Which day?

Dear friends

Regarding my message yesterday titled, "The question of 'when?'" a reader sent me the below interesting and thoughtful response. It concerns his understanding of the meaning and context of Matthew 2436, which says, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."

Because of the connective word "but," his point is that verse 36 applies to the preceding verse, as he explains. He makes a good point. Normally, we associate it with the following verse, 37, or 37-41.

This is an interesting Bible study topic and I pass it along for your own study, discussion and prayer. See below.

God bless you,

Jim

Hi, Jim,

Thank you for your dissertation on the topic, "When is Jesus coming again?" I thought you covered this subject quite well.

There is just one point that I would like to make with regard to one of the scripture passages that you quoted -- not a point of criticism, but a point of clarification. You quoted Matthew 2436 (KJV) as saying "But of that day and hour knoweth no man."

This verse is also given in Mark 1332. However, there are many days mentioned in the prophetic scriptures to which this statement could apply -- the question is, "To which of these days does this verse point?"

Most of those who quote this verse of scripture fail to read the preceding verse, which identifies the specific day being referenced in the verse quoted above. Notice that Verse 36 begins with the connective, "But," indicating that this verse in a continuation of the theme of the preceding verse. Matthew 2435 reads as follows "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." From this it is clear that the day under consideration is the day that "heaven and earth shall pass away;" not the day of the rapture or the Second Coming. From Revelation 211 we see that heaven and earth will not pass away until the end of the Millennium, and from 2 Peter 310 we find that this day is called "The Day of the Lord," and that the earth will be burned up with fire. Since this will be the day on which the earth will be destroyed and the new earth created (the time of the "second creation event"), it is logical that the time of this day would be known only to the Lord God Almighty.

I believe that many Christians try to apply Matthew 2436 to the rapture or to the Second Coming of Christ as a "cop out." This gives them an excuse for not searching the prophetic scriptures for signs of the close of the Church Age.

May God bless you and your important ministry.

Berk Hammond