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The words "quickly," "shortly,"
and "at hand," either mean what they say
or they lose all meaning and relevance whatsoever.
These events depicted in the prophecy were to occur
just after this great vision was written. It was truly
"at hand" - just at the door and waiting
to occur. "The Lord is not slack [literally: does not delay] concerning his promises, as some men count slackness...." (II Peter 3:4) God is punctual in keeping his promises. He delievers when he says he will. To rationalize these statements away by saying they could mean any length of time at all, they become truly meaningless and useless to anyone at all. God is not so capricious as to promise his faithful flock a reprieve from persecution and vengeance against their enemies and murderers, and promise it shortly, quickly, and say it is right at hand, only to secretly mean that the things he promised would not happen for thousands of years. The following verses cannot be ignored, rationalized away, or irresponsibly ignored. They set the context of the events about to be described in what Christ was Revealing to John and they seal the conclusion of the book with equal urgency to their imminent nature: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants what things must SHORTLY COME TO PASS." (Rev. 1:1) "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND." (Rev. 1:3) "Behold, I come quickly" (Rev. 3:11; 22:7; 22:12) "Surely I come quickly" (Rev. 22:20) "the time is near." (Rev. 22:10)
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