That Day and Hour
Matt 24:36-41
2-26-06
The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will be sudden and unexpected to those who are in the earth at the time that he arrives. In this lesson, Jesus gives us some more insight into that day and hour.
No Man Knows Exactly When It Is - 36
When Jesus was on earth he told his disciples that only his heavenly Father knew the day and hour of the Lord’s return. The angels in heaven didn’t know, the Lord didn’t reveal it to his disciples (Acts 1:7), and even Jesus himself didn’t know (Mk 13:32). But we do know the times and the seasons (1 Thes 5:1). We also know that it will be at the feast of tabernacles (Matt 17:1-5; Lk 9:33; Zech 14:16). We also know that it will be in the morning watch (Mk 13:35; Joel 2:2; Hos 6:3).
It Will Be As The Days Of Noah - 37-39
By rereading Gen 5-7, we can learn a great deal about the times right before the coming of the Lord. We see:
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The rapture before the tribulation (Gen 5:21-24) – Enoch was taken before the trouble started in Gen 6. |
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The sons of God married the daughters of men (Gen 6:2) – thus there will be sons of God (fallen angels) cohabiting with women (see Job 1:6; 2:1; and 38:1-7 for more on the sons of God) |
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Giants (Gen 6:4) – when the fallen angels join themselves with women, they get flesh bodies (perhaps from drinking the blood of martyrs sacrificed to the devil in Rev 17:6) - the results are giant human iron men which match the combination inorganic/organic beings mentioned in Dan 2:33, 41-43 – these will be the “super heroes” in the tribulation |
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Great Wickedness and Evil Imaginations (Gen 6:5) – 2 Tim 3:1-5, prompted in large part by Hollywood |
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Corruption and Violence (Gen 6:11) – just read the newspaper or watch the news |
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A preacher of righteousness (2 Pet 2:5) – matching preachers in the tribulation who preach and give men warnings from God (Rev 11: 3-7, for instance) |
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An escape by ascending upward followed by a return for an inheritance in the earth (Heb 11:7) – the rising of Noah in the ark matches the tribulation rapture; the return of Noah in the ark to land matches the return of the tribulation saints in the millennium to inherit their land |
It Will Be As The Days Of Lot - Lk 17:28-30
From studying Gen 19, we can glean some things that will be going on leading up to and during the tribulation.
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Gen 18:21 – the physical appearance of the Lord on earth Matt 24:30 |
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Gen 19:1 – angels appearing on earth Matt 24:31; Rev 14:6-8 for instance |
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Gen 19:5 – rampant homosexuality |
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Gen 19:7 – apostasy and worldliness among the saints – Lot called the homosexuals “brethren” and see what happened to him (2 Pet 2:7-8) |
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Gen 19:10-11 – miraculous protection of some of the Jews – Ps 119:114 |
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Gen 19:14 – mocking of preaching – Rev 9:21 |
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Gen 19:15-16 – the carrying of Lot and his family out of Sodom & Gomorrah pictures the tribulation rapture |
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Gen 19:17 – the command to escape to the mountains matches Matt 24:16 |
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Gen 19:23 – sunrise followed by a fiery destruction matches the Second Coming (Mal 4:1- 3; Joel 2:1-11) |
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Eze 16:49-50 – pride,
obesity, idleness, selfishness, abomination |
It Will Involve A Rapture – 40-41
You can see the simultaneous taking and leaving of people on the earth in that day. The taking of people is the rapture of the tribulation saints (Rev 7:9-14).