The opening statement of the book defines the time of His coming, not the method or how fast He would come, but the amount of time. He said He was coming soon. Christ was telling them that the judgment day was near to them, close to them. And as history has shown it was only a matter of months from the writing of this prophesy before He returned the 2nd time to those that saw His 1st appearance / manifestation in that generation. He was coming soon, quickly to fulfill the prophesy of the 2nd destruction of Jerusalem as foretold by the prophets.
”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:” (Rev. 1:1, KJV)
ESV, RSV, & NTE: “… what must soon take place…”
CJB: “… what must happen very soon…”
ASV: “… which must shortly come to pass…”
CEV & ERV: “… what must happen soon…”
GNV: “… which must shortly be done…”
MSG: “… what is about to happen…”
AMP & NASB: “...which must soon take place…”
NET: “...must happen very soon…”
NLT: “...that must soon take place…”
YLT: “… behoveth to come to pass quickly...”
Quickly and soon, at hand, and shortly to come to pass all were speaking about a soon to happen event that those of that generation were going to see. The words were not used to indicate that whenever Jesus decided to return in judgment that His speed indicator would be a fast RPM. The time was measured in days and months.
The word used for “shortly come to pass” in Rev. 1:1 is Strong’s Gr. 5053, “tachos” and means speed. Used as quickness, or speed, but also for hastily, and immediately. (Source: Biblehub)
Context rules. The argument for the meaning of the word “soon”, or “shortly” to mean a method of how fast Christ will come in the future is an accommodation, and a rationalization to suit a particular belief.
The word translated as “come to thee quickly” in the YLT at Rev. 2:5 is better translated in the CJB, ESV, NASB, NET, RSV and others as “I will come to you”. The word in the Interlinear is Strong’s Gr. 2064, “erchomai” and means both to come, or go. (Source: Biblehub)
The word translated as “quickly” in Rev. 2:16 and 3:11 and 22:12 is Strong’s Gr. 5035, “tachu” which means quickly and speedily. It is derived from Strong’s Gr. 5036, “taxys” which means promptly. It is used to mean without delay. (Source: Biblehub)
The word translated as “which must shortly be done” in Rev. 22:6 (KJV) is Strong’s Gr. 5034, “tachus” and means the same as Strong’s Gr. 5035, quickness, speedily, hastily, immediately. It is the same meaning for hasty action, immediate action as is used in Acts 12:7; 22:18; Rom. 16:20; 1 Tim. 3:14. All of which meant a time of action or coming, not a method of coming.
Strong’s Concordance: “From the same as tachus; a brief space (of time), i.e. (with en prefixed) in haste -- + quickly, + shortly, + speedily.” (Source: Biblehub)
Rev. 22:7, “Behold, I come quickly…” Strong’s Gr 2400 “idou” meaning look, see, behold. It is an imperative demonstrative participle which adds emphasis to pay attention. (Source: Biblehub) The word “quickly” is again Strong’s Gr. 5035.
Rev. 22:10, “...for the time is at hand…” (KJV). The word in the Interlinear is Strong’s Gr. 1434, “eggu” and means near, in place or time. Of time, concerning things imminent or soon to come to pass. (Source: Biblehub)
Context always must rule. The reason Christ told John not to seal this prophesy was because the time of His coming was near to them, soon to happen. The words do not mean how He would come, but when He would come.
Today these seven churches and their cities are in ruins.
Sardis was destroyed by the Persians in the 7th century, approx. 616 AD, and today is the site of archaeological digs. Source: here
Laodicae was destroyed by a 2nd earthquake in the 5th century AD, and never rebuilt. The citizens moved to nearby cities such as Denzili. Today it is an archaeological site. Source: here
Philadelphia is now known as Alla-Shehr since it was captured by the Turks and Byzantines in the 14th century AD. The ancient city and the church are in ruins. Source: here
Smyrna fell into the hands of the Turks in 1424 AD, and was rebuilt about 2.5 mi. southeast of the ancient city. The modern city is now called Ismir and surrounds the ruins of the ancient city of Smyrna. A large part of the ancient city lies buried under modern houses and about 40 mosques. Source: here
Pergamon fell to the Persians approx. 611 AD, and was destroyed. The Romans took it back about 641 AD and only restored the Acropolis. Today the ancient ruins are a tourist attraction, the site of archaeological digs. The remains of the ancient city on the lower slopes of the mountain is now called Bergama under Turkish rule since the 14th century AD. Sources: here and here
Ephesus fell to the Turks in 1408 AD and the people were deported or murdered. It has been an archaeological site since about 1863 AD. Source: here
Thyatira is in ruins, and the ancient city is a fenced off area within the Turkish county town of Akhisar. It most probably fell to the Turks in the 14th century AD. Sources: here and here and here.
If the prophesy of Revelation has not yet been fulfilled, if it is still waiting for Christ to return at some future unknown date, then the manner of His return as being fast or quick will not matter to any of the seven churches that existed when the letter was written. How then would this letter apply to currently non-existent churches in non-existent cities today if the prophesy is still future to us? What future fast-coming judgment matters to those which are not there any more?
Further, the teaching that the book was written about AD 95 during Domitian’s reign has been known to be in error for many years. Revelation was written before the temple in Jerusalem fell, about AD 66 – AD 68 under the reign of Nero.
“It was written in Patmos about A.D. 68, whither John had been banished by Domitius Nero, as stated in the title of the Syria version of the book; and with this concurs the express statement of Irenaeus in A.D. 175, who says it happened in the reign of Domitianou – i.e., Domitius (Nero). Sulpicius, Orosius, etc., stupidly mistaking Domitianou for Domitianikos, supposed Irenaeus to refer to Domitian, A.D. 95, and most succeeding writers have fallen into the same blunder. The internal testimony is wholly in favor of the early date. The temple at Jerusalem was still standing (ch. 11.1-10); the exact duration of the siege is foretold, viz., 42 months, 3(-)1/2 years, or 1260 days; the two witnesses are to be slain in the city where our Lord was crucified; Nero was reigning at the time, for it is said of the seven kings of Rome; ‘five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come, and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.’ The five kings are Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius. The ‘one who is ‘ is Nero; the one who ‘must continue for a short space’ is Galba, who reigned only seven months. Everywhere the events are ‘to come quickly,’ lit. ‘with haste,’ or speed (ch. 1.1; 2.16; 3.11; 11.14; 22.7, 12, 20). The escape of the Christian Jews from Jerusalem to Pella is undoubtedly referred to in ch. 7.1-8, compared with Mat. 24.30.’” (Source: Young’s Analytical Concordance, 1885)
Nero’s birth name was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, and he chose the name Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus after he was adopted by Claudius in 50 A.D. Domitian was born Titus Flavius Domitianius in AD 51, and later became Caesar Domitianus Augustus. Domitianou and Domitianikos appear to be the Greek form of their names.
There are many commentators and authors of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries who agreed that Revelation was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and that Herodian temple.
J.A.T. Robinson (1976) from Redating the New Testament, p. 13:
“One of the oddest facts about the New Testament is that what on any showing would appear to be the single most datable and climactic event of the period — the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 — is never once mentioned as a past fact. . . . [T]he silence is nevertheless as significant as the silence for Sherlock Holmes of the dog that did not bark”.
William Hurte (1884) from Catechetical Commentary: Edinburgh Scotland:
“That John saw these visions in the reign of Nero, and that they were written by him during his banishment by that emperor, is confirmed by Theophylact, Andreas, Arethas, and others. We judge, therefore, that this book was written about A.D. 68, and this agrees with other facts of history.. There are also several statements in this book which can only be understood on the ground that the judgment upon Jerusalem was then future.”
Arthur Cushman McGiffert (1890) from Eusebius, Church History, Book III, ch.5. Eusebius notes, 148, footnote 1:
“Internal evidence has driven most modern scholars to the conclusion that the Apocalypse must have been written before the destruction of Jerusalem, the banishment therefore taking place under Nero instead of Domitian.”
James M. MacDonald (1870) from Life and Writings of John, pp 171-172:
“And when we open the book itself, and find inscribed on its very pages evidence that at the time it was written Jewish enemies were still arrogant and active, and the city in which our Lord was crucified, and the temple and the altar in it were still standing, we need no date from early antiquity, not even from the hand of the author himself, to inform us that he wrote before the great historical event and prophetic epoch, the destruction of Jerusalem.”
B.F. Westcott (1825- 1903) from The Gospel According to St. John pp. clxxiv-clxxv:
“The Apocalypse is after the close of St. Paul’s work. It shows in its mode of dealing with Old Testament figures a close connexion with the Epistle to the Hebrews (2 Peter, Jude). And on the other hand it is before the destruction of Jerusalem.”
Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. (1989) from Before Jerusalem Fell, p 336:
“My confident conviction is that a solid case for a Neronic date for Revelation can be set forth from the available evidences, both internal and external. In fact, I would lean toward a date after the outbreak of the Neronic persecution in late A.D.64 and before the declaration of the Jewish war in early A.D.67. A date in either A.D.65 or early A.D.66 would seem most suitable.”
Greg Bahnsen (1984) from Historical Setting for the Dating of Revelation:
“When we combine the names (of the pre-20th century advocates of the early dating of the Apocalypse of John) with the yet outstanding stature of Schaff, Terry, Lightfoot, Westcott, and Hort, we can feel the severity of Beckwith’s understatement when, in 1919, he described the Neronian dating for Revelation as “a view held by many down to recent times.”
Revelation must be understood from the contemporary historical view point of those who received that letter in the first century A.D. As the promises were made to them, as they were told that Christ was coming quickly and soon, the prophesies contained in Revelation cannot be moved in time to a future generation some 2,000 years later. Doing so makes Christ appear to be a liar, and that is blasphemy. It also deceives those who might otherwise believe the word of God. They frequently make the argument that Jesus said He was coming soon, but according to the current teaching He hasn’t yet come almost 2,000 years later, so why should they believe Him?
We also need to learn some of the Jewish idioms. There is background to the phrase "no one knows the day or the hour."
The first day of the month had to wait for the official declaration from the Sanhedrin. Because the first day of the month had to be validated by the two witnesses, it affected the time for attending the holy convocation for the Day of Trumpets / Yom Teruah on the 1st of Tishri. The Hebrews could not know exactly on which day it would be held as they were waiting for the appearance of the new moon.
A tradition grew and a saying in Israel became popular as “no one knows the day or the hour.”
"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Matt. 24:36, KJV)
In the chapter discussing the destruction of the temple, Christ deliberately used the Hebraic idiom for the Day of Trumpets. He told his disciples the day the temple would be completely destroyed – Yom Teruah!
And indeed that temple was completely torn down by the Romans by the time of the 1st of Tishri, AD 70. See my post The Signs of The Feasts - Part II: Christ Told His Disciples When He Would Return here
The words quickly and soon are speaking of the amount of TIME, not the manner or method of His 2nd coming to them.
