“things which must shortly come to pass”

We start today with a well-known futurist:

“That which Daniel declared would occur ‘in the latter days’ is here described as ‘shortly’ (Gr., en tachei), that is, ‘quickly or suddenly coming to pass,’ indicating rapidity of execution after the beginning takes place. The idea is not that the event may occur soon, but that when it does, it will be sudden…”      [from THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST: A COMMENTARY, by John F. Walvoord, 1966]

I agree with this interpretation of en tachei. I think what makes me so sure about it at this point in my life, is watching what’s going on in the world. Things are moving straight towards the prophesied events of the “latter days” and at such a speed that one can hardly take it all in.  Those who are not looking to Scripture will see all of the changes as far more “sudden” than those of us who have an idea of what’s coming. So, to me, en tachei in this context means “quickly or suddenly coming to pass.”

“What then was it that John expected to happen soon? There is a general agreement that he expected persecution of the church by the Roman Empire. But like the other apocalyptic writers he has set this threat against a background of world history, and his prophecy carries  us from a vision of God the Creator at one extreme to a vision of the Last Judgment and the eternal city of God at the other. We cannot, however, do justice to his very plain opening statement (cf. i. 3; iv. 1; xxii.10) by saying that he foresaw a long series of events covering centuries, which could be described as imminent because they were to begin shortly. Whatever earthly realities correspond to John’s symbols, he expected them to be accomplished quickly in their entirety. We must choose between two answers to our question. The one answer, which would have the support of a majority of modern scholars, is that John expected the End, the final crisis of world history, the return of Christ in victory and judgment; and that everything else in his vision, the last plagues, the emergence of Antichrist, the great martyrdom of the church, and the fall of Babylon, are only premonitory signs heralding the great day of God.  The other answer, which I believe to be the true one, is that John’s coming crisis was simply the persecution of the church, and that all the varied imagery of his book has no other purpose than this, to disclose to the prospective martyrs the real nature of their suffering and its place in the eternal purposes of God, or, in Bunyan’s language, to take them about to the backside of the wall.”      [from A COMMENTARY ON THE REVELATION OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE, by George B. Caird, 1966]

Answer number one just doesn’t hold water. I’ve frequently heard that John and the first century Christians really thought that Christ was coming in their lifetimes. I’m really having to question that lately.  Many seem to look to 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 to verify this idea:

¹Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, ²that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.     (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2; NASB)

The problem with this is that these same people tend to leave out Paul’s response:

³No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, ⁴who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. …⁶And you know what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. ⁷For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed…¹¹God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, ¹²in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.     (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4,6-7,11-12; NASB)

To me, anyway, this does not sound like Paul was expecting Christ to return any time soon. Look especially at the line “And you know what restrains him now.”  Paul saw Satan and the “man of lawlessness” as being restrained in his own time (“now”); that does not sound like someone expecting to meet all the criteria he mentioned so that Christ could be seen as coming “soon”.

Answer number two is even more leaky. Saying that Revelation is about “simply the persecution of the church” is dismissive and almost lazy.  Revelation is not “simply” anything. Revelation is complex and deep and requires much study and thought. The New Testament was written 2000+ years ago, and while most of it can be read with a superficial understanding in these modern times, many of those who do read it in that way understand that they are not getting the full meaning. To try to read Revelation in that way can make it confusing and almost meaningless. To gloss over the whole of Revelation as “simply the persecution of the church” suggests that the writer is unwilling to put out the effort to come to a true understanding of the book. I tend to see preterism as the cop-out way to interpret Revelation.

“The expression ‘shortly come to pass’ means ‘will come to pass quickly and with certainty.’ God’s program is all set. No amount of interference by men or governments of men will ever alter God’s program. Many people are fearful of the present scientific experiments which some declare will destroy all life on this earth. The danger is that our fear of what man can do may make us overlook what the Bible predicts God will do in judgment during the Tribulation. Men have made great strides in scientific achievements, some good and some bad; but when the best of these are compared with God’s work, they are very small indeed. Furthermore, man could not do what he is doing in the way of science if he were not obeying God’s arranged order. The satellites man sends up into space have to overcome gravity, but only to a certain degree or they would fly out of control into outer space. To be of any use they have to fit in with God’s established physical laws.”

So far, this quote could have been written today; yet, it was written in 1969.  1969 seems like a time of innocence compared to what’s going on today. I was a teenager at that time and I remember a general feeling of impending doom. Looking on the internet today, I can see that most of the “scientific experiments” that could “destroy all life on this earth” from that era involved nuclear experimentation, space exploration, but also some very unscrupulous human experimentation. The science fiction stories of that time explored some truly scary “science” (including using genetics to shape society, trans-humanism ideas, and AI outcomes)  that has proven very prescient, but we were not yet close to destroying “all life on this earth”. We’re certainly much closer now.

The next line is the one we should be focusing on today: “The danger is that our fear of what man can do may make us overlook what the Bible predicts God will do in judgment during the Tribulation.” If we think about the Old Testament, we remember that God used the Babylonians to punish Israel. When the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem, it certainly looked like mankind was behind these attacks, but Scripture makes it very clear that God was the driving force. From this we may guess that at least some of the events of Revelation will appear to be a consequence of man’s actions or from nature.  However, I suspect that what will make this a Great Tribulation is the part that God will contribute directly to it, without any link to mankind’s or nature’s activities.

Let’s finish the quote:

“…If we are going to be afraid in these days, let us be afraid in an area that really counts. It is better to be afraid of God’s judgments, remembering that He can destroy both body and soul in hell. He has made provision for men’s salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.  If they reject Him, they die without hope; if they receive Him, they will be saved for all eternity. This is what God can do for you in the spiritual realm.”      [from PRACTICAL STUDIES IN REVELATION, VOL 1, by Theodore H. Epp, 1969]

I am very onboard with what is said here. I’ve talked about this before, but I think Jesus Christ is God in a form that we can relate to more easily. But, we cannot get so comfortable with Jesus that we forget just how big God is, and lose our fear of Him.

“This revelation is concerned with prediction. It is expressly said that it is to show God’s servants things which must happen soon. Shortly is not defined…This could mean that the fulfillment is expected in the very near future. But we must also bear in mind that in the prophetic perspective the future is sometimes foreshortened. In other words the word may refer primarily to the certainty of the events in question. The Lord God has determined them and He will speedily bring them to pass. But speedily has a reference to His time not ours. With Him one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day (1 Pet. iii. 8). It is also possible that the term should be understood as ‘suddenly’, i.e., not so much ‘soon’ as ‘without delay when the time comes’.”       [from THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN: AN INTRODUCTION AND COMMENTARY, by Leon Morris, 1969]

The line “but speedily has a reference to His time not ours” is bothering me a bit. Usually this concept just slides past me, but today it is starting to sound like God is prevaricating…which is awfully close to a lie. And that’s impossible. 

When Peter said that to God one day is as a thousand years, he wasn’t saying specifically that we should interpret all references to “a day” as meaning a thousand years. Besides, how would we know from Peter’s statement whether we were supposed to interpret one day as a thousand years, or a thousand years as one day? Personally, I think that Peter was stating a fairly obvious point, but it was not specific to any particular “day” in Scripture, and it is truly just another way of saying that God does things in His own time.

“This Revelation concerns things which must shortly come to pass. We may translate this as the Revelation of ‘what must speedily happen.’  The Greek is en taxei and refers not to soonness, but to rapidity of execution when once there is a beginning. Scientists have gone to this word for the name of a technical instrument — the tachometer — a device for measuring velocity. In other words, the events of this book are to take place within a brief space of time. God says, ‘When I begin, I will also make an end’ (1 Sam. 3:12). There are those who sneer at these words and say that  they do not mean much. Have not nineteen hundred years passed? From man’s point of view, nineteen hundred years is not soon;  from God’s point of view, a thousand years is as a day. We are taught here, however, that suddenly shall come the word which shall loose the lightning-like succession of events. Today, the mills of God may grind slowly, but the day will come when the whole machinery of history will be slipped into high gear to run its fatal course to judgment. This is the same word our Lord uses when He says that God shall avenge His own speedily (Luke 18:8). God has borne long with men. This is the day of His patience. In our day we see the furniture of Bible prophecy being moved into place upon the stage of world history. The curtain is ready to be drawn. This shall come to pass in God’s moment. Then all that is written in the book of Revelation will come to pass, exactly as written — and it shall come speedily.”      [from REVELATION: AN EXPOSITIONAL COMMENTARY, by Donald Grey Barnhouse, 1971]

I’m especially attracted to the lines: “God has borne long with men. This is the day of His patience.” People seem to gloss over their sins and think all is well when God is being patient. It’s my guess that He’s about to stop being patient.

“The contents of the revelation are ‘things which must shortly come to pass’ (v.1), literally, ‘which it is necessary to become (or to happen) shortly.’ The verb rendered ‘it is necessary’ (dei) expresses a moral and spiritual necessity. It was morally and spiritually necessary that these things should happen shortly (en tachei; cf Rev. 22:6).

And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.     (Revelation 22:6; RSV)

“Now what did John mean by this phrase en tachei? The phrase means literally ‘in or with quickness,’ ‘in haste.’  But it can also be translated ‘soon,’ ‘in a short time.’ Some see it as meaning that he expected an early return of the Lord. The conclusions of certain of these is that he was in error. However, it should be noted that this was the expectation of all first-century Christians. Jesus had told his followers to live in daily expectancy of this blessed event. But he never named a date for it. He spoke of it in terms of condition. The word ‘when’ (hotan, Matt. 25:31) refers primarily to condition. 

“When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.    (Matthew 25:31; RSV)   

“When the condition is right, that is the time (Matt. 24:27-31). 

²⁷For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man. ²⁸Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. ²⁹Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; ³⁰then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; ³¹and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.     (Matthew 24:27-31; RSV)

“And the time is hidden within the wisdom of the Father (Mark 13:32,33; Acts 1:7). So Christians in all ages should expect the Lord’s return en tachei or ‘shortly.’

But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch, for you do not know when the time will come.     (Mark 13:32-33; RSV)

He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.      (Acts 1:7; RSV)

“The fact is that almost nineteen hundred years have elapsed since these words were written.  So how may we regard them in their context?

“The first readers of Revelation were undergoing severe persecution. The primary purpose of writing was to encourage them in their ordeal…

“That they needed immediate assurance is certainly true. But in the light of history what happened ‘shortly’?  This does not fit the Lord’s return in triumph. Certainly the Roman Empire did not fall in the immediate future. The empire as known then was to continue for several centuries. The Western empire fell in AD 476.

“What did happen ‘shortly’ was the death of Domitian in AD 96. This brought to an end for the time the severe and widespread persecution of Christians. Domitian’s successor Nerva (AD 96-98) left the Christians in peace. This was also true for the first thirteen years of Trajan’s reign (AD 98-117)….The overall purpose of the Revelation was to encourage those who were undergoing persecution. The assurance that Christ had triumphed in the past would give them courage in the present and future.”     [from THE COSMIC DRAMA: AN EXPOSITION OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION, by Herschel H. Hobbs, 1971]

I find it interesting that Hobbs thinks that somehow Revelation predicts Domitian’s death. I don’t think this is true, but it’s interesting.

As I said earlier, I’ve become convinced that the Early Church, including John, did not believe that Christ was coming “soon.”

I agree that “Christians in all ages should expect the Lord’s return en tachei” but I don’t agree with Hobbs that en tachei should be interpreted as “shortly.” And I especially don’t agree that “the overall purpose of the Revelation was to encourage those who were undergoing persecution.” I think we will find other “overall purposes” as we get further into Revelation.

“The words ‘what must soon take place’ contain an echo of Daniel 2:28. 

but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnez’zar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these:      (Daniel 2:28; RSV)

“Although John seldom quoted the Old Testament in a formal way, his book is filled with obvious allusions to the prophetic writings. Here is a fact whose significance many modern critics overlook. John’s mind was saturated with the Old Testament and he expected such passing allusions to be meaningful to his readers. However, there is not a single similar proven allusion to any known Jewish apocalyptic writings. This suggests that the Revelation is not, as many have said, simply a piece of Jewish apocalyptic which has been ‘baptized’ into the Christian church. John’s background was far more the Old Testament prophets, even though he made use of apocalyptic symbolism.”

I agree with this sentiment, but I think that many more current commentators understand this than this author thought about the early 1970’s commentators. 

The author is, as far as I can tell, correct that there isn’t a single “proven allusion to any known Jewish apocalyptic writings.” From what I’ve read so far, even those who are rabid to prove that Revelation is a run-of-the-mill apocalyptic piece of literature don’t seem to come up with a frank allusion to other apocalyptic writings.  But, everyone seems to agree that the author of Revelation certainly knew his Old Testament.

On with the quote:

“In Jewish apocalyptic we find a significant deterministic factor, almost giving the impression sometimes that the course of events was so inflexibly predetermined that God himself was bound by them.  Since events were predetermined, it would be possible for one who had insight to calculate times and seasons and to figure out when the end would come. The New Testament is entirely free from this spirit of calculation: ‘Of that day or that hour no one knows’ (Matt. 24:36).”

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.     (Matthew 24:36; RSV)

I really like this paragraph. The Old Testament also has a feeling of: “If we could just count all these generations we could figure this out!” The New Testament really does not, despite the different genealogies listed.  I suspect that one of the reasons for the genealogies being different is to avoid that kind of “figuring.”

“However, God is sovereign; he has a redemptive plan which in his own time must be carried out. Nothing can hinder the sure consummation of God’s kingdom.

“These events are ‘soon’ to ‘take place’… These words have troubled the commentators. The simplest solution is to take the preterist view and to say that John, like the entire early Christian community, thought that the coming of the Lord was near, when in fact they were wrong. Our Lord himself seems to share this error in perspective in the saying: ‘This generation will not pass away before all these things take place.’ (Mark 13:30). Others have interpreted the phrase to mean ‘these events must soon begin’; others ‘they must certainly begin’; still others ‘they must swiftly take place’; that is, once the events begin, the end will come quickly.”

The preterist view may appear to be “the simplest solution” when looking at a translation for en tachei, but it gets insupportable when you extrapolate into other areas; something else we’ll see as we get further in.

What I really want to address here is the interpretation of the Mark 13:30 quote. Here’s the quote in context:

“²⁸Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹So you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. ³⁰Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. ³²But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”      (Mark 13:28-32; NASB)

Our Lord did not “share this error in perspective.” The key really is: what generation is being talked about? The “simple solution” would be to say that the generation mentioned is the generation of the Apostles. But it seems that to see it that way would be to make Jesus a liar: the sun and moon were not reported as ‘darkened’ during their lifetimes, the stars didn’t fall from heaven nor were the heavens shaken, and the Son of Man didn’t arrive in the clouds…which I think would have been reported by the Early Church. We also didn’t see the angels gathering “together His elect from the four winds.” I also can’t see the fall of Rome as being represented by any of these things.

So which generation is being referred to? I favor the idea that the generation referred to is the one who sees the fig tree sprouting: the return of Israel to the Land: the generation of 1948.  The things that Jesus described are very similar to a part of Revelation, which ends with the Son of Man arriving on the clouds. If the generation of 1948 will see the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds, then we must be getting pretty close. 

Let’s see how the author concludes:

“However, the simple meaning cannot be avoided. The problem is raised by the fact that the prophets were little interested in chronology, and the future was always viewed as imminent. We pointed out in the introduction that the Old Testament prophets blended the near and the distant perspective so as to form a single canvas. Biblical prophecy is not primarily three-dimensional but two; it has height and breadth but is little concerned with depth, i.e., the chronology of future events. There is in biblical prophecy a tension between the immediate and the distant future; the distant is viewed through the transparency of the immediate. It is true that the early church lived in expectancy of the return of the Lord, and it is the nature of biblical prophecy to make it possible for every generation to live in expectancy of the end. To relax and say ‘where is the promise of his coming?’ is to become a scoffer of divine truth. The ‘biblical’ attitude is ‘take heed, watch, for you do not know when the time will come’ (Mark 13:33).”     [from A COMMENTARY ON THE REVELATION OF JOHN, by George Eldon Ladd, 1972]

“³³Take heed, watch; for you do not know when the time will come…³⁵Watch therefore — for you do not know when the master of the house will come…³⁶lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. ³⁷And what I say to you I say to all: Watch.”      (Mark 13:33,35,36-37; RSV)

From my understanding, Ladd is exactly right about how time was seen by the Hebrews. The Early Church became much more Greek than Hebrew, so chronology became more important. I like the line: “the distant is viewed through the transparency of the immediate.” When I think about this, I can picture a future event being presaged by an event current to the viewer. Ladd’s allusion to “transparency” is very evocative. I can picture someone viewing, say, a big WWII battle, and then looking through it to the battle of Armageddon. What a powerful image.

Ladd’s last few lines about scoffing versus the “biblical attitude” are very good and very important. As a matter of fact, we’ll end with this quote. It’s not a perfect quote, but it has some really good points! We’ll pick up again in the 1970’s next time.