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The Lord Jesus asserts that the solemn predictions He has made will certainly be
fulfilled without the slightest alteration:
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away" (24: 35, N.I.V.),
also:
"No-one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but
only the Father" (36, N.I.V.).
The phrase "neither the Son" is omitted by the A.V., but is found in Mark 13: 32.
There is strong textual evidence for its inclusion in Matthew. This need not cause a
problem when we remember that the perfect knowledge shared by the members of the
Godhead as part of that which Christ voluntarily refrained from using during His earthly
ministry, except in those instances when such knowledge was needed for His purpose.
If we really believe the words of Christ, then no scheme of date setting of the day and
hour for the Second Advent is possible. Yet people who are attracted by numbers still
attempt to do this. We have known two or three such predictions by believers come to
grief. The pity of it is that not only do these people look foolish, but they bring into
contempt the teaching of the prophetic Scriptures and this is serious indeed. The only
people who will be helped by dates will be those who live in Daniel's last week of years.
They will have two historical facts to guide them, (1) the Antichrist making a covenant
with Israel (Dan. 9: 27), and (2) halfway through this time (after 3½ years) breaking it.
This leaves another 3½ years to run which covers the Great Tribulation and is ended by
Christ's Coming and the destruction of the man of sin.
Therefore those living at this time can compute the year but not the day or hour of
Christ's Coming. In the same way Noah knew exactly seven days before the Flood
commenced (Gen. 7: 4). Everyone else had better leave time computation alone if they
do not want to be deceived and deceive others.
The Lord now, as a warning, likens the end time to the days of Noah--"as it was in
the days of Noah, so it will be at the Coming of the Son of Man" (Matt. 24: 37). He
had already described it as a terrible time of darkness, apostasy and sin (24: 10-12);
and this is confirmed in II Tim. 3: 1-4 and Gen. 6: In an age of great wickedness
(Gen. 6: 5) men were living without any thought of God and His warnings
(Matt.xxiv.38,39) and were utterly unprepared. Suddenly the overwhelming judgment of
the Flood took place. The time in Genesis was one of being "filled with violence"
(Geneses 6: 11-13). It was therefore world wide. This too is characteristic of the end of
this age, and is certainly a prominent feature of the present time. The murders, rapes,
mugging and violence of all kinds are constantly happening all over the world and are not
being controlled.
The great wickedness of Gen. 6: is being repeated today. The Flood took away all
the wicked, the Second Coming of Christ and the judgments at that time will do a similar
work. There will be a division even between workers in a field or those grinding with a
hand mill--"one will be taken and the other left" (Matt. 24: 40, 41). What does "taken"