NOBODY KNOWS!

 “THE TIME AND THE HOUR NO ONE KNOWS”!

This blog [apostlejoongare.blogspot.com] has been online since the beginning of 2016. Since then, there has not been much traffic simply because the Lord has not launched me yet. As a forerunner, I have zero control of the ministry the Lord has graced me with. Many times, I have contemplated to taking this blog down. But, Jesus keeps telling me that He will use it. And I believe Him. 

The blogs in here show what the Lord has been saying to me. They have not gone without challenge from the readers and hearers. This is why it is very important to discern everything we read, see or hear. Question but don’t remain there. One of the most challenged topics is about Rapture. They ask me, “how could you be so precise concerning the time, day, month and year of Christ’s return for the Church”? And my answer is always, “I’m not so knowledgeable”. And this leaves us with one answer, “Someone else is in charge”. I would not have known any of it if Jesus did not reveal it to me. This led me to search for the truth in His Word. Other times, I would be digging deeper in Scriptures when the Lord again, allows me to bump into some of the truth. 

Today, I will attempt to answer a question some leaders in the Church keep asking me, “Jesus said that no one knows the day of His return, not even Himself, but the Father. What is your take”? And my answer is always, “don’t be ignorant”! Ignorance means darkness and satan rules the kingdom of darkness through ignorance. Whilst, knowledge means light and the King of kings rules His Kingdom through knowledge. Persue knowledge! 

Jesus stated that nobody knows the day or the hour of His second return [the saints will meet Him in the air] because of the misinformation about prophecy in general, “But of that day or that hour not a [single] person knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father”…Mark 13:32. He rebuked the people of His day, and He is rebuking us today. The convergence of prophetic events are increasing in intensity and frequency. Jesus gave every reason to believe and we are living in the times of the signs He talked about. We have never been in the place we are now. 

Why are the Christians [religious people] turning a blind eye to the signs given by Christ, claiming that we can’t know the day or the hour? Most people will interpret this to mean, since we cannot know how much time is left, what’s the use for looking for the signs. While in fact, Jesus was telling us to look for the signs, otherwise, He would not have so elaborate about it in the Gospels. It’s not that we do not know the times and the seasons. Apostle Paul said that we do not have to be ignorant of the times and seasons… 1 Thessalonians 5:1ff… “But as to the suitable times and the precise seasons and dates, brethren, you have no necessity for anything being written to you. But you are not in [given up to the power of] darkness, brethren, for that day to overtake you by surprise like a thief”!

In the above verses, the man of God is talking of the prophetic pattern of the signs and seasons of the feasts or festivals of the Lord. The festivals are divine appointments; ancient prophetic dates or rehearsals that have been passed down through generations and they overlay perfectly on the biblical prophetic time-line. 

The Scriptures present seven [7] festivals in total. The first four were in the season of Spring and they foretold of the first coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ – Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Harvest and the Pentecost… Leviticus 23:5ff. For example, the first Spring festival prophecies the very day the Messiah would be sacrificed – the festival begins with the Passover. But something special happened at Passover, this is the very day Jesus was sacrificed. The Messiah fulfilled these festivals to the very day – they would take a blameless lamb to sacrifice for their sins. All these symbolism lap up in the Passover sacrifice. Jesus came presenting Himself as the Lamb of God. The herald, John the Baptist beheld his cousin Jesus as the Lamb of God. 

The other three [3] festivals are in the Fall [Autumn] – Festival of Trumpet, the Day of Atonement and the Festival of Tabernacles or Shelters. We are now in the verge of the beginning and the fulfillment of the last and final festival. This is where things become interesting; the remaining three festivals, all taking place in the Fall appear to foretell the second coming of Jesus Christ during this last generation. The Scriptures are not haphazardly written, “For the substance (essence) of the truth revealed by Jesus is the spirit of all prophecy [the vital breath, the inspiration of all inspired preaching and interpretation of the divine will and purpose…”… Revelation 19:10b. Be on the look out also for my book, “The Rapture of the Church”, that look deeply through the 7 festivals established by God. And which Jesus Christ fulfilled perfectly, a part from one that He will soon fulfill at Rapture. 

A new ancient cultural discovery surrounding the next feasts to be fulfilled have been shaking the theological community. For example, the festival of Trumpets or popularly known as Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year [Civil year]. This marks the beginning of the 7th Month according to the Jewish Ancient Lunar Calendar. Interestingly, the trumpets were made from hammered silver …Numbers 1:1. 

What is amazing about this feast is that no body knows the day or the hour of the beginning of the Jewish New Year because they are led by the new moon. The new moon is a tiny silver in the sky and can be seen from 6pm to 10 pm at night. If you were to look for it, you would miss it. If it’s cloudy, you would miss it. Unless you can visually see it, you cannot declare the new moon. But when two people [2 witnesses] see it, they go to the leadership who then decide that they do have the new moon. They then declare when the Feast of Trumpets would begin. 

Interestingly, these three festivals occur in the same month: Trumpets occurs on the first day of the 7th month [Tishri/Ethanaim], Atonement occurs on the 10th day, 9 days after the Trumpets and it is a one-day event like the Trumpets. But the Feast of Tabernacles or Shelters is a 7-day event and takes place five days after Atonement, from the 15th day of the 7th month. The eighth day is also another holy day… Leviticus 23:5ff. I had missed this 8th day until the Spirit of Jesus revealed to me. 

So, when Jesus was answering to the question of when He would return, His answer was, “Nobody knows the day or the hour”. Literally saying, "like you have been cerebrating a feast for 1500 years you yourselves called, ‘nobody knows the day or the hour’, I too will return on a day ‘nobody knows the day or the hour’. You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth, but you cannot interpret the present times [of His first coming]". So, I agree, unless by the Father’s will, reveals through the Son  the day and the hour of His return, nobody would know. And this phrase has been taken way out of context. 

The meteorologist are legally allowed to predict weather patterns, and in many occasions, they have been wrong. When they predict that it’s not going to rain, don’t they make the rest of us fearful? Many people listen and obey their predictions without any doubt. Why would it be illegal for the men and women of God to predict the imminent return of their King? Judging such a prediction would have an eternal implication. The Bible tells us to test/discern all things. Do this, and you will not have to be left behind.

Why is it that you haven’t been able to read the signs that God has placed for the time of the return of Bridegroom for His betrothed? And He rebuked them, because they had not known the time of His first coming, Luke 12:56, “You play-actors (hypocrites)! You know how [intelligently] to discern and interpret and prove the looks of the earth and sky; but how is it that you do not know how to discern and interpret and apply the proof to this present time”? They should have! 

Now I feel that the same is true for us today. The Lord has given ample evidence by prophecy, telling in advance the things that would exist at the time of His return [Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21].Not only the Lord gave the signs of His return, old Testament prophets predicted too: Daniel 9:26, 27; 11:31; Joel 2:2 all predicted the days we are in. Prophets Isaiah 13:6-10; Ezekiel 32:7 and Daniel 7:13, 14 all gave predictions concerning the Second Coming of Christ. Having given us the signs of these things, Jesus then said, “Now when you see these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your head, for your redemption draws near”… Luke 21:28. Be watchful then. 

Still, there are people who are able to make predictions of the stock market, and because we trust them, we go on to invest our hard-earned money. Others predict and forecast many things. But, all these are not aware of the fact that we are in the last days and in the end of time… see Luke 21:6ff. And the same kind of spiritual blindness is over the ignorant about Jesus’ second coming as they were His first. Judge for yourself and make good judgment. If this is in deed what Jesus meant, so are we destined to repeat the mistakes of our past? Like those that were recorded unaware during the first coming of Christ… could the last generation today be blind to the signs and warnings that surround us? 

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees very sternly for not knowing the time of His visitation. This is why we do need to take prophecies very seriously. We are now left with two conclusions: first, all that has been unfolding up to this day is a coincidence. Or, second, the prophecies are true originating from a divine source. A convergence of thousands of events across interactions of billions of people over generations of time and resulting in the fulfillment of the most astronomically divine odds in the history of the world. 

This source also promises eternal life to those who reject the world to follow with the greater truth. Then, if this source is indeed divine, then we may be missing the most basic point of all – the reason why biblical prophecies exit in the first place. There is comfort in knowing exactly what is happening as you see it unfolding. You do not have to be afraid because you know what is going to happen next. Jesus said, “I told you these things in advance so that when they come to pass, you will know that I AM really He”. The prophecies given by our Lord are not to scare us, but to prepare us – we know what is going to happen next and we have hope. But hope… this is something people no longer have. 

… Besides this, you know what [a critical] hour this is, how it is high time now for you to wake up out of your sleep (rouse to reality). For salvation (final deliverance) is nearer to us now than when we first believed (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on) Christ, the Messiah… Romans 13:11 AMP. 

Maranatha [… come Lord Jesus]!