The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.” “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.” (Revelation 22:6b-7)
My Musings – Jesus promised to come quickly. Yet it has been almost two millennia since He made that promise. John prayed for Jesus to come soon. So, what is taking Him so long? The amazing patience of the Lord toward the unbelieving world is responsible for Jesus’ delay and John’s unanswered prayer. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9, NIV 1984).
Three times in these closing paragraphs of Revelation, the promise is made, “Behold, I am coming soon.” While eternity may seem far off to us now, the return of Jesus and the events foretold in Revelation still have a certain urgency and immediacy to them.
The word soon in Revelation 22:6 means they will quickly come to pass once they begin. The Church has expected Christ to return ever since the days of the Apostles, and He has not yet come. We may very well be at the beginning, or even in the midst, of “birth pains” that Jesus prophesied. “Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.” (Matthew 24:6, NIV 1984). But when the prophecies revealed to John begin to be fulfilled, things will happen very quickly (increase in frequency and intensity). Then there will be no more delay. At that time “soon” could be tomorrow!
There is nothing that must happen before the events we have read of in Revelation may begin to unfold. Some may already be unfolding. These paragraphs also make it clear that must learn to live with this sense of immediacy and urgency.
John also reports, “Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” But what does “keeps the words of the prophecy of this book” mean? What role could we possibly have? To keep means to guard it, watch over it, and to preserve it intact. We must not add to, take from, or misrepresent the Word of God (see Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:5–6). And this responsibility is especially great considering Christ’s imminent return.
My Advice – Watch for the signs and heed the warnings. Don’t keep them to yourself. Because soon could be too soon for those who are perishing. We may long for His appearing, but those who let soon overtake them, will regret it fo all eternity. That is a lot of regret. Let’s do what we can to warn them.
Resources:
Cabal, T., Brand, C. O., Clendenen, E. R., Copan, P., Moreland, J. P., & Powell, D. (2007). The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith (p. 1918). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
Richards, L., & Richards, L. O. (1987). The teacher’s commentary (p. 1089). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 624). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
The Brew Is A Musing 