Chapter Twenty-Four/A Sweet-and-Bitter Message - The Finish of the Sacred Secret

Meantime, Jehovah has another commission for John. After the seven thunders have sounded, the strong angel speaks again: "And the angel that I saw standing on the sea and on the earth raised his right hand to heaven, and by the One who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and the things in it and the earth and the things in it and the sea and things in it, he swore: 'There will be no delay any longer.' " (Revelation 10:5, 6) By whom does the strong angel swear? The glorified Creator of the heavens and the earth. (Isaiah 45:12, 18) With this oath, the angel assures John that there will be no further delay on God's part.

The Greek word here translated "delay" is khro'nos, which literally means '"time." Some have thus felt that this declaration of the angel should be translated: "There will be no more time," as though time as we know it will end. But the word khro'nos here is used without a definite article. So it does not mean time in general but, rather, "a time" or "a period of time." In other words, there will be no further  period of time (or delay) by Jehovah. A Greek word derived from khro'nos is used also at Hebrew 10:37, where Paul, quoting from Habakkuk 2:3, 4, writes that "he who is coming . . . will not delay." 

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