The Season is Here!
In Revelation, the period known as the last days began following the death and resurrection of Jesus. The last book of the New Testament is called the “Revelation of Jesus Christ.” It is a message for his “servants,” namely, the “Seven Churches of Asia,” and it concerns “what things must come to pass soon,” information that is vital to the churches since the “season is at hand.”
And
because of the importance of its contents, the book pronounces the one who “reads
it, and they who heed the words of the prophecy BLESSED.” With the death
and resurrection of Jesus, the last days commenced in earnest – (Revelation
1:1-3).
The book is not intended to veil
information, but to unveil it. And it concerns events that are about to
occur from the perspective of the “churches of Asia.” It makes
prolific use of the Old Testament, especially passages from the book of Daniel,
but it does so with verbal allusions. It never uses a citation formula or
otherwise quotes a passage from the Old Testament directly.
Instead, John folds phrases from key
Old Testament texts into his narrative, often modifying specific words to make
theological points. When he does so, he uses the Greek Septuagint translation
of the Hebrew Bible.
AT HAND
The opening paragraph of the book provides
two examples from Daniel of how Revelation uses the Old
Testament, and both passages are employed more than once in the book:
- (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.”
The book’s visions concern “what
things must occur 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 relevant passage
reads, “There is a God in heaven that reveals mysteries (apokaluptōn),…
what things must occur in THE latter
days (ha dei genesthai ep’ eschatōn tōn hémerōn).”
Noteworthy is how the book of Revelation
changes the original term “later days” to “soon.” Thus, from
John’s perspective and that of his original audience, what was expected previously
in a remote future IS NOW AT HAND.
The passage also declares that the “season
is near.” And here, the Greek term rendered “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
Daniel was commanded to “seal”
the book until the “season of the end,” the time of the “tribulation.” In contrast, John is informed
that the “season is at hand,” imminent if not already underway.
This understanding becomes clearer in
the closing passage of Revelation. Unlike Daniel, John is told NOT
to “seal up the words of the prophecy of the book” because the “season is at hand.” And this last
passage repeats the phrase found in the opening paragraph of the book - (Revelation
1:3, 22:10).
John is NOT breaking new theological ground. The early church believed the “last days” were inaugurated by the death and resurrection of Jesus, along with his reign on the messianic throne. And this CHANGE IN ERAS is evidenced by the resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all believers - (Acts 2:16-21, Ephesians 1:10, Hebrews 1:1-3).
The events portrayed in Revelation
were set in motion in the first century. What once was expected in a remote
future had begun. And even in that early period, the warnings and promises of
the book were, and remain, applicable to the churches of Jesus Christ.
This does not mean that all the visions
of Revelation were fulfilled completely by the end of the first century,
but it does signify that whatever future events are portrayed in the book began
approximately two thousand years ago.
The visions received by John concern
far more than the final few years of history prior to the return of Jesus
Christ. The “last days,” the “season of the end,” started with his
death and resurrection, and the season of fulfillment has been underway
ever since.
