Why Won’t God Tell Us When It Ends?

Why Won’t God Tell Us When It Ends?                             By: Rabbi Elie Mischel

“When will it end?” I hear this question daily from my neighbors in Israel. They ask not only about the current war, but about the larger struggle – the endless terror attacks, the rising tide of global antisemitism, the relentless hostility of a world that seems determined to deny Israel’s right to exist. It’s one thing to endure suffering. It’s another thing entirely to endure suffering without any idea of when or how it will end.

The desire to understand God’s plan, to glimpse the path ahead, is deeply human. But should God give us this clarity? Would it actually help us?

A fascinating episode from the Bible addresses this very question.

“And Yaakov called his sons and said, “Come together that I may tell you what is to befall you in days to come’ (Genesis 49:1)

Here was the moment of revelation – Jacob was about to tell his children their future! But then, strangely, Jacob shifts course. Instead of revealing the future, he simply gives each son a blessing. What happened?

The Sages explain: “Jacob attempted to reveal the End [of the exile] to his sons, but it was concealed from him” (Genesis Rabbah 91:1). Jacob knew his children faced dark times ahead. God had already told Abraham:

“And He said to Avram, “Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13)

Slavery in Egypt was inevitable. And so Jacob, like any father, wanted to give his children hope by telling them when their suffering would end.

But God prevented him from doing so. Why? 

The answer cuts to the heart of what God demands from His people. If Jacob’s children knew exactly when redemption would arrive, they would wait passively for that moment. They would endure their slavery, confident in the knowledge that on such-and-such a date, God would rescue them. But this is precisely what God does not want.

Look carefully at what Jacob does next. When he realizes he cannot reveal the future, he blesses each of his sons individually. These blessings were not mere expressions of fatherly love or predictions of the future – they were divine assignments, sacred charges that would define each son’s unique contribution to redemption.

What is a blessing? A blessing reveals potential. When Jacob blessed each son, he illuminated that son’s particular strength, the unique gift that only he could contribute to the Jewish mission. Through Judah’s blessing, he saw kingship. Through Levi’s blessing, he saw priesthood. Through Zebulun’s blessing, he saw commerce that would support Torah study. Each son received not just a vision of his future, but a mandate – a sacred task that only he could fulfill.

We face the same challenge today. We desperately want to know when peace will come, when antisemitism will end, when our enemies will finally accept our right to exist. We want God to show us the path forward, to give us clarity about the future. 

But clarity is dangerous. Knowing the end would allow us to relax, to wait passively for God’s promised redemption. Instead, we must focus on understanding our own role in hastening that redemption – and then act upon it with all our might. The timeline of redemption isn’t for us to know. That’s God’s business. Our business is action.

My friend Tom Schiffour, who recently passed away, often spoke of redemption as a “family business.” “Everyone has a job in the family business,” he said, “and no job is more or less important. The family business is to bring redemption to the world and to bring the truth of the light of Torah to the world, and the truth of the one true God for all mankind… Each person needs to figure out what that job is and show up for work and do it.” 

The first Jewish family business began right there by Jacob’s bedside, as each son received his unique role in the enterprise of redemption.

What Jacob started with his children continues with their descendants today. We are not meant to be passive observers of history but active participants in redemption, each of us charged with our own sacred task. God may not tell us when the end will come – but He has told us what we must do today.

God does not want us to wait passively for redemption— We must take action and become active participants in the process.

(Footnote: It is the same as the process of our Sanctification. We are sanctified by the Spirit and the Word, which is wonderfully true. And yet, In Revelation 19, discussing the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, we are informed that “the Bride made herself ready”. We are co-labourers with God in the outworking of our sanctification.)