What "things" were "at hand" to "come to pass" (Rev. 1:1-3)?

[not an echo]

On the basis of the way the book of The Revelation opens (Rev. 1:1-3), Christians, even in John's day, would have had good reason to be on alert for some of its prophecies to begin to be fulfilled.  We know that for most any "prophecy" (Rev. 1:3), there is the time when it will begin to be fulfilled.  What "things" were "at hand" to "come to pass," or to begin to be fulfilled?  I do know what I am seeing concerning this.  I'm just wondering what some other brothers and sisters in Christ are seeing concerning this.

This thread connects with A Totally Different Pre-Daniel's 70th Week Rapture Interpretation that I have.  Following is a link to that thread (https://www.worthychristianforums.com/topic/253935-a-totally-different-pre-daniels-70th-week-rapture-interpretation/).

Edited October 26, 2020 by not an echo
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[missmuffet]

1 hour ago, not an echo said:

On the basis of the way the book of The Revelation opens (Rev. 1:1-3), Christians, even in John's day, would have had good reason to be on alert for some of its prophecies to begin to be fulfilled.  We know that for most any "prophecy" (Rev. 1:3), there is the time when it will begin to be fulfilled.  What "things" were "at hand" to "come to pass," or to begin to be fulfilled?  I do know what I am seeing concerning this.  I'm just wondering what my other brothers and sisters in Christ are seeing concerning this.

The word "soon" which is in Revelation 1:1 indicates the rapid progression of events once they begin to happen. The idea is not that the event may occur soon, but that when it does, it will be sudden. 

The next great event on God's prophetic calendar, the imminent return of Jesus Christ to rapture His church. Our task is to be obedient and expectant.  

[not an echo]

7 hours ago, missmuffet said:

8 hours ago, not an echo said:

On the basis of the way the book of The Revelation opens (Rev. 1:1-3), Christians, even in John's day, would have had good reason to be on alert for some of its prophecies to begin to be fulfilled.  We know that for most any "prophecy" (Rev. 1:3), there is the time when it will begin to be fulfilled.  What "things" were "at hand" to "come to pass," or to begin to be fulfilled?  I do know what I am seeing concerning this.  I'm just wondering what my other brothers and sisters in Christ are seeing concerning this.

The word "soon" which is in Revelation 1:1 indicates the rapid progression of events once they begin to happen. The idea is not that the event may occur soon, but that when it does, it will be sudden. 

The next great event on God's prophetic calendar, the imminent return of Jesus Christ to rapture His church. Our task is to be obedient and expectant. 

Hello missmuffet (and all),

Hope everything is well with everyone in the face of the pandemic.  Contemplative time...

The introduction to The Revelation also reads, "for the time is at hand" (Rev. 3:3).  So, in your thinking, what "things" were "at hand" to rapidly progress once they began?

I certainly agree with the imminent return of Jesus Christ to rapture His Church!  According to my understanding of Scripture, this can happen before I push Submit Reply 

 

"And now, little children, abide in Him;  that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming." I John 2:28

[missmuffet]

2 hours ago, not an echo said:

Hello missmuffet (and all),

Hope everything is well with everyone in the face of the pandemic.  Contemplative time...

The introduction to The Revelation also reads, "for the time is at hand" (Rev. 3:3).  So, in your thinking, what "things" were "at hand" to rapidly progress once they began?

I certainly agree with the imminent return of Jesus Christ to rapture His Church!  According to my understanding of Scripture, this can happen before I push Submit Reply 

 

"And now, little children, abide in Him;  that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming." I John 2:28

Christ has a warning to be watchful for the enemy. In Revelation 3:3 Jesus  is addressing the Church of Sardis. That He would bring judgment upon them if they were not watchful. 

[not an echo]

1 hour ago, missmuffet said:

4 hours ago, not an echo said:

Hello missmuffet (and all),

Hope everything is well with everyone in the face of the pandemic.  Contemplative time...

The introduction to The Revelation also reads, "for the time is at hand" (Rev. 3:3).  So, in your thinking, what "things" were "at hand" to rapidly progress once they began?

I certainly agree with the imminent return of Jesus Christ to rapture His Church!  According to my understanding of Scripture, this can happen before I push Submit Reply 

 

"And now, little children, abide in Him;  that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming." I John 2:28

Christ has a warning to be watchful for the enemy. In Revelation 3:3 Jesus  is addressing the Church of Sardis. That He would bring judgment upon them if they were not watchful. 

Besides the three verse introduction to The Revelation (Its Foundation), John was told, "What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia" (Rev. 1:11).

After this, he is told, "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter" (Rev. 1:19).

We know that things spoken of in the past tense cannot be "at hand" to begin to "come to pass."  And, we know that things spoken of in the present tense cannot be "at hand" to begin to "come to pass."  It is only things that are spoken of in the future tense that such can be said of.  Where do we find this category of things?  In Revelation 4 we find a key.  Consider:

  1   After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in Heaven:  and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me;  which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

Let me ask the question of you once again, in light of the guidance of Scripture:  Borrowing some from your first response to this thread, what "things" were "at hand" to rapidly progress once they began?

[not an echo]

Still kinda wondering about what some other brothers and sisters in Christ are seeing about this (the thread title).

It's not hard to see what was being meant by "the things which thou hast seen" (Rev. 1:19).  When I try to envision John seeing Jesus in glory (Rev. 1:12-18), it is impossible for me to fathom.  He probably didn't have enough parchment on hand to write all that he would have liked to write concerning this!  I just thought about what he said in John 21:25!

As far as "the things which are" (Rev. 1:19), well, the seven churches in Asia certainly were.  And, what was going on with each was certainly present tense.  And, the message that John was given for each church was timely for each church.  Some have supposed that these churches represent church ages.  While I have remained unconvinced of that, I'm certainly convinced that there has not been a year since The Revelation was given that there has failed to be churches that were just like these.

All congregations should consider themselves in light of what is revealed in the letters to these churches (Rev. 2-3) and Jesus' instructions to each.  A congregation would do well to consider itself and then which of these churches in Asia it is most like.  Also, in each letter there is a message to the individual who overcomes, so whether one is a part of a local congregation that is what it should be or not, any individual can overcome and be victorious in Jesus Christ!  "He that hath an ear, let him hear..."

As far as what John was shown concerning "the things which shall be hereafter" (Rev. 1:19), I believe we all know where we must begin to look concerning this.  It is a key verse---Rev 4:1.  And the last word in the verse is a key word---"hereafter."  Is this fair, or far-fetched?

If it is fair, then it concerns us:  What "things" were "at hand" to "come to pass" (Rev. 1:1-3), or to begin  to be fulfilled???

Edited September 22, 2020 by not an echo

[NonProfitProphet]

On 4/11/2020 at 1:05 AM, not an echo said:

On the basis of the way the book of The Revelation opens (Rev. 1:1-3), Christians, even in John's day, would have had good reason to be on alert for some of its prophecies to begin to be fulfilled.  We know that for most any "prophecy" (Rev. 1:3), there is the time when it will begin to be fulfilled.  What "things" were "at hand" to "come to pass," or to begin to be fulfilled?  I do know what I am seeing concerning this.  I'm just wondering what some other brothers and sisters in Christ are seeing concerning this.

I see, in these first 3 verses, an introduction of sorts to the visions, not the events depicted in the visions.

Verse one mentions “things which must shortly come to pass.” This doesn’t seem to be the best translation of what is said. One may easily understand this as saying, “must quickly happen,” referring to the presentation of the visions of the revelation, not the actual future events. My point here is that the visions span a period of at least 1007 years, conservatively. God knew these events would not all happen “shortly,” from John’s time of writing, but rather, covered a huge period of time “quickly-” ...or abbreviated.

Verse 3 says something is “at hand.” What is at hand? The time! Time for what? The context of the verse clearly reveals that it’s time, not get ready for these events, but to understand the prophecy. The time to understand this prophetic revelation happened with the penning of the visions. 
 

The Holy Spirit would not have had John write something down as an imminent event when He Himself knew wouldn’t begin happening for 2000 years.
 

Addendum:
The alternative interpretation could be this: Many believe the visions contain events that began in John’s time- namely, the dragon’s pursuit of the woman’s offspring- That would be an appropriate warning for that time for followers of Christ and would fit an “imminent” unfolding of events.

Edited April 16, 2020 by NonProfitProphet

[not an echo]

On 4/16/2020 at 11:16 AM, NonProfitProphet said:

On 4/11/2020 at 12:05 AM, not an echo said:

On the basis of the way the book of The Revelation opens (Rev. 1:1-3), Christians, even in John's day, would have had good reason to be on alert for some of its prophecies to begin to be fulfilled.  We know that for most any "prophecy" (Rev. 1:3), there is the time when it will begin to be fulfilled.  What "things" were "at hand" to "come to pass," or to begin to be fulfilled?  I do know what I am seeing concerning this.  I'm just wondering what some other brothers and sisters in Christ are seeing concerning this.

I see, in these first 3 verses, an introduction of sorts to the visions, not the events depicted in the visions.

Hello NonProfitProphet,

Been trying to do some catching up.  I don't believe I will ever get there.  Annnyway, I'm not really for sure where this statement gets us 

[not an echo]

On 4/16/2020 at 11:16 AM, NonProfitProphet said:

On 4/11/2020 at 12:05 AM, not an echo said:

On the basis of the way the book of The Revelation opens (Rev. 1:1-3), Christians, even in John's day, would have had good reason to be on alert for some of its prophecies to begin to be fulfilled.  We know that for most any "prophecy" (Rev. 1:3), there is the time when it will begin to be fulfilled.  What "things" were "at hand" to "come to pass," or to begin to be fulfilled?  I do know what I am seeing concerning this.  I'm just wondering what some other brothers and sisters in Christ are seeing concerning this.

I see, in these first 3 verses, an introduction of sorts to the visions, not the events depicted in the visions.

Verse one mentions “things which must shortly come to pass.” This doesn’t seem to be the best translation of what is said. One may easily understand this as saying, “must quickly happen,” referring to the presentation of the visions of the revelation, not the actual future events. My point here is that the visions span a period of at least 1007 years, conservatively. God knew these events would not all happen “shortly,” from John’s time of writing, but rather, covered a huge period of time “quickly-” ...or abbreviated.

Verse 3 says something is “at hand.” What is at hand? The time! Time for what? The context of the verse clearly reveals that it’s time, not get ready for these events, but to understand the prophecy. The time to understand this prophetic revelation happened with the penning of the visions. 
 

The Holy Spirit would not have had John write something down as an imminent event when He Himself knew wouldn’t begin happening for 2000 years.

Concerning your statement, "One may easily understand this as saying, 'must quickly happen,' referring to the presentation of the visions of the revelation, not the actual future events",  are you meaning like---Let me give you a quick overview or presentation of what all is going to be happening?  Or, perhaps---Let me give you a quick run down concerning what is going to be taking place at some indeterminate time in the future?  If something like this is what you are meaning, I can't see your improvement on the simplicity of what is already written.  What you are saying, however, does seem to distort the meaning of this very simple passage in a bizarre kind of way, IMHO.

Concerning your statements, "Verse 3 says something is 'at hand.' What is at hand? The time! Time for what? The context of the verse clearly reveals that it’s time, not get ready for these events, but to understand the prophecy. The time to understand this prophetic revelation happened with the penning of the visions",  are you meaning:

1.  That it's time for them to "understand the prophecy",  meaning for them to get it, like to comprehend it?  Or,

2.  That it's time for them to receive it and understand it, even though it wasn't meant for them?

The thing of the time being "at hand" is reinforced in the last chapter of The Revelation as well.  Consider, "And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book:  for the time is at hand" (22:10).  Are you believing the same about this verse?

Concerning your statement, "The Holy Spirit would not have had John write something down as an imminent event when He Himself knew wouldn’t begin happening for 2000 years",  The Revelation is not about "an imminent event" alone, but about "things" that were "at hand" to begin "to come to pass."  We know that for most any prophecy, there is the time when it will begin to come to pass.

So, I ask again, as I did with my thread title, What "things" were "at hand" to "come to pass" (Rev. 1:1-3)?  This isn't really a hard question to answer at all, except possibly a little hard for some to swallow.

Edited February 2, 2023 by not an echo

[not an echo]

On 4/16/2020 at 11:16 AM, NonProfitProphet said:

On 4/11/2020 at 12:05 AM, not an echo said:

On the basis of the way the book of The Revelation opens (Rev. 1:1-3), Christians, even in John's day, would have had good reason to be on alert for some of its prophecies to begin to be fulfilled.  We know that for most any "prophecy" (Rev. 1:3), there is the time when it will begin to be fulfilled.  What "things" were "at hand" to "come to pass," or to begin to be fulfilled?  I do know what I am seeing concerning this.  I'm just wondering what some other brothers and sisters in Christ are seeing concerning this.

Addendum:
The alternative interpretation could be this: Many believe the visions contain events that began in John’s time- namely, the dragon’s pursuit of the woman’s offspring- That would be an appropriate warning for that time for followers of Christ and would fit an “imminent” unfolding of events.

One last thing for today NonProfitProphet,

Who are you seeing as "the woman's offspring"?  My mind goes immediately to Rev. 12:1-5, but I'm kinda thinking this would not quite square up with your statement.  Just curious...

Hey, and by the way, I like the sound of NonProfitProphet.   Way too many that are involved in God's Kingdom purposes are doing what they are doing for money, or filthy lucre (I Tim. 3:3).

Edited February 2, 2023 by not an echo