Matthew 24 continued

“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come” [Mat. 24:42].

I will begin a study of this verse with the word “ye.” It refers to the audience that Yahshua (Jesus) had all of the way through this chapter. The ones to whom He was speaking was His apostles, the ones who were biologically alive when He was alive biologically in the 1st century AD.

It was to them that He said to “watch.” Now why in the world would He tell them to watch if the “coming” of the Lord was not to occur for 2,000 or more years?

It was interesting in my research to learn that the Greek word “gregoreuo” literally means “to stay awake.” The KJV translates the word by the words “be vigilant, wake and watch or be watchful.” Recall the parable of the ten virgins and they were to “watch,” i.e. they were to “keep awake” and be ready for the arrival of the bridegroom. We will study more on that when we get to chapter 25.

The word “therefore” comes from an original word that connects (conjunctionally), i.e. these three verses are connected and it means “accordingly.” As they saw the season of the “coming” of the Lord, they were to “watch accordingly,” i.e. the closer the time came, the more they were to be watchful. They knew when, they knew that it was in their generation in the 1st century AD, but they did not know the “day and hour.” If they understood Yahshua (Jesus) to be talking about something in the 21st century, they would have asked Him, “Why, Lord, must we watch? We will have been dead for 2,000 years. Why not say something that will be around and alert the people who are alive in the 21st century about watching, instead of telling us to watch?”

It is only by implication that the Greek word that is translated as “ye know” can be used, for its primary meaning is “to see.” Obviously any “seeing” would not be with the naked eye, but a perception of the “coming of their Lord.”

The “coming of the Lord” was for the purpose of destroying the unbelievers and those who were not “watching.” So, the apostles were admonished to “keep awake” and be “ever alert,” and “so much the more as (they saw) the day approaching"