Daily Archives: December 15, 2014

Revelation 1:1 ‘Must’ The Moral Imperative

Introduction to This Series

This series of lessons will present the facts that the events pictured in the Book of Revelation were not merely an historical report, nor were they a prophecy of things which were to come to pass at some distant future time. They are a record of the fulfillment of things that had been covenanted and prophesied in the Old Testament and history of the nation of Israel, namely the end of the nation and its capitol city, Jerusalem. They are not foretelling the fall of the Roman Empire. Neither are they primarily the record of the invasion of Jerusalem by the Romans. They are the record of the fulfillment of God’s Word regarding His promises in the Covenants. They are about the things that God was morally obligated to fulfill.

1:1. “Things which must shortly come to pass.”

Overview

Ray Summers speaks of the word ‘must’ in Revelation 1:1 as indicating a moral necessity:

“The verb translated ‘it is necessary,’ or ‘must,’ … is an impersonal verb which indicates that a moral necessity is involved; the nature of the case is such that the things revealed here must come to pass shortly. The aorist tense of the infinitive ‘to come to pass’ adds to the truth that immediate action is necessary. The prepositional phrase translated ‘shortly’ means just what it says – shortly, quickly, hastily.”

However, Summers takes the position that the moral necessity was the fall of the Roman Empire. But this phrase could hardly be applied to the fall of the Roman Empire for that was neither done quickly, nor immediately in reference to the time of the writing of the Book of Revelation in the first century AD. The Empire fell over a period of more than a hundred years during the fourth and fifth centuries AD. Even through the period of the second century AD the historians Cary and Scullard could say: “To speak of a ‘decay’ of the Roman Empire at this period would be premature” (Cary and Scullard, 488). It is my position that the moral necessity in the Book of Revelation applies, rather, to the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70.

Although I disagree with many of Summers’ basic views, the fact remains that his definition and grammatical analysis of “must shortly come to pass” is quite correct.

What Was Morally Imperative At That Time?

To understand what was morally imperative, and why it was so, sheds much light upon the interpretation of the Book of Revelation since its stated purpose is to show these “morally imperative” events. These four things, at least, were morally imperative in the context of the times:

  1. God must fulfill the blessings and cursings promised in the covenant as recorded in Deuteronomy 28-30.
  2. He must vindicate the words of the Old Testament prophets, specifically, the seventy weeks of years and “Time, Times and Dividing of Times” as given to Daniel.
  3. He must fulfill the predictions made by Christ in order to vindicate Him as
    a. Prophet,
    b. Judge,
    c. Messiah
  4. He must fulfill the vengeance promised in behalf of His Covenant People who had become martyrs:
    a. Because of His covenant;
    b. As their God and Kinsman-Redeemer; and
    c. To cleanse the land from blood defilement.

Please follow this series to get the larger picture of the holistic interpretation of the Book of Revelation.