The Time has Arrived

The Book of Revelation begins with the phrase, “Revelation of Jesus Christ.” It is a message for his “servants,” the “Seven Assemblies of Asia,” and it concerns “what things must come to pass soon,” necessary information since the “season is at hand.” Therefore, the Book pronounces the man who “reads it, and they who heed the words of the prophecy, blessed” – (Revelation 1:1-3).

The references to the near “season” at the beginning and end of Revelation serve to bracket the entire Book. It is the “revelation,” singular. Revelation is not a loose collection of unrelated visions, but a well-organized literary work intended to convey important information to the Body of Christ.

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The Book was never meant to veil information or mystify its readers, but to reveal and explain what God was doing through His Son. Its contents concern events that were about to occur from the perspective of the first-century “Assemblies of Asia.”

Revelation makes prolific use of the Old Testament, especially the Book of Daniel. But it does so with verbal allusions, never by citing a verse directly. Instead, it folds phrases and terms from key texts into its narrative, often modifying specific words to make theological points. When it does so, it uses the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible.

Its opening paragraph provides two examples of how it uses the Hebrew Scriptures, both from Daniel, and both are employed more than once in Revelation:

• (Daniel 2:28 [Septuagint]) - “There is a God in heaven that reveals mysteries, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in later days.”

• (Daniel 12:4 [Septuagint]) - “Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end.”

Its visions concern “What things must come to pass SOON.” In the Greek text, the phrase reads ha dei genesthai en takei, and the clause en tachei denotes “with speed, quickly, soon.”

The source of the clause is the second chapter of Daniel (Septuagint) where the passage reads, “There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries (apokaluptōn)… What things must come to pass in latter days (ha dei genesthai ep’ eschatōn tōn hémerōn).” Here, Revelation CHANGES the original term “latter days” to “SOON.” Thus, what was expected previously in a remote future was at hand for the Asian congregations.

The passage also declares that the “SEASON IS NEAR.” The Greek term translated as “near” is engus, meaning “near, at hand, imminent, at the door.” It stresses proximity and imminence. The source of the phrase is Daniel 12:4 - “Shut up the words and seal the book until the season of the end.”

SEAL NOT THE BOOK

The Prophet Daniel was commanded to “seal” the Scroll until the “season of the end.” In contrast, John was informed by an angel that the “season was at hand,” imminent, if not already underway. This understanding becomes clear in the closing passage of Revelation, where John was told explicitly NOT to “Seal up the words of the prophecy of the Book” because the “season is at hand” - (Revelation 1:3, 22:10).

John was NOT breaking new theological ground. The early church believed the “Last Days” commenced with the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, and this change in eras was evidenced by his Resurrection and the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost - (Acts 2:16-21, Ephesians 1:10, Hebrews 1:1-3).

The events described in the Book began in the first century. What previously was expected in a remote future was underway for the “Seven Assemblies of Asia.” The warnings and promises of Revelation apply to the Body of Christ throughout the period from his Resurrection until his return at the end of the age.

This does not mean all the visions of Revelation were fulfilled by the end of the first century, but it does signify that whatever events are portrayed in the Book began approximately two thousand years ago.

The visions received by John concerned far more than the final few years of History. The “Last Days,” the “season of the end,” began in earnest with the Death and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, and the season of fulfillment has been underway ever since.

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RELATED POSTS:

• Revelation of Jesus Christ - (The Prologue of Revelation presents the key themes of the Book and declares that the season of fulfillment has arrived – Revelation 1:1-3)

• What Things Must Occur - (From the start, Revelation declares its purpose is to show God’s servants what things must SOON COME TO PASS – Revelation 1:1-3)

• The Final Note - (The arrival of Jesus will mark the end of the present order and the commencement of the age to come, the resurrection of the dead, and the New Creation)