Without Delay

He had been warned many times, but he didn’t believe the volcano would ever harm him. Then, on May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in one of the most famous catastrophes of the twentieth century. Harry R. Truman lived in a cabin halfway up the mountain; he died instantly.

In today’s verse, the angel accompanying John directly quotes Christ: “Behold, I am coming quickly!” (Revelation 3:11). The warning is repeated three times in this chapter, the Bible’s last (vv. 12, 20). We’ve learned that such emphasis in Scripture means we need to pay attention! But how many of us are like Harry? How many of us even doubt that Jesus Christ is coming anytime soon?

The Bible warns, “Scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’” (2 Peter 3:3, 4). It then gives us this critical perspective: “Do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (v. 8).

Perhaps two millennia may seem long to us, but we do well to realize the reason for Christ’s return: “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (v. 9). Christ has not come yet because His aim is to save as many people as possible.

Perhaps you might find comfort in the original meaning of the translation. The word “quickly” was translated from the Greek term tachu, which is defined as “without delay.” There is absolutely nothing that can prevent the advent of our Savior. “Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2:3).

Let us watch, then, for the signs in Revelation. “Do not despise prophecies” (1 Thessalonians 5:20), as many believers are prone to do, but heed them, guard them, keep them. “The prophecy of this book” exists to bring us hope.

Blessed Savior, I trust in Your timing. Please give me the endurance to remain faithfully at my post until You come.

For Further Study: Daniel 9:24–27; Matthew 24:36, 42; Revelation 1:3

Key Bible Texts

Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. (Revelation 22:7 KJV)