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Just as "quickly" is used in Revelation to teach imminence, so also is "near" or "at hand" (engus) used to mean imminency and thus its usage does not support a first-century fulfillment. Philip E. Hughes rightly says, "The time is near, that is to say, the time of fulfillment is imminent. This interval between the comings of Christ is the time of the last days, and the last of these last days is always impending." . . . It is better to see engus as a term that teaches the imminency of a period of time that could begin to happen without the warning of signs.3
Notes
1 American Heritage Online Dictionary, Ver. 3.0A, 3rd ed. (Houghton Mifflin, 1993).
2 Mtt. [[24:42-48|bible.61.24.42-61.24.48]]; Mark [[13:33-37|bible.62.13.33-62.13.37]]; Luke [[12:35-40|bible.63.12.35-63.12.40]]; Rom. [[13:12|bible.66.13.12]]; 1Cor. [[7:29|bible.67.7.29]]; Php. [[3:20-21|bible.71.3.20-71.3.21]]; [[4:5|bible.71.4.5]]; 1Th. [[1:10|bible.73.1.10]]; Tit. [[2:13|bible.77.2.13]]; Heb. [[9:28|bible.79.9.28]]; Jas. [[5:8|bible.80.5.8]]; 1Pe. [[4:7|bible.81.4.7]]; 1Jn. [[2:18|bible.83.2.18]]; Jude [[1:21|bible.86.1.21]]; Rev. [[3:11|bible.87.3.11]]+; Rev. [[22:7|bible.87.22.7]]+, [[10|bible.87.22.10]]+, [[20|bible.87.22.20]]+.
3 Thomas Ice, "Preterist 'Time Texts'," in Tim LaHaye, and Thomas Ice, eds., The End Times Controversy (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2003), 106.
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