2 Kings 19:35. That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!
What happens when you commune with God who dwells within you 24/7, enjoy Immanuel—God with us—every moment of your life, and trust the God who works all things together for your good? In time, you will experience what can only be called God’s “25th hour.”
The 25th hour is God’s time. It is the moment when He reveals His power beyond human limitations. It transcends time and space. It is not produced by human effort, intelligence, experience, or resources. It belongs to the heavenly realm, where God accomplishes what no person can achieve. It is the hour when God displays His glory for the sake of His covenant and the advancement of the gospel.
Moses experienced God’s 25th hour throughout his life. It began when God revealed His covenant to him at Mount Horeb. The Lord said:
“The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God'” (Exodus 3:18).
At that time, Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for more than four hundred years. Humanly speaking, there was no possibility of freedom. Yet Moses held firmly to God’s covenant of the blood (“sacrifices”) concerning the coming Messiah and His promise of deliverance. As he stood upon that covenant, the power of God was displayed throughout Egypt. The impossible became possible. What could not happen for four centuries suddenly became reality—the Exodus. That was God’s 25th hour.
Moses witnessed it again at the Red Sea. Trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the sea, the Israelites had nowhere to go. Fear and despair overwhelmed the people, but Moses stood upon God’s promise. Then Scripture records:
“Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them” (Exodus 14:19).
Soon afterward,
“Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided” (Exodus 14:21).
No military strategy, political alliance, or human wisdom could have opened a path through the sea. This was God’s intervention. This was God’s 25th hour.
Even in the wilderness, while the Israelites repeatedly grumbled and complained, Moses continued to witness God’s extraordinary work. He received the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, and the mystery of the Three Festivals. He witnessed God’s provision, guidance, protection, and countless miracles. In every situation, God revealed His covenant and His power.
The people of unbelief never saw beyond their 24 hours because their eyes were fixed on their circumstances. Their thoughts were dominated by visible realities. The people of faith, however, saw something greater, invisible, and eternal. They saw the reality of the Triune God at work in every situation. Therefore, they witnessed God’s 25th hour.
King Hezekiah also experienced God’s 25th hour. When the mighty Assyrian Empire threatened Judah, every human option disappeared. Yet instead of surrendering to fear, Hezekiah held onto God’s covenant and prayed:
“Now, therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone” (2 Kings 19:19).
Notice the focus of his prayer. He was not merely seeking survival. He desired God’s glory to be revealed among the nations. He entrusted the fate of his kingdom to God alone.
That very night, God answered: “That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp” (2 Kings 19:35).
One night changed everything. What no army could accomplish, God accomplished in a single moment. That was God’s 25th hour.
Later, when Hezekiah faced a terminal illness, he once again sought God:
“When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ‘Remember, O Lord, how I have always been faithful to You and have served You single-mindedly, always doing what pleases You.’ Then Hezekiah wept bitterly” (2 Kings 20:2-3).
Again, God intervened. His life was extended, demonstrating that God’s authority reaches even beyond sickness and death. The God of the 25th hour remains sovereign over every circumstance.
The believers listed in Hebrews 11 also experienced God’s 25th hour. Many endured persecution, suffering, imprisonment, torture, rejection, and hardship. Yet they continued to trust God’s covenant. Scripture says concerning them that “the world was not worthy of them” (Hebrews 11:38). Their circumstances varied, but they shared one thing in common: they believed God’s promise more than what they saw with their eyes and experienced with their bodies.
The Apostle Paul recognized many such people in Romans 16. As he concluded his letter, he mentioned faithful believers who had witnessed God’s work alongside him (Romans 16:1-23). Some were benefactors. Some were fellow workers. Some labored tirelessly. Some risked their lives for the gospel. Others served quietly behind the scenes. Yet each one experienced God’s power by devoting themselves to God’s kingdom and covenant. They all witnessed God’s 25th hour.
As believers, we belong to the kingdom of God. Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 1:3). The 25th hour exists in that heavenly realm. While we live on earth, we are not limited to earthly realities. Through Christ, we have access to the authority and resources of God’s kingdom.
Jesus declared: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19).
God desires His people to experience His 25th hour. Through it, He brings healing to the broken, restoration to the lost, and hope to a dying world. Without the power of the throne, it is impossible to overcome the powerful forces of darkness at work in this world. But when God’s kingdom breaks into our lives, what seems impossible becomes possible.
This is why God has called you to experience His 25th hour. To that end, He has revealed the mystery of Christ—the secret hidden for ages and generations but now made known through the gospel (Romans 16:25-26).
As you continue to hold onto the covenant of Christ, remain in prayer, and wait upon the Lord, God will give you undeniable evidence of His presence and power. He will lead you beyond the limitations of your 24 and into His 25th hour. Through your life, people will come to see that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Prayer. Father, open my eyes to see Your 25th hour. Help me hold firmly to Your covenant and wait upon You in prayer. Enable me to see beyond my circumstances and trust in Your heavenly plan. Display Your glory and power through my life so that many may come to know Christ. Use me as a witness of Your kingdom in this generation and beyond. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.