PROPHECY QUIZ

 

And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. John 11:55 NKJV

 

The people went to purify themselves because:

  

A. the feast of Passover was about to commence.

C. God always wanted His people to be ready for the Passover, even though it may not be celebrated in their generation.

B. the feast of Passover was the next festival on the calendar, though it might be months away.

D. even though the Passover wouldn’t be celebrated for at least 2,000 years, it was possible for it to be celebrated at anytime.

 

Even though answers B, C and D may seem to be a bit outlandish, aren’t they some of the very “explanations” given for the term “near” in the following verse?

 

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. Rev 1:3 NKJV

 

Surely the most feasible, plausible—indeed, the most natural—reading of John 11:55 is that the feast of Passover was about to commence. Otherwise, the people ran the risk of becoming defiled (losing their purified status) while awaiting its arrival. Why, then, don’t we allow the same natural understanding of the same Greek “near” for the events of Revelation?