Friday, March 30, 2018

Day 30 of Revelation Study: Coming Soon


2,000 Years Later

When will all of this occur? Well, this is one of the first and last hurtles we must jump over in the book of Revelation (1:1; 22:20). How can it be soon if we are living almost two thousand years later? At face value it seems like a contradiction. Even some theologians use this term to suggest that the events of Revelation have already taken place. However, as was shown throughout the book, this prophecy is still very much awaiting a future fulfillment.

From Whose Perspective?

Then, what do we do with it? Well, think about the concept of “soon” as being relative to the perspective of the one using it. For example:

A friend tells you they are coming over to your house soon to pick you up. Thus, you get yourself ready and sit patiently on the futon while staring out the window awaiting their arrival [you can tell this has often happened to me]. However, what actually happens is totally unexpected — to you at least. Two hours go by and they still have not shown up. So, what do you do? While you have sent a couple text messages already, you give them a few more minutes. Then, since it is obvious, to you at least, that they are going to be awhile, you pick up that book you have been wanting to read or turn on that show you have been trying to find time for. Either that, or you just tend to waste time on your phone scrolling through Facebook watching funny videos of how cats are different than dogs. However, just then, when your attention is finally tuned into something else, you receive the message that they are here. They pulled into the driveway a couple minutes ago, but you were not watching. Therefore, they sent you a text to let you know they are outside.
My wife and I have had the same experience with others claiming they were going to call us soon but, at least from our perspective, was not very soon. The point that I am trying to make is that what you consider to be soon may actually not be very soon at all to another person. Missionaries from the states who seek to serve among a more Eastern-minded people can usually attest to this.

Whose perspective is seen in the first verse of Revelation then? The Father’s. This is the same God to whom “…one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”[1] It may not seem very soon to us, but to Him it was like two days ago when He made this prophetic statement. Yes, I understand that Peter’s statement there is a simile, but the fact remains that God has a somewhat different perspective than we have. Isaiah tells us that God’s “…thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways….”[2] Everything about Him is higher than us. So much so that we cannot even begin to comprehend the fullness of His being.

Whether we realize it or not, we even use this word differently depending upon who we are talking to and what we are comparing it with. An example is when a pregnant mother, who is eight months along, says that she is excited to give birth soon. Well, comparing a whole month of pregnancy to my two-hour waiting illustration I gave earlier does not seem soon at all. Whereas I felt that two hours were like an eternity, this pregnant mother views her due date, which is still a month away, as speedily approaching. Why? The answer is because she is comparing the last month with the former eight.

Conclusion

In the same way, God is seen here as comparing, from His perspective, the coming Day of the Lord with all of eternity. If we could see what God sees in His true and eternal perspective, then we would likely do the exact same thing. What we need to remember is that, even in our own daily discussions, this term varies in definition depending upon our own vantage point and to what we are referring.




[1] 2 Peter 3:8
[2] Isaiah 55:8

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