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WILL EVERYONE HEAR ABOUT MAY 21, 2011?

Updated - 6/14/10

It is argued that everyone in the world will hear that May 21, 2011 is Judgment Day before we arrive to that date. This idea is taught by those that believe in annihilation, even though we will see that the Biblical evidence is that not everyone will know.

For those that believe in annihilation, it is necessary for them to believe that everyone will know about May 21, 2011 ahead of time in order to handle verses like Luke 12:47-48.

We read in Luke 12:47-48:

47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

Luke 12:47-48 and other passages teach that the more an unsaved person knows of the master’s will, which is the whole Bible, the more stripes, a conscious affliction, this person must receive.

Because those that hold to the doctrine of annihilation believe that there is no conscious resurrection or conscious awaking of the unsaved at Judgment Day, they are forced to say that Luke 12:47-48 and related verses are talking only about the unsaved that will be here on May 21, 2011.

This reasoning is not valid for several reasons. A study has been prepared with a number of verses that show that Luke 12:47-48, and related passages, require a conscious awaking of the unsaved at Judgment. Please see that study for more information.

A STUDY OF 10 BIBLICAL PROOFS OF CONSCIOUS RESURRECTION OF THE UNSAVED

The above study has a section that examines Luke 12:47-48 along with other related verses. It shows that these verses are talking about all mankind throughout time and require a conscious awaking of the unsaved at Judgment Day.

However, in this study, we will look at the question: Does the Bible teach that everyone will know about May 21, 2011 in advance?

To help us understand more about the conditions at Judgment Day, God has related it to two previous judgments.

One example past judgment is the flood of Noah’s day.

God relates the judgment at the end of the world to the judgment of the flood in Noah’s days in two significant passages:

Luke 17:26-30:

26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

Matthew 24:37-39:

37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

In Luke 17:26-30 and Matthew 24:37-39, God is directing us to look at the flood of Noah’s day to learn more about the judgment on the last day.

The language of “they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” indicates that things will be “business as usual” when Christ comes. People will be continuing their normal activities right up to when Christ comes. People will continue to move ahead with their future by “marrying and giving in marriage”. People will be continuing to eat and drink. This is the opposite about what Nineveh did when they heard the warning of judgment coming.

We read in Jonah 3:4-9:

4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

5 ¶ So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:

8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

One argument that is given is that all of the people of Nineveh knew the date of their judgment, therefore everyone will know about May 21, 2011.

However, this reasoning is not valid because God never relates the conditions of Judgment Day to the conditions in Nineveh. God likens the conditions of Judgment Day to the conditions in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot. So, we have to look at what God says about the conditions in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot to learn more about the conditions in our day.

Therefore, we cannot use the argument that everyone in Nineveh knew the date of their judgment as any kind of proof that everyone will know about May 21, 2011.

Let’s look again at Matthew 24:38-39. If we examine these verses carefully, we can learn something important. We read there:

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Notice that God says regarding the people in Noah’s days that they “knew not until the flood came, and took them all away”.

God says that the people “knew not” that the flood was coming. God also says that “so shall also the coming of the Son of man be”. God is saying that the same situation will occur when Christ comes on Judgment Day.

Matthew 24:39 is not saying that no one in Noah’s day knew about the coming flood. Rather, it is saying that there were some people who did not know ahead of time about the coming flood.

People will respond to Matthew 24:39 by saying something like “they did not know in their hearts, but they did hear about it.”

We have to listen carefully to the Bible. God plainly says in Matthew 24:39 that they did not know. No where in the Bible does God nullify or modify this statement.

Some people have made up their mind that everyone will know and when the Bible says that they “knew not” in Matthew 24:39, they are forced to push on the verse and change it.

If the Bible had said somewhere that everyone in Noah’s day did know, then that would be a point.

No where in the Bible does God say that everyone in Noah’s day did know of the coming flood. But, God says in Matthew 24:39 that there were some people that “knew not”.

We should listen to what the Bible says and accept that without pushing the Bible to say something that it does not say.

The Bible does say that Noah was a “preacher of righteousness” in 2 Peter 2:5. Therefore, he would have been telling the people about judgment coming. Also, as people saw that ark being built, they were receiving a warning.

However, this does not mean that everyone heard from Noah or saw the ark being built.

At the time of the flood, the world had already been in existence for about 6,000 years. Mankind began in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Then, they sinned and were expelled from the garden.

Adam and Eve had children; Cain, Abel, Seth, other sons and daughters. These children had children and the human race began to grow. Over time, we would expect that mankind would expand out somewhat across the land.

After all, in 300 years, people have spread across the whole continent of North America, about 3000 miles, to form the present United States of America.

Therefore, after 6,000 years from creation to the time of the flood, it would not be unreasonable that mankind would have spread out at least several hundred miles from the original dwelling place of Adam and Eve.

At the time of the flood, most people were farmers. There is no evidence that God had opened men’s minds to understanding any modern technology. There is no evidence that there was any means of rapid communication. Someone who lived in one area would have had no reason to visit people 100 miles away. It would have been a full-time job to put enough food on the table and raise your family.

As a result, many people that were hundreds of miles away from Noah, would never have seen or heard about the ark that he was building.

As the Bible indicates, Noah was a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). However, he was busy in his area building the ark. Noah would have told anyone with whom he had access about the flood. However, that would have been limited to people in his general area.

The people near Noah heard about the flood coming and they saw the ark being built. But, many of the people that were hundreds of miles away, never would have heard about Noah nor about the ark.

That is why the Bible says in Matthew 24:39, that they “knew not until the flood came, and took them all away”.

Matthew 24:39 is not saying that no one knew about the coming of the flood. Rather, this verse is teaching that there were some people that did not know. Many of those people that were hundreds of miles away from Noah never would have heard about Noah and the ark. Those people “knew not until the flood came, and took them all away”.

Matthew 24:39 plainly indicates that there were some people that did not know that the flood was coming. There is nothing in the Bible that contradicts this statement. Therefore, we must accept what the Bible says and not try to force it to saying something that it does not.

We read in the last part of Matthew 24:39, “so shall also the coming of the Son of man be”. God is telling us that it will be the same way in the coming of Christ at the end of the world. There will be those that did not know He was coming.

God also relates the end of the world to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

We read in Luke 17:28-30:

28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

In Luke 17:28-30, God is relating the conditions of Sodom and Gomorrah right before their destruction to the conditions that will exist in this world right before it’s destruction.

The language of verse 28 indicates that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were going about their activities as normal. God says that “they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded”. This is the language of “business-as-usual” for these people. Right up to the destruction of these cities, the people were continuing with their regular activities.

God says in verse 30 that it will be the same way when Christ returns.

We must ask the question: Did the people in Lot’s day know of the impending destruction before it happened?

Before we answer that question, first, we must note that there were four cities destroyed not just two cities.

We read in Deuteronomy 29:23:

And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

When we read Deuteronomy 29:23, we find out that not only were the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed, but also the cities of Admah and Zeboim were destroyed.

It is not uncommon for God to do this. God talks about something in one place, but does not give all of the information. We must search the rest of the Bible for more information.

We find from Deuteronomy 29:23 that four cities; Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim were destroyed.

We ask the important question: Did the people of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim know ahead of time that they were going to be destroyed?

To answer this question, let’s look at the account of the destruction of those cities as recorded in Genesis 19.

We read in Genesis 19:1-3:

1 ¶ And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

The “two angels” that we read about in verse 1 represent God Himself coming in the appearance of two men. It would have been better to translate this as “two messengers”.

Notice they came in the evening as we read in verse 1, “at even”. It is almost night time when they arrived in Sodom.

We learn in verse 3 that the two angels, who were God appearing as two men, stayed in the house of Lot.

In verses 4 to 11, we read about how the men of Sodom wanted to have homosexual relations with these two men, but God protected the household of Lot.

Then, we read in verses 12 to 16:

12 ¶ And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:

13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.

14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

15 ¶ And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

In verse 13, God tells Lot that He will destroy the city.

In verse 14, Lot warns his two son-in-laws of the impending destruction.

Through verse 14, God is still describing the same evening that the two men arrived to talk to Lot. Verses 1 to 14 cover one evening.

Then, verse 15 describes the morning. In verse 15, we learn that God hurried Lot out of the city. In verse 16, Lot is now out of the city, along with his wife and two daughters.

We read in Luke 17:29:

But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

Luke 17:29 teaches us that this same day that Lot left Sodom, the cities were destroyed.

How many people in Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim knew about their impending destruction?

The two son-in-laws of Lot knew about the impending destruction. Maybe they told some people. However, they thought that Lot had “mocked” them. Lot may have told some other people, but he could not have told many people because it was night time. There were no street lights. Everything was dark.

Therefore, some people of Sodom knew about the impending judgment.

However, no one from the other three cities; Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, knew. There is no way that the people of those three cities could have known. No one could travel any distance at night in those days. In the morning, God hurried Lot out of Sodom and that same morning, those four cities were destroyed.

Therefore, we can know with confidence that the people of Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim did not know about their impending destruction before it happened.

In Luke 17:28-30, God is telling us that as it was in the days of Lot, it will be at the end of the world.

When we examine the days of Lot, we find out that some people knew about the destruction. We find out that the true believers, which is at least includes Lot Himself, knew about the destruction. Some unbelievers knew about the destruction, like Lot’s wife, and his two sons-in-law, and maybe some others. However, none of the people of Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim knew about the impending judgment.

God is telling us that the same conditions were occur at Judgment Day.

We have examined the information that God gives about the destruction of Noah’s day and the destruction of Lot’s day. We found out that the true believers knew about the impending destruction. Some unbelievers knew about it also. However, there were unbelievers who did not know about the impending destruction.

God is telling us that in like manner there will be some people that will not have heard about May 21, 2011 when Christ comes.

Let’s look at some more verses to help us examine this question.

We read two verses that talk about Christ coming as “thief in the night”:

1 Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

To learn more about what God means by the term “thief” we examine John 10:10. We read in John 10:10:

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

The thief comes to “steal, and to kill, and to destroy”.

A thief comes at “night” because people are sleeping and not watching and not aware that he is coming. If the thief came during the day, people would be watching and would see him. They would know that he is coming. But, by coming at “night”, they are not watching and do not know that he is coming.

So, the phrase “thief in the night” carries the idea that there will be many people who will not know when Christ comes. There will be many who will not hear ahead of time about Judgment Day. This agrees with what the Bible says about the days of Lot and the days of Noah.

However, there are those that insist that everyone will hear about May 21, 2011. They insist that everyone will know about May 21, 2011 but will not “know in their heart”. That is, they will not listen to the message.

However, does the Bible give any support to this idea?

We already looked at what the Bible says about the days of Noah and the days of Lot. In both cases, there were many who did not know at all. The Biblical information is clear about this.

People can argue and say that everyone did know in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot. But, the Bible indicates no. At both times, there were many who did not know.

We also remember that God told us in Matthew 24:37 and in Luke 17:26 that as in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot, “so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man”. As it was in those days that everyone did not know, so the Bible says it shall be when Christ returns.

Revelation 3:3 provides more help in defining what God means by the statement that Christ will come as a “thief in the night”. We read there:

Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. 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.

God is talking to the church at Sardis. Finally, God is talking to all of His corporate people.

He is telling them that if they do not watch, then He will come on them as a “thief”. The reference to “thief” ties into the phrase “thief in the night”.

God is instructing His people that they must watch for His return and for everything that God is teaching in the Bible. If they do not watch, then Christ will come upon them as a “thief”. That ties directly into the statement that Christ will come as a “thief in the night”.

Then, in the next part of the verse, God gives more information, “thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee”. This is an important statement.

In Revelation 3:3, God is giving more definition for what it means that Christ will come as a “thief in the night”. It means that the people will not know when He will come. This “coming” could be referring to when Christ comes in judgment upon a church to remove the light of the Gospel from them (Revelation 2:5, 16). That happened throughout the New Testament era. Or, it could refer to Christ coming at the end of the world, which is when He will bring judgment upon all the churches and the world.

Revelation 3:3 is saying that the meaning of Christ coming as a “thief” is that the people will not know when He is coming. This agrees with what we learned regarding the days of Noah and the days of Lot.

Matthew 24:42-44 gives more help in understanding what it means to watch for the thief to come. We read there:

42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

The term “goodman of the house” means the ruler of the household. In this passage, the “goodman of the house” represents mankind. Man’s “house” is himself and everything that he has. Christ is coming as a “thief” at Judgment Day against all of the unsaved. Christ has also come throughout the history of the world and has taken the unsaved in death from this world. At that point, they lose all of the blessing they had in this world.

In this passage, God is warning mankind to watch for Judgment Day and to watch for anything the Bible teaches. God is indicating that some of the unsaved, represented by the “goodman of the house” in this passage, will not know when Christ, represented by the “thief”, will come. Verse 43 indicates that if the unsaved had known when Christ would come, “he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up”.

This is saying that if the unsaved knew when Christ was coming, they would have been watching and would not have suffered their house to be broken up. This applies to both Judgment Day and when God comes to take an unsaved person in death from this world.

However, at Judgment Day, the house of the unsaved will be broken up, indicating that they did not know.

It is being taught that everyone will know about May 21, 2011 in advance. However, we have examined several passages that indicate that just as there were those in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot who did not know, so there will be people in our day who will not know in advance. Also, Revelation 3:3 warns that those who are not watching will not know when Christ will come. There are many who are not watching.

Therefore, passages like Luke 12:47-48 that talk about more stripes for those who know more of the Master’s will, are not answered by the 5 months. The Bible indicates that there will be those entering that period who have not heard about Judgment Day. This is further proof that Luke 12:47-48 requires a conscious awaking at Judgment Day of the unsaved who are sleeping in the dust.

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