The Scoffer's Favorite Verse

Matthew 24:36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. False teachers use scripture to support their false teaching and scoffers also use scriptures to support their scoffing, just as the devil used scripture when tempting Jesus (Luke 4:9-13). Matthew chapter 24 verse 36 simply tells us that no one knows the day and hour the Lord will return to this earth, it does not tell us that no one will know the season. Matt 24:32-35 32"Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33"So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near-- at the doors! 34"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 35"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. In the four verses preceding verse 36, we are told that we should recognize the season of the Lord’s return to this earth. The fact is, the Lord wants us to know when His return is near. The scoffers completely ignore verses 32 to 35 and focus on verse 36, in an effort to discredit anyone who preaches that the Lord is returning soon. To help us understand Matthew chapter 24, we will first consider Daniel chapter 9 verses 24-27. Dan 9:24-27 24 "Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. 25 "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. 26 "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate." First of all, notice in verse 24, that the seventy weeks (490years) are for Daniel’s people (Israel) and Daniel’s holy city (Jerusalem). This prophecy is for Israel and for Jerusalem, the rest of the world will be affected by it, but it is not primarily for the world, it is the time of Jacob’s trouble. Jer 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. Secondly notice in verses 25 and 26, Christ died after 69 weeks (483years). Then the people (the Romans) of the prince who is to come (the anti-christ) destroyed the city and the sanctuary. This happened in the year 70 A.D., 40 years after the end of the 69th week; therefore, we know there is a unknown period of time between the 69th and the 70th week. Thirdly notice in verse 27, he (anti-christ) shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week (7 years), the period of time that many people refer to as the Great Tribulation, and he will break the covenant in the middle of the week, after 3½ years. We are now living in the Church age, a period of time between the 69th week and the 70th week. The 70th week will begin when the anti-christ makes the covenant with Israel, sometime after the rapture of the Church. There is no way for anyone to know exactly how long a time there will be between the rapture of the Church and the signing of the covenant. The rapture of the Church does not mark the beginning of the 70th week, there may be hours or even a number of days between the rapture of the Church and the signing of the covenant. The covenant between anti- christ and Israel marks the beginning of the 70th week, the 7 year tribulation period. Matt 23:37-24:3 37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 "See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 "for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'" 1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down." 3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" Matt. 23:37 gives us the location of what follows, the city of Jerusalem, Daniels holy city. Matt. 23:39 tells us the Jews will not see Jesus again until they say “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”. This will not happen until after the Great Tribulation, the end of the 70th week of Daniel. In Matt. 24:2 Jesus prophesied of the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem that took place in 70 A.D., same as Daniel 9:26. As is the case with Daniel 9:24-27, Matthew chapter 24 has to do with Jerusalem and the Jews, it is an account of the 70th week of Daniel, the 7 year tribulation. The 7 year tribulation will affect the entire world, but it is primarily designed by God to bring the unbelieving Jews back to Himself. Jer 30:11 For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. In Matt. 24:3, we find the question that Jesus answers in the following verses. We will never know the day and hour, but the season of the return of the Lord and the end of the age is not meant to be hidden from us. Verses 4 to 8 refer to the first half of the tribulation, the first 3½ years of the 70th week. Verses 9 to 28 refer to the second half of the tribulation, the Great Tribulation for the Jews, the time of Jacobs trouble. Take special notice verse 22, it holds an important clue. Matt 24:22 "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. The last half of the 70th week of Daniel will be cut short in order to save the lives of those who are elected to go into the Kingdom age. The world will be repopulated by believers during the 1000- year reign of Christ. That means that some people will need to survive the Great Tribulation in order to repopulate the earth, but because the tribulation is so severe it will be necessary for God to shorten the tribulation, in order to keep some believers alive. We are not told how much the tribulation will be shortened, but it will be shortened according to verse 22. Therefore, it is impossible to calculate the time of the Lord’s return to this earth. Matt 24:36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. This verse refers to the second coming of the Lord, after the end of the Great Tribulation. I repeat, because the days of the tribulation will be shortened, no one will be able to calculate the day and the hour of the Lord’s return after the Great Tribulation. Matt 24:29-31 29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Verse 29 to 30 describes the Lord’s return, after the tribulation. Verse 31 mentions the resurrection, the rapture, of those believers who will be saved and then die during the Tribulation. This is the second rapture of believers, it will take place when the Lord returns, after the end of the Tribulation. It must not be confused with the rapture of the Church which will take place before the beginning of the Great Tribulation. Matt 24:32-36 32 "Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 "So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near-- at the doors! 34 "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. 36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. Matt. 24:32 When the fig tree gets its springtime leaves, we know for sure that summer is near. So also, when we see the signs spoken of by Jesus, we know for sure that His return is near. Since all these signs have to do with Israel, and Israel did not exist as a nation for almost 1900 years (since the destruction of Jerusalem in 70A.D.), we know that the beginning of these signs took place in 1948, when Israel became a nation again. The fig tree has put forth its leaves; therefore, we know for sure that the Lord’s return is near. In verse 33, we are told that we can know when the return of the Lord is near; and in verse 36, that no one knows the day and hour of the Lord’s return. As I already mentioned, the tribulation begins with the signing of the 7 year covenant, not with the rapture of the Church. Also the 70th week of Daniel, the 7 year tribulation will be shortened in order to keep some people alive to repopulate the earth during the millennium. Therefore, there is no way for anyone to calculate when the Lord will return because no one knows how much the 70th week will be shortened. Scoffers always find an excuse for not believing the Lord will return soon. The scoffers who call themselves Christians have a favorite verse “But of that day and hour no one knows”. They always say the Lord could return at any moment, but they refuse to believe He will return soon because they don’t want Him to return in their lifetime, to interrupt their plans. They always add that He may not return for another hundred years or even a thousand years. They totally disregard everything Jesus said about knowing the season of His return. Matt 24:37-39 37 "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 "and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. People usually accept those things that fit into their plans and reject those things that interfere with their plans. The people of Noah’s day were taken by surprised by the flood because they refused to believe the preaching of Noah for 120 years. They saw that the ark was finished, they knew the animals had entered the ark, and they knew that Noah and His family entered the ark. Nevertheless, they still refused to believe that a flood was coming because it did not fit into their plans for enjoying this life in this world. The unbelievers and scoffers of today will also be taken by surprise, not because they have not heard of the Lord’s soon return, but because His return will interfere with their desires and plans. They will be taken by surprise because they refuse to believe. 2 Pet 3:3-6 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. The scoffers of our day are people who call themselves Christians and they scoff because they desire to live their lives, according to their own plans, walking after their own lust, just as the people of Noah’s day did. They will be taken by surprise because they refuse to believe the signs given to them, just as the people of Noah’s day did. The people of Noah’s day had the ark as a sign and we have Israel as a sign. Just as Noah could not convince the unbelievers that a flood was coming, we cannot convince those who refuse to believe that the Lord is returning soon. Matt 24:40-44 40 "Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 "Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 "But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. After the tribulation, the unbelievers will be removed from the earth. They will be taken by surprise because they refuse to believe. The unbelievers don’t expect the Lord to return and they don’t want to hear about it. If anyone tries to tell a religious unbeliever that the Lord is returning soon, he will almost always say that no one knows the day and the hour. No one knows the day and the hour of the Lord’s return for His church and no one knows the day and the hour of the Lord’s return after the Great Tribulation. But, we know that this is the season for His return and He will take many by surprise because they refuse to believe He is returning soon. We must not be discouraged by the scoffing of the unbelievers; the Lord is returning soon. Because there are some people willing to believe, we must continue to warn them that the Lord is returning soon and that He will judge those who refuse to believe in Him. All Scripture taken from King James Bible * Bible Studies by Max Swan Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD. (NAS) Jer 9:23-24