The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must [a]shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Revelation 1:1-3
This revelation was given by God to Jesus to show His servants. Sent by His angel to His servant John. John would bear witness to us through this word of God and the testimony of Jesus of all he saw. Blessed are those who hear and keep this prophecy, for the time is near.
Every day since the resurrection is one day closer to Christ’s return. One thing made clear here is the genealogy of this message, this prophecy. It is from God, to Jesus, and to John through an angel of the Lord. The time is near reminds me of 2 Peter 3:8: “with the Lord one day is a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
Soon can be minutes, days, or even decades. Believers of every generation have proclaimed that the time was near, and indeed from the moment this book was drafted by John it truly has been. God is outside of time, he sees all of it, start to finish. Soon to him may be lifetimes to us, but as long as we believe, we will see His kingdom come.
All of this prophecy is made so those who believe can and will pay attention and be aware of its fulfillment. So many prophecies in the time of Christ were fulfilled and either wilfully ignored or the leaders were simply ignorant to them. These prophecies are made available to all who believe so there can be no doubt or ignorance.
