Tiago 5

Tiago 5

Pink explains that "When we say that the Redeemer’s Return is an imminent event, we do not mean it will occur immediately, but that He may come back in our own lifetime, that He may come back this year; yet, we cannot say that He will do so." Imminency makes it impossible to know when He might come so the believer must remain constantly on the lookout in case the Lord were to return and find him unprepared (Mt. 24:43; Luke 12:37-39+; 1Th 4:15-17+; Rev. 3:3+). Reginald Showers adds that " an imminent event is one that is always hanging overhead, is constantly ready to befall or overtake a person, is always close at hand in the sense that it could happen at any moment. Other things may happen before the imminent event, but nothing else must take place before it happens. If something else must take place before an event can happen, that event is not imminent. The necessity of something else taking place first destroys the concept of imminency....In light of the meaning of the term “imminent” and the fact that the next coming of Christ has not happened yet, we can conclude that the concept of the imminent coming of Christ is that His next coming is always hanging overhead, is constantly ready to befall or overtake us, is always close at hand in the sense that it could happen at any moment. Other things may happen before Christ’s coming, but nothing else must happen before it takes place. If something else must happen before it can take place, then it is not imminent. The necessity of something else taking place first destroys the concept of the imminent coming of Christ....Because we do not know exactly when Christ will come, three things are true. First, we cannot count on a certain amount of time transpiring before Christ’s coming; therefore, we should always be prepared for that event to happen at any moment. Second, we cannot legitimately set a date for Christ’s coming. Third, we cannot legitimately say that Christ’s coming will happen soon. Again, it may happen soon, but it does not have to in order to be imminent. Christians should have an expectant attitude toward Christ’s coming (Ed: see Greek Verbs). Since it is imminent and therefore could happen at any moment, believers should constantly look forward to, look out for, or wait for that event" (Maranatha Our Lord, Come! 1995) For the coming of the Lord is near - Is near in the perfect tense means it has drawn near and continues to be near. Coming (3952)(parousia) is a combination of two Greek words para = with, alongside + ousia = being (ousia is the participial form of the verb eimi = to be) which together literally mean to be alongside. Most lexicons in fact state that parousia is derived from pareimi (from para = near, with + eimi = to be) which means to be present, to be nearby, to have come. Parousia then literally means a being beside or a presence. The word denotes both an arrival and a consequent presence with. Parousia conveys the thought of an arrival (advent or coming) of a person to a place plus the idea of their presence at that place until a certain event transpires. The word parousia has no English equivalent and therefore is often transliterated in writings. Parousia was used to describe the arrival of an emperor or king and was also used to describe the invasion of a country by an army. Hiebert on parousia - Papyrus usage shows that the term was common in secular Greek for a royal visit to a certain city or district. The term does occur in the Septuagint and was not used in connection with the Messiah until the time of Christ (Matt. 24:3, 27, 37, 39). In the New Testament epistles it is one of the most frequently used terms for the return of Christ (1 Cor. 15:23; 1 Thess. 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; 2 Thess. 2:1, 8; 2 Pet. 1:16; 3:4; 1 John 2:28). The term may have the sense of "coming" as denoting His arrival, but its fuller significance centers attention on His presence with His people as the result of His coming. Hendricksen remarks that the term denotes "his 'coming' in order to bless his people with his presence."...James has very little to say concerning the details of that eschatological hope, but for him it clearly was a hope that must have had a sanctifying impact on daily life. (James Commentary) John