Can We Know When?

For as long as most of us can remember, we have always been taught that no one can know when the world will end. God has crafted the Bible very carefully to hide information concerning the timing of the end. We have to remember that the Bible tells us that certain information in the Bible has been concealed so that mankind could not understand it until right near the end of the world:
“And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:8-9)

Now we have reached the time when God is removing the seal from this information in the Bible (see God Is Revealing The End).

Coming As A Thief In The Night (1 Thessalonians 5:2-6)

Almost anyone who grew up in the church, myself included, remembers being told over and over that Christ’s coming will be like a thief in the night. In other words, no one can know when His coming will occur. One place we read about this is in First Thessalonians 5:2-6 so let’s examine this passage verse-by-verse:

²“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”
Here we have that frequently-quoted statement. I can remember hearing this over and over.

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.”
Teachers in the past have always used this as proof that people will be caught off-guard by Christ’s coming. It is true that this verse is teaching that, but that’s not the whole story…

⁴“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
Here we discover that there are some people who will not be caught off-guard by Christ’s second coming. We have all been taught time and time again that Christ’s coming will be like a thief in the night, but here we have a clear statement (at least, it’s clear to us now) that it will not come  as thief for some people.

⁵“Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”
The light of the world is Christ (John 8:12). Therefore, the children of light are the believers. They are the ones God is addressing here.

⁶”Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”
So we learn that those who will not be caught off-guard are those who are not “sleeping,” those who are watching. This does not mean those who are watching will simply know that Christ’s coming must be getting close. According to a recent study, about one-third of the world’s population calls itself Christian.¹ Another study indicates that 85% of professing Christians believe the end of the world is near² so there are about 2 billion people who think we are living in the end times. How many more non-Christians believe the end of the world is near for one reason or another? The point is, a very large percentage of this world’s population recognizes the end is near. This large percentage is not the group of people God is referring to when He says the end will not come as a thief in the night for some. In fact, in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 God is specifically addressing just the churches, just those who claim to be His people, and there He says that if they don’t watch then He will come as a thief in the night to them:
“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” (Revelation 3:3)
The setting of those chapters is one of caution (see Study on The Seven Churches). This is a warning God has placed in the Bible that really applies to us today because we are living in the time about which this warning is given.

We find another statement in Mark reminding us to watch and not sleep:
“Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” (Mark 13:35-37)
We will see that those who are “sleeping” are not those out in the world who want nothing to do with God, but they are those in the Christian community who continue to hold the belief that we can’t know when the end will occur. God defines "sleeping" as not having spiritual eyes opened to understand the truth:
"What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day." (Romans 11:7-8)
When we study Second Thessalonians chapter 2 (see Study on The Antichrist) we realize that as a result of the churches' desire to cling to their doctrines without continually re-examining them, God sends them strong delusion to keep them in their lies:
"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11)
We find another passage in Isaiah that reminds us that sometimes spiritual blindness ("sleeping") is a result of God's judgment:
"For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed" (Isaiah 29:10-11)

We are being taught here that we can know enough about the timing of the end that it will not come unexpectedly if we are watching. How do we watch? Do we go stand on a hilltop and look at the sky? No, of course not. We aren’t going to find any information in the sky about when to expect Christ’s return so that it does not come as a thief in the night. We watch by studying God’s Word very carefully. That is the only way we can obtain any information about what to expect and when.

The Bible teaches that if we don’t watch, then yes it is true that the Rapture will come as a thief in the night:
“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” (Revelation 3:3)
In other words, Christ will come as a thief in the night unless we are watching. This is how we know that watching means to study the Bible and learn the timing of the end.

The Bible does actually teach that we are to be studying time:
“Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.” (Ecclesiastes 8:5)

“My Lord Delayeth His Coming”

We read in Luke chapter 12 about the servant who was not paying attention to when his lord might return:
“But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.” (Luke 12:45-46)
This parable is speaking of someone who professes to be a Christian. It isn’t speaking of someone out in the world that wants nothing to do with the Bible. This is evident by the phrase, “My lord delayeth his coming.” This is someone who identifies himself with Christ.

The churches are filled with Christians who say, “We can’t know when Christ is coming so there’s no point in talking about it or looking for clues.” This kind of statement is the opposite of watching. It is like the servant who says, “My lord delayeth his coming.” And it is true that for those who have this attitude Christ will come at an hour when they are not expecting.

What About Not Knowing The Day Or Hour? (Mark 13:31-33)

³¹“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”
Clearly God is speaking here of the end of the world.

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.”
For centuries theologians have interpreted this verse as teaching that no man can have knowledge of the timing of the end. However, the Bible also uses the word “know” to imply experience. For example:
“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.” (Genesis 4:1)
So the question is, what definition of “know” does God have in mind here? This verse says that Christ doesn’t know the day or hour. Does Christ have knowledge of when the end will come? Of course He does; He’s Almighty God and timing is not hidden from Him:
“Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?” (Job 24:1)
So we must understand Mark 13:32 as stating that no man has experienced the end. Well, that’s kind of an obvious statement, isn’t it? Why would God put such an odd statement in the Bible that initially appears to so clearly say something different?  As we’ve learned, God has intentionally hidden the end-times information (see God Is Revealing The End). In order to do this, He had to use confusing language.

³³“Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.”
Here again we find God’s command for us to watch. Notice the command to watch is accompanied by the command to pray. This is a reminder that we need to prayerfully study the Bible. We don’t come to an understanding of the riches of God’s Word because we are so clever; it comes through careful study as we pray for God to open our spiritual eyes.
More understanding of the above passage comes from Matthew chapter 24…

The Days Of Noah (Matthew 24:36-39)

³⁶“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”
This is similar to the statement we just looked at in Mark 13:32. The verses that follow help us understand this statement.

³⁷”But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Once again we are reminded that we can learn something about the end of the world by looking at the Flood.

³⁸”For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,”
The implication here is that everyone is going about their business as usual as if destruction is not about to come.

³⁹”And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Remember that the population of the earth was much smaller back in Noah’s day, probably about one million people (see Study on Population Estimates). Also, the continents had not yet been divided so the world was not as segregated as it is today. Noah spent 120 years building the ark (Genesis 6:3). Given that God describes Noah as a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5), it is highly unlikely that he quietly worked for 120 years on the ark and never warned anyone of the judgment that was going to come.

All through Scripture we read of God warning people of the destruction that was about to befall them. Think of Moses warning Pharaoh, Isaiah warning Israel, Jeremiah warning Judah, and Jonah warning Nineveh. We know that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), which means we can know something about how He will behave in the future by looking at how He has behaved in the past. Based on the patterns we see in the Bible, it is very likely that Noah was warning the world of impending destruction. How does the world react to these warnings? With the exception of Nineveh, those who are warned have always ignored the warnings.

Returning to our passage in Matthew chapter 24, God tells us that the world will not know the day of His coming, just as it was in the days of Noah. This can’t be teaching that no one will have the information about when His coming will occur because that’s not how it was in Noah’s day. At the very least, Noah and his family knew the exact day when the Flood would occur. This brings up another point…

God Reveals The Timing Of Judgment

God revealed in advance the exact day when judgment would come upon the world in Noah’s day:
“For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.” (Genesis 7:4)

God revealed in advance the exact day when Nineveh would be destroyed through judgment:
“And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” (Jonah 3:4)

God gave advance notice of exactly when Sodom and Gomorrah would be destroyed so that Lot’s family was able to escape just before destruction came:
“And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.” (Genesis 19:15)

God gave advance notice of exactly what day He would bring each plague upon Egypt:
“And the Lord appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land.” (Exodus 9:5)
“Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.” (Exodus 9:18)
“Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast” (Exodus 10:4)
We can know something about how God will behave in the future by looking at how He has behaved in the past (Hebrews 13:8). Since He has given advance notice of the precise timing for judgment in the past we should not be surprised that He is revealing the timing of the end today.

Conclusion

Throughout the Early Rain, God had kept the details of the end times locked within confusing prophecies that had to be worded with difficult language in order to keep them hidden for over 1,900 years. It was the task of the church to go into the world with the Gospel throughout the Early Rain. It was not God’s intention that the church worry itself with the timing of the end.

The fact that God didn’t want the church focused on when the end was going to occur is obvious by the fact that God did not even allow these time clues to be noticed until recently. To that end, God also placed statements in the Bible that seem to be indicating that we can’t know anything about when the end will occur. However, now that we are seeing all of these time clues we wonder, “How can this be that there are time clues when supposedly we aren’t to know the timing?” Then as we re-examine these statements we’ve known for so long (i.e. Christ is coming as a thief in the night) we now find that new light is being shed on them.

Christ is not coming as a thief in the night to those who are watching. The end is almost here and the time for this to be revealed to man has come.

Should We Discuss It?

Some people feel that we shouldn’t bother ourselves with long discussions of the end of the world. However, as God reveals more information to us about the end times He commands believers to warn the world, not sit quietly on the information and keep it to ourselves:
“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” (Joel 2:1)

When we look at Ezekiel 33:2-6 below we notice that it teaches us two very bold truths:
1. It is the responsibility of the believers to warn the world that destruction is coming.
2. When the believers sound the alarm, it is the responsibility of mankind to heed that warning.
“Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.”
In other words, we cannot let this topic rest silently in our minds and out of our concern.

We might be afraid of daring to say when the world will end because historically such predictions have always been wrong. So we might fear we’ll look stupid if we are wrong or that anything else we teach will be discredited. That’s a very valid fear because we really do want to teach truth and if we aren’t doing so, then we aren’t being faithful to God’s Word.

Many of us were raised to believe that we shouldn’t be concerning ourselves with the timing of the end and that we need to just focus on salvation. However, we don’t read that concept in the Bible. Instead, we read numerous verses that tell us to watch so that we are not surprised at His coming. The Bible teaches that we should be paying attention to this, learning what we can, and warning the world.

We are now seeing numerous time clues in the Bible that were once hidden. We are going to examine each of these clues and see that they all support the same conclusion. Keep in mind all of this information is coming straight out of the Bible. We aren’t going to be basing our conclusion on what we read in the newspaper or what we see in the stars. It’s not based on something God told us in a dream or a prayer. All of it is coming from the Bible alone.