In my first post on Revelation, I focused on the statements in the first three verses that promise the events in Revelation would happen “soon,” which I argued meant near the time Revelation was written.
There is another indication in the first chapter of Revelation that “soon” means soon and “near” means near, and that is found in verse 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 land will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”
(Rev. 1:7). When Jesus is “coming with the clouds” (whatever that means), it would be a time when those who killed (“pierced”) Him are still alive. That sort of narrows it down.
Jesus’ disciples asked Him, as I’m sure I would have, “When will these things happen?” (Matthew 24:3). Jesus told His disciples some of the signs to look for, including “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky,” and then answered their question, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” (Matt. 24:30,34).
So, Jesus’ revelation to John and Jesus prophecy as recorded in Matthew are perfectly consistent that Jesus’ “coming with the clouds” would happen within a generation of His crucifixion.
Of course, the $64,000 question is “What does ‘coming with the clouds’ mean?” Tune in tomorrow to find out. GS