The Time Is at Hand

by Jay E. Adams

. . . The Lord, the God of the Spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show unto his servants that things which must shortly come to pass . . . and he said unto me, seal not the saying of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. (Revelation 22:6, 10)

What do these verses mean? Have these things been largely fulfilled or should we be looking for them in the future? In this classic work, Jay Adams faithfully follows such biblical timeline markers, along with Revelation's angelic interpretations and its historical context. These lead us to a clear and satisfying understanding of the major themes of the book of Revelation.

Revelation has fascinated and confused Christians through the years Adams reminds us of its ultimate purpose-to strengthen and encourage believers in time of trial.

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction

155 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1970

About the author

Jay Edward Adams is a Reformed Christian author. He has written over 100 books and these have been published in sixteen languages.
He received a Bachelor of Divinity from Reformed Episcopal Seminary, a Bachelor of Arts in Classics from Johns Hopkins University,a Masters in Sacred Theology from Temple University, and a PhD in Speech from the University of Missouri.
Adams' book Competent to Counsel launched the nouthetic counseling movement, a movement whose aim was to use strictly biblical counseling methods. He is the founder of the Intitute for Nothetic Studies.

Reviews

[Ronnie Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple overview of Amil eschatology. Biblical. Sound. An enjoyable read. I was thoroughly delighted with Jay Adams' outline, overview, and synopsis of Eschatology an was beyond satisfied with his take on the Book of the Revelation. Instead of burying the reader in technical and or mystical conjecture this book gives one an easy to grasp and delightfully satisfying hope for things to come.

[Rod · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a long time ago, but it made more sense of the book of Revelation than most anything else I had read previously or since. His viewpoint is amillennialism and partial preterist. But he does a good job of building the case and helping the reader understand much of the imagery in the book of Revelation. You have to accept his primary assumption and that is that Revelation is written prior to AD 70. If you can get over that hurdle, you are well on your way. Ultimately, I would probably rate it a 4.5 but that was not an option.

[Josh Staggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was probably the best work on eschatology (end times) that I have read. Dr. Adam’s is best known for his work in Biblical counseling. In this book he discusses, from a partial preterist amillennial (realized) position, how to properly understand Revelation in light of 70 A.D. I came to this book with a partial preterist understanding of Matthew 24 but was unsure how to interpret Revelation. Dr. Adam’s did a superb job at detailing this position in relation to Revelation in a succinct fashion. Overall, my absolute favorite work on the end times. Highly recommend!

[R.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good arguments for Partial Preterism. Don’t agree with Adam’s split when he starts to argue that half of Revelation is for the judgment of Rome. I tend to hold more to Revelation being focused on the judgment of Israel. But still fantastic overall.

[Joe Harrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Support of realized millennium good explanation of that concept, but very light on the rest of Revelation.

[Tyler Jarboe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong affirmation of Partial Preterism from an Amillennial perspective.

[Lee Harmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is sort of a “recent classic,” first copyrighted in 1966 and reprinted four times since then. It’s a discussion of Bible chronology, leaning heavily upon a historical analysis of the book of Revelation.

Adams is a “realized millennialist,” meaning he believes the 1000-year millennium spoken of in Revelation (an “age” not necessarily meaning precisely 1000 years) has already arrived. It began in early New Testament times, and continues till the present. This is the period in which Satan is bound in chains. “Binding” doesn’t mean total inability, of course, for then one could hardly believe Jesus when he claimed to bind the strong man (Satan).

Now, since Adams is also a post-millennialist, meaning he believes Jesus will arrive after the millennium, he is able to reconcile the fact that Revelation’s horrors mimic precisely the age in which its author lived (the first century) and still look forward to Christ’s second coming. The “real” golden age, with eternal life, is just around the corner. The time is at hand.

I applaud the way Adams takes seriously the references in Revelation to the first century and the urgency of its message. Still, this interpretation always feels to me a little like having your cake and eating it too.

[Tim Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jay Adams is one of my favorite authors. He is devoted to the concept of Scriture Alone and displays this well in his book The Time Is at Hand. The book covers the concept of End Times relating to the Bible and the book of Revelation. He does a superb job at showing the Amillennialists Partial Preterists position. This book was the final draw in convincing me and I would recommend it to any other Christian unsure or questioning their thoughts on Biblical Eschatology. Nothing but the Word Of God is necessary and compelling.

[Mercedes Cordero · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have easily been a 4 star book had it not have a kind of shaky interpretation of the last of the 70 weeks of Daniel. I don't know, it just wasn't convincing enough for me, not that I think that we are living in a parenthesis of those weeks or anything like that. I'm a reformed Christian who thinks that there must be a better interpretation or explanation for that passage of Scripture. The rest of the book was great, very well written, explained and presented.