Did Jesus Not Know the Hour of His Second Coming?

By Michael Scheifler
 (Bible Light Homepage)

The Gospel of Matthew:

(KJV) Mat 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?

(KJV) Mat 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

The Gospel of Mark:

(KJV) Mark 13:4  Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?

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

Note that in the intervening verses, in both Matthew and Mark, Jesus is able to tell the disciples the many signs that will signal the nearness of the second coming, yet according to the verse, He apparently does not know the exact hour it will happen. Is this not more than a little strange? Was Jesus really ignorant of the time of His own second coming, yet able to relate the many signs of it? Lets look at the word used in both passages that is translated as "knoweth", which is the Greek "eido":

From Strong's Greek Dictionary:

1492. eido, i'-do; a prim. verb; used only in certain past tenses, the others being borrowed from the equiv. G3700 and G3708; prop. to see (lit. or fig.); by impl. (in the perf. only) to know:--be aware, behold, X can (+ not tell), consider, (have) known (-ledge), look (on), perceive, see, be sure, tell, understand, wist, wot. Comp. G3700.

Now note how the word is used in the following verse:

(KJV) 1 Cor 2:2  For I determined not to know (eido) any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

In the above verse, Paul is saying that his only desire is to make known Jesus, in other words to preach the Gospel. Now if that sense of the word eido is used in the passages is question, they would then be rendered as follows:

Matt 24:36 / Mark 13:32

But of that day and that hour no man will make known, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father (only will announce it).

With this understanding, Jesus is not saying He is ignorant of the hour of the second coming, but rather, He cannot reveal it, neither can angels, because it is reserved for the Father only to announce the very hour of the second coming. This begs the question, does scripture reveal this announcement, when God the Father Himself declares the impending second coming?

The Voice of God the Father:

Ezek 39:7  So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
Ezek 39:8  Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

Rev 16:17  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

This great voice announcing the end, we can now surmise, is that of God the Father, announcing the impending second coming of His son. Note the result of this announcement on earth:

Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

The earth is rocked by a massive earthquake, the greatest of all time.

Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Now note this parallel passage of the same event:

Rev 6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

The voice of God the Father, when He says It is Done from the temple in heaven, triggers world-wide events that precede the second coming of His son. From this I think it is plain, that Jesus was not claiming ignorance of the hour of his second coming in Matt 24:36 and Mark 13:32. Rather, as God He indeed knew the exact hour, but He was saying that only His Father can reveal it, at the appointed time mentioned above. That announcement of the Father will have the wicked running for the caves and dens in the mountains, to hide from the impending second coming of Jesus Christ, and they can only blaspheme Him rather than repent of their wickedness.

[Luke 23:27 And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. 28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. 30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. ]

And what of the righteous who have been watching and waiting for the second coming? What will be their reaction while the wicked try to hide?:

Isa 25:8  He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
Isa 25:9  And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.