“But the hour is coming, and now is …” (John 4:23, NKJV)
The previous teaching concluded with the insight that, as 1 Pet. 4:17 suggests, “the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God,” and that that judgment is the chastisement of the sons of God, through which they gain the godly nature, and live in glory (grace and truth – John 1:14).
Please understand that there is an hour when the judgment of God commences, and it is NOW, TODAY. In John 4:23 Jesus formulated it aphoristically in terms of the “true worshipers”: “But the hour is coming, and now is, ” but this is valid only with regards to all relationship-based aspects of I AM (Ex. 3:14). Therefore we find, throughout the New Testament, a focus on the word pair “hour” and “now” or “time” that are linked together:
- “Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.” (John 5:25)
- “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.” (John 12:27)
- “Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” (John 16:32)
- “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” (Rom. 13:11, take note – the “time” at which this takes place is not located in the future – it is already here. As John 7:6 notes in the Hebraic Roots Bible “your time is always ready”, or even better, in the NASB-translation: “your time is always opportune”.]
- “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” (1 John 2:18).
Even from just the last Scripture the foolishness of futurism in the New Covenant can clearly be seen. The letter of 1 John is written somewhere between 95 and 110 AC (Stephen Harris: Understanding the Bible, pp. 355–356). It was, then, “the hour”. It is, still, “the hour”. It is NOW.
- Selah: Come to the realisation that it is NOW the hour.
- Read: 1 Chr. 9-11.
- Memorise: 1 Chr. 9:29 (what would the meaning of this typology be?).
- For a more in-depth understanding: Read the books mentioned above.
