Why did Jesus say no one knew the day or hour of his return?

What if i told you that God may have already revealed the time of Jesus’s return, would you believe me?

“How is that possible?” you might ask. “I thought Jesus himself said that no one knew the day or hour of his return!” you might add.

Some might even think,”This is blasphemy!”

Well, no matter your thoughts or feelings, i humbly request you allow me to indulge you for the next few minutes to consider this possibility.

The Controversy

There is a scripture in Proverbs 7 that seems to show when Jesus will return! This may come as a shock to many as this chapter is often not associated with the end times. We have been taught to think that Jesus can literally come at any time and any day because of what he said in the bible.

But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Matthew 24:36-37

I would like to present evidence to the contrary based on a scripture in Proverbs 7 that confirms that the bible should be read with a Jewish mindset if we are to understand Jesus’s words as he meant them.

The Moon and Gods divine appointments

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.”

Genesis 1:14-15

God created the Sun and Moon to help us know the time and give light. However in regards to time, the bible is even more specific to what times the Sun and Moon are to help us know. The word often translated as “seasons” is the Hebrew word “moed“. This word means “appointed times” and is the same word used in Leviticus 23 when God was revealing seven important festivals Israel was to celebrate on particular days determined by the moon every Jewish year. These festivals signified appointed times that God would interact with man in His redemption plan through Jesus. These feasts were:

1. Passover
2. Feast of unleavened bread
3. Feast of First fruits
4. Feast of Weeks/Pentecost
5. Feast of Trumpets
6. Day of Atonement
7. Feast of Tabernacles

We know from the bible that Jesus fulfilled the first four appointments because he died on Passover (John 18:28), was in the grave on Feast of unleavened bread which starts the day after Passover (Lev 23:5-6), he resurrected on the Feast of First fruits (1 Cor 15:20) and he poured out his spirit on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4)!

The Feast of Trumpets

Since the Feasts have so far been fulfilled chronologically in the order in which they were revealed, the next feast on Gods calendar yet to be fulfilled is the Feast of Trumpets. As shall be seen, God seems to have intentionally built an element of mystery around this feast!

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.

Leviticus 23:23-24

This feast, also called Rosh Hashana by the Jews, starts on the 1st day of the 7th month. It is characterized by the blowing of the shofar (rams horn). This feast was determined by the sighting of the first visible crescent of the moon by witnesses who then reported this to the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. Two witnesses were required to confirm a sighting had occurred and this was determined through cross examination by the Council. A Jewish month can have either 29 or 30 days therefore witnesses were expected by the Sanhedrin on the 30th day of the 6th month. If the moons sighting had occurred the previous day, the 30th day on which the cross examination occurred was declared to be the first day of the seventh month, The Feast of Trumpets. If no sighting was reported on the 30th day, the next day would automatically become the 1st day of the 7th month. This meant that this feast had a possibility of occurring on one of two days. No one could therefore determine ahead of time which day it would be or at what time confirmation from two witnesses would be got to declare the Feast!

The Hidden Day

There is a scripture in Psalms that the Jews have always linked to the Feast of Trumpets. It is Psalm 81:3 and it says,

Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

Psalm 81:3 (KJV)

The phrase “time appointed” in the King James version of the bible is derived from the Hebrew word “keseh“. The word “keseh” or “kese” was interpreted by ancient Jewish rabbis as meaning “covered” and was therefore seen as referring to the moon at the start of a lunar cycle when it is covered in darkness. Since the Feast of Trumpets was the only Jewish festival which was celebrated at the beginning of the month when the moon was just starting to emerge from darkness and was also associated with the blowing of the rams horn, then this verse was taken to refer to it. In fact, according to the Talmud, the Rabbi’s understood Psalm 81:3 this way,

As it is written: “Blow a shofar at the New Moon, at the covered time for our Festival day” Which is the Festival day on which the moon is covered, i.e., hidden? You must say that this is Rosh HaShana, which is the only Festival that occurs at the beginning of a month, when the moon cannot be seen.

The Jewish Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashana, 8a and 8b

This day is therefore known as “Yom HaKeseh“, the Hidden day or the Day of Concealment. Some dispute this meaning of “keseh” and seem to relate it to “kussu“, a word in Akkadian which means “full moon”. Akkadian was a Semitic language related to Hebrew with many related words. Many bible translations follow this line of thinking and have translated “keseh” accordingly.

The Day of the Lords return

Jesus often spoke in parables and in many of them, he always depicted himself as a Master gone on a long journey who would eventually return.

Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them…..
…“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.

Matthew 25: 14,19

In Proverbs 7, we are told of a young man with no wisdom who ends up in the arms of adulterous woman whose husband has gone on a long journey. She seduces him by saying,

Come, let us take our fill of love until morning;
Let us delight ourselves with love. For my husband is not at home;
He has gone on a long journey; He has taken a bag of money with him,
And will come home on the appointed day.

Proverbs 7: 18-20 (KJV)

The words translated as “appointed day” are actually “Yom HaKese“, the Hidden day! This is a cryptic reference to Jesus coming on the Hidden day, the Feast of Trumpets! Even the King James Version of the bible quoted above translates it as “appointed day” as though pointing it to a biblical Feast, which can only be Rosh HaShanah.

Colourful expressions

So when Jesus told his disciples that “no one knew the day or hour” of his return, he was speaking idiomatically to people who knew exactly what he was talking about! They experienced the uncertainty that surrounded the start of the Feast of Trumpets and knew its reference as the “Hidden day“. That is why Rabbi Saul whom we commonly know as the Apostle Paul clearly showed the connection between this feast and the rapture!

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

The Two Witnesses

God will not put the crisis caused by the disappearance of millions of Christians around the world to waste because some Jews will no doubt see the connection between this religious holiday of theirs and what would have occurred. To nail it in even further, two witnesses will appear in Jerusalem and will help to explain what would have happened and help to lead thousands of Jews and Gentiles to Christ, while demonstrating the power of God before being killed by the antichrist. (Revelation 11: 1-14)

Get ready!

I know this may not be convincing to everyone but if i find the connections compelling and hard to ignore. At the very least, i pray this is something to think and pray about. I also hope all this will make us realize how important it is to be aware of the Jewish calendar and its Feasts. Lets not be like the adulterous woman of proverbs 7 who was unfaithful while her husband was away. Seek Gods will for your life and run with it while looking up for His Sons return every Rosh Hashanah!

Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.

Revelation 3:3