Revelation seminars tend to flourish in times of great cultural stress, as church leaders insist that John’s visions necessarily correspond to contemporary events. But to all those who think they can discern the time of Jesus’ return, Matthew 24:36 should provide a rather clear rebuke: if only the Father knows when that day and hour will be, if Jesus Himself didn’t even know, how can any of us mere mortals possibly expect to figure it out? No, it does no good to obsess over the Biblical tea leaves, trying to tease out an exact date that just isn’t there.

But it would be equally wrong just to drift along through life without any concern for the coming Day of Judgment. After all, verses 37-39 remind us that God judged the Earth once, in the days of Noah. At that time, people were just living their normal lives, unconcerned with God and His will for them – and their whole world was drowned in an instant. Jesus says that His coming will be just as certain and just as sudden.

So, what lesson does Jesus want us to draw from His inevitable return? It’s quite simple, really: “Be on the alert. Be ready.”

And that makes sense to us. Many people from Louisiana have bought land in Claiborne County, Mississippi, not because they know when the next big hurricane will strike, but because they know another one will come along someday, and they want to have a place to go when it happens. Firemen don’t know when or where they will fight their next blaze, but they have all their gear in readiness so they can answer the call that is certain to come.

What does all that mean for us? Simply this: we need to live our lives in a similar state of preparedness. We need to make all our decisions in the knowledge that this world will one day come to an end, and that we will all be held accountable for the choices we have made. In short, it’s not the time of the judgment but its certainty that matters. Will we be ready for it?

Matthew 24:36-44 (NASB)

36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
37 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
38 “For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.
40 “Then there shall be two men in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.
41 “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.
42 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
43 “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
44 “For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.