If the "day and the hour" of Jesus' coming are unknown, how can we know when it will happen?

Ted’s Response:

First of all, it is important to realize and understand that Jesus fulfilled the four main Spring Jewish feasts/holy days upon His first coming. Presumably, then, He will fulfill the three main Fall Jewish feasts/holy days upon His second coming. You may be familiar with all of this. If not, though, I recommend reading this email response that I wrote for someone else:

How is it that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Jewish Spring and Fall feasts and holy days?

In ancient times, long before methods were available to calculate the exact time of each new moon, no one knew the exact day or hour the new moon would occur until two witnesses, peering into the sky, detected the first minute sliver of the waxing moon. Upon their announcement, Rosh haShanah officially would begin. In fact, Rosh haShanah commonly was referred to as the festival where "we do not know the day or the hour of its arrival."

Thus, when Jesus said, "No one knows about that day or hour [of His return in the clouds]..." (Matthew 24:36a), He very likely was making a veiled but specific reference to Rosh haShanah. Which Rosh haShanah, only the Father knew. (Jesus was Jewish, so He celebrated all of the annual Jewish feasts and festivals.)  It is believed by many, including myself, that the Rapture of the Church will take place on a Rosh haShanah, which is the Jewish new year (as well as a new moon beginning a new month: Rosh Chodesh).

Jesus often spoke in parables, and many of His parables He explained to His disciples. But He left the main significance of some things unexplained. I believe this is an example of that, because the allusion He was making to Rosh haShanah should have been clear to most Jewish people, who were the main audience of Jesus' day.

Jesus' claim that "no one knows about that day or hour" of His coming is satisfied by the fact that we do not know, for certain, in which year (and, thus, on which day and hour of that year) His aerial reappearance will be. Plus, even if we could know which year, Rosh haShanah traditionally is observed on two consecutive days; in fact, the shofar (ram's horn) is blown both days.

Therefore, even if we happen to be alive at the time of the Rapture, we will not know on which of those two days, nor at what hour, His coming will be. You can see this, and read more details about it, in my dates of prophetic fulfillment section. Also, this email response, which I wrote as a response to someone else’s question, might be of interest:

If Jesus was God, why did He say the Father was greater than He and knew things He didn't?