"Example 3: 2 Peter 3:8 (God’s Patience)
PASSAGE: “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
Q: Does this mean that in Biblical usage a day can represent thousands or millions of years?
SURROUNDING TEXT: Immediately leading up to the passage, Peter speaks of people who follow their own sinful desires and says they “deliberately overlook” both creation and the flood.
Peter points out that the world was made “by the word of God” and that “by the same word” the world is destined for fiery judgment when God will destroy those who do not give Him due reverence. Right after the passage, Peter shifts to explaining why God has not yet brought judgment on evil, citing God’s patience toward people, “Not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
SAME BOOK: Peter clearly took the miraculous events in the Old Testament as literal history, as his Lord and Savior did.
SAME BOOK: Peter clearly took the miraculous events in the Old Testament as literal history, as his Lord and Savior did.
In chapter 2, he speaks of Noah and the worldwide flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Balaam’s donkey who spoke with a human voice.
Peter also speaks plainly about the nature of sin. Chapter 1 talks of escaping the corruption in the world caused by sinful desire, and chapter 2 points out that this corruption enslaves those overcome by it, even as they claim it as freedom instead.
SAME WRITER: In his first letter, Peter takes Old Testament history literally, calling God “a faithful Creator” and referring to God’s patience in the days of Noah, when only eight people were protected from the flood (1 Peter 4:19, 3:20). He also pointed out God’s intolerance toward unrepentant sinners but loving care toward those who have been made righteous through Christ, quoting from Psalm 34 (1 Peter 3:11–12): “Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
SAME WRITER: In his first letter, Peter takes Old Testament history literally, calling God “a faithful Creator” and referring to God’s patience in the days of Noah, when only eight people were protected from the flood (1 Peter 4:19, 3:20). He also pointed out God’s intolerance toward unrepentant sinners but loving care toward those who have been made righteous through Christ, quoting from Psalm 34 (1 Peter 3:11–12): “Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
SAME TESTAMENT: In the interim of human history while God is exercising patience toward those He has called to come to Him, Jesus used a parable of a wedding invitation (Matthew 22:1–14). Those invited responded in different ways.
---The first group described refused the invitation (verses 3–7).
---The second group (verses 8–13) were guests who had accepted the invitation, but not all arrived in the manner required by the host.
---The difference between the accepted and rejected guests was their attire, and Genesis 3:7, 21 provides insight into the distinguishing factor.
---After they sinned, Adam and Eve tried to cover their nakedness with fig leaves, but this was inadequate. Only the covering provided by God was sufficient, and it required the shedding of blood to cover them with animal skins instead.
---Our response to God’s invitation requires that we come to him according to his requirements and provision
A Thousand Years
ENTIRE BIBLE: If Peter employed the term “a thousand” as a general way to describe a large amount of something, it would fit alongside many other scriptures where it was used in the same way (Deuteronomy 1:11, 7:9, 32:30; Joshua 23:10; 1 Chronicles 16:15; Job 9:3; Psalm 50:10, 84:10, 90:4, 91:7, 105:8; Ecclesiastes 6:6; Isaiah 7:23, 30:17).
ENTIRE BIBLE: If Peter employed the term “a thousand” as a general way to describe a large amount of something, it would fit alongside many other scriptures where it was used in the same way (Deuteronomy 1:11, 7:9, 32:30; Joshua 23:10; 1 Chronicles 16:15; Job 9:3; Psalm 50:10, 84:10, 90:4, 91:7, 105:8; Ecclesiastes 6:6; Isaiah 7:23, 30:17).
Psalm 90:4 specifically uses it with years, stating, “For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.” Clearly, a thousand years is not used to suggest a day could represent a long period of time because it would also have to apply to a three-hour watch in the night.
Additionally, Ecclesiastes 6:6 uses “a thousand years twice over” to paint a picture of an extraordinarily long lifetime, one twice as long as the oldest person listed in the Bible, Methuselah, who reached 969 years of age and other patriarchs like Adam (930 years, Genesis 5:5) and Noah (950 years, Genesis 9:29).
Peter’s simile comparing a day to a thousand years and, going the other direction, a thousand years to a day is just a manner of recognizing that humans experience time in a way that feels incredibly long, especially when we are waiting.
Peter’s simile comparing a day to a thousand years and, going the other direction, a thousand years to a day is just a manner of recognizing that humans experience time in a way that feels incredibly long, especially when we are waiting.
*Our eternal God, however, exists outside the boundaries of time; He always was, is, and will be, and he does not view time in the same way that we do.
So going back to the original passage and question: Does this mean that in Biblical usage a day can represent thousands or millions of years?
So going back to the original passage and question: Does this mean that in Biblical usage a day can represent thousands or millions of years?
A: No. Peter reminds us that as we wait for all to be set right, God is being patient toward people who have yet to come to Him.
---All have received an invitation; each must decide how to respond."
AIG
