Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 Vs. 36

 

No One Knows That Day and Hour

Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

But of that... Date-Setting Valueless

The exact time of the second coming is unknown to men and angels and even Jesus (Mar. 13:32). God only knows (Acts 1:7). So all date-setting of men who think they know more than they can know is valueless.

day and hour... The disciples wanted to fix the precise time, but this was not for them to know (Acts 1:7). No one knows for sure the hour or the day that the Lord shall return to the earth.

We read (in Luke chapter 21 verses 34-36): “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares.” “For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.” “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

What in the world is surfeiting in verse 34? This is about over indulgence, and how it can cloud our senses to the point where we miss God and become ensnared in the things of this world.

Even though we do not know the day or hour, we can see all around us the signs. We have an expectancy in our hearts, if we truly love Jesus. We must not grow lax and fall back in sin as the Scriptures above are saying in Luke.

Jesus recommended that we use that time to pray. The moment we are not expecting Him, is when Jesus will return. We must be ready. The Jewish bride waits at her home, until the groom builds her a home approved by his father. The groom does not even know the time. When the father is satisfied that the house is ready, he sends his son for the bride.

The groom stands on a hill just outside the city and blows the trumpet. The bride must be ready, and when she hears the trumpet, goes to meet her groom. They steal away together.

The passage from Mat. 24:36 onwards is still quite applicable to the near event, the destruction of Jerusalem; but the language used is evidently such as to carry the mind onward to the more distant event which had been brought prominently forward in the latter part of the prophecy (Mat. 24:36-44). In these verses, again, not only is no date given, but we are expressly told that it is deliberately withheld. What then? Are we to dismiss the subject from our minds? Quite the reverse; for though the time is uncertain, the event itself is most certain, and it will come suddenly and unexpectedly. No time will be given for preparation to those who are not already prepared. True, there will be the sign of the Son of man in heaven, whatever that may be; but, like the other sign which was the precursor of Jerusalem’s destruction, it will appear immediately before the event.

(Mark 13:32-33; Luke 17:26-37) The precise moment of the Lord’s return cannot be calculated by anyone. When the Lord spoke these words, that information was said to be known by only the Father. Christ was obviously speaking from the vantage of His human knowledge (cf. Luke 2:52), not from the standpoint of His divine omniscience.