“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8).
In midst of the fiery images that precede and follow this passage, the Apostle Peter was quick to reassure his readers that they were among God’s beloved. Yet, this passage also includes a reminder that provides us with an opportunity to consider the nature of time, a familiar commodity that is often difficult to define.
For instance, we can kill time, buy time, or pass the time. Musicians keep time and athletes call time out. Some have time on their hands, while others never seem to have enough. Employees and others can spend time or steal time. Time can be free or expensive, good or bad, wasted or invested, and lost or found. So we can view time in different ways, but what is it?
Well, the notion of “time” encompasses more than just the measurement of hours and days. Time is a “continuous, measurable quantity in which events occur in a sequence proceeding from the past through the present to the future.” (1) But here in 2 Peter 3:8, we’re reminded that God exists outside the constraints of time. Since God is timeless, He does not experience sequential events that proceed from the past through the present to the future as we do.
There are several other factors that highlight the contrast between our experience of time and that of God. For example, things like mass, acceleration, and gravity may affect our measurement of time. Our perception of time may also differ, for time may seem to pass slowly for those who are involved in an unpleasant task, but rapidly for those who are engaged in something they enjoy. So, if finite human beings experience these variations in relation to time, we should not be surprised to learn that the Creator of time also relates differently to it.
To illustrate this, Peter reached back to the Old Testament to bring forth a related reference: “For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night” (Psalm 90:4). Thus, a seemingly long delay for us may be just be a moment for God. This reminds us that we should not adopt the attitude of a scoffer who assumes “…everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation” as mentioned earlier in verse three. In the words of one source, “To Him the hours pass away, neither more slowly, nor more quickly, than befits His economy.” (2)
Image Credit: “Time” by Nick J Webb is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
(1) time. (n.d.) American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). Retrieved September 13 2024 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/time
(2) Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary: Second Peter. (n.d.). [verse 8] https://www.ccel.org/j/jfb/jfb/JFB61.htm#Chapter3