I have been fascinated with time since I was a young boy. My maternal grandparents had a large clock that had come from the family’s furniture store many, many years ago and I grew up listening to the chimes – Westminster, Canterbury and Whittington, changed monthly – throughout my childhood whenever we were at grandma’s house. We took naps as very young boys and listened to the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner. I think that’s where my love of clocks came from. Great memories. That clock was in their home when my Mom was a young girl so it had stood watch over a generation or two by the time we grew up.
Back in 1976, Janet and I acquired a grandfather clock from a family friend of my grandparents. It was built in 1876 and has a wooden pendulum! It still graces our entry hall to this day – and other than a drop of oil here or there, it has never had a repair that I know of – ever… So you can begin to see my fascination with timepieces.
That indulgence has carried on to watches as well. My first wristwatch of consequence, a Movado, was given to me by my grandparents when I was confirmed in the church in 1966. I was thirteen years old. Since then, I have acquired numerous timepieces – some for sports and outdoor activities – and others that fall into the classification of timepieces that will be passed down to our son, Andrew. I thought I was done collecting, but recently, I ran across one that I just couldn’t pass up. It got me thinking about time all over again… And while one of my favorite watches had to go in for an adjustment, for the time being, I feel a little bare while I am waiting for it’s return.
The Bible has many references to time, but it can be a confusing subject to talk about. Did God create the world in six literal, 24 hour days? Or was each day an eon, or 1000 years? Is the earth 6,000 years old, or millions of years old? Scholars and theologians debate the subject of time “all the time.” To the ordinary person, I don’t know that it makes much difference, but there are those who spend their entire lives trying to justify one position or another to fit in with their view of God.
But there is one really important concept of time to consider – one that people gloss over every day in their reading of the Bible. That is, the concept of “soon” vs. “quickly.” There are many places that that we are told that people want Jesus to come soon… But the original Greek, in many cases, really uses the word associated with “quickly” – not necessarily soon. So what? What’s the difference?
Well, “soon” means what we think it means – in the near future, if you can figure out what the foreseeable future is. We expect something to happen with a reasonable, subjective amount of time. But the word “quickly” is something very different. It means that when something happens, once it starts, it will come to a conclusion very rapidly. It doesn’t mean that the action will necessarily happen “soon”. As Americans, we can be a little loose with our language. Many times, we use the two words interchangeably. But the Greeks would not have done that. The average Greek, at the time of Christ, knew about 14,000 different words. The average American, today, knows fewer than 3,000 words. Many of our translations depend on context, not exact, specific words.
So it is very important to read translations of the Bible that aren’t loose with their use of words. There is a vast difference between the two words we have been discussing today. Various parts of Scripture tell us that Jesus will come like a thief in the night (quickly) and no one knows the hour when that will happen, so we are admonished to pay attention and be ready. In other words, we don’t know when, but when it does happen, it will happen quickly.
Our verse for tonight is from the last book of the Bible, Revelation. The apostle John, author of this apocalyptic book about the future, tell us about what will happen in the years to come. John tells us, in Revelation 22:20-21, the last two verses of the Bible, “He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen.“
My encouragement this evening is that Jesus wants us to be on the lookout for His return. The Bible is filled with verses about people not being ready for this to happen. My prayer is that we sill stay alert and live our lives in such as way as to know that we will be ready, in an instant, for the return of Jesus. And I’m sure that many of us would like that return to not only happen “quickly”, but also “soon.” Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…