Mat 24:36 | KingComments | STEP | There is no exact time known of His coming. The signs will point to His coming, but when it will be, only the Father knows ( ). It sounds strange that the Son does not know about it either, because we know that the Son is also God after all. This is one of the wonders of His unfathomable Person. As Man, He does not know the day and hour either. Just as His whole life on earth was led by the Father, so He is also in glory completely surrendered to the Father. Even if the day and hour are not known, the circumstances that announce His coming are. His coming will resemble what was going on in the days of Noah. There seemed to be no problem, everyone lived his own life. That life came to an abrupt end with the flood. The flood was, just like the great tribulation will be, a judgment of God over the whole earth. Just before the flood the earth was full of people of whom the Lord says here that they ate and drank, and married and were given in marriage. Those things were not wrong, were they? No, but life consisted of that. Life was lived without any thought of God. The people’s way of life made them blind to the impending judgment. No matter how Noah preached ( ), they did not allow themselves to be persuaded, but lived on happily. Their horizon did not go beyond what they saw. God was completely out of the picture. Serving Him did not occur to them, they were blinded so much by the pursuit of pleasure. But the judgment came and took them all away. What they did not want to think about, came irrevocably. Then it was too late for all except Noah and his family who were safe from judgment in the ark. The judgment that comes will work to separate men who are working in the field. Working is a good thing, but those who only work for a good life will be taken away by judgment. He who looks forward to the coming of the Messiah will be left behind and may enter the kingdom of peace. This separation also exists between two women who are working in the same task. One does it only for herself, the other because she lives for the Lord. The message from the Lord is that they must watch because it is not known exactly on which day their Lord will come. If they watch every day, they will be ready for His coming every day. He wants them to understand the importance of constant vigilance. If someone knew exactly what time a thief would come to break in, he wouldn’t sleep. This attention must be continuous. Therefore, attention must not slacken. A thief always comes at the moment when it is not suspected, when attention is waning. That is not allowed. They must be ready, without dozing off.

‏ Matthew 24:36

Day and Hour Unknown

There is no exact time known of His coming. The signs will point to His coming, but when it will be, only the Father knows (Acts 1:7). It sounds strange that the Son does not know about it either, because we know that the Son is also God after all. This is one of the wonders of His unfathomable Person. As Man, He does not know the day and hour either. Just as His whole life on earth was led by the Father, so He is also in glory completely surrendered to the Father.

Even if the day and hour are not known, the circumstances that announce His coming are. His coming will resemble what was going on in the days of Noah. There seemed to be no problem, everyone lived his own life. That life came to an abrupt end with the flood. The flood was, just like the great tribulation will be, a judgment of God over the whole earth. Just before the flood the earth was full of people of whom the Lord says here that they ate and drank, and married and were given in marriage. Those things were not wrong, were they? No, but life consisted of that. Life was lived without any thought of God.

The people’s way of life made them blind to the impending judgment. No matter how Noah preached (2Pet 2:5), they did not allow themselves to be persuaded, but lived on happily. Their horizon did not go beyond what they saw. God was completely out of the picture. Serving Him did not occur to them, they were blinded so much by the pursuit of pleasure. But the judgment came and took them all away. What they did not want to think about, came irrevocably. Then it was too late for all except Noah and his family who were safe from judgment in the ark.

The judgment that comes will work to separate men who are working in the field. Working is a good thing, but those who only work for a good life will be taken away by judgment. He who looks forward to the coming of the Messiah will be left behind and may enter the kingdom of peace. This separation also exists between two women who are working in the same task. One does it only for herself, the other because she lives for the Lord.

The message from the Lord is that they must watch because it is not known exactly on which day their Lord will come. If they watch every day, they will be ready for His coming every day. He wants them to understand the importance of constant vigilance. If someone knew exactly what time a thief would come to break in, he wouldn’t sleep. This attention must be continuous. Therefore, attention must not slacken. A thief always comes at the moment when it is not suspected, when attention is waning. That is not allowed. They must be ready, without dozing off.