In Matthew 24:36 we have this arresting statement:

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. "

A few verses later (44) we are given this warning:

"So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. "

In unravelling this whole subject of knowing or not knowing the day or the hour one thing is becoming obvious; we need to first define Biblically what it means to watch. This is tricky, because the word is often misunderstood. I should say "words", since there are nine Greek words that account for our "watch" verses. The first 3 (GREGOREO, BLEPO and AGRUPNEO) are the most important. The next 6 "wander" somewhat into a more generic sense. In the footnote section of this article you will find all the occurences of the nine Greek words that could reasonably be translated "watch". But for now let us look at that first word.

This word can be significant for eschatology study; especially those instances that translate "watch" from the Greek "GREGOREO". This word is from the term "EGEIRO" (="to have been roused from sleep/ to stay awake"). The following GREGOREO passages employ "watch" in a metaphorical sense that is contrasted with spiritual sleep. Following this are the uses of two other words which are only slightly less significant than the first in regard to this "spiritual wakefulness".

GREGOREO is used in the following verses:
Matt. 24:42, 43; 25:13, 26:38, 40, 41; Mark 13:34, 35, 37 ; 14:38 ; Luke 12:37 ; Acts 20:31 ; 1st Cor. 16:13 ; Col. 4:2 ; 1st Thess. 5:6, 10 ; 1st Peter 5:8 ; Rev. 3:2- 3 , 16:15

A few verses written out for convenience of study. The operative term is in ALLCAPS for easy identification:

Matt. 24:42 "Therefore KEEP WATCH, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."
Matt. 24:43 "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."
Matt. 25:13 "Therefore KEEP WATCH, because you do not know the day or the hour."
Mark 13:35 "Therefore KEEP WATCH because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back or whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn."
Mark 13:37 "What I say to you, I say to everyone: WATCH!"
Mark 14:34 "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and KEEP WATCH."
Luke 12:37 "It will be good for those servants whose master finds them WATCHING when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them."
1Pet. 5:8 BE self-controlled and ALERT. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Rev. 3:2 "WAKE UP! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God."
Rev. 3:3 "Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not WAKE UP, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you."
Rev. 16:15 "Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who STAYS AWAKE and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."

Notice first what the term is NOT used for, and that is "watching for signs". This is a common misconception that leads to two further applicational problems. First, it obscures the true meaning of watchfulness. Second, it leads to a misunderstanding of signs.

To "watch" is (1) being aroused from spiritual sleep and (2) staying spiritually alert and awake. Reading all of the 20 uses of GREGOREO above (some of which I pasted above) should bear this out. We can see from Mt 24:42 that "keeping watch" is to be done BECAUSE we do not know the day or the hour. Likewise 25:13, a passage that describes the endtimes parables of the wise and foolish virgins ends with the same phrase. Mark 13:37 teaches us that watching (staying spiritually awake - not being a foolish virgin ) is a responsibility of saints of ALL ages. Once again, not watching for signs, but examining ourselves. 1st Peter 5:8, Even though we might know much in the way of timing, yet if we are not "alert:" (same word) our knowledge only serves to make us more prone to Satan's devouring. True eschatology is not watching for signs. It is preparing to meet our God as the prophet says. It is being presented to Him a pure Church without spot or wrinkles. Revelation 3:2 translates the same word (NIV) "Wake up". This a is a word of warning to some of us to trade in our head knowledge for heart knowledge.

Anticipating Objections

Jesus clearly said to watch and be ready. So there is no doubt that the two go hand and hand. We are to be spiritually ready. But to divorce the term "watch" from watching the signs would be to take it out of the context of Matthew 24, which is a chapter about the signs. The original question asked by the disciples was "what are the signs of your coming?"Y�

Unless we first understand what the disciples asked we are not able to understand the answer that Christ gives. Nowhere did the disciples ask (not here, nor in Mark 13 nor in Luke 21) "What are the signs of your coming?" This may seem nitpicky but it is an important point. Do you know what I am referring to? What is the "sign (and not "signs" ) of your coming". So now we have to ask ourselves, "Even though the disciples asked for the sign of His coming is He going to obligingly give several signs anyway?" Christ gives His answer in Matt. 24:29 - 30:

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.
At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory."

So what is the one sign that Christ gives in response to the question of the disciples? The "sign of the Son of Man". Guess what? Once this sign is visible it is already too late. The one "authorized" sign of the Olivet Discourse is one that can do absolutely no good for the one who is not spiritually ready. It is superfluous for the spiritual. So it cannot be a sign that we should look for. All the events that are prior to this celestial sign are not spoken of as signs (wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, existence of false prophets and false christs - none of these are labelled as "signs").

Some might say that we are to both watch ourselves and for signs. But let's look again at one of those passages (Matt. 24:36-44):

36 No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;
39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
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.

And in Mark 13:37 we have "What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'WATCH!'" "

Notice first of all that Christ told His disciples (all of them - Mark 13:37) to :watch:; a command given to many who had no means to watch in the sense that some understand the word.

Was Jesus asking 1st century believers to look for signs?
Was He not rather warning them to watch their hearts (staying spiritually alert) lest their hearts become loaded with sin. He had in fact said in the hearing of these believers that only a wicked and adulterous generation craves signs and they would be given no sign - only the sign of Jonah. This is the death, burial and resurrection of Christ

If the 1st century believers were told to watch for signs then Christ expected His Second Coming to be in their lifetimes. Or if you grant to me Christ was telling them (1st century disciples) to watch in the same sense that I understand the word (spiritual self-examination and alertness) then my question to you would be "At what point are the disciples given a different "watch" order? (since - according to some - today's "watch" means "looking for signs".) In this case we have a unique form of dual prophecy; where a command means essentially two different things according to the generation addressed. Isn't it much easier just to understand watch in the sense that every one of the passages I gave allow for - and some in fact demand outright - a spiritual watchfulness, alertness, sobriety that will not be caught unaware by a sudden unexpected coming?

The foolishness of the 5 unready virgins was not in their not looking for signs of the bridegrooms coming.
No, they all slumbered. They didn't maintain or cultivate their meager means because they didn't watch and pray. Hence the warning at the end of the parable to watch.

It has been said that when Jesus took the three disciples with Him while He prayed at Gethsemane that He wanted them to act as watchmen, so that He would know when His enemies would come to arrest Him. The contention is thus that His telling them to watch included both spiritual and physical alertness.

But consider this: What good would their watching for someone's coming do? Was Jesus wanting to have time to pray His prayer? What aid could a mere physical watching possibly render to Jesus at Gethsemane? No, we are told why they are to watch in this very same verse (Matt. 26:41):

"Watch and pray SO THAT YOU WILL NOT FALL INTO TEMPTATION. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

Strong's definition for the word is:

"From G1453; to keep awake, that is, watch (literally or figuratively):�be vigilant, wake, (be) watch (-ful)."

Having quoted Strong's, though, we must add that a lot of weak arguments over-rely on Strong's. All that Strong's can do is list the verses and then apply his own definition. I have already listed all of the verses - laboring through my Greek NT - to get to all of the uses of the more important verbs (3 of them). By listing the verses in full, I made my definitions of the words vulnerable to anyone's correction - based on How Scripture uses the words.Several times I have found Strong's to be deficient in his definitions. He is helpful is in showing the actual occurrences of the words in the Greek. He is less helpful in determining when a word means what. There is no substitute for just studying the occurrences and praying for understanding. Otherwise it is just OPS (Other people's scholarship).

In these last days Christians may be warned that "We need to watch for signs of the coming of the Antichrist".

Once again, think of how the word is used in the New Testament. What danger could the disciples possibly have prepared for that night they were told to "watch"? Their danger was sin. The weak flesh overcoming the willing spirit. This is the very thing that happened to Peter, in fact. His spirit was willing so he followed at a distance behind his arrested Master. His flesh was weaker than his sprit was willing, because he denied his Master by the campfire. This is what Jesus was trying to prepare him for when he told him to Watch! This is why we are to watch in these end times.

If we are not careful we will become experts at talking About Christ's coming but we will be no more ready when the Man of Sin begins to wear down the saints of the Most High. No, I am not watching FOR the Antichrist, I am (hopefully) watching myself that I will be strong in the Faith when the persecution and the temptations come - and that I will be very close to the One in whom we have already overcome the world.

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Footnote on the "watching" verbs:

Following this are the uses of two other words which are only slightly less significant than the first in regard to this "spiritual wakefulness".

1. GREGOREO is used in the following verses:
Matt. 24:42, 43; 25:13, 26:38, 40, 41; Mark 13:34, 35, 37 ; 14:38 ; Luke 12:37 ; Acts 20:31 ; 1st Cor. 16:13 ; Col. 4:2 ; 1st Thess. 5:6, 10 ; 1st Peter 5:8 ; Rev. 3:2- 3 , 16:15

Matt. 24:42 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
Matt. 24:43 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.
Matt. 25:13 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Matt. 26:38 Then he said to them, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.
Matt. 26:40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour? he asked Peter.
Matt. 26:41 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.
Mark 13:34 It is like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
Mark 13:35 Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back or whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.
Mark 13:37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!
Mark 14:34 "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."
Mark 14:37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?"
Mark 14:38 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
Luke 12:37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.

Acts 20:31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
1Cor. 16:13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.
Col. 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
1Th. 5:6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.
1Th. 5:10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
1Pet. 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Rev. 3:2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.
Rev. 3:3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
Rev. 16:15 "Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."

2. BLEPO, similar in usage to the first word, is often used in the sense of "Beware" ( dangerous persons or dangerous situations) :
Matt. 24:4 Jesus answered: Watch out that no one deceives you.
Mark 8:15 "Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod."
Mark 12:38 As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces,"
Mark 13:5 Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you."
Luke 21:8 He replied: "Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them."
Gal. 5:15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Phil. 3:2 Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.
2John 1:8 Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.

3. AGRUPNEO refers to solicitous care :
Luke 21:36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.�
Heb. 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.Y�

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The following are the other "watch" words. They are not as important as the three words above. The listing of the words below is not exhaustive:

SKOPEO, EPECHO and PROSECHO speak of self-examination and discernment of others :

4. SKOPEO :
Rom. 16:17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
Gal. 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.

5. EPECHO :
1Tim. 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

6. PROSECHO :
Matt. 7:15 Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep�s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
Luke 17:3 So watch yourselves. �If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.
Acts 20:28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

The next three words use "watching" in the sense of "keeping an eye on" on persons (7,8) or animals (9):

7. TEREO :
Matt. 27:36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there.

8. PARATEREO :
Luke 20:20 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.
Acts 9:24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him.

9. PHULASSO :
Luke 2:8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.