The Time of Revelation Is Shortly
So let us look at words such as “shortly,” “quickly,”
“time is at hand,” KJV (or in the NKJV “the time is near”)
“shortly”
“quickly” “speedily”
“Shortly” Greek: tachei tacei
an
adverb translated shortly (4), quickly (2), speedily (1)
Related English words: tachyon-A hypothetical subatomic
particle that always travels faster than the speed of light.
Revelation 1: - The
Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things
which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by
His angel to His servant John,
Re 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are
faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew
unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Are there passages that it means something other than
“right away”? The answer is, Yes!
Luke 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Here Jesus used the analogy of
endurance of prayer and how the woman actually wore down the unrighteous judge
by her long-suffering and patience. But when justice came, it came speedily.
Romans 16:20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under
your feet shortly.
Paul is clearly referring to Satan being defeated, but it
did not come right away. Rome
“quickly” Greek: tachu tacu
an adverb
translated quickly (12), lightly (1)
Revelation 3:11 -
Behold, I am coming quickly! This is Before the
Tribulation.
Revelation 22:7 -
"Behold, I am coming quickly!
This is also Before
the Tribulation.
Can quickly be conditional? In other words, can God say
He is coming quickly and because of action by people, choose not to come? Yes, that is seen in the book of Revelation
Revelation 2:5 -
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or
else I will come to you quickly
and remove your lampstand from its place--unless you repent.
Revelation 2:16 - Repent, or else I will come
to you quickly and will fight
against them with the sword of My mouth.
Other related words can also mean “fast” or “swift,”
rather than “soon.”
2 Peter 2:1 - But
there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false
teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even
denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
“time
is at hand” (kjv) “the time is near” (NKJV)
kairos (time) engus (is near) Greek: kairos eggus
an adverb
translated: nigh (13), at hand (6), nigh at hand (4), near (4), from (1), nigh
unto (1), ready (1)
Revelation 1:3 - Blessed is he that readeth, and they that
hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein:
for the time is at hand.
Revelation 22:10 - And
he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the
time is at hand.
Jesus used this phrase regarding His crucifixion, saying
“My time is at hand” (Matt.
26:18). When combined with time or kairos, it can simply mean “at any moment.” Obviously,
by the time of John’s writing the Revelation, salvation was nearer than the
writings of Paul, who wrote in Rom. 13:11, “And
do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for
now our salvation is nearer
than when we first believed.”
Jonah. So
is it possible that something could be “near” and going to happen “quickly” and
yet doesn’t happen? We have seen this in the Old Testament. In the story of
Jonah, Jonah preached the message that God told him to preach. What was that
message? “Yet forty days, and Nineveh
Moses. Not
only will God respond to people, He will respond in prayer. In Exodus 34, God
was going to bring judgment on the people of Israel
Luke 13:6-9. God’s judgment which would have come quickly can be delayed by the
favorable response of people. This is seen in Jesus’ parable of the fruitless
fig tree found in Luke 13:6-9
He also spoke this
parable: "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he
came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his
vineyard, 'Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and
find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?' But he answered and
said to him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and
fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut
it down.' "
Thief.
Besides “quickly” “at hand”, are there other Scriptures that would lead us to
interpret that we should define Christ return as “imminent” rather than
“immediate”? Yes, the passages which say that Jesus will come as a “thief.” Matthew
24:43-51 indicates that the long delay requires the people to be diligent to be
ready in any hour. The parable is found in the context of when the end of the
age will be.
But know this, that if
the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have
watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be
ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. "Who
then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his
household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his
master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will
make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart,
'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and
to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a
day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and
will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The analogy of a thief is surprising since it compares
the arrival of Christ to that of a criminal. Yet the subject of the parable is
not Christ, but rather the enduring readiness of the believers. And it is used
elsewhere in Luke 12:39 , 1
Thessalonians 5:2-4, 2 Peter 3:10 ,
and Revelation 3:3, 16:15 .
Like the battery, we should be ever ready.
