Is It True that No One Will Know When the Lord Returns?

Some brothers and sisters in the Lord think when the Lord comes back, no one will know the day or the hour, for the Lord Jesus said, “But of that day and that hour knows no man” (Mark 13:32).

But have you ever thought what exactly the Lord’s words refer to and how this verse will be fulfilled? Today let’s explore this issue together.

Now let’s read two passages of God’s words. God’s words say, “At the break of dawn, unbeknownst to any, God came to earth and began His life in the flesh. People were unaware of this moment. Maybe they were all fast asleep, maybe many who were watchfully awake were waiting, and maybe many were praying silently to God in heaven. Yet among all these many people, not one knew that God had already arrived on earth.”

“At the beginning, when Jesus had yet to officially perform His ministry, like the disciples that followed Him, sometimes He also attended meetings, and sang hymns, gave praise, and read the Old Testament in the temple. After He was baptized and came up, the Spirit officially descended upon Him and began to work, revealing His identity and the ministry that He was to undertake. Prior to this, no one knew His identity, and apart from Mary, not even John knew. Jesus was 29 when He was baptized. After His baptism was completed, the heavens were opened, and a voice said: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ Once Jesus had been baptized, the Holy Spirit began to bear testimony to Him in this way. Before being baptized at the age of 29, He had lived the life of an ordinary person, eating when He was supposed to eat, sleeping and dressing normally, and nothing about Him was different from others. Of course this was only to the fleshly eyes of man. … After His baptism, there were no particular changes in Jesus; He was still in His original flesh. It’s just that He started His work and revealed His identity, and He was full of authority and power. In this regard He was different from before. His identity was different, which is to say that there was a significant change in His status; this was the testimony of the Holy Spirit, and was not the work done by man. At the beginning, people did not know, and they only came to know a little once the Holy Spirit bore testimony to Jesus in such a way. If Jesus had done great work before the Holy Spirit bore testimony to Him, but without the testimony of God Himself, then regardless of how great His work, people would never have known of His identity, for the human eye would have been incapable of seeing it. Without the step of the Holy Spirit’s testimony, no one could have recognized Him as God incarnate.”

From these words we can see that when the Lord returns, no one knows about it. Just as when the Lord Jesus came, no one knew that He was the coming Messiah. But when the Lord began His work, the Holy Spirit testified for Him, which enabled us to know the Lord Jesus’ identity. Similarly, the specific time of the Lord’s return is not known by anybody, but when the Lord returns and begins to work we will know it; otherwise, how can we receive His salvation? So “But of that day and that hour knows no man” means no one will know the moment He comes back, but doesn’t mean that when the Lord has started to do His work, no one will know it.

When we read God’s words, if we only understand the literal meaning and jump to conclusions by relying on our notions and imaginations, then we may very easily delimit God within our notions. So, we should seek with humble hearts and then God will enlighten and guide us to understand the true meaning of His words.

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