“Shortly Come to Pass” and the Apocalypse
Many fanciful and speculative theories have arisen in regard to the Book of Revelation. The popular doctrine of dispensational premillennialism is among these. Basically, this is the belief that at some future period in time, Jesus Christ will return to this earth, defeat Satan and his minions in the battle of Armageddon, and reign as King in the literal city of Jerusalem for 1000 years. A correct contextual reading of the first four verses of the first chapter of Revelation will go a long way to demonstrate that this theory is not taught in the Book of Revelation and is therefore unbiblical and erroneous. Below are two extremely important factors which demonstrate that the majority of the prophecies of the Book of Revelation have already come to pass.
The first verse begins by stating, “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. . . .” “Shortly” is the Greek word tuchos and is defined by Strong’s as “quickly, shortly, speedily.” Promoters of premillennialism insist that the word as it is used in this instance does not mean that the things taught in Revelation were to occur close to the period of time of the writing of the book; rather, when they would occur, the events would take place speedily.
It is possible for the word tuchos to be used in such a way (Luke 18:7, 8). Note that in this passage, the word “quickly” in verse 8 is clearly set in context of a delayed coming of the Lord (seen in the statement “. . . though he bear long with them” (v. 7). In our passage of the opening verses of Revelation, no statement of a delay exists. One can search high and low, and in the end, it still will not be found. The idea that there is a 2000+ year delay in these verses has simply been forced into the text. What is even more interesting about the use of this word tuchos in the NT is that in all cases except Luke 18:8, it is used to refer to events that happened immediately or without much delay (Acts 12:6-7; Acts 22:18; Acts 25:4; Romans 16:20; Revelation 22:6 – a passage similar to the one under discussion).
A second important factor related to The Revelation concerns the concept that this book deals with prophecy (Revelation 1:3). I recently heard a preacher on the radio making the argument that since this book contains prophecy, it must deal with events far off in the future from when it was written. Is this concept of prophecy correct? Indeed, there are numerous biblical prophecies which spanned millennia before they were fulfilled (think about Genesis 3:15); but there is also a host of prophecies which were fulfilled in a rather short period of time. (Here is a sample of some of those OT prophecies – ot-prophecies-shortly-fulfilled. The major portion of the prophecies in the Book of Revelation has already come to pass. Those things which remain are depicted in the final chapters and deal with the final judgment and heaven.
A third major factor which is seen in these introductory verses of the Apocalypse (or the Book of Revelation) concerns the people to whom the book is addressed. This is significant when approaching any book of the Bible. The times, culture, and location of the original recipients weigh heavily on a correct understanding of the message of the book. To whom is the Book of Revelation addressed? In the 4th verse, John plainly tells us that the book was written the seven churches of Asia (Revelation 1:4). These early Christians were about to endure severe persecution. History bears record of this. These early saints would have needed such a book to endure till the end.
What meanings then does the Apocalypse have for us today? How does it apply to us today? One of the great overriding messages of this book is the victory of Christ and those who faithfully follow Him. If we today hold on until the end in faith as the early Christian martyrs did, then, we too can be victorious (Revelation 19:6-9).
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Doctrine, Michael Carter
on August 30th, 2008
