Is Jesus coming in 2027, 2028 or 2031 ?

For the past 20 years or so, there have been many dates set for the second coming of Christ and for the rapture, among those who believe in the pre-tribulation rapture.

Jesus said no one is to know the day or the hour, and His words are used to justify setting a year, since Christ omits the word “year.” What Christ omits is thereby used to build the argument rather than what He actually says. It is an interesting way to study the Bible when doctrines are built on what is not said rather than on what is.

The second most common argument to defend this is that, although Christ compares His coming to that of a thief in the night, elsewhere it says He will not come as a thief to His people. We are going to investigate this in particular.

Please note that I am not saying Christ will not come in 2027, 2028, or 2031. I do not know what year He is coming, and He could come any year, including one of those. However, I want to address the theology of time-setting regarding the second coming in general and whether it is supported in the Bible.

The setting of these dates is tied to the year of jubilee, or the 6,000-year mark, after either Christ’s baptism, His speech in Nazareth, or His resurrection. Before the year 2000, many believed this marked the end of the 6,000 years and expected an apocalypse at that time. Those who believe Jesus had to have been born between 5 and 4 BC, because Herod died in 4 BC, placed the 6,000-year mark a few years before 2000. However, all these dates came and went. The next mark for many was placing the 4,000 years at the baptism, sermon, or crucifixion of Christ, rather than His birth, and these are the dates we are now confronted with.

Calculating the end of the 6,000 years using the Bible alone can be a little tricky, which is why different calculations land on different dates. The Bible presents a timeline through the birth of key generations and through detailed lists of kings. Especially during the time of the kings, there appear to be some gaps that are evident to everyone. So counting exactly is very difficult. Did the reigns of kings overlap? Did they count a full year even if a king was inaugurated six months into the year? The Bible is not specific about months. Evidently, adding and subtracting months over more than 300 years will result in a few years that cannot be accounted for. In a few places, there also appears to be uncertainty in the timeline. The question is whether God deliberately allowed these gaps. In Luke and the Septuagint, we find that in the generations leading up to Abraham, one man is mentioned whose age and name are not included in Genesis. It is claimed he was left out of Genesis because of his sins, but that leaves us with another unaccounted-for time gap.

This has led many to focus on the year of jubilee, believing that Christ will come at the beginning of such a year, which then leads them to think Jesus can only come at the end of a 50th year. If one has reached this conclusion, Jesus has to wait another 50 years. Some say it must be the year of jubilee from a cycle beginning either from creation or from the fall of man.

However, I will not spend any more time on the various reckonings; instead, I will look at what the Bible teaches about the time of Christ’s second coming and whether it is possible to know the time in advance.

Jesus doesn’t know

In the Bible, we find a very strange revelation coming from Jesus:

«But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” (Mar 13:32).

Jesus had said many times that:

«I and my Father are one» (Joh 10:30)

Considering their oneness, why would God not reveal to His Son the time for His coming? The answer has to be tied to Christ’s mission.

«Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross» (Php 2:6-8)

Jesus’ mission was not just to die for us, but to become our priest and advocate in heaven (1Jn 2:1, Heb. 2:17). He went from His high position, equal with God, and lowered Himself not just to a human but to the position of a mediator (Heb. 12:24; Heb 9:15; 1Ti. 2:5). A mediator places himself in the middle, like a bridge between two places.

While working on our behalf, representing the case of mankind in heaven as a mediator, He appears to have been relieved of the knowledge of when the door of mercy shuts. In this way, Christ can continually work for our sake throughout His ministry in heaven, while God the Father decides when it is over. Then Christ will prepare and begin His journey. At that time, Jesus will have been granted the power to save a great number of people from the coming destruction and final judgment. Notice that when Christ comes, He waits for permission from the temple in heaven before beginning to gather His people:

«And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped» (Rev 14:14-16). 

Notice that it is not Christ who says «the time has come», but an angel who conveys the time from God in the temple. Until the very last moment, Christ has to wait for God’s proclamation of this “time.” Christ learns of the time to reap only when that time has come.

As we can see, a picture emerges showing how far-fetched it is for us here on earth to think that we can know the time years in advance. In Revelation, we see that Christ is informed of the final time of gathering at the very moment He is already standing prepared on the cloud.

So, arguing against Christ’s words about not knowing the time by claiming He did not know it then but would after His ascension is building a theology on what IS NOT SAID rather than on what is. I want to emphasize this, as it is a valuable lesson in these days of confusion: recognizing how some theologians build their arguments. Usually, when an argument is built on what is not said, it appears to be something that was said. Be alert to this, and you may be spared from being led down paths that lead nowhere. That is a subtle way of abolishing Christ’s direct words. Christ knew He was speaking of a future event, and therefore His statement that He did not know the time would make no sense if it were not also true after His ascension. Do you think God wants you to read between the lines, or to take His word as it can be plainly seen and read?

Daniel 12 prophecy

In Bible prophecy and in Daniel 9, we learn the exact time of Christ’s first coming. It’s written so that it cannot be misunderstood:

«Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks» (Dan 9:25)

No such direct announcement is given of Christ’s second coming, which is why those who set dates are left to use unclear prophecies and assign them a meaning that is not written plainly within them.

One of them is the end of Daniel 12, which says:

«Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.» (Dan 12:12)

Having no clear meaning beyond «blessed is he that waiteth,» they feel at liberty to determine for themselves what this “wait” is about.

Once the assumption is made that this blessing refers to Christ’s second coming, they build upon this assumption rather than the verse itself, since the verse itself says no such thing.

In the Bible, a blessing can be tied to many things. To end wickedness:

«Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers» (Psalm 1:1)

It can be a period of special trials:

«Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life» (James.1:12)

It can be a special time of atonement:

«Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered» (Psalm.32:1-2)

The list goes on. The word «waiteth» can also be connected to deliverance from an oppressor. We have many such blessings at the end of a waiting period in the Bible: Israel’s captivity in Egypt as they waited for the promised deliverance given in a prophecy; in Babylon, the time prophecy said they had to wait 70 years for deliverance; the 40-year time prophecy in the wilderness before the blessing was given to the next generation; and many other waiting periods and prophecies leading to blessings. It is very common in the Bible for God to give time-based prophecies about temporary oppression and its relief. In these cases, the relief is always seen as a blessing from God and a time of rejoicing.

The context of Daniel 12 shows it’s speaking of deliverance from an earthly ruler that has been given a time and not deliverance from sin:

«And from the time that the daily shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.» (Dan 12:11-12) 

And so this is a clear “out of Babylon” type of blessing after God’s people have suffered oppression. It does not have to be tied to the year of Christ’s second coming at all. The verse does not even state this, and imagination has to be added to make it so. If you look at the difference between the prophecy regarding Christ’s first coming and this one, you will see a great contrast. Over-interpreting what the blessing is to come after the waiting period is like the great movement in the USA in the mid-1800s. They read:

«And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed», and assumed that the earth was the sanctuary and the cleansing was Christ second coming (Dan 8:14 )

They calculated the time and were bitterly disappointed when Christ did not come. Then they realized they had been too hasty in interpreting the statement «sanctuary be cleansed.» Rather than a metaphor for the earth and Christ’s second coming, they realized it was what it said directly: a real sanctuary cleansed. They found in the book of Hebrews that, in fact, there was an active sanctuary service in heaven. And so they had taken a clear statement and added meaning and interpretation, when the verse may have only meant exactly what it said.

And this is what many Bible students do when interpreting Scripture. They take a clear statement and give it another meaning, and when they are utterly disappointed, they realize they have added meaning that was never there.

The matter is clear: if Christ’s second coming was prophesied at the end of Daniel 12, then Christ’s statement would be strangely off: «But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.» Not only did Jesus know all about the subduing power mentioned in Daniel 12, since He even mentioned it Himself, but the angel Gabriel, who gave Daniel the vision, also knew. (Jesus identified the power in Daniel with Rome, Mat. 24:15.)

Would that not leave Christ’s statement about neither Him nor the angels knowing rather strange? 

Counting of jubilee years:

Counting the jubilee years seems like a challenge today, and different groups arrive at different conclusions. But the jubilee years were never a secret; they were meant to be observed by the nation of Israel. Satan and his angels, as well as Christ and His angels, have existed since before the earth was created and before Adam sinned. In fact, the devil caused him to sin and likely commemorates that victory quite often. They can all count the 6,000 years from both creation and the fall of man, and they all know the cycle of the jubilee years. With perfect knowledge of this, if God had planned to fix the date of Christ’s second coming to the harvest feast in the jubilee year 6,000 years after either event, it would mean everyone would know when Christ was coming. And again, that would make Christ’s statement that neither He nor the angels knew the time strange at best.

But not just that. Christ said the devil didn’t know either and that there was a reason for it:

«And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through “Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. (Luk 12:39-40) 

Christ’s second coming is kept secret because God does not want the devil and his angels to know the date. Jesus, if we believe He means exactly what He says, He explains the reason. The devil «would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.» But is God not all-powerful? Can He not come and gather His children without any problems?

Well, Satan isn’t going to just give up without a fight. In Revelation, we learn what happened when the devil was cast out of heaven:

«And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out…» (Rev 12:7-9)

Why was there room for them to fight at all? Well, we have to accept that there was. And if they fought to prevent being cast out of heaven, you can be sure they will fight with everything they have to not let go of their prey and dominion here on earth. How they fight, we do not know.

From the Bible, we learn that God does not intend for that battle to take place at Christ’s second coming. Rather, the devil is going to be «bound» (Rev 20:2). We learn from Revelation 16 that they will gather together with Satan to make war, but that Christ’s second coming will interfere with these plans and stop them.

You can be sure, just as God is planning the triumphant coming of Christ, the devil and all his angels are planning on how to make that return as difficult as possible. From Revelation 20, we see that God is saving this «battle of planet earth» with the devil and his allies for after the 1000 years. God doesn’t want this battle before then.

This means that at Christ’s second coming, the sole purpose is to deliver God’s people, both those who have died and those who are still alive.

Jesus Himself said that His coming is secret to prevent the devil’s plans:

«that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through»

Jesus then, in the same setting, says to His people:

«Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not»

Because God must keep Christ’s coming a secret to ruin Satan’s plans, we cannot know the time either. So Jesus tells us to be prepared at all times. It is because of the devil and his angels that God has chosen a time no one knows.

And God is no fool; He knows the devil can count jubilee years and count to 6,000.

So can Jesus, and so can the angels, and therefore, the set date cannot be that date, or Christ’s words make absolutely no sense.

Does Paul contradict Christ?
In the verse we just looked at, we see that Christ says He comes as a thief because of the devil, and also that we cannot know the time.

Paul says:

«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.» (1Th 5:2-4) 

To many, this saying simply abolishes what Christ said. It is never a good idea to use Paul’s writing to abolish Christ’s words, whether on the law or any other topic. Jesus did not say He comes as a thief to His people, but that His coming is as a thief to our captors. For us, His coming is not that of a thief, for He is our deliverer and «the goodman» is our captor. We cheer on Christ’s coming. «The thief» in this parable is only a threat to the devil. When we are prepared, we welcome Him and are not threatened by His coming. The ungodly will have their goods and even life taken from them. To them as well, he comes as a thief.

Every place it talks of Him not coming to us as a thief, it’s placed in the context of us being mentally prepared by having Christ in our hearts and being clothed in His righteousness. The darkness Paul speaks of is not being in the dark of the time of the event, but being spiritually in the dark.

Paul said, «For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night,» and then he says: «But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.» And then he elaborates the meaning:

«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» (1Th 5:2 & 4; 5-6)

Paul is not here contradicting Christ’s words, but using the same words Christ used and saying the same thing as Jesus, only with different words. «Be ye, therefore, ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not» and «Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.» Paul is not saying we can know the time, but that we can be ready at any time by how we live our lives, just as Jesus said. Again, assuming that not coming as a thief in the night means we will know the year of Christ’s coming is building an argument on something that is not in the text, rather than simply accepting what there is: our character at the time of Christ’s coming. Again, do not build arguments on information that is not there or that contradicts other scriptures.

Paul compares it to a woman giving birth: «sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child.» Everyone knows a woman is pregnant for 9 months, and the doctor usually sets a delivery date. However, Paul wrote this before the invention of ultrasound, which can measure a baby’s size and development with precision. But even today, with our best calculations, the day of birth comes as a surprise unless medically forced. I have two sons; one arrived a day early, and the other arrived five weeks early. Because the second one came so early, I never had time to pack a bag for my hospital stay, as I had to rush in. My sister, with her child and my mother carrying me, both experienced a time of delay, a full two weeks later than the due date. Everyone who carries a child into the tenth month knows how difficult the waiting is; you are prepared for the event, but you are also struggling, hoping every day will be the day of delivery. You can predict the time of birth, but even today, the day may come suddenly or be delayed. And even if you give birth on the exact day predicted, it is not due to any exceptional ability to predict; you simply got lucky. The date was even more difficult to predict in Paul’s time, when he used it as an example of Christ’s second coming. You cannot predict it, even if you think you can. He comes when He comes.

The sixth plague
In the book of Revelation, we learn about the final events, including the Mark of the Beast. After making the mark, we can read about seven plagues coming over the earth and Christ coming right after them or during the seventh plague. In the sixth plague, Christ makes the following statement:

«Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.» (Rev 16:15-16)

Why does Jesus need to add this information in the middle of the mention of the sixth plague? Jesus brings the same message He gave once before: He comes as a thief, and we need to be prepared not by knowing the time but by staying holy. We still don’t know, but we are still prepared by how we live our lives. If we are where we should be, clothed in Christ’s righteousness, Christ can come today, and it would still not be to us as He was a thief in the night. The only thing that determines if He comes as a thief to us is if we are prepared by being clothed in His righteousness or not. But notice, even during the sixth plague, Satan is in the dark about Christ’s exact coming. Also, notice Christ says He comes like a thief at the very time Satan is preparing a great war, and thus Christ is destroying his plans like He said He would. But at the same time, again, Jesus makes note that His being forced to come as a thief to stop Satan means we might find ourselves unprepared too, and so He gives us this warning again. He comes suddenly.

And so, thinking we can know this event 3, 7, or 10 years in advance is just fooling ourselves.

Christ has made it very clear that we cannot know the time, even up until the very last moment.

The 10 virgins

This is consistent with Christ’s parable of the ten virgins waiting for the groom. It says that five of them were wise and the other five foolish. Now, consistent with the other statements of Christ, the wisdom here is not tied to knowing the event; Jesus had just told them prior to this parable that no one would know the hour. None of the ten virgins knows, just like the example of childbirth. They had an expectation, but it says «the bridegroom tarried», meaning He did not come at the time they had expected. Suddenly, they are all awoken by a cry saying at midnight, «The bridegroom cometh; go ye to meet him». Here we see the coming of the bridegroom in the middle of the blackest night. Although they are all alerted at the same time at the coming of the groom, the difference is that five of them had no oil left in their lamps; they weren’t prepared for the time tarrying. The other five had enough oil and were therefore prepared, no matter what time the groom came. This is again consistent with Christ’s words: «Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not» and «Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments». All Christ’s messages to us about this are that we have to be ready at all times. We have to be ready today. And being ready is not knowing the time but having His kingdom already begun inside us: «Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you» (Luk 17:21)

Christ’s second coming starts in the hearts and ends in physical deliverance. First He will deliver us from our sins, which is why He gives the message: «Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.» and to the last church: «I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear» (Rev 3:18)

Why does Jesus say the kingdom comes not by observation in Luke 17:20, and then in 17:24 He tells them to distinguish a claimed coming, whether it is true or not, by how the coming appears by sight? Isn’t this a contradiction? The meaning becomes clear when Christ says His coming is sudden and cannot be predicted, which is why we have to be prepared beforehand. A false coming involves a time when you can convert and go and seek this “Christ”. But when it happens for real, it is over; there is no second chance. He will gather His saints immediately.

We are not left in the dark.
Jesus said the time of His coming is a secret that not even we will know until the time is at hand, when Christ has already started His journey to come for us. However, He has told us the era in which it will take place and given clues that the time is short. In the prophecy given to Daniel in Daniel 2, God let us count down to the great event by following the rise and fall of the kingdoms. From Babylon to a divided Roman empire, He lets us know that Christ’s kingdom will be set up during the divided kingdom. To those living then, Christ’s coming would have seemed imminent, though we now know it was not. The former kingdoms, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece, all had a shorter period compared to the Roman Empire and the divided empire. Babylon lasted only a few hundred years, even shorter if counted from Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. From Cyrus the Great until the Greek empire, there were only 200 years, and the Greek empire lasted roughly 350 years, but as a successor to the Persians, even less, because it was already divided at Alexander’s death and became split first into four and then into two parts until the Romans took over. The Iron Kingdom, however, lasted for 1000 years! So anyone who had hoped the fall of Rome would be as rapid as the kingdoms before would be utterly disappointed. Even more so, for over 1500 years, the land would be divided, iron mixed with clay. Had God revealed the dates of the rise and fall of the kingdoms, God’s people might have completely lost courage. However, He did give a special prophetic time for 1260, 1290, and 1335 prophetic days (years). This was a special time of suppression and just like the captives in Babylon had waited patiently for the seventy years to commence before returning to Jerusalem, God’s people had to in the Christian era wait patiently during this period of lengthy suppression. When they were delivered from this power, over 40+ years went by until they had a full reform from the false teachings they had learned during their captivity and would come under God as lawgiver again (re-institution of God’s law in the church). Although they were delivered from Papal civil power, they remained under his religious laws all these years. Now they had re-instituted God’s laws, and the blessing that followed this change was a spiritual awakening, discernment, and enlightenment.

“ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD” (Psa_119:1).

“Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart” (Psa_119:2).

When God’s people honor His law, God can by His own rule deliver them from their enemies. When they rebel, God allows them to be subdued. So it has been throughout Bible history, even in the New Testament prophecies. The Jews in the time of Jesus wanted the Messiah to deliver them from Rome, but He wanted to deliver them from sin. This was the blessing He wanted to give. The same can be said about God’s people in the end if we seek deliverance in His coming and Him defeating the “beast of Rome,” while He wants His coming to be about defeating the influence of Rome in our hearts. The spiritual deliverance comes before the physical. The blessing is in the spiritual deliverance.

Christ is asked when His second coming is.
When the disciples asked when Christ’s second coming was, Jesus didn’t give them a date or a time prophecy; He gave them signs:

«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?» (Mat 24:3)

«Take heed that no man deceive you» was Christ’s reply. How could Christ prevent them from being deceived by a false Christ coming? By giving the exact date of His coming, right? Then everyone would know when it was Christ and when it wasn’t. But Christ couldn’t give that information, and so instead He told us not to be deceived by false Christs by learning what His coming would be like.

He then spoke of all the things that would happen on earth and how catastrophes and wars would come before He comes. When speaking of His grand coming, He gives this information:

«Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.» (Mat 24:32-33)

And so, again, although the disciples asked, «When shall these things be?», Jesus could only offer them the advice of staying alert and faithful. And by paying attention, they would be able to sense that the time is very short. When Daniel pleaded to know the times, God gave him the exact time of Christ’s first coming (Daniel 9), but when the disciples asked, they did not receive a time prophecy but a series of signs to look for.

Jesus then ends by telling them that He didn’t know Himself, even the exact time, nor the angels. Christ gave all the information He could so they would be alert and ready, and so the devil would remain in the dark.

The evil servant:
Jesus then continues with a parable about an evil servant. The setting of this parable is important. Let’s look at the timeline:

1. Disciples ask when Christ is coming.
2. Jesus tells them of the signs to look for and many of the things that will happen beforehand.
3. He then tells them to use these signs to know when the event is nearby, using the fig tree as an example.
4. He then explains no one knows the time except God, and says it will come suddenly on everyone, even God’s people.
5. He then shares a parable of a time-setter.

Seeing the setting, having just said no one knows the time, Christ gives a parable of this servant who seems to think he knows when Christ comes, and the result of this self-deception proves fatal in his case: 

«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» (Mat 24:48-50)

Here are three references to time-setting in the same parable:

1. My Lord delayeth his coming. Meaning He has placed Christ’s second coming in a distant future, thinking there is still time to prepare later.

2. The Lord cometh «a day when he looketh not for him». This says that this servant’s idea of Christ’s second coming is false, and that the time is different from what he had thought or pictured.

3. «In an hour that he is not aware of». Again, Jesus says that although this man believes he has some idea of when His coming is, he is wrong.

The statement «a day when he looketh not for him» shows that this servant didn’t just think Christ was delaying; he thought he had a good grip on the time of His coming.

The time setter today may say they don’t eat and drink with the drunken; however, this is a parable. And being drunk is a metaphor in the Bible for not being «alert,» like Paul said:

«For they that sleep 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» (1Th 5:7-8).

In the case of this evil servant, setting a time for Christ’s coming left him spiritually unprepared. That is the drunkenness.

And again, this is part of Christ’s answer to the question of the events surrounding His coming. Basically, He says no one will know, so don’t think you can know, but you can be prepared and alert.

Faith
Placing the second coming of Christ many years in the future can be problematic and lead us into an unintentional slumber. And even though the person setting the dates 7-10 years in the future isn’t going to falter during this time, many of those they preach the dates to will. Many who need the hope of Christ’s imminent return can lose courage. Many live in difficult situations. Others may make decisions for their future that might lead them astray. Some might think they have time to change later as the time approaches. And then there are those who are led by fear but whose hearts are not really converted, mingling with God’s people and causing them harm as they appear to be something they are not, and by it influencing others in the wrong way.

The concept of not knowing is what binds us to God in the bond of faith and keeps us awake.

The book of Hebrews shows us that walking and not knowing is what purifies us and our faith: 

«Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report.» (Heb 11:1-2) 

When Abraham and Sarah were promised a child, a lot of pain might have been prevented if God had said when they would receive this child. But the time of waiting, not knowing, and then giving up was part of their trial and their lesson in trusting God.

God could have let Joseph know he would be released and even how long he would remain in captivity, but He didn’t. Joseph had to learn to walk with God in blind faith.

There are countless examples in the Bible of how God expects us to be faithful, especially when we do not know the end of our trials.

We are taught to trust Him. For some, the end and the coming of Christ is tomorrow. Their life may be over in two years. God wants us to walk with Him now, to be prepared now, to always have oil in our lamps, to always be clothed so we won’t be found naked when that happens.

Noah
«By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house…» (Heb 11:7). Noah was never told the date of the flood. He started building in faith. Knowing the time might have caused him to either build in haste or take his time. Not knowing meant he was building that ark while trusting God to have control of the process.

Jesus uses this as an example of not knowing the time of His second coming:

«But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 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. ……herefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh» (Matt.24:36-39 & 44)

The flood came suddenly, they had no date, and they were surprised at its coming. Noah was ready because he had built himself an ark and heeded God’s warning of the coming destruction. He didn’t know the time either, but he was prepared when it happened. It says: «And knew not until the flood came.» They didn’t know the time, and Jesus says you won’t know the time either, so be ready, have that ark ready. And the ark we have to have ready is His righteousness covering us. Christ is our ark.

Lot
Christ’s second example of His coming, as explained in Luke 17, is the destruction of Sodom. 

«Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 

But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 

Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed» (Luk 17:28-30).

Christ then says that His people will be in a hurry at that time.

What marked the destruction of Sodom was that Lot was not told of the event before the night it occurred. He had no time to prepare; it happened suddenly. He had to just run.

Abraham was told in advance, but only that same day. He had no time to warn anyone, as the angels arrived in the city that same evening.

Lot had to flee that very night. He was saved not because he turned to the Lord that night but because He had already sought the Lord beforehand. He was saved because Christ was in his heart, not because he knew the city would be destroyed. Lot was just as clueless as the inhabitants of Sodom were until the very night when they were separated by the angels. «And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked» (2.Pe 2:7)

The destruction of Jerusalem
During both conquests of Jerusalem, prophets warned them that destruction was coming. Note that they were not told the time of the event itself. These events were also symbolic of the end of the world and conveyed the same message as Jesus and Paul regarding the end times.

Jeremiah, the prophet who prophesied the end of Jerusalem in his day, was told to preach to them of the coming destruction and the importance of turning from their sins. If they did, they could be individually saved.

But he was never given the event date. When the Babylonians besieged the city, the inhabitants were caught by surprise. They were locked in the city and were struggling, in need of food. They were unprepared because their hearts had not listened to Jeremiah’s warnings.

When it comes to Jerusalem’s destruction, Jesus didn’t give the date or year for this event either. He gave them a sign: the coming of the Roman army. An obvious sign to many, but for many of the Jews, it was a sign to fight and hopefully win. They thought that at both times they were under siege, God would deliver them. Jesus said this was a sign that the city would be destroyed, and so they had to flee if they wanted to be saved.

In both cases, they were to be prepared for the event by converting their hearts and paying attention to signs.

The story of the flood, the destruction of Sodom, and the destruction of Jerusalem all point to the coming of Christ. And Jesus lets us know that we need to be prepared because it will happen suddenly, and when it does, it will be too late to prepare. This will also help God to see who is only pretending to convert because they have been told the date of His coming, and who is converted because they love Him and wish to be with Him. The sincere is always prepared, while the insincere only prepares when given a date.

Jesus says about the time probation being over: «He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still» (Rev 22:11)

When Christ comes, even when the door of mercy shuts, there will be no additional time to prepare. Our preparation is in living the life of faithfulness right now.

If we do, Christ won’t come as a thief, even though He comes at a time we did not expect. His coming will be sudden.