Does 1,000 Years Equal One Day?
From time to time we hear people suggest that a 1,000 years is the same with God as 1 day. Is that really true?
“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.” (2 Peter 3:8)
So yes, in a sense 1,000 years equals one day. However, as with most Biblical passages, we must look at the context to gain the proper understanding of what is said.
In 2 Peter 3:1-13 the writer is rebuking people who reject the idea of a coming final judgment. The scoffers argument is that nothing has changed and the world continues on as before. Since judgment has not yet happened, they reason, it never will. But Peter is arguing that God is not bound by any arbitrary time lines. He will do things in his own way and in his own time. Judgment will come when God is ready for it.
Now, is Peter making a statement that every single day for God is 1,000 years in length? No.
When the Son of God said that he would rise from the grave in three days (Matthew 12:40; John 2:19) he did not mean three thousand years. If that were the case what did Mary see in John 20? In Genesis 7:4 we have God speaking to Noah about the coming flood. God said, “For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights and every living thing I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” If 1,000 years always equals one day then we should be looking for rain in about 2,000 years! And when the rains come they will be here a terribly long period of time!
So who would believe this kind of silliness? Probably no one. But I offer this as an illustration to show that we must use caution in interpreting the Bible. Often people who strive to determine the time the Lord will return use the 1,000 year equation as part of their date setting. For example, we have written before on the 1,000 year reign of Christ which sometimes is brought into this discussion. Some try to make the Creation week more palatable for our scientific enlightened minds and the equation is used to stretch creation into a 6,000 time table.
God, who created time, is himself not subject to time. But when he speaks to man he uses things we know and understand. Hence God speaks about hours, days, weeks and years. Let’s not take Peter’s single restricted use of this phrase out of context.
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