No Man Knoweth The Day Or Hour

By Mike Taylor

“But of that day andthathour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32).

But of that day and hour knoweth noman, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36).

For the last two thousand years, there has been much theological interpretation of what Jesus was saying in these verses recorded by the men who sat at Jesus feet:

“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3)

As you read either chapter found in the gospels, Jesus explains to His disciples what the signs will be of the end of the age and His return. Note one thing as you read this chapter: Jesus was living as a mortal man — God in the flesh, a Jewish man that was speaking to other Jewish men who had customs and idioms that modern men must come to understand, in context of what Jesus was teaching to His followers. His disciples were going to have to teach these very things to the rest of the world, so they would have to be able to grasp what these signs were. So Jesus used familiar speech patterns or idioms that each were easy to understand to convey their meaning.

I want you to focus on one passage that Jesus spoke of and it starts the sermon off with what can only be described an idiom that any Jewish man of those times would have understood immediately because it was part of their culture─their very life─and unless we understand these idioms of speech, then the meaning gets lost in translation. What was Jesus referring to when He made the statement, “no man knoweth the day or the hour?”

Our Lord was saying that He was going to return on a certain day of the Jewish calendar that was celebrated each year. It was a phrase that was used to illustrate what the event held to each of them listening. It was a most Holy Day and a special Sabbath of worship that was celebrated in the fall of the year and was signified by the blowing of trumpets, which was to mean the “return of the King.”

Let us examine this topic, which is important to each of us in these last days with a proper explanation of all points, which I will cover. I shall split this article into two parts. This first part will deal with a day, which I believe, Jesus was giving reference to and when all of His church should be watching for as the end grows ever closer. The second part of this article will be focused on signs that were given by God, as it was in the “days of Noah” and an event that could signal that the day is upon us and we must be getting our houses in order and develop an urgency to reach as many people as possible to get them into the kingdom ofGod through belief in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The next article will be titled “Blood Moons Rising/Day of the Lord.” It is a sign in the heavens to us, which may I repeat, may have a connection to the day I wish to talk about in this article.

But note one thing, I make no prediction of the Lord’s return, as we cannot know for proof positive, but am referencing Scripture that gives us the information that points to a specific set of days as clues in His Word. These are found in the New Testament, as well as the Old Testament. These are expressions of culture at the time Jesus and His disciples lived in and were ingrained into their lives. Now back to the focus of this sermon.

God’s Plan for Mankind

God has given us a plan to show how He wishes to draw men unto Himself. Many have discarded this knowledge as being Jewish (to their great error) and having no relevance to the modern church. But what if I told you that God has used each of these signs to reveal the timing of the first coming of His Son into the world, to die and to be resurrected and will use these signs to announce the Second Advent of His Son coming back into this world leading up to Him ruling and reigning for 1000 years? Would you stand up and take notice? I urge you to take due diligence and study the Scriptures and these words I give you.

The old saying, “Don’t believe me, believe your Bible” is what I want you to do. Put this information next to the text. Look in the Strong’s Concordance and find the original Greek and Hebrew words and how they are expressed. In other words, do you homework and your own study. These commandments coming from the voice of Almighty God gave us God’s appointments with the salvation of mankind. They show exactly what has happened in the past, and will most definitely fulfill His plan in the near future. Let us dive right into what God gave us nearly four thousand years ago to reveal His plan for the salvation of mankind.

“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to beholy convocations, eventhese are MY feasts.

These are theLord’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times” (Leviticus chapter 23:2, 4, emphasis added).

Note that God says that these are the “Lord’s” feasts not belonging any one people, not the gentile nations, not the Jews, not the Hebrew children, not any other people but they belonged to Him. In another Scripture is emphasized,“These are MY feasts.” Now some think that the word “feast” denotes something with food. It has nothing to do with food, but denotes a commandment for a gathering of His children, His people to acknowledge and worship Him, as a “Holy Convocation” or commanded meeting time/gathering. To the people of the time of ancient Israel these “feasts” meant one thing, which was descriptive of their national relationship with Jehovah post Exodus leading into their agricultural life and had specific date events that were connected to each day or set of days.

But to the modern day church of the living God, it means something entirely different. We are not Israel, but each of these days pointed to one thing and One Person─Jesus Christ. To His church it points to the historically completed events that God has already accomplished or one-half of His plan for the salvation of mankind. He waits to complete His work and fulfill His plan to redeem His creation to live with Him for all eternity. These are prophetic rehearsals of God’s Son coming into the world the first time as a suffering servant and ultimately our Savior and High Priest, but the second time or noted by the last half of these commanded days, as the conquering King and Lord of lords. He came first as a Lamb but the next time He sets foot on this earth, He will come as a conquering warrior, a roaring Lion of Judah─full of the wrath of Almighty God.

To describe His plan in language that we can understand, God chose to bring His Son to come into the world to complete the first part of His plan on the exact days of His appointed times the Bible calls, His “feasts” that were given to Moses. They were divided up into observances: four in the spring of the year, and in the fall of the year the remaining three. The spring appointed days were Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost. What happened on these days that were completed on the exact datethat these times of worship were given by God in the Old Testament and completed in the New Testament that affects the church?

Passover Jesus offered Himself as the sinless Lamb of God. His shedding of His blood was for the salvation of the world and the payment for our sins.

Feast of Unleavened Bread His death and burial removed our sins outside of the camp.

Feast of First Fruits On the first day after the Sabbath on this Passover week, the priest waved a shief of barley in the temple as an offering of first fruits of the harvest, and simultaneously, Jesus was offering Himself to the Father in heaven as the First Fruits of those born of the dead in resurrection and full-payment for the sins of the world.

Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks Fifty days from Firstfruits, The Holy Spirit came in power exactly on time! Three thousand were saved and the church was birthed!

Note, that Jesus completed His act of salvation by His death and burial on the exact days of these original God-given appointed times. He sent God’s Holy Spirit, as our comforter, counselor and advocate on the exact day that was given in the Old Testament and the church was born. These are called God’s spring Holy Days and they have significant impact on the Christian’s life and his understanding of what has happened in the past and what is coming in the near future. Believe one thing, God is always right on time.

He does nothing by chance, but gives His Word in power, to inform of us of His plans and to all those He has called in these last days to proclaim His truths. Does it not stand to reason and totally logical and scriptural, that if He fulfilled His plan of salvation for all men on the appointed times of God’s plan for Man on THE day in these springs observances, that He will fulfill His plan beginning at His return to gather His church, and to set up His kingdom to rule and reign for 1000 years on these exact days appointed?

As He completed His redemptive act on the very day appointed, He will be right on time with His second entrance into the affairs of men in the chosen day appointed as noted by the coming fall feast, known as Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles, as God has had a plan. It is a wise man that seeks to understand His ways and His plans by making preparations to be ready when they are, “right at the door.”

LET ME EXPLAIN SOMETHING

Returning to the phrase, “no man knoweth the day or the hour” we still need to answer the question: What was Jesus saying that the apostles were completely familiar with? From the explanation above, I think you can see how these days mean something totally different to the church, than it did to Israel when they were given on Mt. Sinai. What significance does the remaining Holy Days of God affect you and me?

The three fall festivals start on the first day signified by the new moon on Tishrei, the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar. This is the only holy day marked by the new moon and is set apart for that reason as special. All other festivals are set or counted by the full moon as Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and even Pentecost are counted from the full moon of Nissan, which is in the early spring.

So the Spirit of GOD is pointing to this festival as a certain day! This is separated by months from the last feast and must be carefully witnessed by men of great authority in the land of Israel. It was a very involved process that must be guaranteed by two witnesses to it’s beginning reported to the Sanhedrin during the time of ancient Israel. Since it must be authorized, as they called it, “sanctified” before the month’s activities could begin, the appointed time is stretched into two days, as “No man knoweth the day or the hour.”

It is the only Feast Day that is named as such, because they just didn’t know which day was the correct day. Hence the quote is connected to this day. Why two days? It is because that with the days counted of 29.5 from new moon to the next, no one is sure if it’s the 29th or the 30th day of the month, so to be sure, they count both. To further explain the reasoning why two days, I went to the Internet and looked up the reason. What follows is an explanation:

Yom Teruah is the only festival that no man knows when exactly it will occur. This is due to the fact that it begins on the new moon. The new moon was sanctified when two witnesses see the new moon and attest to it before the Sanhedrin in the Temple.This sanctification could happen during either of two days, depending on when the witnesses come. Since no one knew when the witnesses would come, no one knew when the Feast of Trumpets would start.

A new moon is called “rosh chodesh” in Hebrew. As mentioned, new moons must be validated in Israel by two witnesses who will watch the dark black sky at the end of the moon cycle for the first glimmer of the moon to reappear. This is the beginning of the thirty-day cycle, which determines Israel’s months. (Moon is the word from which we get months.) As soon as the new moon is sighted and verified by two witnesses then the Sanhedrin or the High Priest will send runners from the east to the west with signal lights to be lit on high mountains to inform the people that the day has been sanctified, and they can begin their counting for the month and the Feast of Trumpets and the worship of God can begin. They are said to run “like lightning” This highlighted and bold statement “like lightning” is another Jewish idiom that any Jewish person of the time would instantly recognize and it is connected to the fall observance of the Feast of Trumpets.

Psalm 18.11-14: “He made darkness[the new moon on Feast of Trumpets]His secret place [the day no man knows the hour]; His pavilion round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies [describing the Day of the Lord].At the brightness that was before Him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire. The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave His voice [the sound of the trumpet – the shofar]; hail stones and coals of fire. Yea, He sent out His arrows, and scattered them; and He shot outlightning and discomfited them.”

There are numerous passages that use the same Greek word in Strongs, #796 “astrape, or astropo #797 meaning a bright shining light, a glare, lighning, bright, shining. Other Scriptures where the word is used are:

Luke 10.18: “And He said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning (astrape) fall from heaven.”

Which would make sense, as when God brings His people home, Satan is kicked out of heaven and comes down to earth with his demon hordes.

Jesus said:

Matthew 24.27: “For as the lightning [astrope] comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

Luke 17.24: “For as thelightning,thatlightensout of the one part under heaven, shines unto the other part under heaven (the east to the west); so shall also the Son of man be in his day.”

These passages all describe the beginning of the Day of the Lord and the Feast of Trumpets.

continue article at RaptureReady.com:

http://www.raptureready.com/soap/taylor82.html