We have all heard that the
day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. No man knows the day or
the hour of His return. I do agree with this. The Bible says that is the way it
will go down. However, I think there is more to it than just that. As with
everything I have discovered in reading the good Book, it just isn’t that
simple.
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Matthew 24: 36
36 “But
about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
As we
can see here, the go to verse, nobody knows which day or hour we can expect His
return. This day of the rapture does come, but nobody except the Father knows
when. That seems simple enough. What I have
heard one author, Rob Skiba, claim was that this phrase, “no man knows the day
or the hour,” is referring to the new moon. In ancient Israel men would use
this phrase because they had to stay outside and watch for up to three days in
order to determine the new moon. This is pretty interesting because it makes me
wonder, if once we see the signs of His coming in the sky, is it possible it
will be up to three days before He gets here? Or is it possible that this phrase
means nothing in our time, and possibly means that those who were waiting, and
watching new it was coming within a certain time frame, just not the exact
time? This last idea seems the most plausible taking into consideration the
parable of the good and evil servants.
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Matthew 24: 48-50
48 But suppose that
servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins
to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that
servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not
aware of.
The
evil servant was in the mindset that the master was not going to be back
anytime soon. This gave him the false security that he could do whatever he
chose to do, including beating the workers along with getting drunk and
neglecting his own work, presumably. This, to me at least, is saying that
Yeshua will return but only those that are NOT waiting patiently, following His
rules, will be taken by surprise. Verse 50 says, “The master of THAT servant
will come on a day when he does not expect him”. If that is the case then those
of us that are watching and waiting may have an idea of when He is to return. Don’t
get me wrong, I still believe that we do not know the day or the hour, and
cannot expect to set any dates. I just think that if we are really paying
attention to all the signs that have been told to us through the bible, we
should have a good idea about when His appearance should be on its way.
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1 Thessalonians 5: 2
2 for you know very
well that the day of the Lord will come like a
thief in the night
Again, we see that the rapture day
will sneak up on us. But again if we go to the parable the Yeshua gives us
following this verse we will see a similarity to that one of the good and evil
servant.
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Matthew 24: 42-44
42 “Therefore keep
watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand
this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was
coming, he would have kept
watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be
ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Yeshua
tells us, “keep watch” and “you also must be ready”. This parable He tells us,
or at least leaves the possibility open, that if we are watching and waiting,
we may have a good idea about when He will return. Once we start to see all of
those prophecies come true, as many are now, we should start to pay close
attention to the sky.
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Luke 21: 28
28 When
these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your
redemption is drawing near.”
Probably
the verse that stands out the most to me concerning the coming of our Savior
and whether or not we will know about it ahead of time or within a reasonable
time is this.
1 Thessalonians 5: 4
4 But
you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so
that this day should surprise you like a thief.
Yeshua
tells us that we will NOT be in darkness and that the day of the Lord, should
NOT surprise us like a thief. These are His words, not mine. How are we to not
be in darkness? Well, He referred to those He was speaking to as brothers and
sisters. This meaning those that know what to look for, those that are
followers of Him, and those that are watching and waiting for His return.
If
we keep watch, and stay ready for His return, we should know when it will be
coming. Maybe we will not know the hour, or even the day, but I think we will
be able to come to a pretty close estimate based on all the prophecies that
will need to take place. Don’t get me wrong, I do not think anyone should go
about their lives like the wicked servant, thinking that because we still have
time it is okay to do whatever you want and clean it up later. NO. I am saying things
need to take place before His return, but we need to use our time doing His
work, spreading His word, and watching ALL the things going on in this world.
Prophecies are coming true. Things ARE happening that are bringing us closer to
the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.
I agree with everything that is written here in accordance to the scripture that you post. I would like to add to the fact of the 2nd coming. There are scriptures that explain what must take place prior to his return. If we read Mathew chapter 24
ReplyDeleteClearly the good book of God Jesus Christ himself tells us the signs to watch.
Matthew 24
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’a spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.19How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.21For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25See, I have told you ahead of time.
26“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
29“Immediately after the distress of those days
“ ‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
30“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.d 31And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
32“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33Even so, when you see all these things, you know that ite is near, right at the door. 34Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.
Thanks Marcos.
DeleteI talk about all that stuff in my post concerning the Tribulation