Please enable Javascript to play audio

Download Mp3 Download Notes - PDF Print Notes Subscribe to RSS feeds

2 Peter 3:8-10

December 11, 2008
Text: 2 Peter 3:8-10 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
 
The message of the scoffers
2 Peter 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
 
Same message of the scoffers “before the flood”
Matthew 24:38-39 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
 
The world in Noah’s day perished – by water
2 Peter 3:5-6 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
 
The present world shall also perish – by fire
2 Peter 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
 
Beloved, be not ignorant of God’s timings!
2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
 
God’s view of time is different than man’s view of time
Psalm 90:4 For a thousand years in thy [God’s] sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. 
 
A prophetic time scale
2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
 
The seventh day Sabbath was a sign
Exodus 31:16-17 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
 
Of a future day – the seventh day from Adam
Hebrews 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Hebrews 4:9 There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
 
The thousand year reign of Christ
Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
 
Extra-biblical writers believed a 7,000 year plan
Barnabas, who was travel companion of Paul, wrote in the 13th chapter of the epistle ascribed to him:
 
"God made in six days the works of His hands and He finished them the seventh day; and He rested the seventh day and hallowed it. The meaning of this is: that in 6000 years the Lord will bring all things to an end, for with Him one day is as a 1000 years, as Himself testifies; therefore in six days- that is 6000 years shall all things be accomplished. And what is this He said, He rested on the 7th day? He meanth this, when His son shall come and abolish the season of the wicked one and shall judge the ungodly, and change the sun, moon, and stars, then He shall gloriously rest on that seventh day".
 
Irenaeus, who was a disciple of Polycarp the disciple of the Apostle John, wrote the following:
 
" In whatever number of days the world was created, in the same number of 1000 years it will come to its consummation. God on the 6th day finished His work and rested on the 7th. This is a history of the past and prophesy of the future for the day of the lord is as a 1000 yrs". Irenaeus sealed his testimony with his blood, being beheaded under Severus, A.D. 202
 
Cyprian says,
 
"In the divine arrangement of the world, seven days were first employed, and in them seven thousand years are included. Evil things and adverse will increase until the end foretold shall come."
 
The Jewish Cabbalists taught the same:
 
The Jewish Cabbalists taught the same. The first letter of the Hebrew Alphabet (Aleph) occurs six times in the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis; and as a numeral in Jewish arithmetic it stands for 1,000, which being six times repeated in the same verse, they regard as prophetic, or typical of the six thousand years of secular history as well as the six days of creation
 
The Lord’s delay in fulfilling His promise is not slackness!
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men [“scoffers,” v.3] count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
 
The Lord has appointed a time – it may tarry – wait for it – 
but it will surely come
Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.
 
His promise
2 Peter 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
 
The Lord’s delay is longsuffering to us-ward!
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men [“scoffers,” v.3] count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
 
God was longsuffering in the days of Noah
1 Peter 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
 
God is slow to anger
Exodus 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
 
Nehemiah 9:17 “…thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.
 
Psalm 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
 
Joel 2:13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
 
The Lord’s longsuffering is salvation!
2 Peter 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
 
The Lord has no pleasure in the death of the wicked
Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
 
The message of the true prophets
Matthew 3:2,10 “… Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire
 
The day of the Lord will come!
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
 
A day of catastrophic destruction
Isaiah 13:9-10 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it.10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
 
Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
 
After the tribulation
Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
 
The day that the Lord alone shall be exalted
Isaiah 2:12,17,21 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: 17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
 
The day when Christ is once again on the earth
Zechariah 14:1,4,9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east… 9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
 
Thief in the night hurts those that are not watching
Matthew 24:42-43 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
 
Revelation 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
 
Revelation 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
 
1 Thessalonians 5:2-4 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
 
A purging of the planet earth by fire
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
 
2 Peter 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 
 
A cataclysmic destruction at the end of this age
Revelation 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
 
Revelation 6:12-17 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
 
Revelation 8:7,12 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. 12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
 
Revelation 16:18-20 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
 
The new heavens and a new earth in the day of the Lord
2 Peter 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
 
Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.