“But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.” (Zechariah 14:7)
Zechariah prophesied about the end times. It confirms many Scriptures about the end times. But this Scripture reveals a mystery that has troubled me for a long time. This Scripture and others say that when the Lord comes it will be neither day nor night. (Matthew 25:13) But in this world, there is only day and night. If it’s day, it’s not night. If it’s night it’s not day. So, the phrase not day nor night is puzzling. But Zechariah gives us another clue to the mystery. It will be at night. The Lord is coming at night. But it will be a time when nighttime is lighted like the day.
Jesus said, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” (Revelation 16:15) Thieves don’t come in the daytime. They do their work of darkness in the night when they can’t be seen. Jesus is also giving us a hint here that He is coming at nighttime. But we learn from Zechariah that the night will be lighted up. And Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2) Paul also tells us that Jesus will come at night. We focused so much on the words “not day, nor night” that we’re not able to see that Jesus told us He would come at night. But the night will be lighted up.
This phenomenon is a rarity on earth. There is such a thing as a nocturnal sun which is a phenomenon that has been studied since 77AD but not intensely since the illumination of our nights by artificial lighting. If one tries to research this phenomenon, you will likely be directed to the movie “Nocturnal Sun.” The study of the nocturnal sun is restricted to scientists and the study is very sparse. But it is sufficient for us to see that this phenomenon can occur. It will occur worldwide. And when it does, that is when Jesus will return.
Zechariah mentions a couple of other things. Only the Lord knows the “night.” I like that Zechariah wrote “LORD” all in capital letters because this is an indication that by writing LORD, it refers to Yahweh, the self-Existent or Eternal, the Jewish national name of God. This is the name for the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, One God, three persons in one God. There are many Scriptures which hint at this in the Old Testament. God spoke in the plural when He decided to make man. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26) It’s logical then to think that when the Scriptures say LORD in the Old Testament, it means The Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So, the question that I’ve heard is answered. Yes, Jesus knows when He is coming. And I am sure He knew when He talked about it because Jesus was all man but also all God. But there is the question of Matthew 24:36 in which Jesus says only the Father knows. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Matthew 24:36) There are ancient versions that have explicitly added “and Son.” In the Greek versions I have researched, it only says Father. So that point is still in question.
Regardless, we don’t know the day. It will be a surprise for everyone, child of God or not, saved or not, righteous or evil. It will come upon us when we are not expecting it to come. Now some believe that the church will have been raptured which I’m inclined to also believe because when Jesus returns, He will return with ten thousands of the saints. “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,” (Jude 1:14) And if so, there are some believers who will not be ready to go in the first resurrection or the rapture of the church much like the five foolish virgins in the parable The Ten Virgins. (Matthew 25:1-13) They will remain to suffer the Great Tribulation. They will not be resurrected until after the Thousand Year Reign of Christ. “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” (Revelation 20:5) The last phrase refers to what he was saying previously about the first resurrection. John saw them in heaven. “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14)
These things are to come. Zechariah warned us. Jesus warned us. And John also warned us. Be ready and prepared to be caught up in the first resurrection called the rapture. Then we will return with Jesus when He comes as a thief in the night which will be lighted as the day.
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