Tuesday: A Thousand Years as a Day
In 2 Peter 3:8-10, how does Peter respond to the argument that the scoffers will bring? What does he say that even now can help us to understand why Christ has not yet returned?
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Peter responds to the issue of the unchanging nature of the world. He reminds his listeners that it is not true that the world has continued unchanged since creation. (Notice how Peter goes right back to the Word of God as his source and authority.) There was a time of great wickedness, after which God destroyed the world with a Flood (2 Pet. 3:6). And indeed, the Flood brought about a great change to the world, one that remains with us today. Peter then says that the next destruction will be by fire, not water (2 Pet. 3:10).
Peter also wrote, “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pet. 3:8). In saying this, Peter may have been reflecting on the words of Psalm 90:4: “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.” In other words, our conception of time is not like God’s; so, we need to be careful in the judgments we make about time.
From a human perspective, there does seem to be a delay in the return of Christ. But we are looking at things only from our human perspective. From God’s perspective, there is no delay. In fact, Peter is saying that extra time has been granted because God is showing His patience. He does not wish that any should perish (2 Pet. 3:9). The extra time, then, has been allowed to provide opportunity for many to repent.
Yet, warns Peter, God’s patience should not be taken as an opportunity to postpone a decision about Jesus. The day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief in the night. A thief who comes at night probably expects to sneak away unnoticed. But while the day of the Lord will come like a thief, it will certainly be noticed. As Peter says, “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat” (2 Pet. 3:10). Thus, Peter’s message is like Paul’s: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).
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Trying to imagine that the coming of the Lord is way too far is as dangerous as imagining that your death is way too far. The truth is the coming of the Lord is as close as our own death. Does anyone know when he/she's going to die? It could be tomorrow it could be an hour from now. Once you die your destiny is sealed and time is no longer a factor to you since in your death a day and a thousand years are ideally the same duration to you. Once you sleep you do not not know how long you took before you woke up(state of unconsciousness) The next time you wake up will either be at the glorious appearance of our Lord Jesus or the second resurrection when all elements shall melt like wax. How I pray that I perticipate in this first resurrection and hopefully that's your hope and prayer. Thank you Jesus. Amen.
One day is equal to 1000 years - God's concept of time. As we conceptualized the time of his coming, it seems like eternity. Scarcely does a person live for a hundred years, so consider how many of your faithful generations would have died within 1000 years. The scripture shifts our focus from time to the nature of the Lord's return, " But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night" (2Peter 3:10). This is a prediction that the Lord will come and find many of us "sleeping" like the foolish virgins. Thus Peter emphasizes our PREPAREDNESS; we have no control over time, don't be consumed by the time of His coming!!
Please help me to understand, people are born everyday, so the Lord being patient and not wanting any to be lost, is there a cut off line to say those born from this point onwards do not need to be given as much patience as us who have received the same from the Lord? When the Lord comes what will happen to those who haven't had as much of the patience from the Lord as me?
Oscar, you are doing some serious thinking!! The thief - Luke 23:32-43 - on the cross example might answer your question. He didn't have much time, but he didn't delay. He accepted Christ as soon as he was introduced to him. I believe that there will be many last-minute converts as we approach Christ's coming. Hopefully, the choice is made before probation ceases. Please note that God intervenes individually in matters of salvation. We can't fix all the puzzles. Blessings to you with wisdom and understanding in Jesus's name.
Thank you for your response Lorraine and God bless
But, Lorraine Wilson, at one point during his crucifixion the thief that eventually turned to Jesus for his salvation was railing at Jesus too and therefore delaying his coming to Jesus even during his own crucifixion.. Read Matthew 27:44
Hello Oscar,
A perplexing question you ask, but again we often look through the eyes of mortal man. For sure we know that God is merciful and wishes NO ONE to perish. However, God's word does proclaim a point in time where there is a "cut off line." just before He comes. The length of time of cut off line is not revealed, but it must be fairly short due to the context. It is found in Revelation 22: 10-13.
"And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
thanks Eddie, much appreciated
So often I hear that the shaking is upon us and we need to expect that many will leave us and the worldly ways are too prominent to get concerned about. Does not this study say the opposite? God is waiting for all to return to Him, if He is that anxious that all repent, should not I as His servant/follower be just as concerned to love all and desire their repentance? This is not the time for complacency, it is time to repent and be about Jesus' mission!
The phrase 'the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night ' is calling for our preparedness for the soon coming of our Lord Jesus Christs.This verse has often been misread by some to justify a teaching called secret rapture.The day-year principle Peter explains
is consistent with the other old testament teachings (Numbers 14:34).The big question is how do we approach the following aspects:
1.Date setting
2.Tarrying time
Christ has not yet returned! Indeed. That is true. But where am I in this situation? How do I feel about it? Am I still waiting? Do I see this as a chance or as o loss? Am I gaining time or loosing it? Sure that Christ's return is something positive to be expecting, but I would like to be waiting because I want to see His face, not only because He will solve all my problems. I want to look at His face and recognize this infinite love that I cannot really grasp...
As we journey on, even while we wait with great anticipation for the return of our Lord in the clouds, we must not forget that we have been given warning signs of the nearness of His coming. God has not left us in darkness and ignorance, but we must pray that our eyes be opened that we may see the waymarks unfolding right before us as we "look up", for our redemption is near. Jesus said,"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." Luke 21:28 . The signs are all around us.
Be blessed by this Franklin Belden hymn:
Look For the Waymarks
1 Look for the way-marks as you journey on,
Look for the way-marks, passing one by one;
Down thro' the ages, past the kingdoms four,
Where are we standing?
Look the way-marks o'er.
Chorus:
Look for the way-marks, the great prophetic way-marks,
Down thro' the ages, past the kingdoms four.
Look for the waymarks, the great prophetic waymarks;
The journey's almost o'er.
2 First, the Assyrian kingdom ruled the world,
Then Medo Persia's banners were unfurled;
And after Greece held universal sway,
Rome seized the scepter,
Where are we today? [Chorus]
3 Down in the feet of iron and of clay,
Weak and divided, soon to pass away;
What will the next great, glorious drama be?
Christ and his coming,
And eternity. [Chorus]
Interesting that a lot of Christians are making a big fuss on Jesus is taking long to come. Some even turned their backs on Him and went back to the things of this world. Question is, If Jesus should close his pleading on our behalf right now, ARE YOU READY? ARE WE READY? DO WE SINCERELY KNOW THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO STAND AND NOT RUN TO THE ROCKS AND HIDE?
I must mention that I am going through The Great Controversy with a pastor and every week he deals with a chapter there is something happening in the news thereby showing that the very things Sister White wrote over a hundred years ago are fulfilling. We went through chapter 18 last week and as sure as faith there was a news story in relation to what chapter 18 spoke about. Jesus is not delaying. He will return whether we are or are not ready. The ones who are not ready will fulfill the scripture on, "... wailing and gnashing of teeth."
That's a real fact, whether we want it ir not, Jesus is coming! Am I going to be happy to see Him? That's what matters!
Procrastination and unbelief (they can be synonymous) is one of Satan's most effective ploy for men. He effectively is telling people that God cannot be believed, as he did with the angels in heaven; as he did with Eve and Adam; as he continues to do today! So the men in Peter's time said things continue as the are. Today nothing has changed. Many Christians today feel the day of Christ's coming is still far off, and they feel there is enough time to "play" (continue to sin) until some sign is seen. The faithful will hear His voice when He reminds us, "Be ye also ready." (Matt 24:44-46).
Someone said that the thief on the cross did not delay to come to Jesus. Yet in Matthew 27:44 it seems quite clear that even the thief that turned to Jesus for salvation at one point during his own crucifixion was also delaying to come to Jesus.
False teachers were scoffing at the promise of Christ’s coming again to judge the world but Peter shows (v. 1 - 7) how God’s day of judgment is certain in spite of the mockery men. In verses 8-10, Peter provides a compelling explanation about the apparent delay in the return of Christ to judge the world. First, Christ’s return seems delayed because God’s perspective of time is radically different from our own(3:8). He says, “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day” (3:8). He seems to draw this truth from Psalm 90: 3 - 4 where it says “You turn man back into dust and say, ‘Return, O children of men.’ For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night.” God sees the past, the present, and the future with equal clarity.
Secondly, Peter tells us that Christ’s return is delayed because the Lord is patient, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance (3:9). The scoffers wrongly presumed that because God wasn’t working in step witn their timetable, they could sit in judgment on Him! In 1 Peter 3:20, Peter refers to God’s patience during the days of Noah’s building of the ark. For over 100 years, God waited while Noah built the ark and preached righteousness to those evil people. But none responded, except for Noah’s family. It seems a similar response will prevail when relatively few people in the world will accept Jesus as their Personal Saviour!
But it's almost 2,000 years now. If it is as we understand it - that the ALL refers to all beings in the world and not the ELECT, "those who have received like precious faith with us",(1 Pt 1:1,2; 2 Pt 1:1; 2 Pt 3:1 - Christ will never come, because He is resolutely faithful to His word: "... but is patient toward YOU, not wishing for any to perish but for ALL to come to repentance". If He had come 100 yrs. ago what about us if our names had been written in the book of life!
Re: Peter also wrote, “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pet. 3:8) I looked up J.N. Andrews' articles in the "Advent Review and Sabbath Herald" dating from July 17, 1883 through Aug 21, 1883. In short, he is saying that creation took 6 days and the 7th day is the Sabbath day of rest. The earth is now in its 6th thousandth year and the 7th thousandth year is at hand when Jesus will come and take us to heaven for the "thousand year rest". See at this website: http://docs.adventistarchives.org/documents.asp?q=documents.asp&CatID=27&SortBy=1&ShowDateOrder=True
Well, Larry, it is great to meet someone who is interested into looking at Adventist history through the actual publications of the time!
This is the link to the actual Review and Sabbath Herald, Aug 21, 1883 issue. It is in PDF format. I believe that the article referenced is "THE GREAT WEEK OF TIME. EVENTS OF THE SEVENTH THOUSAND YEARS," signed by "J. N. A." on page 536 (upper left corner of document). For anyone who has the time to spare, browsing through the old Review articles is both interesting and often entertaining. 🙂
Yes, it is interesting to review what our pioneers thought and how they grew in their understanding. The idea of taking 2 Pe 3:8 literally was popular in Protestant theology of those days, and it is mirrored in this article. However, contrary to others who interpret the text this way, J.N. Andrews did not see this as doing away with the seventh-day Sabbath, as evidenced by his massively researched book, History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week, which we have in our library, with a new binding, since the old one was falling apart. It is still an excellent book, and we have the good fortune of being able to own it in Kindle format, as I just discovered. See History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week. See also The Complete Testimony of the Fathers of the First Three Centuries Concerning the Sabbath and First Day, by J.N. Andrews. (You can read Kindle books on the same device on which you are reading this comment. Download the reader for free.)
Can someone help me qualify the 'DELAY' to "EXTRA TIME"
Does it mean God has changed goal posts?
We all know that God does not make errors like you and me. If extra time, meaning the allotted time was not enough hence extra time.... meaning God missed the mark.
Please help
We need to remember that some of these things are written in language that we men can understand. As the lesson points out the real idea that Peter is trying to express is that God in patient and long suffering. It is a bit like the ferry captain who sees someone racing down the wharf to catch the ferry when it is about to cast off. The Ferry Captain, out of the goodness of his heart waits for the passenger even though it is past the departure time. God want to save us. He is patient. That is a characteristic of his love.
Renford,
I agree with Ashton. Peter is pointing out the great mercy and patience of our God. As you said, God does not make mistakes like we do. Because He is Omnipotent and we are not, we can only see what is revealed to us. If we just believed this, we would have a more positive understanding of His character, which is more important than the whys anyway. Blessings and Happy Sabbath when it comes to you!
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." Deut 29:29
I\'ve been wondering about OT time prophecies in this context. The 2300-day prophecy with its complex sub-prophecies must have been partially understood in those times. When Jesus was born, many people were aware that it was \'time\' for the Messiah, i.e. the wise men. Was the book of Daniel still \'closed\', so that the apostles weren\'t aware of the 2300 days? I know they had a different set of sacred writings than we have. Maybe they weren\'t aware of Daniel\'s time prophecies - I haven\'t studied that out yet.