Why is it that several times in Revelation it appears that the events will take place “shortly” (1:1), that Jesus will be coming back “quickly” (Rev. 22:7, 12, 20), and that the time was “at hand” (1:3)?
We know that the Bible is without error or mistake. Otherwise, if we say the Bible or the author was in error, then there would be nothing we could be sure of at all. We rightly know that the Bible is not dishonest and does not “shade” the truth. But if there is more than one way to read and interpret a passage while still retaining its veracity and accuracy—and also retaining the holiness and inerrancy of the Scriptures, along with consistency with other parallel passages—then that will be the proper and appropriate interpretation of the passage. That especially applies to the words related to the timing of Christ’s return and the fulfillment of the Book of Revelation.
It is a matter of God’s perspective and purpose versus our own perspective and purpose. God used words that may imply the “immediacy” of Christ’s return to ensure the readiness of believers, but those same words can also mean “imminence” or “suddenness,” thus retaining the accuracy of the prophecy.
In relation to perspective and purpose, a helpful—though admittedly incomplete—analogy is to think of how parents and children view a long car trip. A child will ask, sometimes as soon as the trip begins, “Are we there yet?” or “How much longer will it be?”
When Melissa and I would make that trip from our home in Brownsville to Grandma and Granddad’s house in Weatherford, the journey of 10 or 12 hours would sometimes seem overwhelming to our children. In fact, the younger the child, the shorter the attention span (we measured it to be somewhere between a millisecond and a nanosecond). The more mature the child (or in some cases, the parent), the less tedious the wait. So what was our response to the proverbial question, “How much longer?” It was, of course, the proverbial euphemistic answer: “Just a little bit longer.”
The purpose is NOT to lie or be dishonest with our kids, but to give them encouragement; we really did not want to frustrate the little ones. The purpose is to let the child know that in the long run, and in the grand scheme of things, it will in fact only be “a little bit longer.” The purpose is to keep the child from the agony of anticipating something that really won’t be as long as he or she imagines once the end of the journey has come. Saying, “just a little bit longer” actually served the purpose of making the trip seem only “a little bit longer.” The anticipation of a soon arrival helped make the journey enjoyable (especially for the parents!).
The perspective is also that for an adult who has made many trips before, 10 or 12 hours is, in fact, actually only “a little bit,” when considering how wonderful the destination will be and in light of the length of time the adult has experienced. A day’s journey for a person of 40 years is 1 out of 14,610 days. But from the perspective of a 4‑year‑old child, a day’s journey is 1 out of 1,461 days—and when you discount the number of days the child can’t remember from infancy, the perspective of a day is even greater than that of his 40‑year‑old father. That’s why years go by so quickly as we grow older, and why Christmas always seems to never get here for a child. It’s a difference in perspective.
It is more important to God and His revelation to humanity that we know the certainty of His return than the time of His return. The purpose and perspective of believers is of greater worth to God—that we be ready whenever it is that He returns—than for us to know the exact hour of His return.
In fact, if the early believers had known that it would be 2,000 years in the future before some of the things would be fulfilled, their urgency would not have been nearly as great, and their despair in the tribulation they experienced might have overwhelmed them. And as we will see, some of the things prophesied in Revelation—and certainly in other New Testament passages—did actually occur in their lifetimes and throughout the history of the church. That is what Jesus was referring to when He commanded John to write “what you have seen” and “the things which are.”
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 persecuted the Christians for hundreds of years after this writing.
“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 shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4). Yet because they repented, God did not overthrow them at that time. Did that make Jonah a false prophet? No, it showed that God responds to the response of people and their repentance.
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, but because of the intervention of Moses, God “turned around” or “repented” in what He was going to do.
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.
