Will Jesus come an hour we know not?
Many people believe that the warnings that are given in Matthew 24 are for the Church. Jesus warns:
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 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; 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."
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 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. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
"The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of."
I myself am aware of when the Lord will come. I do not know the exact date but have made some educated guesses about the general time period. For this I have been called false prophet and a date setter because of the above passages of scripture. If you bare with me here I can show you very clearly that we "can" know when He is about to come. Not only that we should know when He is about to come!
First of all Matthew 24 is Jesus warning Israel what it will be like in the future. The passages are clearly a warning to the Jews and not the Church.
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (The coming Jewish Kingdom of David)
"So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel-- let the reader understand--then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now-- and never to be equalled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened."
The questions I have here are this. Does the Church observe Sabbath? Does the Church have anything to do with the time of Jacob's (Israel) Trouble known as the Tribulation. And we are certainly not God's elect more than Israel is. All through Matthew 24 we see a real Jewish flavour and presence. There is nothing Gentile in the whole passage except that the world will be effected by what takes place in Israel. In Luke 21: 12 says, "But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake." Clearly this is not the Church that Jesus is warning!
So what about it. Are we not to know when Jesus will come? Let's get away from Jewish warnings and go to where scripture is referring to the Church and not Israel.
"But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 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. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." 1Thes 5:1-9
The main message of this text is that we as the Church are children of the day and not of the darkness so that the coming of the Lord will not take us by surprise. It will NOT come unrepentantly as we will be alert to His nearness. The key to this passage is that when Israel says peace and safety, then sudden destruction shall come upon them. Labour pains will take hold as a nation will about to be born.
"Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it." Isa 13:6-9
The above passage is a warning against Israel and not the Church. Paul makes it clear that we will not have any part of the Day of the Lord because, "God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." But what about Israel? Will they be sober and alert and waiting for Jesus to return? Let's go back to Matthew 24.
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 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; 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." Matt 24:32-51
As we know, the flood came as a surprise only to those whom were unsaved and living in spiritual darkness. To them the flood came upon them suddenly like snare.
"Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 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. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
Here we see a clear opposition to what the Church is being told in Thessalonians 5. Here Israel is being told that they will not know when the Lord returns because they will be in darkness. In other words, Jesus is warning them that when the Rapture takes place, they will be taken unaware because of their sin and enter into the Day of the Lord/ Tribulation. When you compare what is being told to the Jews in Matt. 24 to what is being told to the Church, you can clearly see that Israel is not saved as a nation. This is why Jesus warns them that they do not know when He is coming. They will be spiritually asleep. Remember when the Jews came to arrest Jesus and all the disciples fell asleep instead of waiting with Him.
Matthew says, "Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
It is clear to me from scripture that at the time of the Rapture, Israel will be asleep. At the time of the Second Coming "all" will sleep, but half will awaken to be taken to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
"The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!"
Yes all Israel will be spiritually asleep.
Now here is a real clue to the events that will take place!
"For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also 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. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up." Matt 24:38-43
For a very long time this was a complete mystery to me until my millionth time of re-reading it. Here is the mystery. Speaking of the Tribulation the book of Revelation says,
"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Rev 6:15-17
If the time of the two men in the field and other women grinding is the Second Coming, we are then left with some major problems. How is it that they work in fields like nothing is happening? How is it that when the Second Coming arrives and the earth is in convulsions and the sun is darkened that these people go about their everyday chores? With pitch black darkness, a massive worldwide quake bigger than anything ever seen, how is it that these people are in the field like nothing happened? How can the women be grinding at the mill when there is famine throughout the land? Also how is it that the wild beasts do not attack the men in the field?
"I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth." Rev 6:8
Clearly the couples are not in a time of Tribulation. Before the flood came there was business as usual. Before fire rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah life was going on as usual. Before the Rapture takes place there will be two men and two women going about their business like every other day. Then suddenly the Lord returns at the Rapture to steal them away and the great Tribulation known as the Day of the Lord will begin and will last seven years until the coming of the Messiah.
What Jesus is telling the Jews in Matthew 24 is that when He comes to steal His Church away, Israel will not be ready, and that day will overtake them as a thief because they are in spiritual darkness. To this day Israel has never accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour, thus they will enter into the Tribulation.
I believe that the "two" men and the "two" women in the fields represent the Church and Israel. The Church will be taken and Israel will be left behind to enter into the Tribulation. So why is it that Israel is warned over and over again that they will not know when Christ returns at the Rapture. It's because they have been spiritually blinded.
"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. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy." Rom 11:7-11
When Jesus returns for His Church, Israel will not be ready yet and will enter into their baptism of fire. Once cleansed they will then enter into the Kingdom at the Second Coming. At the time of Rapture the Church will be taken and Israel will be left. Israel is warned that Jesus will come at a time when they least expect it because they are children of darkness, and as in the days of Noah judgement, will take place swiftly.
But for us who are the children of light, this day shall not overtake us as we are spiritually awake, watching and waiting. "When they (unrepentant Israel) say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them. Now in the news Israel is so close to have peace in their nation for the first time since the founding of their nation in 1948! Anytime now we will be Raptured and Israel as a nation will be left behind.
Will Jesus come for us at an hour we know not? No. We are awake and watching. To Israel Jesus warns,
"And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?" Luke 12:54-56
But now to the Church Jesus says,
"But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1Thes 5:4-9
Richard Vizzutti
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