This title is so obvious, it’s a waste of time to dedicate any thought to it at all.  After all, even the most passive reader of the Bible can cite, almost verbatim, the following.  Matt. 24:36–“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”  And, just in case THAT’S not sufficient proof that this is a dead-end subject, don’t forget what Yahshua himself said in the book of Acts.  Acts 1:7–“ And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.“

There.  Not only do we have ONE scripture that says Yahshua’s return cannot be known, we have TWO!  Doesn’t scripture itself tell us that “every word shall be established” if we use two or three witnesses?

2 Cor 13:1–“This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.“

So, there you have it.  This is signed, sealed and delivered, without a shred of ambiguity about this matter.  If the Bible itself isn’t an authoritative “witness” then nothing is.  Here we have not just one but TWO witnesses, both telling us that nobody can know the day or hour that Yahshua will return, so this is the last word on this subject.

The end.

Don’t forget to tip your waitress before you leave.

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What?  Are you still here?  Why?  Do you honestly think that there is anything else here pertaining to Yahshua’s 2nd coming that’s worth investigating?  Well, if you insist, let’s actually read what Matthew wrote in his gospel and what Luke wrote in the book of Acts.  Pro tip: You better strap in, because this is going to be a bumpy ride.

As I mentioned previously, the signs of Yahsua’s return are described in Matt. 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21.  While there are slight variations among the three, they each give comparable details of the many events and moments that are prophesied to occur prior to Yahshua’s arrival.  To simplify things, I’ll just refer to those events mentioned in Matthew.

Matt. 24:3–“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 [conclusion of the eon]?  ⁴ And Yahshua answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.  ⁵ For many shall come in [upon] my name, saying, I am the Anointed; and shall deceive many.  ⁶ And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”

Already, we have several important facts to understand.  As Yahshua begins to describe those events to watch for, he did not just say “watch for THIS singular event”.  No, he began describing many events, plural.  These events are things like wars, rumors of wars, and MANY shall come UPON Yahshua’s true name.  Do not skip past the importance of this point.

Matt. 24:7–“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.  ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

Again, Yahshua is describing many, many events in diverse locations, which include man-made events (wars) and natural events (earthquakes).  What other things are we told to look for?

V. 10-11:”…many shall be offended….  many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many….”

V. 24–“For there shall arise false Anointed Ones, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”

V. 33-34–“So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.  ³⁴ Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”

Now, before I address his words in verse 35, it’s important to point out a common literary device that’s used throughout scripture.  Quite often, the author of a book will be writing about a specific time, place or moment, then suddenly switch his thoughts to a completely different time.  Readers who are unaware of this literary practice are left with the impression that the entirety of what is written is a continuation of one common thought.  They cannot see any “breaks” in the thought process.  Instead, they read the text as a straight-line, taking them directly from point A to point B.

It’s especially important that you are aware of this method of writing because what is expressed in verses 35 and 36 have absolutely NOTHING to do with all the other thoughts that described his 2nd coming, from verses 4 to 34.  Read this carefully:

V. 35-36–“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.  ³⁶ But of THAT day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

Stop.

Do you realize that the “day” he spoke of in verse 36 ONLY applies to the event identified in verse 35?  Read it again.  It is not a summation of the whole of chapter 24.  Shocked?

Yahshua has just diverted our attention from those “signs of his 2nd coming” to a completely different event which has absolutely NOTHING to do with it.  He has, almost as an afterthought, alluded to ANOTHER  event, not associated with his 2nd return.  Don’t believe me?  You should, because you probably already know when THAT event–heaven and earth passing away–is supposed to happen.  It doesn’t happen PRIOR to Yahshua’s return.  It happens when YAHSHUA’S MILLENIAL RULE IS OVER AND HE RELINQUISHES HIS THRONE TO HIS FATHER.  When does this happen?

Rev. 21:1–“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.  V. 23–And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of Yahweh did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”

The moment that Yahshua completes his 1,000 year rule on earth, he will–at THAT time–give the whole world to his father, Yahweh.  And, since they will both be here on earth and they are both described as LIGHT, it is at THIS time that Matt. 24:35 has digressed to, because then and only then will “heaven and earth pass away”.

Now, verse 36–“But of THAT DAY and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”  This specific day, the moment when Yahshua’s millennial rule is concluded, and his father rules in his place, is the day that nobody knows.  This description is not a summation of all of chapter 24, climaxing in verse 36 and telling us we cannot know when Yahshua will return.  It is ONLY telling us that not even Yahshua himself knows precisely when the father will begin HIS rule on earth.

Throughout this chapter, Yahshua had been describing the events to watch for which will occur shortly before he returns.  And for this one brief moment, in v. 35-36, he switches his description from those events that will occur BEFORE he arrives to another event that will occur 1,000 years AFTER he has been here.

Then, in verse 37, he picks up where he left off, once again describing those events to look for prior to his return.  If scripture had not already revealed when “heaven and earth will pass away”, we would not be able to comprehend the “break” in the chain of thought.  But–and this is key–as soon as we continue in verse 37, what’s the first thing Yahshua identifies?

Noah.  What is important to know about this analogy?  The people did not know when Noah would be taken away…but Noah did.  He knew precisely the right day to enter into the ark and he was taken to safety as the waters arrived.

Immediately after identifying an event whose time cannot be known, he cites an example of an event whose time was absolutely known…but only to Noah, not the other citizens.  And now that Yahshua has returned to describing the events to watch for prior to his return, what does she say?

V. 42–“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Master doth come.“

Now that we’re back on topic, and not digressing about an event that’s 1,000 years into the future, Yahshua only said that we cannot know…the HOUR.  This is not a mistake, nor is this some sort of imprecise way of repeating his words in verse 36.  This is different.  It is only in v. 42 that Yahshua places a limit on the degree of what can/will be known immediately prior to his return.

We cannot know the hour.

But, what about what Luke wrote in Acts?  Didn’t that passage also tell us that we cannot know when Yahshua will return?

Acts. 1:6–“When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Master, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?  ⁷ And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”

Note, he did not say that the times or seasons cannot be known to some other group of people, did he?  He was giving a direct response to the Apostles direct question.  But, was this the end of his answer?  Far from it.

V. 8–“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.“

To fully grasp what Yahshua just told his Apostles, we need to break verses 7 and 8 down to their root words “you”.  In verse 7, the Greek words rendered “for you” is ὑμῶν, or “humOn”, or “of you”, which is the familiar, personal tense of the word “you”.  But in verse 8, the expression “you shall receive” is from the Greek word λήψεσθε, or “IEpsesthe”, meaning “ye-shall-be-obtaining”, using a future-tense “you”, and impersonal.

If this scene had played out on stage, with the characters on the stage being Yahshua and the Apostles, it would have looked something like this:  Yahshua, in v. 7, looks directly at the Apostles and said “…it is not for YOU to know the times or the seasons….”  Then, without breaking his thought, Yahshua turns away from the Apostles on stage and looks directly into our eyes, as members of the audience, then continues his next thought in v. 8 and says “But YOU shall receive power [to understand]….”.  The usage of the word “you” between verses 7 and 8 are two completely different groups of people.  Why would Yahshua have just addressed his Apostles, using the personal pronoun “you”, then immediately refer to them with the word “you” that identifies a group of people he’s not very familiar with?  The proper tense of this word “you” allows the reader to correctly understand that the 2nd “you” he referred to are people OTHER than the Apostles.  But, once again, the reader who’s unfamiliar with the root word that’s spoken of at this moment, draws the incorrect conclusion that Yahshua has referred to the Apostles in both instances.

A similar use of the word “you” can be found in most other languages other than English.  In this context, if it were written in Spanish, the “you” in verse 7 would have been rendered “tus”, while the “you” in verse 8 would have been “ustedes”.  They both are translated as “you” in English, but the reader loses the subtleties of which “you” is meant.

In other words, when the Apostles asked whether he would begin his kingdom on earth at that very moment, his response told them that THEY will not know the answer to that question.  But, a future generation of people, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, WILL know the answer to that question.  To reinforce this fact, remember what Yahshua said about what the Holy Spirit will do.

John 16:13–“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.“

All truth, not some.

These two familiar passages in the New Testament have, for 2,000 years, been misunderstood to say things they do not say.  The listener who hears these words therefore makes zero effort to see if what they were told is actually true.  But then there are fools like me who read what is actually written and nukes the conventional wisdom argument.

Wait…  Should I be using a “nuke” analogy in a discussion of the time prior to Yahshua’s arrival?  Forget I said anything.