Walk almost any downtown street long enough this month and you will likely come across one of the March 21st alarmists (my term). You may have heard of these folks in the nightly news, on the web, or along the street. They claim to have broken the code and pinpointed the exact day that Jesus Christ will return and bring judgment on the world. Despite the poor examples of countless others who have predicted such a date in the past and been proven wrong by the passage of time, they depend upon a handful of Bible verses that are taken out of their contexts and interpreted without the grid of Scripture or the gospel. In what seems to be a well-intentioned effort to warn the world, these folks have taken to the street in special shirts, special cars, and even special hats, announcing the return of the Lord.
As their presence increases, the response of better informed Christians has risen as well. At the same time, many Christians posit answers to these eschatological claims. My purpose in this post is not to debunk the alarmists date. Enough of that is happening already on the grounds of Mark 13:30-32. Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” This passage is fairly straight-forward and a good one for this issue. But instead of re-explaining the passage yet again, I hope to shed some light of exactly why this passage is helpful and correct some faulty thinking that naturally arises from this discussion.
As the alarmists gain attention, conservative Christians are sharpening their arguments. They are ready to defend the fact that no one can know that May 21st is the date. I have heard some Christians argue from Mark 13 something like this, “May 21st is definitely not Judgment Day because Jesus said that no one knows the day or the hour. In fact, even if Judgment Day was May 21st, God will just change it because you’ve made such a big deal about it.” I appreciate the zeal and thought of this argument, but maybe by noting a couple foundational New Testament ideas, we might present a more cogent and helpful answer.
The Day is Set
First: The New Testament teaches that God has appointed a day in which He will judge all men through Jesus Christ whom He raised from the dead.1 This may seem obvious, but it is important to get this straight. God has appointed a day. That means that the day is set. God has a date and a time that only He knows. Since God always plans perfectly, He has no need to alter His plans. From eternity past, God has known everything about everything. So in a way, the day of Judgment is firmly written on God’s secret calendar. He has no need to change that date or even to pencil it in as tentative. The day is set.
In fact, avoiding for the moment some further discussion about prophecy, we could even say that May 21st might actually be the day. So, what if May 21st is the appointed day? And what if the whole world wrote “May 21st – Judgment Day!” on their billboards and shirts and cars and bracelets. And carved it on their trees and wrote it in the sky and tattooed it on their necks and wrote it on the beach and…you get the point. If the whole collective world announced that May 21st was the day of God’s reckoning, would God have to change His calendar? Certainly not. He has appointed.
But, wait. The Bible says that no one knows the day or hour.
You’re right. And that brings us to this.
To Know Means to KNOW
The reason that no one except God knows the day or hour is not simply because God has hidden His calendar. In His divine wisdom, God certainly has chosen to leave certain matters undisclosed. Deuteronomy 29:29 tells us, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.” More so, no one knows the day or hour because only God knows the future. God doesn’t need to make a special effort to hide the date from us because it is by naturally hidden from us by the fact that it is in the future; a part of life we are not permitted to know (except for what God reveals to us in Scripture).
We are not the best at using words. Some people say idear then they mean idea. Some people say conscious when they mean to say conscience. Likewise, we often talk about what we know, when we really mean to say we think. It is impossible for anyone to say he knows something about the future (again, except what God has revealed to us). You may say to me, “Do you know where you’re going for lunch?” I reply, “Yes, I do. I’m going home for lunch.” But I don’t know that. Perhaps at the last moment someone invites me to a free lunch at Ruth’s Chris. Since I cannot know the future, I can only mean “I think” when I say “I know.”
In a much more important way, the May 21st alarmists think Jesus is going to return on that day. But they do not – indeed they cannot – know it. As a result, they venture dangerously into meaningless speculations about God which do not help others grow in grace.2 Again, not just because God’s calendar is kept secret, but because God keeps most of the future a secret from us as well. Imagine if saying, “I know Judgment is May 21st” obligated God change His calendar. I suppose those who don’t what Jesus to return could simply spend their days reciting, “Judgment Day is either May 21st, May 22nd, May 23rd, …” What a weak God He would be to have to (or even want to) change His plans because those pesky humans keep breaking My code. Thank God He is not like that.
So…this brings us to some conclusions.
One: God has appointed a day. The day is set and it will not change. It is appointed.
Two: Only God knows the day and hour of his appointing because He alone knows all things, including the future. Apart from His revelation, God’s creatures cannot know anything about the future.
Three: If you want to know something about the future, ask God and study His word. Likewise, if you want to have an impact on false prophets, don’t say, “You ruined it. Now God is going to change the day.” Invite them to a straight-forward and contextual study of the Bible. The Bible is not a book of secrets, but a book of revelation. Help them become better students of the Bible by being a better student of yours.
By the way, I don’t think Jesus is coming back in May. But I wish He would. 
