REVELATION 10:6: THE END OF TIME?

If you are like me, you sometimes (or often) sing hymns in church without really thinking about the words and their meaning. That happened to me recently in singing the old favorite “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder.” The lyrics say that when Jesus returns "time will be no more," a teaching supposedly found in Revelation 10:6. 

Some Bible commentators have even seen confirmation of this fact in scientific speculation that time is actually slowing down and will eventually stop. That may possibly be true, but is that what the Bible really says? It all stems from a slight rewording and total misunderstanding of the KJV, which says,

     “And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven and the things that therein are...that there should be time no longer.” 

This translation is also followed by a few older or obscure translations: (Douay-Rheims, Geneva Bible, Jubilee Bible, New Matthew Bible and New Testament for Everyone). All the other translations render the true meaning more accurately as, “There will be no more delay” or “There is no more time for waiting.” But the idea of the concept of time ceasing will probably remain in popular Christian culture for some time to come, assuming that time doesn't stop before then.