Keep Watch
When Moses explains that 1000 years are as a day, he
also includes a watch in the night. Jesus picks up
on this and uses a watch in the night story to reveal
the season of his return.
Background
In a passage dealing with his own eventual return, Jesus gives us
another interesting clue as to the time of his return. This one,
unlike the others, is vague as to when exactly he is referring, but he
is referring to our current period in history.
This time Jesus uses the other clue from Psalm 90, that with God
a day is like a thousand years, or a watch in the night.
"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning,
like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.
It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.
It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night.
But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
Peter asked, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?"
The Lord answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time?
It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns.
I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
But suppose the servant says to himself, `My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk.
The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.
But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (Luke 12:35-48 NIV)
The gap between the second and third watch is the gap between the
second and third sets of 1000 years. So around 2000 years from His
first visit.
Like other passages dealing with his return, like Acts chapter 1,
Jesus buries within the discourse a clue as to the exact date of his
return.
Does this clue give us a specific date? No, we can only get that
from other passages. This only echos what we already know from so
many other places.
We have looked at various 1000 years stories that point at this
immediate period in history. There are others, but you’ll have to
find them yourselves.
We leave this style of story and turn our attention to a set of
stories from the Book of Daniel. These stories are not of the same
nature, they deal with a different set of math and point us at the
same place. Once we have gotten through them we’ll be ready to
look at the day for a year map.
Phil Stone 2008-09-18 2023-12-28