Question about the "soon " coming of Jesus

[mrsnacks]

The scripture is clear in saying that the coming of our Lord is near or soon. My question is a simple one : What does "soon " or " near " mean ???

I've heard Lindsey ,Impe , Jeffries ,and other self -proclaimed prophecy experts all use the phrases

" The temple will soon be rebuilt. "
" The great tribulation should be happening shortly or soon ."
" The end as we know it is near. "

So have they redefined the words ?? I know
some have said to me well when God says
"soon"
He doesn't define it as we do. it means something else.
Well if that's true than than how can we be so sure that we have misinterpreted other words as well ??? Such as when Jesus says he will come" quickly." What does quickly mean ??

Shouldn't someone come out with a christian dictionary ???
I mean the locusts in Revelation could be cobra helicopters or that the mark is a computer chip and stars can mean comets or meteors and etc.
So these are questions directed to the one that holds the futurist position. If you state that words mean something completely different and we have the wrong definitions -- then what makes us so sure that the words we use on a daily basis are correct ??

for example if i want to know the meaning of a word i go to the dictionary. If the dictionary is in error --how would we know it ??

[Pereynol of Sheer Dread]

All answers will fall under the contexts of doubt or of faith. The prior question is, In which context shall we ask about the significance of "soon?"

[FirstSunday33ad]

Well its been a while but I'll try to remember some of my earlier fundy teaching.

“Quickly” Jesus meant “When I come back it will be very quick, a twinkling of the eye, one moment not there, next moment there”.

“Locusts” are real literal locusts.

“Mark” is a real literal brand or mark (it may contain a computer chip, it may not).

“Stars” real easy – nuclear missiles on incoming trajectories. Since real stars couldn’t fall to earth this must be metaphorical.

As to your final question, “then what makes us so sure that the words we use on a daily basis are correct ??” we don’t, but as we move closer to the end-times the meanings of the Revelation imagery will become clearer and our understanding better.

Hope this helps.

[Hitch]

Gee I guess just because Rev one one told the original audience they should expect to see fulfillment we have no reason to assume 'soon' shouold be relevent to them...

LMBO

H

[John Reece]

Today @ 12:55 AM post located here
Hitch:

Gee I guess just because Rev one one told the original audience they should expect to see fulfillment we have no reason to assume 'soon' shouold be relevent to them...

LMBO

H

[studyhound]

Soon-you know like when your wife asks you to take out the garbage and you say soon. she thinks now or in the next few minutes, you mean maybe this week, or when it smells so bad even you think it stinks.

[Athanasius]

If Jesus meant that He was coming "soon" in time, then how soon must soon be to be soon enough?

The "coming quickly" statements in Rev. are all in the futuristic present, which indicates that Jesus was not referring to how quickly He was currently in the process of coming. Rather, He spoke in the same sense that we would say, "The president is coming to Atlanta." With the futuristic present, there is an interval of time before the action occurs.

Most of the other uses of tachu (quickly) in the NT denote swift action, and all of the uses of it in Rev involve an indeterminate interval before the action occurs. Since that is the case, "swiftly" rather than "soon" seems to me to be the more likely meaning of tachu. I could be wrong, but that's what the NT usage of this word leads me to believe.

[Dee Dee Warren]

Rusty!!! WB.

[Hitch]

Today @ 09:38 PM post located here
Athanasius:

If Jesus meant that He was coming "soon" in time, then how soon must soon be to be soon enough?

The "coming quickly" statements in Rev. are all in the futuristic present, which indicates that Jesus was not referring to how quickly He was currently in the process of coming. Rather, He spoke in the same sense that we would say, "The president is coming to Atlanta." With the futuristic present, there is an interval of time before the action occurs.

Most of the other uses of tachu (quickly) in the NT denote swift action, and all of the uses of it in Rev involve an indeterminate interval before the action occurs. Since that is the case, "swiftly" rather than "soon" seems to me to be the more likely meaning of tachu. I could be wrong, but that's what the NT usage of this word leads me to believe.

Alas Jesus is not the speaker in Rev 1;1

[Athanasius]

Rusty!!! WB.

Thanks Dee Dee. Good to BB.

Hitch:

Alas Jesus is not the speaker in Rev 1:1

True, but Rev 1:1 is not a "coming quickly" statement. The adverb tachu is not used here, but rather en tachei, meaning "in haste." If we take this to mean that all of the things in Rev are to take place shortly, then what about the millennium? Whatever the 1000 years signifies, it indicates a long period of time. Therefore, we must conclude that verse 1 indicates that some, but not all of the events contained in the Revelation were to take place in haste.

[Hitch]

Today @ 04:36 AM post located here
Athanasius:


Thanks Dee Dee. Good to BB.

Hitch:


True, but Rev 1:1 is not a "coming quickly" statement. The adverb tachu is not used here, but rather en tachei, meaning "in haste." If we take this to mean that all of the things in Rev are to take place shortly, then what about the millennium? Whatever the 1000 years signifies, it indicates a long period of time. Therefore, we must conclude that verse 1 indicates that some, but not all of the events contained in the Revelation were to take place in haste.

Of course, some of what is described is historic. Buts its obvious enough the reference is to the trumpets, chalices etc. And that still leaves v3...

Take care

Hitch

[efta777]

Rather, He spoke in the same sense that we would say, "The president is coming to Atlanta." With the futuristic present, there is an interval of time before the action occurs.

Except he didn't say "I am coming," he said "I am coming soon," and John said that he is coming "quickly" and then other synonyms are used until the language is practically exhausted. The question is still out there unanswered: To all futurists, what if Jesus HAD come back in the 1st century, before the literal generation passed, what do you think he would have said to make them believe him?

I've never even heard an attempt at an answer, let alone one that is satisfactory.

[Robin Goodfellow]

Yesterday @ 01:38 PM post located here
Athanasius:

Most of the other uses of tachu (quickly) in the NT denote swift action, and all of the uses of it in Rev involve an indeterminate interval before the action occurs. Since that is the case, "swiftly" rather than "soon" seems to me to be the more likely meaning of tachu. I could be wrong, but that's what the NT usage of this word leads me to believe.

I have to say that it doesn’t look like that to me. I’ve never seen a NT usage of tachu where “without delay” didn’t seem to be the meaning. Some seem incompatible with the idea of swift action after a delay.

I’ll quote a few here, and folks can make up their own minds as to which meaning is more likely.

Matthew 5:25: "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.

Revelation 2:16: Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Revelation 3:10: Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

Revelation 11:14: The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.

Revelation 22:
7 "Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book."

[...]

10 Then he told me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near.
11 Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy."
12 "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.

[...]

20 He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon."
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Robin

[markporter]

as far as my very limited understanding goes, I thought that this 'soon' stuff was something that was common in prophetic literature, and we see it in the OT referring to events which would not occur 'soon' as we understand it. Something to do with it referring not to the immediacy, but the certainty of the event.

Of course, I could be wrong, I can't remember where I read this, or if its a product of my imagination, but I think it may have been in my commentary somewhere.

[John Reece]

Robin Goodfellow:
I’ve never seen a NT usage of tachu where “without delay” didn’t seem to be the meaning.

I think C. C. Torrey said something like that re the sense of the corresponding Aramaic word.

I'm thinking about doing a word study of the Greek scriptures to see for myself . . . .