But of that day and hour ...




Can anyone know the day and the hour that Jesus will return? Or the time of any prophesied event? What does the Bible say?


Hmmmm. On the surface these verses seem to say that no one can know when Jesus will return, not even Jesus Himself! Does that make sense? If Jesus, even today, does not know when He will return to this Earth, HOW can He prepare for His second coming (John 14:2-3)? Does anyone have an answer for that?

Obviously, these verses cannot mean that ONLY the Father knows up until the last second before He sends Jesus back to Earth. So, what do they really say?

First, WHEN did Jesus utter these words? About 2000 years ago, right? And WHAT did He say? He said that no one KNOWETH (KNOWS) the day and hour except God the Father. But, look at those verses! Jesus said 'knoweth' which is in the PRESENT tense! He did NOT say that no one WILL KNOW (FUTURE tense)! Nor did He say that no one CAN know! At the TIME Jesus said those words, NO ONE knew EXCEPT the FATHER! Even Jesus Himself did not know! Jesus did NOT say that no one would know at some time in the future! Of course, that DOES NOT MEAN THAT ANYONE WILL KNOW. But neither does it mean THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE for one or more men to know! In fact, in BOTH Daniel and Revelation, God specifically tells us HOW to determine the EXACT day of Jesus' return!


Now what about this verse? Pretty much the same story, but let's disect it. Taken out of context, this verse can be made to say whatever the reader wants to believe. So, let's look at the verse in the context of when Jesus uttered these words.

The first part of the verse, "Watch therefore," is in the imperative with the subject "Ye (You)" being understood. So WHO was Jesus addressing? Was He addressing me? Or you? Or anyone else alive today? Not hardly. Jesus was using parables to teach His disciples about 2000 years ago. This command was directed to those disciples that He was teaching AT THAT TIME . So, what did He tell them? That they (the disciples) at THAT TIME (present tense) did NOT know the day nor the hour. That is exactly true, as at THAT TIME even Jesus did not know. Is there ANYTHING in this verse which makes it impossible for THOSE disciples to know the day and the hour at some time in the FUTURE? No, absolutely nothing. They are commanded to watch, and sooner or later they WILL know, either before they die, or after they are resurrected. This verse in no way circumscribes the disciples or anyone after them from eventually knowing the day and the hour in advance.


Lets start with verse 9. What does it say? Basically that no one (not even the wise) would/could understand UNTIL THE TIME OF THE END. Are we in the time of the end? I believe so. So do many religious people. And even many noted scientists concur, even those with a non-religious bent. We are now at the place where we can destroy ALL life on this planet. That is ONE of the signs of the time of the end.

Now verse 10. NONE of the wicked would understand! ONLY the WISE! Do YOU understand? If you DON'T then YOU are one of the wicked! If you do, congratulations, you are one of the WISE!

Finally verse 11. This verse PROVES that it is POSSIBLE to know the date of a FUTURE event! It does not state specifically what that future event is, BUT it DOES give a STARTING time and a DAY count to that event! Once you have the starting point, it is GUARANTEED that you KNOW the date of that future event in ADVANCE! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TO COUNT 1290 DAYS!!! So, what is that event? Actually, it is the DAY of Jesus' second coming, although PROOF of that is beyond the scope of this page.


Here again is more proof that we CAN know the DAY and possibly even the HOUR of Jesus Christ's return. Note verse 3. Again we are given a STARTING point and the NUMBER of days to count until some unspecified event. Once we establish the starting point when the two witnesses BEGIN their prophecying, all we need to do is to COUNT 1260 DAYS until they are finished.

Now WHAT happens when their job is complete? Read verses 12 through 15. Note verse 14 where it implies that the third woe follows IMMEDIATELY after the second woe. It is not only logical that one should follow immediately after another, but it makes perfect sense since the rest of the woes, vials, etc of Revelation all follow immediately one after another.

Now to the crux of the matter. What happens in verse 15? JESUS CHRIST TAKES OVER THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD. In other words, HE RETURNS TO EARTH to claim that which is His!!! This is the day of His Second Coming. And once we know when the two witnesses START prophecying we can PREDICT the EXACT DAY of His return. Can we know in ADVANCE the EXACT DAY that He will return? ABSOLUTELY!!! These and MANY other verses PROVE that. Remember, ONLY the WISE will UNDERSTAND. Are YOU WICKED OR are YOU WISE?


Bottom line is that it is POSSIBLE for someone to know the DAY and the HOUR of Jesus' return to this Earth! Or for that matter ANY future event prophesied in the Bible. But does anyone really know? That is another totally different question.