Chapter
1 2 3
Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

2 Peter 3:8
ESV 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.
NIV 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.
NASB But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.
CSB Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.
NLT But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
KJV 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.
NKJV 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.

What does 2 Peter 3:8 mean?

In verse 5, Peter indicated that these false teachers deliberately omit the truth about God in order to make their false case that Christ will not return, that there will be no judgment day. Now Peter urges his readers—his dear friends—not to forget something essential about the nature of their God. He is eternal. He is not limited as humans are by the perception of years passing. More specifically, Peter references Psalm 90:4: "For a thousand years in [God's] sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night."

If we took Peter's statement absolutely literally, as modern people, then in God's eyes it's been a mere two days since Jesus promised to return! That, of course, is not the way Peter intends his statement. His point is that God is not bound by counting days from a human perspective. Time does not hold Him. He does not wait or rush in the same sense that mere humans do, locked as we are into minutes and hours and months. What seems like poor timing to us, as limited people, has a plan and purpose known only to God.

As Peter will reveal in the following verses, God will keep all of His promises in His perfect time and motivated by His perfect love.
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