There is a fundamental flaw in the typical doctrine concerning "no one knows the day or hour" of the rapture.
Jesus said it would be as the days of Noah, and Noah entered the ark seven days before the flood indicating he did know before hand. Not only so but you would not load all the animals onto the ark if you were still a few years away, or even a few months away.
Jesus also said it would be as the days of Lot and Abraham knew a few days before fire fell that this judgment was coming. And Lot was also told a day before the judgement came.
Then we have Elijah who is caught up in the whirlwind. He knew that he would be caught up that day, Elisha also knew and so did the prophets.
Then we have the prophecy in the Old Testament that God does not do anything without telling His prophets first.
And we also have the word to the church in Sardis that if they did not repent they would be caught by surprise by the rapture.
Matthew 24:36–44
None of these three know the exact day or hour, yet none of them are passive. The night watchman (Mark 13:34–37) doesn't know when the master of the house returns — "at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning" — but he doesn't sleep through his shift for that reason; not knowing the hour is precisely why he stays alert at his post. The pregnant woman (1 Thessalonians 5:2–3) doesn't know the exact day labor will begin, but she doesn't ignore the signs when they come — travail doesn't arrive as a total surprise to her body even if the calendar date does; she recognizes the pattern and prepares. The farmer (James 5:7–8, and the seed-growth of Mark 4:26–29) doesn't control or know the precise day the harvest ripens, but he doesn't stay indoors — he keeps watching the field, tending it, because he knows the season is close even without knowing the date. In each case, "watch therefore" (Matthew 24:42; Mark 13:37) doesn't mean date-setting, and it doesn't mean indifference — it means active, discerning readiness: reading the signs that do exist, staying prepared, and not being caught doing something else when the moment comes. Noah was watchful, he was preparing for this event. Elijah was watchful. Enoch, another type of the raptured saints walked every day with the Lord (I have shared on the four types of the raptured saints from Genesis -- Abel, Enoch, Noah and Lot, in other places). Abraham also had a relationship with the Lord which is why they warned Abraham of what was about to happen. Abraham prayed for Lot (Genesis 19:29: "God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow.") which is why the angels went to him and dragged him out (Genesis 19:16). Both in the specific examples that Jesus gave as well as Old Testament typology we see what Jesus meant by "watch therefore".
Compare this with
Alexander MacLaren, "The Unknown To-morrow" (New Year's sermon on Acts 1:7)
MacLaren makes this the centerpiece of an entire sermon: he argues the wise response to the future is to be "but little concerned" with it beyond taking reasonable precautions and fitting ourselves for present duty, and explicitly frames watching, forecasting, and speculating about what's coming as vain curiosity about what may be coming on the earth — something believers should actively set aside rather than cultivate. His prescription is work and witness, not watchfulness for signs.
Matthew Poole
Poole frames the whole exchange as a rebuke of illegitimate inquiry, stating that Christ blames their curiosity about such things as are not necessary to be known — treating the disciples' desire to know timing as a fault to be corrected, not a posture to be encouraged.
John Gill
Gill is the bluntest of the group, calling it vain and sinful, as well as fruitless, to indulge a curious inquiry into these things — explicitly extending this beyond the restoration of Israel to the timing of the second coming and even the timing of one's own death.
Jesus said it would be as the days of Noah, and Noah entered the ark seven days before the flood indicating he did know before hand. Not only so but you would not load all the animals onto the ark if you were still a few years away, or even a few months away.
- Matthew 24:37–39; Luke 17:26–27 — Jesus' comparison to the days of Noah
- Genesis 7:1, 4, 10 — God tells Noah to enter the ark, giving "seven days" notice before the flood begins
Jesus also said it would be as the days of Lot and Abraham knew a few days before fire fell that this judgment was coming. And Lot was also told a day before the judgement came.
- Luke 17:28–30 — Jesus' comparison to the days of Lot
- Genesis 18:17–21 — God deliberates whether to hide His plan from Abraham ("Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?"), then discloses the coming judgment on Sodom
- Genesis 19:12–15 — the angels arrive the evening before, and by dawn urge Lot to flee before the judgment falls that day
Then we have Elijah who is caught up in the whirlwind. He knew that he would be caught up that day, Elisha also knew and so did the prophets.
- 2 Kings 2:1–11 — the whirlwind account
- 2 Kings 2:3 and 2:5 — the "sons of the prophets" at Bethel and Jericho each tell Elisha, "Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head today?"
Then we have the prophecy in the Old Testament that God does not do anything without telling His prophets first.
- Amos 3:7 — "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets"
And we also have the word to the church in Sardis that if they did not repent they would be caught by surprise by the rapture.
- Revelation 3:1–3 — especially verse 3: "if therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee"
Matthew 24:36–44
- v.36: "of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" — this is the statement itself.
- v.37–39: the days-of-Noah comparison (the point being that people were caught in normal life, unaware, until the flood came).
- v.40–41: two in a field, two grinding at a mill — one taken, one left.
- v.42: the conclusion — "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."
- v.43: the parable of the thief — if the homeowner had known what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched and not let his house be broken into.
- v.44: "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."
- v.32: same statement — no one knows the day or hour, not even the angels, only the Father.
- v.33: "Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is."
- v.34–36: the parable of the man on a journey who leaves his servants in charge and tells the porter to watch, "lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping."
- v.37: "And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch."
None of these three know the exact day or hour, yet none of them are passive. The night watchman (Mark 13:34–37) doesn't know when the master of the house returns — "at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning" — but he doesn't sleep through his shift for that reason; not knowing the hour is precisely why he stays alert at his post. The pregnant woman (1 Thessalonians 5:2–3) doesn't know the exact day labor will begin, but she doesn't ignore the signs when they come — travail doesn't arrive as a total surprise to her body even if the calendar date does; she recognizes the pattern and prepares. The farmer (James 5:7–8, and the seed-growth of Mark 4:26–29) doesn't control or know the precise day the harvest ripens, but he doesn't stay indoors — he keeps watching the field, tending it, because he knows the season is close even without knowing the date. In each case, "watch therefore" (Matthew 24:42; Mark 13:37) doesn't mean date-setting, and it doesn't mean indifference — it means active, discerning readiness: reading the signs that do exist, staying prepared, and not being caught doing something else when the moment comes. Noah was watchful, he was preparing for this event. Elijah was watchful. Enoch, another type of the raptured saints walked every day with the Lord (I have shared on the four types of the raptured saints from Genesis -- Abel, Enoch, Noah and Lot, in other places). Abraham also had a relationship with the Lord which is why they warned Abraham of what was about to happen. Abraham prayed for Lot (Genesis 19:29: "God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow.") which is why the angels went to him and dragged him out (Genesis 19:16). Both in the specific examples that Jesus gave as well as Old Testament typology we see what Jesus meant by "watch therefore".
Compare this with
Alexander MacLaren, "The Unknown To-morrow" (New Year's sermon on Acts 1:7)
MacLaren makes this the centerpiece of an entire sermon: he argues the wise response to the future is to be "but little concerned" with it beyond taking reasonable precautions and fitting ourselves for present duty, and explicitly frames watching, forecasting, and speculating about what's coming as vain curiosity about what may be coming on the earth — something believers should actively set aside rather than cultivate. His prescription is work and witness, not watchfulness for signs.
Matthew Poole
Poole frames the whole exchange as a rebuke of illegitimate inquiry, stating that Christ blames their curiosity about such things as are not necessary to be known — treating the disciples' desire to know timing as a fault to be corrected, not a posture to be encouraged.
John Gill
Gill is the bluntest of the group, calling it vain and sinful, as well as fruitless, to indulge a curious inquiry into these things — explicitly extending this beyond the restoration of Israel to the timing of the second coming and even the timing of one's own death.