Matthew 24:36 KJV But of that day and hour knoweth (G1492) no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
We’ve all been taught or just assumed that this verse is telling us that it is impossible for us to have any idea when Yeshua will return. Is that really what Yeshua meant or could there be something more that He wanted us to understand?
Just this morning I was listening to a program where there was a discussion about 2012 being the end of time. The speaker quoted the above verse and I had one of those “open block” thoughts that Brad Scott speaks of. I had recently watched a teaching of Brad’s about Esav and the tares. During the teaching, he happened to mention a Hebrew word, yada, which was used by Yeshua to describe an intimate knowledge. This word had also been used in Genesis 4:1 where it tells us that “Adam knew his wife.” I wondered if this word in Matthew 24:36 might be the same word. Using e-Sword, I traced this Greek word through the Septuagint to determine which word Yeshua used. Here’s what I found:
G1492
εἴδω
eidō
i'-do
A primary verb; used only in certain past tenses, the others being borrowed from the equivalent, G3700 and G3708; properly to see (literally or figuratively); by implication (in the perfect only) to know: - be aware, behold, X can (+ not tell), consider, (have) known (-ledge), look (on), perceive, see, be sure, tell, understand, wist, wot. Compare G3700.
This word occurs in Nehemiah 10:28 and correlates with the H3045.
Nehemiah 10:28 KJV And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge (G1492, H3045), and having understanding;
H3045
ידע
yâda‛
yaw-dah'
A primitive root; to know (properly to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively instruction, designation, punishment, etc.): - acknowledge, acquaintance (-ted with), advise, answer, appoint, assuredly, be aware, [un-] awares, can [-not], certainly, for a certainty, comprehend, consider, X could they, cunning, declare, be diligent, (can, cause to) discern, discover, endued with, familiar friend, famous, feel, can have, be [ig-] norant, instruct, kinsfolk, kinsman, (cause to, let, make) know, (come to give, have, take) knowledge, have [knowledge], (be, make, make to be, make self) known, + be learned, + lie by man, mark, perceive, privy to, X prognosticator, regard, have respect, skilful, shew, can (man of) skill, be sure, of a surety, teach, (can) tell, understand, have [understanding], X will be, wist, wit, wot.
AHLB “Knowledge: To have an intimate relationship with another person, an idea or an experience.”
Genesis 4:1 KJV And Adam knew (H3045) Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
So, Yeshua was saying that no man would know—have an intimate knowledge—of the day or hour of His coming. Although I would agree that Yeshua was meaning just what we’ve been taught—that we would not have a knowledge of the specific day, I submit that by not keeping YHVH’s Torah, specifically His feasts, we cannot know because we lack the intimate knowledge.
It is through coming to a deeper, more intimate knowledge of YHVH through keeping His Troah that we grow in our relationship with Him and His Yeshua. An important part of this is in keeping YHVH’s feasts. The feasts are chief among the personal, intimate ways YHVH chose to show us His plan of restoration. In Exodus 31:13 and Leviticus 19:3, 30; 26:2, YHVH stresses the importance of keeping His Sabbaths. He doesn’t just mean His weekly Sabbath, but His feast days, all of which include High Holy Days or Sabbaths, as well.
Yeshua has already fulfilled the spring feasts during His first coming and still has the fall feasts to fulfill. Without keeping YHVH’s feasts, we miss this truth. Keeping in mind that these fall feasts remain, consider the following:
1 Corinthians 15:52 KJV (52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 KJV (16) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
There are two of YHVH’s feasts that involve the blowing of trumpets. The first is Yom Teruah or Feast of Trumpets. It is the first of the fall feast days and it is commanded to celebrate this day by blowing trumpets or shofars. The second is Yom Kippur of the Day of Atonement. In the year of Jubilee it is commanded that a shofar is to be sounded on this day.
Many teachers believe that Yeshua will return on Yom Teruah and I agree to a point. However, I believe it may be more accurate that His return would be on Yom Kippur in a year of Jubilee. The Jubilee year was the year when land reverted back to the original owner. When Yeshua returns, the earth and especially the land of Israel, will revert to their original owners respectively. Perhaps the resurrection will occur on Yom Teruah and then 10 days later everything will be set right!
Whichever you ascribe to, it is agreed that Yeshua’s return will be during the fall feasts. Then how could it still be true that Yeshua meant that we couldn’t know the specific day when we know when these feast days occur? I believe it is a simple matter of the moon. Each month on YHVH’s calendar is determined by the new moon. Although scientists can compute the cycles of the moon with great accuracy, their calculations are not always correct. So, aside from not knowing when the Jubilee years fall as the count has been lost to history, we cannot determine exactly when each new moon will occur. Yom Teruah is the only feast day that is determined by the sighting of the new moon. All the other feast days involve a counting of days from either a new moon or another feast day. There is no way for us to know when this last new moon will be!
All this leads to the reasonable conclusion that there are two truths being taught in Matthew 24:36. Neither can we pinpoint the day on any calendar, nor can we know the day if we don’t “know” the day!
