Dear Student of the Word,
Well, here it is. This is not only my last entry for our Revelation study, this is the last post on this Bible study site. I began writing these New Testament studies in 2001, beginning with four verses a day every day of the week. Now 17 years later, I have written, edited, and uploaded every study, which covers every verse in the entire New Testament, on the site where this entry is located (there are 7,957 verses in the New Testament in case you were wondering).
This week, we reach the end of Revelation, in which we see the river coming from God's throne and Jesus' promise to John that He was coming "soon." Here are my comments on two "soon" verses as to what "soon" means in the context of Revelation (you can download the entire study of Revelation 22 below):
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7“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”
22:7 – The book of Revelation is a prophecy. This doesn’t mean it’s a mystical, secrets-only-known-to-a-few book that is difficult to grasp (although it is harder than most). A prophecy is a message from God, and God wants that message to be understood. Anything the meaning of which is only available to a select few isn’t a message from God.
What does it mean that the Lord is coming soon? Here are some of my thoughts:
1. He is literally coming soon. Revelation was written 2,000 years ago and He still hasn’t returned, so that interpretation is out.
2. The presence of the Spirit makes the return of the Lord feel like it will be soon. Almost every generation has felt that the Lord would return in their lifetime, this one included. When the Spirit comes into your life and lives in you, you feel the closeness of Jesus and His Word. It feels like He is coming soon.
3. You will soon die. No one is getting out of here alive should the Lord tarry. Thus, your end will be soon and you should live with an expectation that the Lord is coming for you soon and that His return may come at any time. Thus, your urgency to live a godly life and bear fruit is reinforced by those two facts of life.
4. We don’t understand exactly how to interpret the phrase, “the return of the Lord is soon.” Earlier in Revelation, John wrote: "Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you” (Revelation 3:3).
Could the return of the Lord be our death or some other visitation where the Lord works to set things straight? The return of the Lord in my life is “soon.” I am 68 years old and things are happening quickly as my life finishes. What I have been waiting for the Lord to do seems to be taking place at a faster pace. Is this what He meant by His returning in my life “soon”?
Please do not misunderstand me. I believe in the Second Coming of Christ. That is a tenet of the faith that no one can deny. My point is that those who continue to guess or predict when that Second Coming will be have been incorrect, and they will continue to be incorrect. Revelation is not a book to help a select few gain insight to share with others about God’s plans for the end times.
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12“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done."
22:12 – Soon doesn’t mean in 2,000 years. Soon means the time is at hand. This was Jesus talking, perhaps through the mouth of the messenger angel. After all, this was not the message of the angel; it was the message of Jesus. Either Jesus will intervene soon or you will die soon. Either way, you win because of what Jesus has done in your life. And you will receive your reward from Jesus, as everyone will. So be encouraged, for God is watching and mindful your situation. If it is a difficult one and doesn’t seem to be changing, be encouraged. God is in control and it will change soon.
What’s more, Jesus may return tomorrow. You must be ready and found doing His will when He does come. Live in the reality that He is coming soon:
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him" (Matthew 24:42-44).
As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the daily devotional entitled Your Life Matters: Daily Reflections from the Book of Psalms. Thank you and soon I will begin sending you my edited studies from James' epistle. After that, we will only have the book of Revelation to complete before the entire New Testament is on the site where this study is posted.
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