That Day and Hour

When discussing the Lord’s return as an already fulfilled event, the following question almost always surfaces. How can the coming of the Lord be fulfilled when the Bible says, "But of that day and hour knows no man…" (Matthew 24:36)?

Why, as some reason, do we presume to know the time of the Lord's return? While this charge is inaccurate, we are often unfairly accused of teaching a precise date for the Lord's return.

There are some who seek to pinpoint the date with accuracy by the feast days. While such study is quite impressive, it does not affect the outcome of our present premise.

We are not proposing a specific time, --that is, a day, hour and minute for the time of Christ's return. However, that does not mean that we cannot know with accuracy, the generation in which Jesus returned.

The text states that Christ would return within one generation of his going away. "Assuredly, I say unto you, this generation will by no means pass away until all these things take place, (Matthew 23:34).

It has never been questioned that Jesus promised to return within this generation. The question is, which generation he meant by "this?"

Some interpret the text as though Jesus spoke remotely of "that generation, ..." to mean in the far distant future from his era. However, this, points to something near.

Elsewhere, generation most commonly refers to a contemporary group of people all living at the same time within about a 40 year span. Compare Matthew 11:16, "this generation" with Hebrews 3:10, "that generation."

In the first text, Jesus speaks of the generation contemporary with him. In the latter, David, quoted in Hebrews, speaks about 500 years after the generation which died in the wilderness, thus an example of a remote generation.

Copyright (c) 2006 by William Bell

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