figurative language in i have lived a thousand years

We need not fret if it looks like our lives may end before we get everything we have been promised. We have all eternity before us to receive the promises of God. As people with eternal life, Christians need to adopt an eternal perspective on time. The fact that it has not happened yet is absolutely no indication that He will not do it. The point of 2 Peter 3 is that, no matter how long it takes, God will keep His word-“the Lord is not slow in keeping his promises” (verse 8)-specifically, He will return one day to judge the world and rescue His people. If God is working a plan that will take ten thousand years to unfold, it is no different to Him than if His plan took 10 days to unfold. We must not look at the promises of God through the lens of human time. Ultimately, if the father dies before keeping the promise and does not leave the son anything in his will, then the promise has expired.

As year after year passes and he does not buy the home, the son may begin to wonder if he ever will. If an elderly father promises to buy his son a home, there is a limited amount of time available to him. If a person promises to do something, there is a finite amount of time available for him to keep that promise.

This is the idea of the verse-both a day and a thousand years are such miniscule amounts of time to God that it really makes no difference to Him.

If a billionaire wanted to buy a piece of property it might make no difference to him whether it cost $50,000 or $500,000 or even $5,000,000. If the average person sees something in the store, it would make no difference whether it cost a penny or a dime, even though one is ten times more expensive than the other. God, however, is not limited by the same constraints of time because “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” Time is simply not an issue with God because He has an unlimited amount of it. For a human being, if something doesn’t happen within a matter of years, then we may miss it. Peter reminds the believers not to lose heart because God is working on a different timetable. As Christians are persecuted and continue to look for the Lord to deliver them, it does appear as though His coming is “delayed.” They will say something like, “He’s been gone a long time He’s not ever coming back” (see verse 4). Peter tells the persecuted believers that scoffers will come and mock the idea that the Lord will return.

The context of 2 Peter 3 is the return of the Lord to deliver His people. The context is the key to determining the correct understanding of this passage, especially the comparison of a thousand years to one day. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8).

Figurative language in i have lived a thousand years