5. TO SHOW THINGS WHICH MUST SHORTLY COME TO PASS

     Revelation 1.1: "To show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass," (KJV). "To show to his servants what must soon take place," (RSV). Let us look carefully at three of these words: "show," "things," and "must."

     "To show," not "to hide." The immediate purpose of the Book was to call the Christians out of Jerusalem before its destruction. The tone of the Book is urgent: "must shortly come to pass," (1.1); "the time is at hand," (1.3); "there shall be no more delay," (10:6); "behold I am coming soon," (22.20); "must shortly be done," (22.6). All of these references make it impossible to think that the Book of Revelation is about something going to happen in some distant time.

     The word translated "things" reflects the Hebrew word dabar, which in the Hebrew means "words, deeds and material objects," whereas in English it usually refers only to material objects. So, the "things" about to be revealed could also be translated "words which must shortly come to pass," which could indicate that it will show the words of the Lord through the prophets that are coming to pass.
     The word must here in Revelation 1.1 is very important for it indicates that it is morally necessary that these things come to pass soon. Ray Summers in his book Worthy is the Lamb says:

"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."

     Many take this moral necessity to mean the fall of the Roman Empire. However, that was not done quickly, immediately, nor soon after the writing of the Book of Revelation. It did not happen soon.The Empire fell during the fourth and fifth centuries AD, hundreds of years after the writing of the Book. The moral necessity, therefore was the fall of the nation of Israel, Jerusalem and the people as predicted by Daniel, 9:24-27; 12:7-13, and Jesus, Matthew 24.34, "this generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled."  By 68-70 AD, the generation that heard Jesus was fast passing away. This did happen soon, quickly, and hastily after the writing of the Book of Revelation.

     These four things, at least, were morally imperative in the context of the times:
(1) God must fulfill the blessings and cursing promised in the Covenant as recorded in Deuteronomy chapters 28-30.
(2) He must vindicate the words of the Old Testament prophets, specifically the "seventy weeks of years" and the "Time, times and dividing of times," as given by Daniel.
(3) He must fulfill the predictions made by Christ in order to vindicate Him as (a)Prophet, (b) Judge, and (c) Messiah.
(4) He must fulfill the vengeance promised in behalf of His Covenant People who had become martyrs: (a) Because of His covenant; (b) As their God and Kinsman-Redeemer; and (c) To cleanse the land of the defilement of innocent blood.

     We will look at these four moral necessities further in the next lesson. Do read and meditate these Scriptures. For further study and discussion of this lesson see Revelation in Context, pages 74-94.

     Revelation in Context is available at Amazon.com or XulonPress.com or locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net