Hi John & All:
Sometimes you unexpectedly receive
a bit of revelation from the Spirit of God, but the flesh gets in the way,
and its disemination becomes delayed for a time. When Jill wrote her article
concerning "no man knows the day nor the hour" post, I almost jumped out
of my chair. Three days previously I had sent a private email to John and
Jim, mentioning that the Spirit of God had given me revelation into that
same verse. But the flesh and other things got in the way ... and ... well
.... here I am finally sharing it.
Let's take a look at the infamous
scripture verse, which has long been made the very foundation stone of
the viewpoint held by most well-known preachers, and others, that
the Rapture date is hidden.
"But of that day and
hour knoweth no man, no,
not the angels of heaven,
but my Father only."
- Matthew 24: 36
"But of that day and
that hour knoweth no man, no,
not the angels which
are in heaven, neither the Son,
but the Father."
- Mark 13: 32
Well the question that
begs to be asked is this: "What day and what hour?"
The answer, of necessity,
would have to be contained somewhere in the previous verses, for the obvious
reason that both statements made by Jesus commence with the words -- "But
of that day
...", which is a past-tense reference to a previously described
event, or series of events. However, when searching those previous seven
verses back to the point at which the topic changed (Matthew 24: 29),
there is clearly not any reference to the Rapture. In fact, there is
no reference to the Rapture even if the reader goes all the way back to
the start of the chapter itself.
When applying the same
principle to the Gospel of Mark, we make the same discovery. When searching
the previous four verses back to the point at which the topic changed (Mark
13: 28), once again there is clearly not a reference to the Rapture to be
found. Furthermore, as in the Gospel of Matthew, we don't find a Rapture
verse even going back to the start of the chapter.
But wait a minute! Someone
is thinking that Mark 13: 27 is a Rapture verse. But it isn't describing
any such thing, for in fact it discusses an ingathering from across the
Earth, which occurs when Jesus Christ touches down on Mount Olivet, after
the Tribulation Period has ended.
"But in those days,
after that tribulation,
the sun shall
be darkened, and the
moon shall not give her light,
And the stars of heaven
shall fall, and the powers that
are in heaven shall
be shaken.
And then shall they
see the Son of Man coming in the
clouds with great power
and great glory.
And
then shall he send his angels, and shall gather
together his elect from
the four winds, from the
uttermost part of the
earth to the uttermost
part of heaven."
- Mark 13: 24-27
It seems a gargantuan
stretch to apply this "no man knows" verse to the act of the Rapture, which
itself is nowhere to be found within the specific area of the discourse
wherein the phrase is spoken.
There are only two possible
applications of the "no man knows" terminology, in my opinion. The first
of these has to do with the time at which the Lord remakes the heavens and
the earth.
"Verily I say unto you,
that this generation shall
not pass, till all these
things be done.
Heaven and earth shall
pass away: but my words
shall not pass away.
But of that day and
that hour knoweth no man,
no, not the angels which
are in heaven, neither
the Son, but the Father."
- Mark 13: 30-32
The second application,
which I believe to be the strongest fit, is that the phrase references
the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go back and take a look
at the Scripture verses again, with this idea in mind.
"Immediately after the tribulation
of those days shall
the sun be darkened,
and the moon shall not give her
light, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and the
powers of the heavens
shall be shaken:
And then shall appear the
sign of the Son of Man
in heaven: and then
shall all the tribes of the earth
mourn, and they shall
see the Son of Man coming
in the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory.
And he shall send his
angels with a great sound of a
trumpet, and they shall
gather together his elect from
the four winds, from
one end of heaven to the other.
Now learn a parable
of the fig tree; When his branch
is yet tender, and putteth
fourth leaves, ye know that
summer is nigh.
So likewise ye, when
ye shall see all these things, know
that it is near, even at
the doors.
Verily I say unto you,
this generation shall not pass, till
all these things be
fulfilled.
Heaven and earth shall
pass away, but my words
shall not pass away.
But of that day and
hour knoweth no man, no not
the angels of heaven,
but my Father only.
- Matthew 24: 29-36
The above verses clearly
place the reference to the unknown day and hour, as occuring after the end of the
tribulation period, at the time of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ to
the Earth -- which itself seems to have an unknown timing at some point
immediately after the
conclusion of the 70th week.
If you think I exaggerate,
then let's continue reading, because it crops up again:
"But of that day and
hour knoweth no man, no not
the angels of heaven,
but my Father only.
But as the days of Noah
were, so shall also the
coming of the Son of Man be.
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 in the ark.
And knew not until the
flood came, and took them
all away; so shall the
coming of the Son of Man be.
Then shall two be in the field; the
one shall be taken
and the other left.
Two women shall be grinding
at the mill; the one shall
be taken, and the other
left.
Watch therefore: for
ye know not what hour your
Lord
doth come."
- Matthew 24: 36-44
Everything described clearly
takes place after the tribulation period, at the Second Coming of the Lord. The Gospel
of Mark expresses this just as clearly:
"But in those days,
after that tribulation,
the sun shall
be darkened, and the
moon shall not give her light.
And the stars of the
heaven shall fall, and the powers
that are in heaven shall
be shaken.
And then shall they
see the Son of Man coming in
the clouds with great
power and glory.
And then shall he send his
angels, and shall gather
together his elect from
the four winds, from the
uttermost part of the
earth to the uttermost part
of heaven.
Now learn a parable
of the fig tree; When her
branch is yet tender,
and putteth forth leaves,
ye know that summer
is near:
So ye in like manner,
when ye shall see these
things come to pass,
know that it is
nigh,
even at the doors.
Verily I say unto you,
that this generation shall
not pass, till all these
things be done.
Heaven and earth shall
pass away: but my
words shall not pass
away.
But of that day and
that hour knoweth no man,
no, not the angels which
are in heaven, neither
the Son, but the Father.
Take ye heed, watch
and pray: for ye know not
when the time is.
For the Son of Man is as a man
taking a far
journey, who left his
house, and gave authority
to his servants, and
to every man his work,
and commanded the porter
to watch.
Watch ye therefor: 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: 24-37
The whole context is that
our Lord's instructions are to watch for an unknown timed event that occurs
after the
end of the tribulation period. So what event might that be? Obviously the
only one described so many times ... the Coming of the Lord, back to the
Earth. This is the event with the "unknown" timing.
Still not convinced? Let's
take a walk in the Old Testament.
"Behold, the day of
the LORD cometh, and thy
spoil shall be divided
in the midst of thee.
For I will gather all
nations against Jerusalem to
battle; and the city
shall be taken, and the houses
rifled, and the women
ravished; and half of the
city shall go forth
into captivity, and the residue
of the people shall
not be cut off from the city.
Then shall the LORD
go forth, and fight against
those nations, as when
he fought in the day of battle.
And
his feet shall stand that day
upon the mount
of
Olives, which is before Jerusalem
on the east, and
the mount of Olives
shall cleave in the midst thereof
toward the east and
toward the west, and there shall
be a very great valley;
and half of the mountain shall
remove toward the north,
and half of it toward the south.
And ye shall flee to
the valley of the mountains; for
the valley of the mountains
shall reach unto Azal: yea,
ye shall flee, like
as ye fled from before the earthquake
in the days of Uzziah
king of Judah: and the Lord my
God
shall come, and all the saints with thee.
And it shall come to
pass in that day, that the light
shall not be clear,
nor dark:
But it shall be one
day which shall be known
to
the Lord."
- Zechariah 14: 1-7
What a coincidence. Even
the prophet Zechariah, upon speaking of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ
to the Earth, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, calls it the day known to the Lord.
The count of the days
in both Daniel and Revelation, lead us to the end of the tribulation period,
while this event occurs within a short (immediate) time, after the tribulation.
See ya in the air,
Eric