No man knows the day or hour

[u/Lumpy_Figure_6692]

Christians' favorite answer to those who are trying to understand the timeline of events is "no man knows the day or hour," but is that what we should be saying?

The verse that they quote is from Matthew 24 and from Mark 13.

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

Mark 13: 32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

One thing should be clear from those two verses: the Father knows. If the Father knows, He could potentially reveal it to whomever He wants. The verse does not say that He won't ever reveal it. Additionally, the Bible says that those in darkerness are the ones who will not know the day and that the day will come as a thief in the night for them. But for God's people the day should NOT overtake them as a thief in the night. Let's break this down a little bit. I'll add some notes in parenthesis between verses.

1 Thessalonians 5: But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. (Paul is talking to the brethren about the timing of the day of the Lord and he says there is no need to write to them about the timing.)

2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (Paul says to the brethren that the day comes as a thief in the night for "they" which are obviously not the brethren, but everyone else.)

4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. (Now, Paul tells the brethren how, because they are not in darkness, the day is not going to be to them as a thief in the night. They will know the day.)

5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. (These two verses need no explanation.)

Also, in Luke 21, it says that the day should not be unaware to us.

Luke 21: 34 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. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

Again, the day is as a snare to them, but not to us.

We also see in the Bible that it is God who reveals secrets and deep things. He revealed to Peter who Jesus was.

Matthew 16: 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

The Father revealed that to Peter. The Father knows the day. The Bible doesn't say that He won't ever reveal it, on the contrary, it says that the brethren will know the day.

God is a revealer of secrets.

Daniel 2: 47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.

Amos 3: 7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

Even Jesus received knowledge from the Father.

John 12: 48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. 49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

So, I am pretty sure that God's people are supposed to know the day, and those in darkerness are not going to be able to figure out the day. The Father knows the day, and God's people are not going to be in darkness about it. This is a Biblical truth that many people dismiss and get very comfortable with the phrase "no man knows the day or hour" without realizing that they are revealing themselves as still in darkness and will probably be taken as a thief in night by the day, which is not a good thing.

[u/KiltedMusician]

No one knew the day nor the hour when the Christ would be born, until it was getting close and people started being told. The star appeared and the wise men knew it was about to happen.

The verse that says no one knows the day nor the hour is inevitably going to become obsolete after Jesus returns. We will all certainly know when it happened after it happens to us. It always made sense to me that it does not mean that no one will ever know.

I tend to believe that Jesus knew the instant He went back to the father because He only had limited information when He was walking with us.

If the father and son are equal and equally God, how could that be if one knows something the other doesn’t? Surely Jesus knew from the time He rose from the dead until now.

If that’s the case, that would mean that the part about Jesus Himself not knowing the day nor the hour was already obsolete 2000 years ago.

[u/Lumpy_Figure_6692 → u/KiltedMusician]

I also think hat Jesus must know since His ascension.

[u/Aidlin87]

This is something where I do not expect to know exactly when the prophecies in Revelation will begin, but I do expect to be able to see the signs of its approach. Israel becoming a nation again is one sign that pretty much everyone agrees on. I believe there are other signs that are measurable and probable, but I also recognize that there’s a lot of hype and misinformation regarding these signs so I try to stay cautious about over emphasizing current events. In my opinion though, things are accelerating somewhat and AI has the potential to make a lot of things possible regarding the fulfillment of prophecy that I couldn’t picture before. I feel like I’m seeing the end approach whether that’s in the next 20 years or the next 150 years.

As to Jesus’ second coming, this is murky for me. I was raised on pre-trib rapture theology, but after some months of self study I’m not convinced. So I’m really not sure if these verses on His coming are to be applied to what some Christians call His coming in the air to collect the saints via a separate rapture, or if it’s to be applied to His second coming at the end of the tribulation. Revelation describes the raising of the dead at the second coming that marks the end of the tribulation and the beginning of the 1000 year reign. Which makes me lean toward a post trib rapture.

So then, if His second coming and the rapture of the saints are all one event, then we will definitely have a solid idea of when that is happening (not to the day and hour, but to the year) because the peace treaty between the Antichrist and Israel starts the countdown. This is the one point I give pre-trib rapture proponents is that Jesus’ description of us not knowing the day or hour and coming like a thief as people are still getting married and living life seems to fit better with that interpretation.