(Mark 13:32-37) (Vs.32) But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. (Vs33) “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. (Vs.34) it is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. (Vs.35) Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— (Vs.36) in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. (Vs.37) What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’”
The Lord Jesus had just been telling His disciples about what would happen in the future and especially regarding the signs at the end of this age that would precede His Second Coming. The most prominent feature of His discourse was His warning about spiritual deception which would come even in the disciple’s lifetime. It would manifest itself in the wider Body of the Messiah down through future history but especially in the last days it would increase in frequency and intensity (Vs.5, 9, 21-23).
There is no doubt that we are living right at the end of this present age as we see ‘the birth pains’ of spiritual deception, wars, earthquakes, famines (Luke 21 adds pestilence) global persecution, betrayal of fellow believers, apostasy, false miracles signs and wonders and the constellations being effected leading right up to the Second Coming of the Messiah our Lord Jesus which will see the rapture and resurrection of His elect people. Some will say “well these signs have always been around.” This is true, even from the time of the disciples and the first Century community of New Covenant believers. However, at the end they increase and multiply in intensity and frequency.
For example when a woman goes into labour the contractions come and then stop and then come again with more intensity and frequency and when they are coming one upon another you know that the birth of the baby is about to occur. So it is with these ‘labour pains’ the Lord Jesus mentions. When we see all these things happening he has listed in Mark Chapter 13:1-25 coming one upon another we know that the birth of the Messianic Kingdom on earth is imminent. While we do not know the day or the hour we can certainly know the signs of his Second Coming.
What makes this generation different from all previous generations is that Israel is now a nation once again. Israel is God’s prophetic time-clock for the nations. In 70AD the clock broke down with the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. After almost 2,000 years of exile the Lord started repairing the clock and started it ticking again in 1948 with the rebirth of the Jewish nation. How far away the birth of the Messianic Kingdom on earth is we do not know but when we look at the conditions in the world we see that His Second Coming is close and possible even in our lifetime.
Now in light of these things mentioned in Mark Chapter 13:1-31 the Lord Jesus strongly emphasised the need to watch and to stay alert as New Covenant Believers because with all of these events occurring in frequency and intensity the main emphasis He placed was upon the increase of spiritual deception which would come to its apex in the last days with the apostasy and the revealing of the man of sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). Satan does not care about the unsaved as they are his already but the ones he is after is you and me as New Covenant Believers in the Messiah our Lord Jesus. Satan has been around for a very long time and is a master of spiritual deception and seduction.
While the Lord Jesus wants us to be aware of the signs preceding His Second Coming His main concern was spiritual deception because He knew that this was Satan’s major weapon to turn aside believers from the narrow road that leads to eternal life and lead them into the broad road that leads to eternal perdition. In the verses we are about to look at in Mark Chapter 13 the Lord Jesus commands us to be alert four times and He is warning us once again about spiritual deception which will mark the last days. Now let’s briefly look at these verses found in Mark Chapter 13:32-37.
(Vs.32) “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”
When He walked this earth not even the Lord Jesus knew the exact day or hour of His Second Coming to earth and neither did the angels but only God the Father. Now in His resurrected and glorified position at the right hand of the Father He would know the exact time of His return to earth. Also The Lord Jesus’ statement is a check against date setting which many have sought to do down through history and of course have been proved wrong. While we are to recognise the signs of the last days our main focus is to be on preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom which also includes His Second Coming. Only after the Gospel of the Kingdom has been preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations will the end come (Matthew 24:14).
If we want to hasten the Lord’s return then we should be involved in preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. We are not all preachers of course but we can all witness one on one by the power of the Holy Spirit and we should be able to give to everyone that asks us the reason for the hope that lies within us (1 Peter 3:15). People are always curious to know about the future, so being able to use Eschatology effectively is a very powerful tool in evangelism. Sadly, in most churches today eschatology is not taught as it is seen as rather ‘unfashionable’ in many church circles especially those into Kingdom Dominion theology, seeker sensitive, seeker friendly, alpha and purpose driven setups.
Another spiritual deception today is the idea that the Body of the Messiah will be secretly raptured before the time of Great Tribulation occurs. This ‘doctrine’ only surfaced in the 19th Century but was never held by the early community of New Covenant believers or taught by the apostles in the New Testament. But let’s continue.
(Vs 33-34) “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert.”
In light of the Second Coming of the Messiah our Lord Jesus we are “to take heed” to what we believe because what we believe will effect what we say and do and how we live. Right doctrine produces right behaviour. We are in our daily life what we really believe deep down on the inside of us. As it is written; “As a man thinks in his heart so is he (in his outward words and actions)” (Proverbs 23:7). We are not only to take heed and to monitor our relationship with the Lord but also “to stay on the alert” because our adversary Satan “goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour” As the apostle Peter writes; “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering” (1 Peter 5:7-9).
The main reason the Lord does not want us to know the day or the hour of His Second Coming is so that we might keep casting all of our anxieties on Him because anxiety and fear is in opposition to faith, that we might stay spiritually alert and ready for when our Lord Jesus comes for us. We need to keep on the wedding garments of His salvation and righteousness through faith and be prepared and dressed for the wedding to come.
Sometimes Satan will seek to tell us that no one else has the temptations and the trials quite in the same way that we do but this is a deception in itself designed to get our eyes off from what is unseen and eternal and to focus them on what is seen and temporal. This is why fellowship with other believers in the Holy Spirit is vital to our spiritual survival in this fallen world especially in these last days as spiritual deception increases and intensifies in wider Christendom and in Israel as well.
In our text the man who goes on a journey is the Lord Jesus who ascended into Heaven and His House is the Body of the Messiah, His followers, and we are all bond slaves of the Lord Jesus each with his or her assigned tasks on earth and within the local fellowship of New Covenant believers, are to walk in our calling and in our gift or gifts from the Holy Spirit. The gatekeeper is the pastor or teacher and leader given the responsibility by the Lord Jesus to guide and to correct and to protect the believers over whom the Holy Spirit has made them an overseer. Especially the door keeping pastor is to stay alert because he has the responsibility of teaching what is scripturally right and true.
The Lord Jesus Himself said “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness” (Matthew 6:22-23). Who gives light to the body of the Messiah? Teachers do. They are the eyes of the body. If what they are focused on is the light from God’s Word then the body will have spiritual; light. However, if the teachers are not focused on the light of God’s Word but on unbiblical doctrines traditions, manifestations and commandments of men, then the body will be in spiritual darkness. This is why those who teach are judged more strictly than others (James 3:1). When the Lord Jesus comes back the main thing He will be looking for is faithfulness to Him, to his Word and to the calling and the gifts He has entrusted to us (Luke 18:8) (Matthew 25:14-30). Now let’s continue.
(Vs.35-37) Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’”
Once again the Lord Jesus reiterates staying alert because we do not know when He will come back. God measures time differently than we do and a thousand of our years are as a day to Him (2 Peter 3:8). When the Lord Jesus does come back the last thing we will want is to be found spiritually asleep like the 5 foolish virgins who did not keep the lamp of their inner spirit filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit and were not ready for the arrival of the bridegroom. All of the 10 virgins fell asleep. Believers fall asleep they do not die. This is why it is important that we die as well as live in the power of the Spirit of God. As the apostle Paul writes; “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord” (Romans 14:8).
We live in a world that is spiritually sleeping because they are not saved. However, we are to remain vigilant, aware of the times in which we live, be seeking to stay faithful to the Lord Jesus and to his Word and desiring only His will for our lives and, by the power given us through the Holy Spirit, be seeking moment by moment to keep ourselves unspotted by the world and its enticements.
The Lord Jesus is coming back when He is least expected. We must be ready and clothed with the garment of His salvation and dressed with the robe of His righteousness received by faith in Him. The key phrase is this to “Take heed, Be on the alert!” And so our Lord Jesus who tells us to stay awake and alert and be looking and anticipating His return because concerning “that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come!.. What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’”
