Maybe not the first time around, but what about the 2nd time around? The latter meaning the 2nd coming that has not happened yet.
In my view I don't find it unreasonable that the last days can consist of 2000 plus years. The last days beginning in the first century is the correct conclusion to come to. What is not the correct conclusion to come to is, that the last days began in the first century, then ended in the first century.
It is interesting that everyone admits that the language, taken in its normal meaning, indicates true imminence, yet most people are unwilling to accept the normal meaning of the time statements. Most resort to changing the definitions of the statements of imminence. To maintain their view of eschatology, scripture is altered to mean something different from what its words indicate.
“At hand” cannot really mean at hand.
Near and soon, quickly and shortly, no delay and at hand, “this generation,” and even
“we will not all die,” are all distorted into ambiguous meaninglessness.
Jesus did not say
“I might come quickly.” He said
“Surely, I come quickly.” To inject
“could,” “maybe,” or
“might” where Jesus said,
“surely” is to alter Jesus’ promise. Some people in an attempt to offset the imminence of Jesus’ soon return say He only meant that He was certain to return. Thus, instead of conveying the idea of time,
“I come quickly” comes to mean
“I come certainly.”
But, how can certainty be expressed by language of imminence, if the prediction does not come to pass when the time statements indicate it would?
How can certainty be expressed by telling a falsehood? Notice Jesus’ words in
Revelation 22:20,
“Surely, I come quickly.” Here is both surety and imminence combined. Jesus was not saying,
“Surely, I come surely.” The word for surely is
nai meaning,
“Yes” as a strong assertion. The word for certainty is one word, the word for imminence is another.
Many different Greek words express certainty but the words translated as,
“at hand,” “shortly,” “quickly,” etc, are not some of them. Since when does saying one thing, and meaning something else create trust in the one who uses words so carelessly?
If man hears the words
“at hand” without knowing of a change in the meaning of those words, he automatically and properly thinks in time. If, therefore, the promise does not come to pass within the parameters of
“shortly,” disappointment and discouragement are the natural result. Thus, the
“certainty” supposedly expressed by the words has now become the actual source of uncertainty, and the loss of confidence in the promises of God. You cannot create trust in God by saying He used words that mean one thing, when He actually meant something else entirely.
It is a rule of interpretation, that if one is going to reject the normal definition of words, they must demonstrate strong evidence to justify that change. Normally, those who deny the actual imminence of the words do so because they believe, the bright promises associated with our Lord’s four-fold declaration
“I am coming soon” are blessings that they obviously believe have not been realized. Jesus’ promise to come soon could not be true, because they did not see what they expected to see, therefore, their presuppositions and prejudices become the determining factor in defining Biblical words.
Another attempt to mitigate the imminence is to make the Greek term
en taxei (Rev. 1:1; 22:6) and the word
taxus,
(Rev. 2:5, 16; 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20) translated
“shortly,” or “quickly,” mean suddenly, thus meaning that there will be rapidity of fulfillment whenever the proper time may come, but that may be thousands of years later than John’s time.
But, the following study of the Greek term
en taxei, appearing only 7 times in scripture, will show that it never emphasizes rapidity over imminence.
1.
Luke 18:8 “He will avenge them speedily” The martyrs of God cried for vengeance. God promised to avenge them speedily. In
Revelation 6:9f, the martyrs cried for vengeance, and were told it would be only a
“little while,” until the number of martyrs was fulfilled. In
Matthew 23:29f, Jesus said all the blood of all the martyrs would be vindicated in
“this generation.” The
“little while,” therefore, was not relative, it referred to Jesus’ generation. In order to avoid the imminence, one must distort the meaning of
“this generation,” “quickly,” and “little while.” Can God not communicate any better than to use these words that in any other context mean nearness, but when He uses them in Revelation we are not to think in time at all?
2.
Acts 12:7 Peter was in prison when the angel loosed the chains and told him
“rise up quickly.” Did the angel mean to say, “Do not worry about when you get up, today, tomorrow, next year, anytime will do, but when you finally get around to it, move with rapidity of actions.”?
3.
Acts 22:18 When Paul was in the temple praying, the Lord appeared to him and said,
“Get out of Jerusalem quickly.” Did Jesus mean that Paul could delay, but when he finally got around to leaving, he was to take the fastest chariot out of town?
4.
Acts 25:4 Festus kept Paul at Caesarea because,
“He himself was going there shortly.” Rapidity of action is not the focus. Imminence of departure is.
5.
Romans 16:20 “God will bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” The imminence of Romans cannot be ignored. In
chapter 9, the writer said God was going to finish His work of saving the Remnant in a short time. In
Romans 13:11f, Paul says,
‘The day is at hand.” Look at that text. Paul said,
“The night is far spent.” Now, what does that mean? If imminence is relative, what does
“far spent” mean?
6.
Revelation 1:1 “Things which must shortly come to pass.” That
“shortly” does not mean rapidly is confirmed in the context. John was told,
“The time is at hand.” Let us grant for argument sake that
“shortly’ means
“rapidly.” Coupled with
eggus in
Revelation 1:3, this would mean that the time for the
“rapid fulfillment” of John’s prophecy was
“at hand.”
If the fulfillment was to be
“rapid” it can hardly be argued that the vision encompasses a long period of time because all of the
“woes,” contained in the sounding of the Trumpets for instance, were to follow one another
“quickly” (Rev. 11:14). To argue for
“rapidly,” therefore, exacerbates the problem of imminence, rather than escapes it.
7.
Revelation 22:6 “Things which must shortly take place.” Notice that it says the things predicted
“must” take place shortly. The word
“must” is from
dei and means a divine necessity. A friend of mine named Don Preston said he examined over 36 different translations of the Bible and he found not one to support the idea of the rapidity or speed of Christ’s coming rather than the nearness. The reason not one of them does so is because swiftness of action is not the dominant concept.
