Albert Barnes, in his “Notes on the Gospels,” says:—
“Others have said that the verb rendered knoweth means sometimes to make known, or to reveal, and that the passage means, ‘that day and hour none maketh known, neither the angels, nor the Son, but the Father.’ It is true the word has sometimes that meaning, as 1 Cor. 2:2.”
When the patriarch's work of warning and building was finished, God said to him, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” “For yet seven days and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights.” So when [pg 074] the waiting, watching, weeping, toiling time shall be finished, and the saints shall all be sealed, and shut in with God, then, we conclude, will the voice of the Father from heaven make known the definite time. See Rev. 16:17; Joel 3:16; Jer. 25:30.
The present is emphatically the waiting, watching time. It is the especial period of the patience of the saints. The Lord appeals to us thus:—
“Watch ye, therefore; for ye know not when the Master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning; lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” Mark 13:35-37.
One of the fatal consequences of not watching is distinctly stated in Rev. 3:3:—
“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.”
In consequence of not watching, the people will remain in ignorance of the approach of that hour. And the unavoidable inference is that by watching they will be aware of and prepared for its coming. In answer to the agonizing prayer of the Son of God, “Father, glorify thy name,” there came a voice from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The disciples understood these words from heaven, while the people that stood by said it thundered. John 12:27-29. So will the waiting disciples of Christ understand the voice of God when he shall speak from on high. But the unbelieving world will not understand it. In comparing Noah's days and ours, the Lord continues:—