostles (Luke 16:8; John 1:4-9; 3:19-21; 11:9-10; 12:35-36,46; Acts 26:18; Rom 13:11-14; I Cor 4:5; II Cor 4:6; 6:14; Eph 5:8-14; 6:12; Col 1:13; I Thess 5:1-8; I Pet 2:9; I John 1:5-6; 2:8-11).
As saints of God, we should remember there will be no night in heaven at all, for the Lamb of God will be the perpetual and glorious light of that place (Rev 21:23,25; 22:5)!
But the wicked will be howling in the black mist of darkness forever, for there will be no light in hell at all (II Pet 2:4,17; Jude 1:13)! They who loved darkness will have their fill!
Here is a warning about darkness and night. In a context of fornication (7:6-27), the Preacher describes a sexual sin taking place after dark, warning us of activities at night.
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