In (Matthew 24:36) – Jesus speaks of the remarkable event of His return to the point that His second coming will be completely unpredictable…….“But of the day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” This unpredictable event is underscored heavily in the additional warning he gives the disciples in (Matthew 24:42-44)…..”Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” As Jesus has just said, one can know that the time is drawing near by learning the parable of the fig tree. But we one can also know that Christ’s return is drawing near because they can observe the predicted pattern taking shape in the affairs of men. We can see the attitudes that he says will prevail in that day beginning to emerge as the dominant philosophy of the day (2 Timothy 3:1-7) (1 Timothy 4:1). But we can never know the day nor the hour, even the angels do not know, nor did the Son in the time of his earthly limitation, but only the Father
Men seem to display an urgent passion to set dates for the coming of Christ, but God has maintained an incredible silence about certain matters and this is one of them. The day or the hour is clearly marked “Top Secret” (Zechariah 14:7), Just as Jesus told the disciples after the resurrection (Acts 1:7). The activity Jesus wants to encourage is not date-setting but readiness. Are you ready?