Revelation 1:7 Behold, He is coming (present tense) with the clouds, and every eye will see Him—even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.
I'm going to first show you why the word you have chosen to bolster your argument
does not lend credit to that argument,
BUT since starting this thread I have discovered that there is another word in the Revelation which
indeed lends credit to your argument, and I will speak about that afterwards:
ISV:
7 Look! He is coming in the clouds.
Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him,
and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him.
So be it! Amen.
The present-tense use of the verb
does not imply a date (no matter which century it was to occur in).
It's very typical of prophetic language to use present-tense verbs for future events.
Matthew 5:24 employs the same word:
"Leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother,
and then be coming and offer your gift.
BUT since starting this thread I have discovered that there is
another word in the Revelation which indeed lends credit to your argument:
Revelation 1
3 Blessed is the one who reads and hears the words of this prophecy, and the ones keeping the things written in it, for
the time is at hand [01451 engýs].
Revelation 22
10 And he said to me, Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this Book; for
the time is at hand [01451 engýs].
There is not one New Testament verse using the same word, where the word does not clearly mean "it's around the corner", for example:
"And the Passover of the Jews
was at hand [01451 engýs], and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." (John 2:13).
"And on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, Where do You desire that we prepare for You to eat the Passover?
And He said, Go into the city to such a man, and say to him, The Master said,
My time is at hand [01451 engýs].
I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them. And they made the passover ready." (Matthew 25:17-19).
(See also Matthew 24:32-33; Matthew 26:18; Mark 13:28-29; Luke 19:11; Luke 21:30-31; John 2:13; John 3:23; John 6:4' John 6:19; John 6:23; John 7:2; John 11:18; John 11:54; John 11:55; John 19:20; John 19:42).
Now let's take a look at a second word which
does not mean the same thing as above:
Revelation 22
12 And behold, I am coming quickly [swiftly, suddenly, and without delay - 5035 tachý], and My reward is with Me, to give to each according as his work is.
05035
ταχύ tachý, takh-oo'
neuter singular of 5036 (as adverb);
shortly, i.e. without delay, soon, or (by surprise) suddenly, or (by implication, of ease) readily:--lightly, quickly.
05036
ταχύς tachýs, takh-oos'
of uncertain affinity;
fleet, i.e. (figuratively) prompt or ready:--swift.
05030
ταχέως tachéōs, takh-eh'-oce
adverb from 5036;
briefly, i.e. (in time) speedily, or (in manner) rapidly:--hastily, quickly, shortly, soon, suddenly.
EXAMPLES
Mark 9:39
39 But Jesus said, "Do not stop him, because no one who does a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward [5035 tachý] to say anything bad about me.
Matthew 28
7 And go quickly [5035 tachý] and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead. And, behold, He goes before you into Galilee. There you shall see Him. Lo, I have told you.
8 And they quickly departed from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.
1 Tmothy 5:22
22 Do not lay hands quickly [5030 tachéōs] on anyone, neither be partaker of the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.
Luke 14:21
21 And coming up that servant reported these things to his lord. And the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly [5030 tachéōs] into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the maimed, and the lame and the blind.
James 1
19 Therefore, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift [5036 tachýs] to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
Revelation 22
12 And behold, I am coming quickly [swiftly, suddenly, and without delay - 5035 tachý], and My reward is with Me, to give to each according as his work is.
Does it mean "soon" when used by Jesus in the Revelation? Or does it mean swiftly and without delay, and suddenly?
In my opinion, we can only decide it means "around the corner"
by making that assumption, and once we assume it means "around the corner", we have to assume
how soon.
The words "at hand" are a far better argument to use than the words you have chosen.
Please note: None of what I've said in this thread means that I believe that the Revelation
applies only to the generation of Christians who existed at the time of the first generation of Christians: I believe the Revelation to be timeless, so that its reader must be able to lift his mind outside of time when he reads it, and my belief is that it applies to:
(A) The generation of Christians who existed when John received the Revelation; and
(B) Generally to all Christians in all generations; and
(C) Especially to the generation that would be alive in the final 42 months that precede the Lord's return.
I believe there is a strong possibility that the Olivet Discourse should be viewed in the same way: It applied to the generation that existed in A.D 70, and it applies to the last generation also.
Unlike Pretersists, I do not believe
the following happened in A.D 70:
Matthew 24
29 And immediately, accompanying [03326 metá] the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
30 And then the sign of the Son of man shall appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of the heaven with [03326 metá] power and great glory.
I believe that Matthew 24:
9-31 is talking about one and the same tribulation, which is the tribulation of the saints, whereas Luke 21:20-24 is an interjection, i.e a "Markan Sandwich" and Luke 21:20-24 talks only about A.D 70, and I believe that the words "this generation"
which imply the definite article "The" (as can be seen below), means
"the generation that will be alive during the time being spoken of", which could be either A.D 70's generation, or the close of this Age's generation,
or both.
03778
OU(=TOS οὗτος hoûtos hoo'-tos, including nominative masculine plural OU(=TOI οὗτοι hoûtoi hoo'-toy, nominative feminine singular AU(/TH αὕτη haútē how'-tay, and nominative feminine plural αὕται haútai, how'-tahee
from the article 3588 and 846;
the he (she or it), i.e. this or that (often with article repeated):--he (it was that), hereof, it, she, such as, the same, these, they, this (man, same, woman), which, who.
I don't believe the resurrection of the body in the last day which Jesus spoke about and which Paul taught us about in 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4 has occurred yet, nor do I believe that the return of Christ has come in the way that Preterists do, nor do I believe we can restrict either the Apocalypse of Christ or the Olivet Discourse
to time, because we cannot restrict God in this way.
NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH
One
could argue (and as far as I know many Preterists do argue) that in Revelation chapters 21-22 John saw a vision of
what came into being on the Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of Christ came to live in man (in His people):
2 Corinthians 5
17 So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Revelation 21:4-5
for the first things passed away. And He sitting on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
The river of Life is the Spirit of Christ:
John 7
38 He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."
39 (But He spoke this about the Spirit, which they who believed on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.)
So as you can see, because I know I'm fallible and I do not want to insert my own private interpretation into the Revelation, I'm being very objective here.