If you are not into eschatology, you might want to skip this article! If you are interested, what did Jesus mean when he said “I am coming quickly” in Revelation 22:7,12,20?

Jesus said “I am coming quickly” 3 times in Revelation 22 (22:7,12,20). Does that mean “like a speeding bullet” but not necessarily “soon”? Or does it mean “soon” as translated in the ESV and the YLT (Young’s Literal Translation)? Does it mean that, when He does come, it will happen swiftly, but not necessarily soon? The Greek word is tachu: Quickly, swiftly, soon. “The adverb “tachu” is used in the New Testament to convey a sense of immediacy or urgency. It often describes actions that are to be undertaken without delay or events that are expected to occur soon. The term emphasizes the promptness or rapidity of an action or event.” Thayer’s Greek Lexicon: ταχύ (neuter of the adjective ταχύς), adverb (from Pindar down), quickly, speedily (without delay): Matthew 5:25; Matthew 28:7; Mark 16:8 Rec.; Luke 15:22 L Tr brackets WH; John 11:29; ἔρχεσθαι, Revelation 2:5 Rec.bez elz, ; ; forthwith, i. e. while in the use of my name he is performing mighty works, Mark 9:39.” An example of its use in Matthew 22:⁷ And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” ⁸ And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to report to His disciples.” So the use here is swiftly but also without delay. It is used two other times in Revelation: 2:¹⁶ Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. (ESV) 3:¹⁰ `Because thou didst keep the word of my endurance, I also will keep thee from the hour of the trial that is about to (mello in the New Testament always means something about to happen) come upon all the world, to try those dwelling upon the earth. (YLT) ¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” (ESV). In 3:10,11 the coming “soon” is tied to things “about to happen”, so the context shows that “soon” is the best interpretation of tachu in 3:11.

μέλλω (melló) (melló: to be about to, to intend, to be destined) is used several times in the messages to the seven churches. 1:19; 2:10; 3:2,10, 16. It is obvious that the meaning is things about to happen to the 7 churches. “The Greek verb “μέλλω” (melló) always means “about to happen” in the New Testament. It is often mistranslated “certainly or surely or just is to happen” but that is not how it is used in the New Testament. It always means “about to happen”. Young’s Literal Translation does a good job of always translating mello correctly as “about to”.

The 2nd coming is part of the predictions of Revelation. Revelation 1:⁷ Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.” This is the same language as Matthew 24:³⁰ And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ” That coming in Matthew 24 had to happen within that generation. 24:³⁴ Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” (genea in the New Testament always means a 40 year period or the people living in a 40 year period, just as we use it in the “baby boomers’ generation”). So what is the context of Revelation 1:7? The context is things that will happen shortly or soon. Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon (tachos: Speed, swiftness, quickness: Strongs “From the same as tachus; a brief space (of time), i.e. (with en prefixed) in haste — + quickly, + shortly, + speedily.”) take place. Tachos is the same word in Revelation 22:⁶ And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.Revelation 1:³ Blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” The Greek for “near” is eggus: Near, close, at hand. “The Greek word “ἐγγύς” (eggus) is used to denote proximity in terms of space, time, or relationship. It conveys the idea of something being near or imminent. In the New Testament, it is often used to describe the nearness of the Kingdom of God, the coming of Christ, or the proximity of a person or event.” It is translated 29 out of 31 times used as “near”, so the context of Revelation is things that are “imminent”. Eggus is the word used in Revelation 22:¹⁰ And he *said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” Just two verses after that is 22:¹² “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.” There is that tachu word that means quickly, swiftly, soon, but the ESV translates it “soon” because it is predicting something that is “near” (22:10). The same with Revelation 22:²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” One other thing. In 22:10, John is told “do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” Why is he told not to seal up the prophecies? It, again, is b/c their fulfillment is “near“. How could that be thousands of years later? Daniel was told to seal up his predictions, and his predictions would happen about 600 years after he made them. So to not seal up the predictions of Revelation would have to mean they were going to happen at least in the next few hundred years, and not thousands of years. But “near” makes it mean soon after Revelation was written.

Hopefully, that is enough Greek word studies and Revelation context (probably overkill for most readers). But it should be apparent (at least I think it is) that the events predicted in the book of Revelation were “about to happen”, “soon”, “shortly”, “near”. Not just some of the events, but all of them. The book begins and ends with the same words: “the time is near”, these things are going to happen “soon”. That would include the 2nd coming which be both swiftly, soon, without delay: usually translated “quickly” but “soon would be the better translation as in the ESV. Those who believe that the 2nd coming “quickly” in Revelation 22:7,12,20 does not mean “soon” are those who do not believe that John is predicting that the 2nd coming was “near” and would happen “soon”. So they take “quickly” to mean just “swiftly” but not necessarily “soon”, but that is not the context of the 2nd coming in Revelation. So, is John predicting that the 2nd coming was soon, near? If so, could he be referring to Jesus’ coming in judgment on the Jews in 70 AD, just as Jesus predicted in Matthew 24:30-34, and not to some coming that would be thousands of years later? If he was predicting that Jesus’ 2nd coming would be soon, near and then it didn’t happen soon or near, then would that make him mistaken or a false prophet?

Something to think about!