Can Christians Know the Day, Time, or Season of the Last Days?
In reponse to a Christian Lady who had questions about knowing the end days signs.
From a facebook post:
I would like to first thank you for your response and agree no one can know the day or hour. In addition, I would like to state that I am not an end times preacher, but more of a casual observer (most people will reach his/her own end time before the last day arrives). I am an apologist (defender) of the scripture.
The verse I find most interesting is Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
Words are/ is knowledge. Knowledge is the one-word definition of Science, so Daniel is being told to seal up these words until the time of the end. He placed a condition on how long this knowledge/ science would be sealed up… until the end of time. He (God) Goes on describe the end times… there will be an increase in knowledge and people will be running to and fro… I don’t think we have to defend the statement there has been an increase in knowledge, for example my grandmother (Leslie’s great grandmother) raised me, she came to Kansas in a covered wagon from Illinois in 1902 at the age of 12, it probably took her months to get there. When she died we were taking regular vacation trips back to Illinois and making the trip in about 3 days in a car, and before she died America had gone into outer space. From covered wagon to space rockets/ ships certainly covers both statements of the end times, an increase in knowledge and people running to and fro. I think this puts us into those last days, especially when you add all the other signs as well.
I think Eddie Sax describes knowing the seasons best.
Times and Seasons for First Century-ites Only
In Acts 1:6-7, just before Jesus was caught up into heaven, His disciples asked, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus answered, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” In this passage, Jesus is speaking to the disciples about what will happen to them at their specific moment in time. Notice that they use the words “at this time” in their question. That would indicate that they meant “in their lifetimes,” or “the generation in which they were living.”
Was Jesus speaking here to a First Century audience only or was He also telling you and me, living in the 21st Century, that it is not for us to know the times and seasons either? The answer to this question is simple. We, of this generation, will definitely know the time and the season. Jesus said so in Matthew 24:34. “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” “This generation” refers specifically to the people who live to see the signs of the end times that He describes in the chapter, including the still-future abomination of desolation.
Paul confirms this teaching. He wrote in I Thessalonians 5:1, “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.” In verse 4, he goes on to say, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.” Paul is telling us specifically that we will know the times and the seasons. If we will watch, we will see the day coming.
Is this a conflict in scripture? In Acts 1:6, Jesus says, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons.” But, in I Thessalonians 5:1 Paul says that we will. Of course, there is no conflict! It is obvious that Jesus was speaking to a First Century audience in Acts 1:6-7, not to us!
So we have now answered the “times and seasons question.” What about the “day and hour” question? When Jesus said that no man knows the day and hour of the Lord’s coming, does this also apply to our generation?
Paul Said we Will Know the Day
Here’s another perspective. I Thessalonians chapter 5 teaches us that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. Matthew 24:42-43 relates the same story. It also says that the Lord will come as a thief in the night, and that the goodman of the house will not know what hour the thief will come.
The thief is clearly representative of Jesus Christ. But what does the goodman represent? Whoever the goodman symbolizes, the passage says that he will not know the hour of Christ’s return. For example, if the goodman represents the church, then the church will not know the hour of the Lord’s coming. It would be that simple. So let’s look at the context.
Question: Is the goodman the church?
Answer: No! The goodman of the house clearly represents unbelievers, not believers! He is not portrayed as a Bible-believer, but rather, he was living in darkness, and was not ready for the Lord’s coming. This passage teaches that it is the unbelievers who will not know the hour of the Lord’s coming. This conclusion is verified by I Thessalonians 5:4-5. There, it states that the only people who will not know the day of the Lord’s coming are the people living in darkness. But you, saint of God, are not living in darkness. You are a child of light, and the day of the Lord shall not overtake you as a thief!
Unbelievers will not know the hour of His coming. Does the Bible say that the church won’t know the hour of His coming as well? No. The fact is, it seems to indicate the opposite! The Lord will not overtake His children of light as a thief in the night. According to these passages, the church will know the hour.
Let’s keep studying the scriptures. We will know the generation, and we will know the times and seasons. And as the time draws nearer, perhaps we will also come to know the day and hour!
By Eddie Sax
I would simply like to add to this that we all know the left, especially the far left has no idea/ no understanding of scripture, or end times, and generally think is merely one of the fairy tales that Christians cling to from their book of fairy tales.
They live in the Darkness. The Christian (generally gathered in the right) do understand the bible is not a book of fairy tales, but is a historically reliable book filled with information given at a time when men could have had no idea of why they were writing what they were writing, and when found to be factual gives witness to the fact the word had to be inspired by a higher intelligence (God) for instance in Job 38:16 we are told there are “springs” in the bottom of the ocean… it wasn’t possible to verify this until 1977 until oceanographers with the use of deep diving research submarines built to withstand 6,000 lbs. of pressure per square inch explored the ocean floor and discovered “springs” on the ocean floor, written about in the bible over 4,000 years ago. This is only one example of over a hundred examples of what is now known as Scientific facts, and when coupled with the prophecies that have been fulfilled perfectly, it leaves no doubt in the honest man’s mind that the bible is indeed the inspired word of God.
Thus Christians live in the light!!!