But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
No one knows the day and hour of Christ's coming, not any human being nor any angel, but the Father alone knows it. That time has been wisely kept secret and has not been revealed, so no definite day, month, year or period has been given or will be given to be calculated or proclaimed beforehand. This does not leave people to remain ignorant of its nearness, for its approach is to be known with certainty when all the foretold signs are seen, as summer is known by the budding fig tree. To set dates goes beyond what is permitted and brings unbelief and confusion when they pass, yet failure of dates does not remove the nearness taught by the signs. As in the days of Noah, ordinary life goes on and the warning is disregarded, and to refuse to know when the coming is near will be as fatal as not knowing when the flood would come. Because the exact time is unknown, all are charged to watch, pray and be ready at every moment, working faithfully and warning others, lest the day come upon them unawares as a thief.
Discourse Setting and Scope
The verse belongs to the discourse in which the destruction of Jerusalem and the final events of earth's history are described together. The words about Jerusalem reach beyond that destruction to the final judgment. They are also meant for those living in earth's last days.
The words were spoken by Christ in conversation with His disciples upon Olivet after He had for the last time departed from the temple. They were spoken when they asked what shall be the sign of His coming and of the end of the world. The chapter foretells Jerusalem's destruction as a type of the world's final destruction by fire. The second coming described there was not fulfilled at Jerusalem's destruction but is still future.
The prophecy is an outline of what is to come upon the world for the perils of the last days. It gives a brief view of the whole dispensation. The verse stands in the description of Christ appearing in heaven with power and great glory and sending His angels to gather His elect. It introduces the truth that the coming of the Son of man will be as in the days of Noah, when before the flood people were eating and drinking and marrying until Noah entered the ark and the flood came and took them all away unaware. It belongs to Christ's foretelling of the signs of the times for this age of the world, given to instruct those who should afterward believe and to help them prepare for the great conflict, and those signs are to be discerned now. It belongs to a warning that the Lord is near and that the end of all things is at hand, though no day or hour is given, calling for careful, faithful action and for telling the world that the end is near. It belongs to Christ's teaching about His second coming in the clouds of heaven and the moral depravity that would exist just before it, and that same condition exists now.
The prophecies of Matthew 24 are to be studied again and again and brought to the attention of all, both believers and unbelievers. Their predictions are being fulfilled today, showing that Christ's coming is at hand. Ministers and teachers are to present these prophecies because the truths in them decide the eternal destiny of souls, and seeing their unmistakable fulfilment calls the church to arouse. They call for those facing destruction in sin to be warned.
Only Father Knows Time
No human being knows the day and hour of Christ's coming, and not even the angels of heaven know it; the Father only knows it. The day and hour of His coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory to send His angels with a trumpet and gather His elect are reserved to the Father alone and lie beyond human and angelic knowledge. Because that time is unknown, His people are charged to watch, take heed, watch and pray, and be also ready, for in such an hour as they think not the Son of man comes. The coming of the Son of man will be as in the days of Noah, when before the flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until Noah entered the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away.
The exact day and hour have not been revealed but are kept secret as God's mystery alone. It is wisely concealed by the Lord and pronounced by lips that speak truth only to be beyond the ken of man. Christ Himself stated plainly to His disciples that He could not make that time known, and had He been free to reveal it there would be no need to exhort constant expectancy. People must not speculate about what has not been given them to understand, and those who claim to know the very day and hour and map out the future are warned off that ground. The concealment keeps believers always in expectancy and preparation, not only waiting and watching but diligently working, watching and praying, waiting patiently, working faithfully to save perishing souls, and improving time as a precious talent so as to be ready and prepared to give account if suddenly called to lay off the armor.
What is unknown includes the exact day, month, year, definite time and period, and not only how soon He will come. Defining the exact period that will elapse before He appears is forbidden presumption, and attempts to calculate or reckon it go beyond what God has revealed. The time before His coming is short, but its precise measure is not known to human beings while God knows the hour. His coming to this world in power and great glory is sure and very soon.
No definite time for His coming has been given to God's people, and none will be given, not even by vision. Setting a definite day and hour that then passes by is contrary to the verse. The verse is the Bible test for any claim since 1844 to have been shown the definite time. This does not forbid God Himself to speak the day and the hour just before the second coming, at the deliverance of the saints from the time of trouble when He delivers the everlasting covenant to His people, for hearing that hour proclaimed in vision is not knowing it now, since the hour heard can pass from remembrance after the vision, leaving no present knowledge of the time.
Nearness Known by Signs
No one knows the day or hour of Christ's coming, neither man nor angel, but the Father only, yet this does not leave people to remain ignorant of its nearness nor give warrant for ignorance. One saying of Christ must not be made to destroy another, for while the exact time is unknown men are instructed and required to know when it is near from the signs He gave. To use the verse to dismiss warnings that the coming is near, to quiet those seeking salvation, or to reject truth is a false interpretation and an excuse to reject light. To disregard the warning and refuse or neglect to know when the advent is near will be as fatal as it was for those in Noah's day not to know when the flood was coming.
Though the day and hour are not revealed, the day may be recognized as near, and the specific signs given to the last generation living before He comes testify with threefold assurance that when all these things are seen He is nigh, even at the doors. The signs of the times make the approach recognizable and give reason to prepare, to live soberly and godly, and to stay awake, watchful and sober rather than be caught unprepared. For those who heed the warning the day will not come upon them as a thief, while it will overtake those in darkness, and the faithful servant who watches and teaches His coming will be rewarded while the unfaithful servant who says his Lord delays will be judged.
Its nearness is known when all the foretold things are seen, as summer is known to be near when the fig tree puts forth leaves and budding trees appear. Signs in the sun, moon and stars, signs in heaven, on earth, in the church and in the wicked world, the prophecies of Daniel and John, and fulfilled prophecy point to the approaching coming and the day of vengeance. Present disasters are admonitions that the world is living in the last days in the closing period of earth's history with His coming drawing near, even at the doors, such as earthquakes, ships going down with great loss of life, destructive floods, and burning of costly buildings pronounced fireproof. No interpretation of prophecy should obscure or erase those signs, for the exact time cannot be calculated yet the return is recognized from them to be near and not far off.
The verse does not forbid identifying the time from the prophetic periods and the signs foretold, including recognizing the year toward which the periods point and that Christ is near. It is cited among texts commonly used to argue that the period cannot be known, but it does not prove that claim. To use the unknown day and hour to oppose pointing to the year when the periods run out and to the signs showing Him near, even at the doors, is hypocrisy and scoffing, hindering those who would receive saving truth and crying peace when there is no peace.
The warning about the unknown time was no reason to reject the message or the evidence received, and though the believers' expected time passed and they remained on earth disappointed, that gave no ground to dismiss the truth. The words were repeated everywhere as mockery and scoffing by the great mass in opposition to the message of the Lord's coming, manifesting the spirit of Satan. While the saints anxiously waited with fasting, watching and almost constant prayer, with even some sinners looking forward to the time with terror, evil angels urged the mockers on to harden their hearts and reject every ray of light from heaven so as to be fastened in Satan's snare.
Between the close of the prophetic periods in 1844 and the coming there is to be no proclamation of definite time, but waiting and watching unto prayer while loving and longing for His appearing and preparing others for that great event. Though the exact time is unknown, prophetic reckoning shows Christ is at the door, and believers must take heed lest hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life so that day come upon them unawares. Repeated messages of definite time serve the enemy by unsettling faith in the first proclamation of time that was of heavenly origin and leading the world to dismiss all time proclamation as delusion, fanaticism and heresy, while patient waiting without impatience and without casting away confidence leads at the appointed time to salvation and the cry of joy at His coming.
No Setting Dates
The verse rules out setting a definite time, date, day, month, or year for Christ's return and defining the exact period that will elapse before He appears. Attempts to calculate or reckon it to certainty go beyond what God has revealed and what Scripture permits, involving ingenious speculation about what has not been given to understand. No prophetic period extends to that event, and claims to identify its day, month, or year contradict the limit that the exact day and hour are known only to the Father. No human being or even the angels of heaven know them, for that knowledge belongs to the Father alone.
Setting dates for Christ's coming is presumptuous, for the exact time is beyond human knowledge. No message is given telling the day and hour, so to announce the hour, day, or year is not a message the Lord has given. Setting day and date for unfulfilled prophecy is a false and fanatical movement by those who claim to be led of God and run before they are sent, pleasing the enemy because successive failure brings confusion and unbelief. Anyone who sets a time repeats an evil work that has brought ruin to souls in the past, and dates so set will pass and He will not come. The secret things belong to God and are to be left with Him, while the things He has revealed are for His people to show the lines on which to work in harmony with Christ.
Failed date-setting misrepresents Scripture, encourages unbelief, and turns people away from the Bible's teaching that the end is near. Repeated failed predictions foster unbelief and discredit biblical truth, weaken faith and deceive those who set and urge the times, and bring confusion. Yet failures do not invalidate the Word's teaching that the end is near or the signs of its approach. The time of trouble must come before Christ's coming, so a failed date does not show that His coming is delayed or that prophetic time is false. Defining the time and then setting another time after failure, and repeated failed predictions, stamp and expose those who do it as false prophets.
The verse does not forbid earnest, Spirit-prompted preaching from the Scriptures with deep earnestness that humanity is living near the second coming, only fixing its day and hour. The expected time of Christ's coming was calculated from the 2,300 years of Daniel 8:14, first expected to end in 1843 and later corrected to the fall of 1844 because the decree in 457 B.C. was issued near the end of that year.
God Will Announce Time
Though no one knows the day and hour now, at the coming itself God will declare that day and hour from heaven to His people with a voice like many waters. That declaration will accompany their deliverance and the delivering of the everlasting covenant and the blessing of those who kept the Sabbath holy. After the saints have fled from cities and villages and cried day and night for deliverance, the voice will shake heaven and earth amid signs in sun and moon, clashing clouds, shaking mountains and boiling sea, declaring the time one sentence at a time with pauses rolling through the earth like peals of loudest thunder. When the never-ending blessing is pronounced on those who honored God in keeping His Sabbath holy there will be a mighty shout of victory over the beast and over his image.
The Father's promised disclosure of the true time is distinct from human predictions, for though unknown now God Himself will speak it before Jesus comes. No one will hear it ahead of the rest, but every living child of God will hear and know together, with joy and glory filling every heart. This will take place in the future time of trouble when the signs are repeated and before Christ appears to rescue His people completely to be caught up on a white cloud. God will speak with a voice like many waters giving the day and hour, and when He speaks the time He will pour the Holy Spirit upon the saints.
The living sealed saints, the 144,000, will hear, know and understand God's voice giving the time, while the wicked will hear it only as thunder and an earthquake and cannot understand. The Israel of God will stand with eyes fixed upward listening and understanding in awful solemnity. They will answer the end of every sentence with shouts of Glory Alleluia.
When God speaks the time their faces will light up and shine with the glory of God as Moses' face shone when he came down from Sinai, so bright the wicked cannot look on them. The revelation comes amid shaking of heavens and earth and signs in sun and moon, clashing clouds, shaking mountains and boiling sea. The saints receive the Holy Spirit at that speaking and shine with God's glory.
God Himself speaking the day and hour just before the second coming at the deliverance of the saints from the time of trouble is not forbidden by the statement that no one knows it. Hearing that hour proclaimed in vision is not knowing it now, for the hour heard can pass from remembrance after the vision, leaving no present knowledge of the time. It is the test for any claim since 1844 to have been shown the definite time, yet it does not forbid God to speak the day and hour by His own voice when He delivers the everlasting covenant to His people.
As in Noah's Days
The coming of the Son of man will be as it was in the days of Noah, when before the flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until Noah entered the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away. So now people continue ordinary activities and pursuits and pleasures, and the impenitent see no cause for alarm though the event has been long foretold. The day and hour of that coming is known to no man and not even to the angels of heaven, but to the Father only.
To disregard the warning and refuse or neglect to know when the advent is near will be as fatal as it was for those in Noah's day not to know when the flood was coming. Noah was told the year of the flood so he could prepare the ark and warn people, and prophecies with signs in heaven, on earth, in the church and in the wicked world point to the approaching coming. The signs give enough knowledge of its approach to prepare for it, as Noah prepared the ark, and men are instructed and required to know when it is near.
Time delays because the work has not been done for the wicked, and because time has passed on many distinctly say, My lord delayeth his coming. God's wonderful long forbearance and longsuffering toward the wicked is part of His great plan, but judgments will surely come, and the long-suffering God will do His work and discriminate with justice and accuracy. Soon the consequences of transgression will become a living reality to wrongdoers as God's judgments fall upon a disobedient world, and sinners will be brought vividly to realize that sin is the transgression of God's law.
This portrays the condition of the church at Christ's second coming and should arouse earnest zeal in the true believer. The warning calls people to be ready rather than trust assurances of peace and safety, for the coming will find people living as in Noah's days, occupied with ordinary life and unprepared until judgment arrives. The verse calls believers to be faithful watchmen, preparing their lives and characters for Christ's return.
As a man taking a far journey who gave authority and every man his work and commanded the porter to watch, since no one knows when the master of the house will come, at evening or at midnight or at cockcrowing or in the morning, lest coming suddenly he find them sleeping, so all must take heed, watch and pray. The faithful and wise servant who gives meat in due season will be found doing so when He comes and made ruler over all goods and blessed, while for those who heed the warning the day will not come upon them as a thief. The evil servant who says in his heart my lord delayeth his coming and smites his fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunken and lives in selfishness and oppression will come upon sudden punishment in a day and hour he is not aware of, cut asunder with hypocrites to weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Watch and Be Ready
Because the day and hour are known to no one, all are charged to take heed, watch and pray, and watch and be also ready, for the Son of man comes in such an hour as is not thought. As in the days before the flood when they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until Noah entered the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so His coming will be. Like servants given authority and every man his work by a man taking a far journey who commanded the porter to watch, since no one knows when the master of the house will come, at evening or at midnight or at cockcrowing or in the morning, all must watch lest coming suddenly he find them sleeping. Every moment is to be spent as though it might be the last, doing work for time and eternity, for only today belongs to a person, with submission for the day and grace to bear its evils, without anxious thought for next week or next month, and with the mind kept from fixing on a definite point to the neglect of the duties of the day, even little duties that seem small but are of great importance.
The wise concealment by lips that speak truth only, keeping the time beyond human ken, holds believers always in expectancy and preparation, not only waiting and watching but diligently working, watching and praying, waiting patiently, working faithfully to save perishing souls, and improving time as a precious talent so as to be ready in an hour not thought of and prepared to give account if suddenly called to lay off the armor. Though no message tells the day and hour, the great day is near with signs fulfilling and prophecies plainly pointing to fast-fulfilling events prior to the end. The uncertainty calls for constant readiness, living, working and waiting faithfully as each day belongs to the Lord, with fidelity, faith and love, and purifying the soul through truth. This continual watching keeps the mind in a devotional frame through the close of the Sabbath and carries religion into business transactions the next day, for no business bears the seal of God unless religion and Christ and honesty are in it and justice and judgment are done to every soul connected with the work, since the eye of the Infinite One is upon every person and every word and the spirit borne, so that carrying any other spirit calls for conversion and repentance for a lost day, a hurt soul, and unchristian action, while as His witnesses believers are to represent Jesus Christ every day of life with God's help.
Failure to watch means He will come as a thief and the hour will not be known, arriving suddenly and unexpectedly, as a householder would watch against a thief. For those who heed the warning the day will not come upon them as a thief and will not overtake those in darkness, while it overtakes those in darkness. The faithful and wise servant who gives meat in due season will be found doing so and made ruler over all goods and blessed, while the evil servant who says in his heart his lord delays his coming and smites fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunken and lives in selfishness and oppression will be cut asunder with hypocrites to weeping and gnashing of teeth in a day and hour he is not aware of and does not expect, and this portrays the condition of the church at His coming and should arouse earnest zeal in the true believer. Readiness means warning those perishing in sin, letting light shine to those in darkness, telling the world with careful faithful action that the end is near and the Lord is near and the end of all things is at hand, and presenting the prophecies whose truths decide eternal destiny, whose unmistakable fulfilment calls the church to arouse, to believers and unbelievers. It means investing money lent by the Lord to advance the last message of mercy instead of spending it in self-gratification and seeking worldly riches that will crumble to dust, and doing the daily duties God requires, including making special efforts to build up the institutions, for nearness of the end gives no excuse to stop working but requires everyone to work on what has been placed in his hands.
Not knowing the time should make a person feel unready, confess a hard wicked will that is difficult to give up, give the heart to Jesus at once without waiting, ask Him for help and for a heart to do His will, overcome self-will and having one's own way, and live a changed life from that day. Knowing all about His coming in power and great glory, which is sure and very soon, should impress the heart and stir greater interest and excitement than worldly celebrations, and hardness and insensibility under that knowledge is wrong. The same uncertainty applies to when a person's probation may close, so each must be ready now for the reckoning and the eternal decision of destiny.
No one knows the day and hour of Christ's coming, not any human being nor any angel, but the Father alone knows it. That time has been wisely kept secret and has not been revealed, so no definite day, month, year or period has been given or will be given to be calculated or proclaimed beforehand. This does not leave people to remain ignorant of its nearness, for its approach is to be known with certainty when all the foretold signs are seen, as summer is known by the budding fig tree. To set dates goes beyond what is permitted and brings unbelief and confusion when they pass, yet failure of dates does not remove the nearness taught by the signs. As in the days of Noah, ordinary life goes on and the warning is disregarded, and to refuse to know when the coming is near will be as fatal as not knowing when the flood would come. Because the exact time is unknown, all are charged to watch, pray and be ready at every moment, working faithfully and warning others, lest the day come upon them unawares as a thief.
Discourse Setting and Scope
The verse belongs to the discourse in which the destruction of Jerusalem and the final events of earth's history are described together. The words about Jerusalem reach beyond that destruction to the final judgment. They are also meant for those living in earth's last days.
The words were spoken by Christ in conversation with His disciples upon Olivet after He had for the last time departed from the temple. They were spoken when they asked what shall be the sign of His coming and of the end of the world. The chapter foretells Jerusalem's destruction as a type of the world's final destruction by fire. The second coming described there was not fulfilled at Jerusalem's destruction but is still future.
The prophecy is an outline of what is to come upon the world for the perils of the last days. It gives a brief view of the whole dispensation. The verse stands in the description of Christ appearing in heaven with power and great glory and sending His angels to gather His elect. It introduces the truth that the coming of the Son of man will be as in the days of Noah, when before the flood people were eating and drinking and marrying until Noah entered the ark and the flood came and took them all away unaware. It belongs to Christ's foretelling of the signs of the times for this age of the world, given to instruct those who should afterward believe and to help them prepare for the great conflict, and those signs are to be discerned now. It belongs to a warning that the Lord is near and that the end of all things is at hand, though no day or hour is given, calling for careful, faithful action and for telling the world that the end is near. It belongs to Christ's teaching about His second coming in the clouds of heaven and the moral depravity that would exist just before it, and that same condition exists now.
The prophecies of Matthew 24 are to be studied again and again and brought to the attention of all, both believers and unbelievers. Their predictions are being fulfilled today, showing that Christ's coming is at hand. Ministers and teachers are to present these prophecies because the truths in them decide the eternal destiny of souls, and seeing their unmistakable fulfilment calls the church to arouse. They call for those facing destruction in sin to be warned.
Only Father Knows Time
No human being knows the day and hour of Christ's coming, and not even the angels of heaven know it; the Father only knows it. The day and hour of His coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory to send His angels with a trumpet and gather His elect are reserved to the Father alone and lie beyond human and angelic knowledge. Because that time is unknown, His people are charged to watch, take heed, watch and pray, and be also ready, for in such an hour as they think not the Son of man comes. The coming of the Son of man will be as in the days of Noah, when before the flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until Noah entered the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away.
The exact day and hour have not been revealed but are kept secret as God's mystery alone. It is wisely concealed by the Lord and pronounced by lips that speak truth only to be beyond the ken of man. Christ Himself stated plainly to His disciples that He could not make that time known, and had He been free to reveal it there would be no need to exhort constant expectancy. People must not speculate about what has not been given them to understand, and those who claim to know the very day and hour and map out the future are warned off that ground. The concealment keeps believers always in expectancy and preparation, not only waiting and watching but diligently working, watching and praying, waiting patiently, working faithfully to save perishing souls, and improving time as a precious talent so as to be ready and prepared to give account if suddenly called to lay off the armor.
What is unknown includes the exact day, month, year, definite time and period, and not only how soon He will come. Defining the exact period that will elapse before He appears is forbidden presumption, and attempts to calculate or reckon it go beyond what God has revealed. The time before His coming is short, but its precise measure is not known to human beings while God knows the hour. His coming to this world in power and great glory is sure and very soon.
No definite time for His coming has been given to God's people, and none will be given, not even by vision. Setting a definite day and hour that then passes by is contrary to the verse. The verse is the Bible test for any claim since 1844 to have been shown the definite time. This does not forbid God Himself to speak the day and the hour just before the second coming, at the deliverance of the saints from the time of trouble when He delivers the everlasting covenant to His people, for hearing that hour proclaimed in vision is not knowing it now, since the hour heard can pass from remembrance after the vision, leaving no present knowledge of the time.
Nearness Known by Signs
No one knows the day or hour of Christ's coming, neither man nor angel, but the Father only, yet this does not leave people to remain ignorant of its nearness nor give warrant for ignorance. One saying of Christ must not be made to destroy another, for while the exact time is unknown men are instructed and required to know when it is near from the signs He gave. To use the verse to dismiss warnings that the coming is near, to quiet those seeking salvation, or to reject truth is a false interpretation and an excuse to reject light. To disregard the warning and refuse or neglect to know when the advent is near will be as fatal as it was for those in Noah's day not to know when the flood was coming.
Though the day and hour are not revealed, the day may be recognized as near, and the specific signs given to the last generation living before He comes testify with threefold assurance that when all these things are seen He is nigh, even at the doors. The signs of the times make the approach recognizable and give reason to prepare, to live soberly and godly, and to stay awake, watchful and sober rather than be caught unprepared. For those who heed the warning the day will not come upon them as a thief, while it will overtake those in darkness, and the faithful servant who watches and teaches His coming will be rewarded while the unfaithful servant who says his Lord delays will be judged.
Its nearness is known when all the foretold things are seen, as summer is known to be near when the fig tree puts forth leaves and budding trees appear. Signs in the sun, moon and stars, signs in heaven, on earth, in the church and in the wicked world, the prophecies of Daniel and John, and fulfilled prophecy point to the approaching coming and the day of vengeance. Present disasters are admonitions that the world is living in the last days in the closing period of earth's history with His coming drawing near, even at the doors, such as earthquakes, ships going down with great loss of life, destructive floods, and burning of costly buildings pronounced fireproof. No interpretation of prophecy should obscure or erase those signs, for the exact time cannot be calculated yet the return is recognized from them to be near and not far off.
The verse does not forbid identifying the time from the prophetic periods and the signs foretold, including recognizing the year toward which the periods point and that Christ is near. It is cited among texts commonly used to argue that the period cannot be known, but it does not prove that claim. To use the unknown day and hour to oppose pointing to the year when the periods run out and to the signs showing Him near, even at the doors, is hypocrisy and scoffing, hindering those who would receive saving truth and crying peace when there is no peace.
The warning about the unknown time was no reason to reject the message or the evidence received, and though the believers' expected time passed and they remained on earth disappointed, that gave no ground to dismiss the truth. The words were repeated everywhere as mockery and scoffing by the great mass in opposition to the message of the Lord's coming, manifesting the spirit of Satan. While the saints anxiously waited with fasting, watching and almost constant prayer, with even some sinners looking forward to the time with terror, evil angels urged the mockers on to harden their hearts and reject every ray of light from heaven so as to be fastened in Satan's snare.
Between the close of the prophetic periods in 1844 and the coming there is to be no proclamation of definite time, but waiting and watching unto prayer while loving and longing for His appearing and preparing others for that great event. Though the exact time is unknown, prophetic reckoning shows Christ is at the door, and believers must take heed lest hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life so that day come upon them unawares. Repeated messages of definite time serve the enemy by unsettling faith in the first proclamation of time that was of heavenly origin and leading the world to dismiss all time proclamation as delusion, fanaticism and heresy, while patient waiting without impatience and without casting away confidence leads at the appointed time to salvation and the cry of joy at His coming.
No Setting Dates
The verse rules out setting a definite time, date, day, month, or year for Christ's return and defining the exact period that will elapse before He appears. Attempts to calculate or reckon it to certainty go beyond what God has revealed and what Scripture permits, involving ingenious speculation about what has not been given to understand. No prophetic period extends to that event, and claims to identify its day, month, or year contradict the limit that the exact day and hour are known only to the Father. No human being or even the angels of heaven know them, for that knowledge belongs to the Father alone.
Setting dates for Christ's coming is presumptuous, for the exact time is beyond human knowledge. No message is given telling the day and hour, so to announce the hour, day, or year is not a message the Lord has given. Setting day and date for unfulfilled prophecy is a false and fanatical movement by those who claim to be led of God and run before they are sent, pleasing the enemy because successive failure brings confusion and unbelief. Anyone who sets a time repeats an evil work that has brought ruin to souls in the past, and dates so set will pass and He will not come. The secret things belong to God and are to be left with Him, while the things He has revealed are for His people to show the lines on which to work in harmony with Christ.
Failed date-setting misrepresents Scripture, encourages unbelief, and turns people away from the Bible's teaching that the end is near. Repeated failed predictions foster unbelief and discredit biblical truth, weaken faith and deceive those who set and urge the times, and bring confusion. Yet failures do not invalidate the Word's teaching that the end is near or the signs of its approach. The time of trouble must come before Christ's coming, so a failed date does not show that His coming is delayed or that prophetic time is false. Defining the time and then setting another time after failure, and repeated failed predictions, stamp and expose those who do it as false prophets.
The verse does not forbid earnest, Spirit-prompted preaching from the Scriptures with deep earnestness that humanity is living near the second coming, only fixing its day and hour. The expected time of Christ's coming was calculated from the 2,300 years of Daniel 8:14, first expected to end in 1843 and later corrected to the fall of 1844 because the decree in 457 B.C. was issued near the end of that year.
God Will Announce Time
Though no one knows the day and hour now, at the coming itself God will declare that day and hour from heaven to His people with a voice like many waters. That declaration will accompany their deliverance and the delivering of the everlasting covenant and the blessing of those who kept the Sabbath holy. After the saints have fled from cities and villages and cried day and night for deliverance, the voice will shake heaven and earth amid signs in sun and moon, clashing clouds, shaking mountains and boiling sea, declaring the time one sentence at a time with pauses rolling through the earth like peals of loudest thunder. When the never-ending blessing is pronounced on those who honored God in keeping His Sabbath holy there will be a mighty shout of victory over the beast and over his image.
The Father's promised disclosure of the true time is distinct from human predictions, for though unknown now God Himself will speak it before Jesus comes. No one will hear it ahead of the rest, but every living child of God will hear and know together, with joy and glory filling every heart. This will take place in the future time of trouble when the signs are repeated and before Christ appears to rescue His people completely to be caught up on a white cloud. God will speak with a voice like many waters giving the day and hour, and when He speaks the time He will pour the Holy Spirit upon the saints.
The living sealed saints, the 144,000, will hear, know and understand God's voice giving the time, while the wicked will hear it only as thunder and an earthquake and cannot understand. The Israel of God will stand with eyes fixed upward listening and understanding in awful solemnity. They will answer the end of every sentence with shouts of Glory Alleluia.
When God speaks the time their faces will light up and shine with the glory of God as Moses' face shone when he came down from Sinai, so bright the wicked cannot look on them. The revelation comes amid shaking of heavens and earth and signs in sun and moon, clashing clouds, shaking mountains and boiling sea. The saints receive the Holy Spirit at that speaking and shine with God's glory.
God Himself speaking the day and hour just before the second coming at the deliverance of the saints from the time of trouble is not forbidden by the statement that no one knows it. Hearing that hour proclaimed in vision is not knowing it now, for the hour heard can pass from remembrance after the vision, leaving no present knowledge of the time. It is the test for any claim since 1844 to have been shown the definite time, yet it does not forbid God to speak the day and hour by His own voice when He delivers the everlasting covenant to His people.
As in Noah's Days
The coming of the Son of man will be as it was in the days of Noah, when before the flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until Noah entered the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away. So now people continue ordinary activities and pursuits and pleasures, and the impenitent see no cause for alarm though the event has been long foretold. The day and hour of that coming is known to no man and not even to the angels of heaven, but to the Father only.
To disregard the warning and refuse or neglect to know when the advent is near will be as fatal as it was for those in Noah's day not to know when the flood was coming. Noah was told the year of the flood so he could prepare the ark and warn people, and prophecies with signs in heaven, on earth, in the church and in the wicked world point to the approaching coming. The signs give enough knowledge of its approach to prepare for it, as Noah prepared the ark, and men are instructed and required to know when it is near.
Time delays because the work has not been done for the wicked, and because time has passed on many distinctly say, My lord delayeth his coming. God's wonderful long forbearance and longsuffering toward the wicked is part of His great plan, but judgments will surely come, and the long-suffering God will do His work and discriminate with justice and accuracy. Soon the consequences of transgression will become a living reality to wrongdoers as God's judgments fall upon a disobedient world, and sinners will be brought vividly to realize that sin is the transgression of God's law.
This portrays the condition of the church at Christ's second coming and should arouse earnest zeal in the true believer. The warning calls people to be ready rather than trust assurances of peace and safety, for the coming will find people living as in Noah's days, occupied with ordinary life and unprepared until judgment arrives. The verse calls believers to be faithful watchmen, preparing their lives and characters for Christ's return.
As a man taking a far journey who gave authority and every man his work and commanded the porter to watch, since no one knows when the master of the house will come, at evening or at midnight or at cockcrowing or in the morning, lest coming suddenly he find them sleeping, so all must take heed, watch and pray. The faithful and wise servant who gives meat in due season will be found doing so when He comes and made ruler over all goods and blessed, while for those who heed the warning the day will not come upon them as a thief. The evil servant who says in his heart my lord delayeth his coming and smites his fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunken and lives in selfishness and oppression will come upon sudden punishment in a day and hour he is not aware of, cut asunder with hypocrites to weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Watch and Be Ready
Because the day and hour are known to no one, all are charged to take heed, watch and pray, and watch and be also ready, for the Son of man comes in such an hour as is not thought. As in the days before the flood when they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until Noah entered the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so His coming will be. Like servants given authority and every man his work by a man taking a far journey who commanded the porter to watch, since no one knows when the master of the house will come, at evening or at midnight or at cockcrowing or in the morning, all must watch lest coming suddenly he find them sleeping. Every moment is to be spent as though it might be the last, doing work for time and eternity, for only today belongs to a person, with submission for the day and grace to bear its evils, without anxious thought for next week or next month, and with the mind kept from fixing on a definite point to the neglect of the duties of the day, even little duties that seem small but are of great importance.
The wise concealment by lips that speak truth only, keeping the time beyond human ken, holds believers always in expectancy and preparation, not only waiting and watching but diligently working, watching and praying, waiting patiently, working faithfully to save perishing souls, and improving time as a precious talent so as to be ready in an hour not thought of and prepared to give account if suddenly called to lay off the armor. Though no message tells the day and hour, the great day is near with signs fulfilling and prophecies plainly pointing to fast-fulfilling events prior to the end. The uncertainty calls for constant readiness, living, working and waiting faithfully as each day belongs to the Lord, with fidelity, faith and love, and purifying the soul through truth. This continual watching keeps the mind in a devotional frame through the close of the Sabbath and carries religion into business transactions the next day, for no business bears the seal of God unless religion and Christ and honesty are in it and justice and judgment are done to every soul connected with the work, since the eye of the Infinite One is upon every person and every word and the spirit borne, so that carrying any other spirit calls for conversion and repentance for a lost day, a hurt soul, and unchristian action, while as His witnesses believers are to represent Jesus Christ every day of life with God's help.
Failure to watch means He will come as a thief and the hour will not be known, arriving suddenly and unexpectedly, as a householder would watch against a thief. For those who heed the warning the day will not come upon them as a thief and will not overtake those in darkness, while it overtakes those in darkness. The faithful and wise servant who gives meat in due season will be found doing so and made ruler over all goods and blessed, while the evil servant who says in his heart his lord delays his coming and smites fellow servants and eats and drinks with the drunken and lives in selfishness and oppression will be cut asunder with hypocrites to weeping and gnashing of teeth in a day and hour he is not aware of and does not expect, and this portrays the condition of the church at His coming and should arouse earnest zeal in the true believer. Readiness means warning those perishing in sin, letting light shine to those in darkness, telling the world with careful faithful action that the end is near and the Lord is near and the end of all things is at hand, and presenting the prophecies whose truths decide eternal destiny, whose unmistakable fulfilment calls the church to arouse, to believers and unbelievers. It means investing money lent by the Lord to advance the last message of mercy instead of spending it in self-gratification and seeking worldly riches that will crumble to dust, and doing the daily duties God requires, including making special efforts to build up the institutions, for nearness of the end gives no excuse to stop working but requires everyone to work on what has been placed in his hands.
Not knowing the time should make a person feel unready, confess a hard wicked will that is difficult to give up, give the heart to Jesus at once without waiting, ask Him for help and for a heart to do His will, overcome self-will and having one's own way, and live a changed life from that day. Knowing all about His coming in power and great glory, which is sure and very soon, should impress the heart and stir greater interest and excitement than worldly celebrations, and hardness and insensibility under that knowledge is wrong. The same uncertainty applies to when a person's probation may close, so each must be ready now for the reckoning and the eternal decision of destiny.