“Things must shortly take place.” (Rev. 1:1, NKJV, emphasis mine).  Some biblical critics say that this has been unfulfilled, unrealized error.  Godly men like R.C. Sproul and others would counteract the venom of the scoffers by saying that it has been fulfilled.  They are preterists in their interpretation.  Sproul writes in his book, The Last Days According to Jesus (Baker Books, 1998), “According to preterists ‘the last days’ refers to the time between the advent of John and the destruction of Jerusalem” (p. 85).

But I believe that I am in the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints in Idaho Falls. 🙂  So what do we do with “shortly” in Revelation 1:1?  This past Sunday morning in the main service, one brother mentioned that our human perspective is not the same as God’s perspective on time and referenced I Peter 3:8.  Another brother asserted that we should translate the Greek word, taxei (which is the dative singular of the noun taxos), in English as “suddenly”.

But go ahead and trace that biblical word in other scriptural contexts:  Acts 10:33; 12:7; 17:15; 22:18; Luke 18:8; Romans 16:20; I Timothy 3:14; and Revelation 22:6.  And may the Spirit illuminate your understanding.

God gave the revelation to His Son, who passed it to an angel, who passed it on to John, who shared it with the seven churches in ancient Asia, to where it has been passed from hand to hand for 2,000 years to you.  The time is near.

thinking of heart issues,

Todd