Revelation Chapter 22 Verses 6-7

6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place. 7 And behold, I am coming soon.” Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.

Verse 6 begins the epilogue of the book, and as we saw in the prologue, the epilogue begins with the all-important time frame for the vision. Revelation 1:1 says that the events in the book must soon take place. Revelation 1:3 says that the time for fulfillment is near. Here in 22:6 we see that what John had seen must soon take place, and in verse 10 we will be told that the time is near.

What can be said for any interpretation of this book that ignores these clear declarations? One must certainly work hard to misunderstand them!

In verse 7, the speaker says “I am coming soon.” Who is the speaker in verses 6-7, and is there a different speaker in verse 7 than in verse 6? Some argue that the angel is speaking in verse 6 due to the third person reference to God. Others argue God or Jesus is speaking in verse 7 due to the first person reference to “I”. Others respond that in verse 7 an angel may simply be speaking on God’s behalf. Hailey concludes that it most likely is God “declaring that in Christ He will come speedily to His needy saints.”

In short, verses 6 and 7 in the original Greek are ambiguous with regard to the speaker’s identity, giving us only the pronoun translated “he.” People sometimes ask me why I don’t like the New International Version of the Bible. My answer is that I don’t trust it, and verse 6 is a prime example (repeated many, many times elsewhere in the NIV). Who is the speaker in verse 6? The KJV says “he.” The ESV says “he.” The ASV says “he.” The RSV says “he.” The NRSV says “he.” The NKJV says “he.” The HCSB says “he.” The NAS says “he.” The REB says “he.” The original Greek is ambiguous, and those translations properly carry that ambiguity over into the English. But the NIV does not. The NIV in verse 6 reads “The angel said to me.” And so a reader of the NIV would have no idea that the Greek permitted any other understanding of that verse. The Greek is ambiguous, but the NIV is not. The goal of a translation is not to remove ambiguity from the original text. The goal of a translation is to carry any ambiguities in the original text over into English so that the English reader gets an understanding as close as possible to the meaning conveyed by the original text. A good translation acts a sheet of glass between you and the original text. The NIV utterly fails in that goal, and that is why I never use it.

The Greek word translated “soon” in verses 6 and 7 is the same word we find in the letters to the seven churches in 2:16 (“Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly.”) and in 3:11 (“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”). If we try to stretch the word “quickly” to encompass Jesus’ return at the end of the world, then what do we do with those promises to the seven churches? Those seven churches aren’t around anymore! Either Jesus came quickly while they were still around, or he didn’t come to them at all.

The word “soon” (translated “speedily” or “quickly” in the KJV) occurs four times in this chapter! (Verses 6, 7, 12, and 20.) The same Greek word appears in 1:1 and 3:11. The Greek lexicons tell us it means “pertaining to a point of time subsequent to another point of time (either an event in the discourse or the time of the discourse itself), with emphasis upon the relatively brief interval between the two points of time” or simply “a very brief period of time.” The same Greek word occurs twice in Matthew 28:7-8 —

And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

Any doubt what the word means in that context? It also appears in John 11:28-29 —

And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.

Any doubt what it means in that context? The same author wrote verses 6 and 7! What basis is there for us to interpret those verses in such a way that they mean the very opposite? Jesus said he was coming quickly. If that doesn’t match our understanding of the book, then let’s change our understanding rather than changing the text!

For those who believe these chapters apply to the end of time, let me ask a question — what could God have written here to convince you otherwise? If using the word “quickly” four times in a single chapter doesn’t do it, then what would it take? (See the handout.)

But some will ask, to what does this word “soon” refer in verse 7? In what way did Jesus come soon or come quickly after the book was written? We already know the answer to that one — Jesus came in judgment against Rome.

But verse 7 must be referring to the second coming? Right? No. For starters, the phrase “second coming of Christ” appears nowhere in the Bible. The closest we get is Hebrews 9:28 — “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Will Jesus appear again to judge the world? Absolutely. Will that be his second appearance? Yes. Will that be his second literal coming? Yes. Will that be his second coming? No, there have already been at least two other figurative comings of Christ. There was the figurative coming of Christ against Jerusalem mentioned in Matthew 24:30, and there was the figurative coming of Christ against Rome mentioned here in verse 7. The coming against Jerusalem happened in the first century (Matthew 24:34), and the coming against Rome happened soon after this book was written (22:6-7).

For those keeping track, verse 7 is the sixth of the seven beatitudes in Revelation. “Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

Please visit ThyWordIsTruth.com for free audio lessons on Revelation, for a unique daily Bible reading calendar, to read about God's plan of salvation, to read the answers to hundreds of questions submitted by our readers, and for much, much more.