When God prophesies about the future, He asks us to pay attention not only to the content of His message but also to its timing. He communicates in a way that we, with our human understanding of time, can grasp.
Hebrews 10:37 (David Bentley Hart Translation) For “In just a very little while, he who is coming will come, and will not delay
It’s natural to wonder why, if God promised to return soon, more than two thousand years have passed. Many of us have heard the explanation that “God sees time differently than we do,” often referencing 2 Peter 3:8 (WEB):
“One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
However, the Bible frequently uses words like “soon” or “about to” to describe events that were genuinely near from a human perspective. Consider these examples:
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Herod’s Threat: An angel warned Joseph to flee that very night because Herod was “about to” search for Jesus. The urgency was clear—Herod’s threat wasn’t centuries away.
Matthew 2:13 (WNT) “Rise: take the babe and His mother and escape to Egypt… For Herod is about to make search for the child in order to destroy Him.”
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Paul’s Snakebite: After Paul was bitten by a snake, the locals expected him to soon swell up or die suddenly—not years later.
Acts 28:6 (WNT) They expected him soon to swell with inflammation or suddenly fall down dead…
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Peter’s Escape: When an angel freed Peter from prison, he was told to move “quickly.” Interestingly, this same term appears at the beginning and end of the book of Revelation.
Acts 12:7 (WEB) And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side, and woke him up, saying, “Stand up quickly!” His chains fell off his hands.
Revelation 1:1 (Young’s Literal Translation) to shew to his servants what things it behoveth to come to pass quickly…
Revelation 22:6 (YLT) And he said to me, ‘These words are stedfast and true, and the Lord God of the holy prophets did send His messenger to shew to His servants the things that it behoveth to come quickly
Both God and His messengers consistently used terms like “soon” and “quickly” in ways that aligned with human understanding.
Timing Matters in Prophecy
When God prophesied events that would occur within 490 years, He instructed Daniel to seal up the vision for it concerned the distant future. In contrast, John was told not to seal the book of Revelation because “the time is near.” This contrast highlights God’s deliberate use of timing language to convey clarity.
Daniel 8:26 (Berean Standard Bible) seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.
Revelation 22:10 (BSB) Do not seal up the words of prophecy in this book, because the time is near.
If 490 years was a “distant future” to Daniel, how could 2,000 years qualify as “soon” or “near” to John? Clearly, God uses time language in ways we can comprehend.
Misinterpreting Prophetic Timing
God foretold the imminent destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, using expressions like “has come,” “is near,” and “soon.”
Ezekiel 7:6-8 (BSB) The end has come! The time has come; the day is near… Very soon I will pour out My wrath upon you.
However, when the people of Israel dismissed God’s warning as concerning the distant future and not immediate, God rebuked them for disregarding the timing of Ezekiel’s prophetic message.
Ezekiel 12:21-28 (BSB) Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 22 “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel:
‘The days go by, and every vision fails’?
23 Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will put an end to this proverb, and in Israel they will no longer recite it.’
But say to them: ‘The days are at hand when every vision will be fulfilled. 24 For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations within the house of Israel, 25 because I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass, declares the Lord GOD.’ ”
26 Furthermore, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 27 “Son of man, take note that the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many years from now; he prophesies about the distant future.’
28 Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘None of My words will be delayed any longer. The message I speak will be fulfilled, declares the Lord GOD.’ ”
Ezekiel delivered this prophecy sometime after the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile (Ezekiel 1:2; 8:1), and it was fulfilled by the twelfth year—a span of less than six years.
Ezekiel 33:21 (WEB) In the twelfth year of our captivity… one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city has been defeated!”
This demonstrates that God communicates time in terms we can understand and expects us to take His timing seriously.
False Prophets and Misleading Timing
In Jeremiah’s day, false prophets claimed that God would “shortly” return the exiled Israelites from Babylon. God condemned this lie, clarifying that the exile would last seventy years—a time frame far from “soon.”
Jeremiah 27:16 (WEB) Don’t listen to the words of your prophets… saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of Yahweh’s house will now shortly be brought again from Babylon;’ for they prophesy a lie to you.
Jeremiah 29:10 (WEB) After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
If God Himself condemned the false prophets for calling seventy years a short time frame, then He would certainly not consider two thousand years a short time.
Conclusion: “Soon” Means Soon
God uses terms like “soon” and “near” as we understand them, and He holds us accountable for recognizing their meaning. He has rebuked those who dismiss His timing or misrepresent it. The timing of God’s prophecies is just as intentional as their content, and we should take both seriously.