"no man knows the day..."
Virtually every christian who has ever heard anything on the "end times" has heard that "no man knows the day or the hour" and that Jesus is going to return like a "thief in the night". However, I have already shown in previous posts that the concept of the thief in the night is taken out of context and Paul says specificly that Jesus' return should NOT catch believers like a thief in the night. I've shown that in the traditional Jewish wedding the general time of the wedding was known well in advance because it was specified in the wedding contract. I've also shown that the day of the wedding was known in advance and the bride was specificly given time before hand to prepare herself.
But how can this be if no one knows the day or the hour... Not even the angels of Jesus himself??
Well, I knew you'd ask.. so lets look at it :)
Matt. 24:34-44
"36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."
I looked at this passage partially in my previous posts and showed that everything described in verses 38 - 44 is telling how judgement will come suddenly and unexpectedly upon the wicked, and is a warning to believers to be prepared lest they be numbered among the wicked when the time comes.
That still leaves verses 36-38. They clearly state that no man, nor the angels, nor even the Son, know the day or the hour of the Son's return.
The verses state
"“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,"
There is something in this verse of huge significance that virtually everyone has missed. It is a detail that totally changes the interpetation of this verse. The first clue to it is in the words "as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." and the clincher is in the word "until".
In Noah's day when the flood was coming... no one, not even Noah, knew when the flood was coming. God told Noah... "go build a boat because I'm sending a flood" but he didn't tell Noah WHEN the flood was coming... UNTIL the very day that he told Noah to enter the ark. Lets go back to the biblical account of Noah and see what it says.
Genesis 7:1-4
7:1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth.
"For in seven days I will send rain on the earth" Noah did not know when the flood was coming, until God told him "go into the ark and in seven days the rain will come".
Going back to what Jesus said in Matthew. We see Jesus speaking in the present tense "no man knows the day or the hour". No man at that time knew the day or the hour.. infact no man right now knows it either. However Jesus goes on to say that no one knows the day because "as were the days of Noah, so will b the coming of the Son of Man. In the those days, no one knew UNTIL the day that Noah went into the ark." At that point who knew? The answer is Noah and his family. Everyone could have known if they had listened, but they didn't. They were unprepared.
So... just as we see every where else.. God's people are not to be taken by surprise.. those who are watching will be for-warned and given time to prepare.
Through out all this Jesus repeatedly tells the disciples, "watch therefore because you don't know when the time is coming". The point of this is NOT that its just suddenly going to happen with no warning, the point is that only those who are watching will recognize the for-warning. Only they will receive the announcement that the day is at hand, and only they will thus, be prepared.
when the disciples asked Jesus how they would know the time was coming, he said to them (paraphrased) "are you so blind? even the farmers can tell what season it is by looking at the signs all around them". He then went on to say "when the trees blossom, the farmers know it is spring and summer is nigh". Jesus expects us to know when the time is at hand. If we are awake, and are watching the signs, we will know when the time is at hand, and we will be for-warned. If not, it is very possible that we will be caught unprepared.
But how can this be if no one knows the day or the hour... Not even the angels of Jesus himself??
Well, I knew you'd ask.. so lets look at it :)
Matt. 24:34-44
"36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."
I looked at this passage partially in my previous posts and showed that everything described in verses 38 - 44 is telling how judgement will come suddenly and unexpectedly upon the wicked, and is a warning to believers to be prepared lest they be numbered among the wicked when the time comes.
That still leaves verses 36-38. They clearly state that no man, nor the angels, nor even the Son, know the day or the hour of the Son's return.
The verses state
"“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,"
There is something in this verse of huge significance that virtually everyone has missed. It is a detail that totally changes the interpetation of this verse. The first clue to it is in the words "as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." and the clincher is in the word "until".
In Noah's day when the flood was coming... no one, not even Noah, knew when the flood was coming. God told Noah... "go build a boat because I'm sending a flood" but he didn't tell Noah WHEN the flood was coming... UNTIL the very day that he told Noah to enter the ark. Lets go back to the biblical account of Noah and see what it says.
Genesis 7:1-4
7:1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth.
"For in seven days I will send rain on the earth" Noah did not know when the flood was coming, until God told him "go into the ark and in seven days the rain will come".
Going back to what Jesus said in Matthew. We see Jesus speaking in the present tense "no man knows the day or the hour". No man at that time knew the day or the hour.. infact no man right now knows it either. However Jesus goes on to say that no one knows the day because "as were the days of Noah, so will b the coming of the Son of Man. In the those days, no one knew UNTIL the day that Noah went into the ark." At that point who knew? The answer is Noah and his family. Everyone could have known if they had listened, but they didn't. They were unprepared.
So... just as we see every where else.. God's people are not to be taken by surprise.. those who are watching will be for-warned and given time to prepare.
Through out all this Jesus repeatedly tells the disciples, "watch therefore because you don't know when the time is coming". The point of this is NOT that its just suddenly going to happen with no warning, the point is that only those who are watching will recognize the for-warning. Only they will receive the announcement that the day is at hand, and only they will thus, be prepared.
when the disciples asked Jesus how they would know the time was coming, he said to them (paraphrased) "are you so blind? even the farmers can tell what season it is by looking at the signs all around them". He then went on to say "when the trees blossom, the farmers know it is spring and summer is nigh". Jesus expects us to know when the time is at hand. If we are awake, and are watching the signs, we will know when the time is at hand, and we will be for-warned. If not, it is very possible that we will be caught unprepared.
posted by Simon Templar | 6:01 PM
4 Comments:
In other words, we don't know the exact date, but we can recognize signs leading up to that date. Good post, Simon!
Simon- I have believed exactly what you are saying about this particular verse, but you provided the absolute best explanation I've ever seen for describing to others. Thanks and Blessings! Val
Well said Simon,
We must study to show ourselves approved of God. 2 Timothy 2:15 and I believe God has hid many truths of the Bible to be found by people who are seeking. I think now there is even more information that He is telling us and people should not scoff at the 5/21/2011 date.
Well said. I hadn't focused on that word 'until' I have focused on the number 7, as in 'for yet 7 days..." - Gen 7:4, believing that 7000 years later, the end would come as posted in wecanknow.com PBM
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