The Time is Soon

The first entry in this series can be found here.
The previous entry can be found here.

You likely know the genre. Armageddon. The Day After Tomorrow. 2012. The Walking Dead. This list could be expanded, but in each case, the idea is the end of mankind, the destruction of the world as we know it, the end of the world.

Hopelessness reigns. Chaos rules. And oh, by the way—you guessed it—it could happen anytime. It could even happen tomorrow.

And when we combine texts like Matthew 24 with what we’re seeing currently in the news, it makes sense, right? The end is near, right?

Wrong.

Well, maybe not: No one knows the day or hour (Matthew 24:36). But if the end is near it’s not because of the headlines and a handful of verses. John continues his Revelation of Jesus Christ by announcing the imminence of the fulfillment of his message.

Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel to show His slaves what must quickly take place.”
“Look, I am coming quickly! The one who keeps the prophetic words of this book is blessed.”

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow slave with you, your brothers the prophets, and those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” He also said to me, “Don’t seal the prophetic words of this book, because the time is near. Let the unrighteous go on in unrighteousness; let the filthy go on being made filthy; let the righteous go on in righteousness; and let the holy go on being made holy.”

“Look! I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright Morning Star.”

Revelation‬ ‭22:6-16 ‭HCSB‬‬

So I’m sure you want to know: “How can you say that the end is not soon?”

Because this book was written almost 2,000 years ago. If that is “soon,” then we all need work at being more patient. (I mean, we probably do, but not just for that reason.)

There are two potential options here: first, we can try to redefine the word “quickly” (Greek: ταχυς) so that it doesn’t mean “any minute” or “any second,” or we can ask what I asked us to consider in the first entry to this series: “Is this book trying to highlight the end of the world, or something else?”

The first option is untenable. The Greek word occurs repeatedly in the NT and throughout the LXX. In all of the narrative occurrences, the timeline is measurable, and a translation of “quickly” or “soon” makes perfect sense. Isaac is surprised at how quickly Jacob returns with food (Genesis 27:20). Moses is commanded to go down and confront the golden calf incident quickly (Exodus 32:7). The Gibeonites request aid against their enemies quickly (Joshua 10:6). The King of Israel orders the prophet Micaiah brought quickly (1 Kings 22:9). The psalmist prays for God to answer him quickly (Psalm 69:17 [LXX 68:18]; 102:2 [LXX 101:3]; 143:7 [LXX 142:7]). Jesus tells Judas to do his wickedness quickly (John 13:27).¹ Quickly means within an understood timeline, and given that Jesus admits he doesn’t know the time of his return (Matthew 24:36), there is no timeline within which to understand quickly.

But there was a timeline that Jesus did mention. In Matthew 16:28, he explains that some standing before him in the first-century would not die before they saw his kingdom. The book of Revelation describes the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.² As I mentioned in the first post in this series, Revelation describes Jesus. The point of this book is to draw people to worship Jesus. It is not to lay out a timeline of the end of the world. We are in the last days (cf. Acts 2:17; Hebrews 1:2; 1 John 2:18), and we are called to live by faith, not by the news headlines (2 Corinthians 5:7).

But in our text today, John reiterates the main point of everything he’s said to this point. Why does this immensely complex vision (Revelation 4:1-22:5) matter? What does he hope that people get out of it?

He hopes that people turn to Jesus. He hopes that they exchange old allegiances for allegiance to Jesus. Failure to do so is to invite destruction on themselves. As such, Revelation 22:6-16 (and 22:17-21–next time) returns to the style of Revelation 1-3, especially chapter 1.

I usually end each of these posts with a gospel presentation, but the text today demands that its entirety is presented as a gospel presentation. John wants us to heed four precautions that will prevent us from experiencing destruction in the end.

Don’t hesitate

We’ve established that “quickly” must mean soon. But we’ve also established that this can’t possibly have meant “the end of the world” to the first recipients of Revelation. So how does it apply today (given the likelihood that its original referent has already passed)?

Psalm 90 is very comparable to this idea in Revelation. In verse 10, the psalmist explains, “Our lives last seventy years or, if we are strong, eighty years.” Thus, we are given the termination point of the word “quickly.” It’s the end of our physical life on this planet. And verse 13 cries out, “Lord — how long?” which is what we say as we toil and pray, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20; more on this next time).

So Jesus is coming, but even if he doesn’t come during our lifetime, we still have a lifetime. We never know when that lifetime will end. As such, don’t hesitate! Trust Jesus today!

Don’t get distracted

One of the reasons we hesitate is because we are so easily distracted. John here (again!) misplaces his worship. How often do we do the same? Even though things continue to go as they’ve gone since the first century (wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, floods; Matthew 24:6-8), we need not get distracted. We must fix our eyes on Jesus. Righteous people will grow in righteousness; wicked people will grow in wickedness. We mustn’t let this distract us. We can’t get caught up in the culture wars. We must look to Jesus. Trust him today!

Don’t miss blessings

According to this passage (and Revelation 20:12) blessings are a result of deeds. Faith in Jesus leads to works. Ephesians 2:8-10 makes this clear, and we’ve already connected it in this series to the bride of Christ in Revelation 19:8. When that passage is read with Revelation 22:14, it is our lived out faith that renders our robes white. Faith is critical; faith is the only thing that will help us overcome the trials, terrors, and troubles of this life; faith must be in Jesus who conquered death to give us hope for this life and the next. If you want to be blessed, trust Christ today! Don’t go another day without him, or you could end up outside. Jesus calls you to his inner circle. Don’t ignore him!

Don’t fail to hear

Most of this section is directly from Jesus’ mouth. Verse 6 comes from the angel (who’s been the mediator of the visions since 17:1), and verses 8-11 records a conversation between John and the angel. Otherwise, Jesus has a lot to say in this text. And while every word of the Bible can be understood as Jesus’ words, the direct quotes of Jesus should be especially heeded. So don’t fail to hear him! Trust him today!

Don’t hesitate!
Don’t get distracted!
Don’t miss the blessings!
Don’t fail to hear!

In this with you.

Thanks for reading.

The next entry can be found here.

Notes and References

1. The biggest exception to this is the fact that God tells Israel, “Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, because they will turn your sons away from Me to worship other gods. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you” (Deuteronomy 7:3–4, emphasis added). This “swift destruction” took almost 900 years (assuming the Exodus occurred in 1446 BC and knowing the exile occurred in 587 BC). However, the death of Achan (Joshua 7) is an example of swift destruction, especially since Joshua 7:1 and 7:26 both specifically refer to the Lord’s burning anger, which echoes Deuteronomy 7:4. ↩︎
2. It is quite possible that Revelation describes the soon-to-occur destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), but this is a question we will look at in more detail when I turn these blog posts into a full commentary on Revelation. ↩︎