We’re coming to the end of the 19th century with the next three quotes, and then rushing on into the 20th century:
“The minds of most men are in bondage to the commonplace facts of their experience. The prophecies of a restored Israel seem to many as incredible as predictions of the present triumphs of electricity and steam would have appeared to our ancestors a century ago. While affecting independence in judging thus, the mind is only giving proof of its own impotence or ignorance. Moreover, the position which the Jews have held for eighteen centuries is a phenomenon which itself disposes of every seeming presumption agains the fulfillment if these prophecies…”
I find this quote interesting because it was written in 1894…well before Israel returned to the land. People used to argue about this a lot. As Samuel Clemons (aka Mark Twain) wrote in 1867 on a short visit to the Holy Land:
“The further we went the hotter the sun got, and the more rocky and bare, repulsive and dreary the landscape became…There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olives and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.” [from INNOCENTS ABROAD, by Mark Twain, 1881]
And then, there is the paragraph from the free museum pamphlet for a recent Mark Twain exhibit in New York:
“For American Protestants, the Holy Land conjured up awe, reverence and mystery. Their visions were shaped by romantic travel literature that described Palestine as majestic and grand. In reality, this area, known as Palestine, was a province of Syria and an impoverished backwater of the declining Ottoman Empire.” [from The Jerusalem Post, jpost.com/Israel-news/mark-twain-in-the-holy-land-610190 ]
For a long time most people could not see how Israel could come back. Only a minority of Bible scholars believed that God would make this happen as the Bible said it would. This author apparently was one of the minority and I appreciate his faith.
More of the quote:
“Narrowness of interpretation is the bane of apocalyptic study. ‘The words of this prophecy,’ ‘Things which must shortly come to pass’ such is the Divine description of the Book of the Revelation and of its contents. No one, therefore, is justified in denying to any portion of it a future application. The Book in its entirety is prophetic. Even the seven epistles, though they were undoubtedly addressed to Churches then existing, and though their intermediate reference to the history of Christendom is also clear, may well have a special voice in days to come for those who are to enter the fierce trials that shall precede the end. [Footnote: The Bible is not intended for the present dispensation only, but for the people of God in every age; and it is incredible that they who are to be so severely tried shall fail to find in it words specially fitted and intended to counsel and comfort them in view of what they are to endure…It is not the Father, but Jehovah; not the Lord Jesus Christ, but ‘Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the Prince of the kings of the earth;’ and the Book speaks from the time when the Holy Spirit, as a person, will again be in heaven, to join in the salutation, which He never does in the Epistles of the New Testament….]” [from THE COMING PRINCE, by Sir Robert Anderson, 1894]
It’s great to start the day with such a nice quote. He appears to take the meaning of ‘’Things which must shortly come to pass” as just: “It happens in the future…” I like that and suspect that this meaning is pretty accurate. And yes, the seven epistles also are prophetic (more on that when we get there).
I also like: “the Book speaks from the time when the Holy Spirit, as a person, will again be in heaven, to join in the salutation, which He never does in the Epistles of the New Testament”. It makes you stop and think about the Holy Spirit returning to heaven. Is He the Restrainer? Personally, I agree with the thought that the Restrainer is the Holy Spirit as He has indwellt the Church. According to this idea, when the Church leaves, then He will no longer indwell believers as at Pentecost, but will be available to the righteous as He was prior to Christ.
“‘Things which must shortly come to pass.’ This would now no doubt impress us, as we look back from the end of eighteen centuries fulfilled since it was written, with the belief that already some, if not much, of what is here spoken of must already have come to pass. And this we shall find confirmed fully in the sequel. But two things we should guard here carefully, —the possibility on the one hand, and the profit on the other, of tracing with certainty, in the light of the prophetic Word, things which have not come to pass, and even will not while we are upon the earth. These two things, it is plain, hang very much together; for if there be not profit in it, it would seem clear that God would not enable us to do it; while of course there can, on the other hand, be no profit to us in a thing we cannot do.
“But this impossibility of knowing can only be meant seriously as applying to details, and to a certain extent every Christian would allow this. Events are not so mapped out and put together for us as to make us—able to see otherwise than ‘through a glass darkly’ —the apostle's own emphatic word. We can see only as one behind a window, and in twilight, and are apt to fall into mistakes. Many have been thus made, which have thrown the study of future prophecy, for some, into utter disrepute. Yet who would say, or think the apostle meant to say, that ‘through a glass darkly’ nothing, or nothing to the purpose, could be seen? The uncertainty applies mainly to the smaller features; there is much certain, much that grows always clearer as we look upon it. Who that would use the mistakes that have been made for discouragement from prophetic study has ever been a student of it ? I dare to say, none. Granted, the mistakes: let us use them for humility, use them as arguments to more prayer, more careful searching, then, after all, they will be helpful in the end. We can see already why and how many of them came about; we can see how better to avoid them also in the future, and that the Word was not to blame, is not the less trustworthy, because we made them. We see that we trusted it too little, trusted ourselves too much.”
I don’t agree that most of the prophecies “must already have come to pass.” Otherwise, the rest of the quote is really good so far. I especially like his point that those who are not serious students of prophetic Scripture see the mistakes made, or make the mistakes themselves, and use them as a reason to discontinue studying. A true student of the Bible is not discouraged by these mistakes. He or she understands that we as humans are very imperfect and we make mistakes; that only God is perfect. The student also uses the mistakes, as the author says, to improve their humility, to inform their prayer, and then to dig in deeper for the better answers that increase our trust in the Word.
“Then as to the profit. All our blessings lie in the field of unfulfilled prophecy. What are all our promises but this? And then as to the earth, and what is to take place upon it, it is true that such interpretations as are common in many popular books leave one with the profound sense that they minister rather to spiritual dissipation than to profit. What can be supposed more unprofitable; than the question if the antichrist is to come of the Napoleon family? —a great and grave point with many for years past; or whether the stars falling from heaven might be fulfilled in a shower of meteors? Such things seem to be utterly barren, and unworthy of a book so solemnly announced, so commended to us as is this.”
It may be unprofitable to speculate on who the Antichrist will be or how a prophecy may be fulfilled, but I think it can be useful for a person to discuss these types of things to decrease anxiety or to fix the ideas in the mind more clearly. It surely should not be the main focus of a person’s study of course. The last sentence: “Such things seem to be utterly barren, and unworthy of a book so solemnly announced, so commended to us as is this” is troubling. This book is a prophecy of things that will happen. When they do happen, we will see how they happened in their mundane aspects, which will not be “barren” or “unworthy” no matter how mundane they are. It’s wonderful to appreciate the writing of the book and it’s use of language, but it’s not great to elevate the writing itself to the point that it doesn’t belong in the world.
“Surely,‘he that prophesieth speaketh to the church to edification and exhortation and comfort’ might not be an inapt word to condemn such profitless speculation; and there is abundance of it in popular commentaries. But here the question is really not of fulfilled or unfulfilled prophecy. Such supposed fulfillment may be brought forward to vindicate Scripture—which has no need of it—or a certain system of interpretation, which it more justly would set aside. But unfulfilled prophecy, as we find it in the Word of God, even when it speaks of earthly events, and such as cannot be while we are upon the earth, always gives them morally; as what can be more practical for us than to trace out in the future, as men are constantly seeking to do, the results of the present? In this way we may find the scriptural fall of stars to have the deepest significance.” [from THE REVELATION OF CHRIST TO HIS SERVANTS, by Frederick Grant, 1894]
Grant is a bit vague in his writing, but I think he’s making some good points. He really doesn’t like “speculation,” though I personally think it’s ok as long as it’s presented as speculation and not presented dogmatically.
I agree with his point that Scripture does not need vindication. When the prophets were prophesying, they needed to be vindicated by some of their prophecies coming to pass; but at this late date, all the prophecies in the Bible come from highly proven Prophets and Apostles…which is why it’s important that John the Apostle wrote Revelation.
The author speaks of “earthly events, and such as cannot be while we are upon the earth,” which I find very interesting, yet not clear. Is “we” his generation? Or is “we” the Church? Is he saying that the times described in Revelation and other prophecies don’t match the time that his generation was living in (which is certainly true)? Or is he saying that the events of the Revelation are due to happen after the taking up of the Church, but not before? Or something else?
And lastly, I wish more people had traced out their ‘present results’ into the future, aka our present. But, then, we have to realize that the events of our present are part of God’s plan.
“It is very important in this connection to note the statement of the writer in the first verse of the book, that his commission was 'to show unto’ the servants of God ‘things which must shortly come to pass.’ It is only by a very forced construction of the words that they can be made to signify a prophecy whose fulfillment is to be delayed for long centuries indefinite in their number. The most natural construction surely is that the revelation intrusted [sic] to him is one of which the whole, and not a part only, is to find its application in the times in which he lived, or soon thereafter, and to continue applicable until the glorious result is attained of which the closing part speaks. And if we shall dismiss from our minds all prepossessions springing out from, that view of the book which makes it a syllabus, or table of contents, of Christian history the force of this remark will more clearly appear.” [from REVELATION OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE, by A. H. Ames, 1897]
A preterist set up if I ever saw one. He’s right that it’s a “very forced construction of the words” in English; he’s wrong about it being a “very forced construction” in Greek.
I do agree that we need to forget about Revelation being about Christian history.
“‘Shortly’ arrests our attention. The imminence of the fulfillment of the events herein foretold, as also the near Return of the Lord, the culminating point in the prophecies, are stated in precise terms both in the beginning and end of the book (Rev. 1:1; 22:7,12,20), thus forming an insuperable difficulty to its interpretation on the historical basis.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John (Revelation 1:1; KJV)
7Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book…12And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be…20He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:7,12,20; KJV)
I think that the author is saying here that the events described in Revelation are very near in time to Jesus’ Second Coming, yet we have not seen the Second Coming, so these things most likely haven’t occurred yet.
“A general application of the prophecies to certain past and present events is frankly admitted, for history is ever repeating itself. The facts may be new, but the underlying principles, as pride, love of money, love of power, are the same in all ages, and have ever produced a harvest which has gone to make up history. Thus while fully admitting a partial fulfillment of the strictly prophetic part of the book, that is, Revelation 6-22:5, yet we are forced to the conclusion that a yet future and brief crisis must be looked for under the Seals, the Trumpets, and the Vials, after the Translation of Old and New Testament saints to Heaven (1 Thess.. 4:17).
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:17; KJV)
“We look for a successive series of judgments during the time that the saints of past and present ages are at home in the heavens. Before these begin (Rev. 4), during their continuance (Rev. 12), and after they have run their course (Rev. 19), God’s heavenly people are seen in their home above.” [from EXPOSITION OF THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, by Walter Biggar Scott, 1900]
I like Scott’s point that while history can be somewhat overlaid on the events of Revelation due to its cyclic nature, it provides only an imprecise, generic picture; and that the real fulfillment of the events of Revelation will happen in the seven years (“brief crisis”) following the Rapture.
“what things must needs come to pass] by the necessity of Divine ruling and over-ruling. That is to say, they are not left to chance, for they must needs come to pass. We have the exact words here from the Septuagint of Dan. ii. 29. In other words, God will fulfill that which He reveals.
As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. (Daniel 2:29; KJV)
“with speed] (...) en tache occurs eight times, from which our readers may themselves see that it is used in two senses: quickly, as to speed; and soon, as to time. Both may be true here: and, if the latter (according to Luke. xviii. 8) be relied on, then we must note that delay is implied, ‘though He bear long with them’ (verse 7).
7And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:7,8; KJV)
“Such delay is implied in Rev. x. 6: ‘for there shall be no more delay.’ In God's speedy time (with whom a thousand years are as one day, 2 Pet. iii. 8), He will bring them to pass; and when that time comes He will do it with speed, and ‘make a short work of it’ (Rom. ix. 28).” [from COMMENTARY ON REVELATION, by E. W. Bullinger, 1909]
and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created the heaven and the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea and the things that are therein, that there shall be delay no longer. (Revelation 10:6; ASV)
For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. (Romans 9:28; KJV)
Bullinger is one of my favorite of the Revelation commentators. The implication here, of course, is that God does everything in His own, perfect time.
“And this revelation is 'to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass,’ so that they may know the future and serve Him with the Glory-light thrown upon their path. The vision of the future is much needed as an incentive for true and devoted service.” [from THE REVELATION: AN ANALYSIS AND EXPOSITION OF THE LAST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, by Arno C. Gaebelein, 1915]
I like this. The prophecies are the light which guide us and encourage us on our way.
“en taxei, shortly: as everywhere in apocalyptic literature and in the N.T., the messianic kingdom with its immediate precursors is thought to be near. The revelation here given to the Apocalyptist does not relate to medieval or modern history. It is however true that the characterization of the book given in these words does not cover all its contents; the Seer views the predictions of 207-225 as belonging to a period more than a thousand years in the future.” [from THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN, Isbon T. Beckwith, 1919]
Beckwith doesn’t try to explain why the word “shortly” is used here, just that everyone thinks that the end is near. I see this as a bit of a denial of the idea of immanence, which I think would be wrong to do.
I agree that John is not talking about medieval or modern history. The verse 20:7 relates to the end of the Millennium, so clearly Beckwith is correct in saying that it’s “more than a thousand years in the future,” though his choppy prose are difficult to decipher.
“The things which must shortly come to pass. 'The things,’—this is definite. It describes events. Do not then look for vague ‘symbols.’ ‘Must come to pass’— here is certainty, necessity. Man dreams of ‘development,’ ‘progress,’ ‘achievement.’ God says, “The rulers of this world are coming to nought” (1 Corinthians 2:6).
We speak wisdom, however, among them that are fullgrown: yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nought (1 Corinthians 2:6; ASV)
“Believe God; doubt man. Satan is the prince of this world and the God of this age. He deceiveth the whole world. Let us not be deceived. The things we are about to study in The Revelation ‘must come to pass,’ and, ‘shortly.’
This is really good stuff. Don’t look for ‘vague symbols,’ don’t look to the rulers of this world for an answer (especially great advice for today!), don’t let Satan deceive you…Believe in God! Doesn’t get any better than this.
“‘Shortly’ surely indicates imminence. We have the same Greek expression in Romans 16:20, ‘The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly’ (Greek: en tachei). He is not yet bruised, but we are expecting it! The same phrase is used in Revelation 22:6, ‘The things which must shortly come to pass.’ This shuts out the ‘historical’ interpretation of the book,—that is, making the seals, trumpets, vials, etc., apply to the events of the past church centuries. In fact, the strictly prophetic part of The Revelation does not begin till the churches are out of the scene,—that is, after chapter 4. I firmly believe that unless we reject utterly the idea that this part of The Revelation has been ‘gradually fulfilling itself’ in the present age, we shall miss the meaning of the book. Remember Paul’s explanation of the doctrine of the Jewish remnant in Romans 9:27, 28, ‘The Lord will execute his word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short.’ The present dispensation must not in any sense be confused with God’s future dealing with the Jewish remnant after the true Church has been taken to heaven. Strictly speaking, the true Church has nothing to do with the present age, any more than it has to do with this world. Judgment for her is past; her citizenship is in heaven; she is one with Christ; she is indwelt by the Holy Ghost, and may be caught up at any moment. Although she is informed in Revelation about ‘the things which must shortly come to pass’ on earth, she will not be in them; even as Enoch was taught of the Lord’s coming and judgment (Jude 14), but yet was not to pass through it; and as Abraham was taught concerning the destruction of Sodom, while he himself dwelt on the mountain away from the place of judgment.
“It is absolutely necessary for us to distinguish, as members of the Body of Christ, between what is said about us (in the epistles), and what is told to us, as friends, by our Lord, in The Revelation.
“‘Shortly,’ moreover, not only means imminency, but also rapidity of execution when action once begins. ‘Things which in their entirety must soon come to pass’—in God’s speedy time, although He seems to delay; for the same Greek expression is translated ‘speedily’ in Luke 18:7, 8.” [from REVELATION: A COMPLETE COMMENTARY, by William R. Newell, 1935]
The only thing I can disagree with in this quote is Newell saying that the prophecy doesn’t start until verse 4; I think there is plenty of prophecy in the verses about the churches. Otherwise, this is a very good and easily understood quote.
“John expected the fulfillment of many of the prophecies of his book at an early date, that is to say, in his own time. This is indicated by his statement that the revelation he received had to do with ‘the things which must shortly come to pass.’ This emphasizes the historical nature of much that is in Revelation and should give pause to the efforts of those interpreters who see in the prophetic elements of the book reference only to things that are yet to come to pass.
“Further emphasis upon the fact that John expected the early fulfillment of many of his prophecies is seen in he statement, ‘The time is at hand.’ This statement should not be considered apart from its immediate context; it is not a reference to the second advent of Christ. The author means that the time is near, or, as the Greek says, ‘the season is near,’ for the fulfillment of the prophecies of the book.” [from THE MEANING AND MESSAGE OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION, by Edward A. McDowell, 1951]
Back to the preterist point of view. I really disagree that Revelation is historical.
“The verb translated ‘it is necessary’ or ‘must’ is an impersonal verb which indicates that a moral necessity is involved; the nature of the case is such that the things revealed here must come to pass shortly. The aorist tense of the infinitive ‘to come to pass’ adds to the truth that immediate action is necessary. The prepositional phrase translated ‘shortly’ means just what it says — shortly, quickly, hastily. Two or three thousand years will be too late. The things revealed here must happen shortly, or the cause will be lost — Domitian will stamp out Christianity completely. Any attempt to make this phrase mean no more than ‘certainty’ fails to meet the situation which is confronted by the churches. They were in need of assurance of help in the immediate present — not in some millennium of the distant and uncertain future.” [from WORTHY IS THE LAMB, by Ray Summers, 1951]
And more preterism. I prefer the interpretation that “things revealed here must come to pass,” rather than “things revealed here must come to pass shortly.”
From what I’ve read, it wasn’t the Romans trying to “stamp out Christianity completely,” it was more something the Jewish leaders were doing. Acts actually points this out. Domitian, Nero, Claudius…none of them were pursuing a “stamp out Christianity” policy. There were plenty of non-Christians on Patmos, on crosses, and being fed to the lions. The Romans went after those who even marginally appeared to challenge them, no matter what their belief was. If you stood before the Romans and refused to worship the emperor, you would be killed (by Nero in Rome) or exiled (later, by Domitian in the provinces); if you avoided standing before the Romans, you probably survived. Read Acts again…Paul did fine until he started standing in front of the Romans, which he did on purpose to be able to bring Christ to them. Eventually the Romans found Paul challenging enough to kill him.
The Christians of the time of John’s old age were actually doing pretty well. Only one of the letters to the seven churches mentions (a future) persecution. Rome didn’t fall until a few centuries later; if the early Christians chose to see Revelation as predicting that, and it gave them comfort, then great. But we have the long view of history, even in 1951, and should be realizing that the fall of Rome was just the start of the Church’s troubles (peace and plenty turned out to be the bigger challenge…let no one deceive you).
Let’s end with a more poetic view:
“Finally the third main feature of this superscription is the characteristic feeling of the primitive church for time. ‘The time is near’ (verse 3) — so near, that one is tempted to translate it, ‘It is here!’. Moreover we already feel a breath of that air which tells us that the divine mystery is near which is about to be unveiled. This primitive sense of time in which time has become so transparent that as we look back we not only see the veins of history clearly in the past but we also see the lines along which they will come to an end, is one of the most striking phenomena in the history of the human mind. In the introduction we have already noted something of its fundamental significance. The short sentence ‘the time is near’ is like a wave of the hand, by which the seer summons the readers and hearers of this book to come with him to the outermost ramparts of time, to the point where time will be fulfilled, where at last all the confusion of the course of history will fade away into the evening of world history, and already the light of the new morning begins to shine, which is no longer that of this world at all.
“Just as it was said of the first historical coming of the Lord, that the kingdom of God is near, is ‘coming upon you,’ (or, is about to dawn), so here we can say of the close of time willed by God: it is near; the dawn is breaking. Here there is nothing but time that is fulfilled; the day of God of creation at the beginning, the earthly day of Jesus in the center of history, and finally the great, new day of God and of Jesus Christ after time has been gathered up in fulfillment. ‘The time of twilight’ is also the hour at which the Apocalypse begins. But the seer knows that it is the ‘twilight’ which precedes the dawn of the great day of Jesus Christ.” THE LAST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, by Hanns Lilje, 1957]
This quote feels very medievally inspired: like Merlin saying “the time is near.” This is the truly long view of history! This is a line to keep us going through these dark days: “But the seer knows that it is the ‘twilight’ which precedes the dawn of the great day of Jesus Christ.”
Next time we’ll see how far we can get in the 20th century.