Things that Must Soon take Place
REVELATION
Things that Must Soon Take Place
Revelation 1:1–3 (NASB 2020)
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, everything that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it; for the time is near.
To the willing slaves of the Lord Jesus then, is to be shown the things which must soon take place. The Revelation is the unveiling by God Himself of His plan for all of history and especially of the Church, the bride of Christ.
It was God who highly exalted the Lord Jesus, and bestowed upon Him the name which is above every name, as we read in Philippians 2:9. God also gave the Lord Jesus the governance of the world to establish and nourish the Church, His body on earth and bride in the Spirit.
Therefore, it is for Jesus Christ to reveal the plan of God to His servants. This revelation is not complete in every detail but contains in generalized form the overarching principles of the plan of God for humanity. This brings to mind things that Jesus said while He was on earth. John records some of these in John 12:49 where Jesus said, “I did not speak on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.” (NASB 2020) Similarly, He said in John 14:10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own, but the Father, as He remains in Me, does His works.” (NASB 2020) Again in John 17:7–8 we find, “Now they have come to know that everything which You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.” (NASB 2020)
The things Jesus has been given to reveal, it is said, must soon come to pass. I do not understand this to mean that all that The Revelation reveals is to occur in a rapid chronological progression. Rather, these things are to begin right away as we see at the end of verse 3, “the time is near.” This is repeated near the end of The Revelation as well. In Revelation 22:10 we find “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” (NASB 2020)
The Greek word translated “soon” here is taxos, which can have it’s focus on the speed of an event (quickly or suddenly), an event occurring in a short period of time, or to a brief span of time, but BDAG* and other sources prefer “soon” or “in a short time.” Based on my study, I agree with that assessment.
*BDAG is one of the top resources for study of the meaning and usage of words in Biblical (Koine) Greek. It’s full title is “A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature” (Walter Bauer, Frederick William Danker, Kurt and Barbara Aland, W.F. Arndt, and F.W. Gingrich) 3rd Edition
Grace and peace to you.
Larry
