"A thousand years as one day"

Awakened07

The scripture saying: "...one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (2. Peter 3:8) is often used both by Jehovah's Witnesses and others, to show that a day can literally mean a thousand years in the eyes of God.

This is then used especially for the creation story, and for the fall of Adam and Eve. "Since one day is like a thousand years to God, it's easy to see how each creation 'day' could have been a thousand years long", they may say (at least I've heard it been said before). And also (more widely used): "Adam lived to be 930 years old after he had sinned, and this fits well with the scripture that says 'one day is like a thousand years to God', since it was said they would die on the 'day' they ate of the fruit".

Now - I've thought about this (yes, it's true, I have!).

-When I just read that scripture as-is, it simply tells me that God is 'outside of time'; time does not apply to him.

It seems though, like some people simply use their 'surgical knife' and neatly cut out half of the scripture and use it to further the thought that one 'day' is literally a thousand years (especially in Adam and Eve's case). But if it simply means that one 'day' is a thousand years in God's eyes - - why is the thought then repeated "in reverse"? Why not just say "One day is like a thousand years to God", period? I can only understand the scripture as a thought simply stating that God is not 'within time'.

Peter here semi-quoted Psalm 90:4 - that says: "For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night." This again reinforces to me that the intention of the writers is to say that God is "timeless", not that a thousand years is literally like one day (especially when you read the verse in context).

I also find it interesting that sometimes this scripture will be used figuratively, and sometimes to show that one day can literally mean a thousand years:

In the first case, some people (WBTS) will say that the scripture implies that the creation 'days' were undefined periods of time (they use other scriptures for this as well, but this is one of them). In other words; in this interpretation, the scripture is not 100% literal - it is used figuratively. Now suddenly each creation 'day' is not literally 1000 years, but may have been several thousands or millions of years long. In the second case, they will use the same scripture to show that the 'day' of Adam was literally a thousand years, as it fits with his age upon death.

So, in essence: - Do you need it to mean literally a thousand years? Go ahead. Do you need it to mean 'undefined period of time'? Go ahead. Twist and turn it to your liking.

I'd like some feedback to see if I've misunderstood or missed something (I'm open to saying 'Ooops - I didn't think of that!').

[edited for clarity and because 'less is more']

Doug Mason

There is only one place where a "day" is one of our "days", only one place where a "month" is one of our "months" and only one place where a "year" is one of our "years". That place is the surface of planet Earth.

A day/month/year is a different length on say the Moon, Mars, or Mercury. And it is different on every other body in this universe and on other universes.

I don't know where these 144,000 guides to the WTS live, but they must get awfully confused trying to match their times to those on earth.

And how long does it take for their thought messages to travel from their committee room down to Brooklyn?

Doug

Sarah Smiles

When I just read that scripture as-is, it simply tells me that God is 'outside of time'; time does not apply to him.

That is right! I realized that the JW does not speak about the creation of day and night verses time. Prior to the creation of luminaries there was no time just a division of day for light and darkness for night. Although, God says day one, day two, and day three, time did not happen until day four; signs, season, day, and years.

So why would the WTBTS teach the purpose of day and night but not teach time! The only reason I could come up with is a big word eternity. Prior to time (Genesis 1:14)Jesus was with God and that would be eternity because there was no time just day(light) and night(darkness). They are wanting to debunk that God and Jesus was not eternally together prior to time.

Can anyone tell me if the WTBTS teaches God and created Jesus was eternal prior to time? Eternal meaning with out time.

Back to your topic, yes a day can mean a thousand years and I like your findings about when Adam died less than a thousand years! How many years did he live outside of the garden? How long did it really take before Adam had life put in him and he walked? The Paradise Lost book has Adam created in the garden but the bible has him created on the outside of the garden.

Do you think one hour means something? The fall of Babylon the Great!

Legolas

Did anyone see the movie ‘Interstellar’ where as they travel space their time is playing out normal to them but years have passed on earth? …Well imo that’s what is happening… God aka alien is just travelling in his ship.

Anony Mous

If 1000 years is as 1 day to God, that seems to imply that God really doesn’t have time to deal with us individually. 86400 seconds per day, that would mean a year is just 1.5 minutes to God, even assuming he can interact with everyone individually, within 1.5 hours we are born and die, and for half of that time we aren’t even conscious or adult.

It also means we can measure gods age and it’s 38333 god-years old and humans have existed for less than 1 of them.

If a God really cares about intelligent life to worship him, why would he bother not creating creatures that can do it for 38332 years and then even if they devote their entire life, they can do it for a few minutes in utter misery and disappear again. Seems like he just got bored and it’s a bit of an afterthought. Dinosaurs were more his thing.

Simon

God should get himself a calendar or an Apple Watch, he won't get so confused then.

smiddy3

Day and night is only relative to the Earth because a point on it turns on it`s axis facing too the sun and away from it . There is no night and day in the Universe ,just as there is no up or down ,only out their .

BluesBrother

Like many things, this is something the WT used to talk about a lot and use it to discuss the age of Adam , the creative days and so on. Now it is almost never mentioned and those time periods have been quietly dropped. I am sure you are right when you say

“When I just read that scripture as-is, it simply tells me that God is 'outside of time'; time does not apply to him.”

waton

In james is mentioned that with the creator there is no turning of the sundial.

If you think of time as a fixed road over which everyone travels into the future, In the bible stories, the father is depicted as either being stationary or moving slowly to see details, or fast to see long range developments. or create them.

time has to be eternal, existing to hold uncreatable, indestructible energy. the creator seems to be above all that, even not to have to create energy, but perhaps convert it into matter in the so called Big Bang.

interestingly, the scriptures do not speak of god as going back into the past, because it is empty of course, therefore there are "books, and scrolls", aka records that are carried forward through the present moments for future use.

timely fun fact: our presence in the moment, the present is short ( of zero duration) but precious, because it is a present.

Sea Breeze

The premise that God lives outside of time has become the predominant Christian paradigm. Open Theists believe that the future is not settled but open because God is alive, eternally free, and inexhaustibly creative. Perhaps God can exist in both? Many good points are made in this interesting friendly debate on the topic between Will Duffy and Matt Slick:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCNPmLIOnDg&t=868s&ab_channel=BobEnyart

"A thousand years as one day"

Share this