Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 Vs. 42

No One Knows That Day and Hour

 

Matthew 24:42 “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”

Watch therefore: for... In view of the coming of Christ suddenly when He is not expected, you that will be living on earth after the rapture and at the very coming of Christ, be watchful (Mat. 24:39-42). Be always on your guard, that you may not be taken unawares, and that you may be properly prepared to meet God either of judgment or mercy, whenever he may come. This advice the followers of Christ took, and therefore they escaped; but the miserable Jews rejected it, and were destroyed. Let us learn wisdom by the things which they suffered.

This will be an individual calling. You cannot hang on to someone and take them with you. Each individual will be judged, whether they will rise to meet Jesus or be left. You see, in these passages, that someone you work with every day may not make it.

We should witness to everyone we come in contact with; especially to our families and friends. Time is running out. We must get them saved now before the trumpet blows. We should be anticipating His coming and praying.

not what hour... What hour

Later texts, however, read ἡμέρᾳ, a, day. ποίᾳ ἡμέρᾳ, in what kind of a day, whether near or a remote one. Similarly Mat. 24:43: ἐν ποίᾳ φυλακῇ, in what kind of a watch, whether a night or a morning watch.

Lord doth come... The literal visible coming to the earth with the raptured saints.

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the Goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

The Lord encouraged His disciples to keep watch (grēgoreite the word rendered be alert in 1Thes. 5:6), because they could not know on what day the Lord would come (cf. Mat. 25:13). The limits of the Tribulation period are known to God, for the Seventieth Week of Daniel will have a definite starting time and a definite ending time.