“One Day is Like a Thousand Years” and its Prophetic Significance

What is implied when Peter writes, “one day is like a thousand years” (2 Peter 3:8)? Is this a literal (1,000) years? We have been taught to believe that. I, for one, have never questioned it before. We also have to determine the context and how broadly we can apply it. This study started out as a quick look-up of this phrase but, as I studied, I realised that it is a key to understanding some of the Bible prophecies.

2 Peter 3:3-10 NIV
First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.
(4) They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”
(5) But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.
(6) By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
(7) By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
(8) 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.
(9) The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
(10) But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

“Like”

To explain it further, we must look at the meaning of the word “like.”

The Greek word “hos” means an approximation of time.

hos (ὡς, 5613) usually means “as” or “like”. Used with numerals it signifies “about,” (e.g., Mark 5:13, 8:9; John 1:40, 6:19, 11:18; Acts 1:15; Revelation 8:1).
hosei (ὡσεί, 5616), “as if,” before numerals, denotes “about, nearly, something like,” with perhaps an indication of greater indefiniteness than “hos” (e.g., Matthew 14:21; Luke 3:23, 9:14, 28; Acts 2:41; with a measure of space, Luke 22:41, “about a stone’s cast.” See LIKE¹.

If we look at all the other passages where this word was used with numerals it was translated as “about.” (I do not include John 1:40 in the examples below, as it uses a different Greek word “heis”).

Mark 5:13 MKJV
And immediately Jesus allowed them. And the unclean spirits went out and entered into the pigs. And the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea (they were about [hos] two thousand), and were choked in the sea.

Mark 8:9 MKJV
And they who had eaten were about[hos] four thousand. And He sent them away.

John 6:19 MKJV
Then having rowed about [hos] twenty-five or thirty furlongs, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the ship. And they were afraid.

Acts 1:15 MKJV
And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said, (the number of names together was about [hos] a hundred and twenty,)

Revelation 8:1 MKJV
And when He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in Heaven for about [hosei] half an hour.

2 Peter 3:10 MKJV
But the day of the Lord will come like [hos] a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a rushing noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. And the earth and the works in it will be burned up.

I have included the last passage to illustrate to you that the word “like” (hos), is meant as a comparative phrase. It does not mean that Yeshua will literally come as a thief to steal, but it means that He will come unexpectedly. The phrase “as a thousand years” is equally not meant in a literal sense. It alludes to a time period, likened to “a thousand years.” There is a similar passage comparing “a thousand years” with a day in (the following Psalm):

Psalms 90:4-6 MKJV
For a thousand years in Your sight are as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. (5) You carry them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep; in the morning they are like grass which grows up. (6) In the morning it sprouts and shoots up; in the evening it is cut down, and dries up.

In this passage “a thousand years” is compared to two things: • Yesterday • A Night Watch

Yesterday

H919 ולֹמְתֶא) ʾěṯ·môl): adv.; Strong’s H865; TWOT 2521—1. LN 67.201–67.208 yesterday, [i.e., the day before today (Psalm 90:4+)], see also 9453; 2. LN 67.17–67.64 lately, before, heretofore, [i.e., a period of time prior to another time, either short or long (Isaiah 30:33; Micah 2:8+)]; 3. LN 67.17-67.64 unit: (שִׁלְשֹׁוםאֶתְמֹול (šôm·šil môl·ʾ) formally, before, in the past, i.e., formally, yesterday and day before, [i.e., pertaining to a point in time prior to another time (I Samuel 4:7, 10:11, 14:21, 19:7+)]; 4. LN 67.17–67.64 unit: םַגּולֹמְתֶאםַגּוםֹשְׁלִשׁ) gǎm ʾěṯ·môl gǎm šil·šôm) formerly, before, in the past, [i.e., formally, yesterday and day before, i.e., pertaining to a point in time prior to another time (II Samuel 5:2+)]²

The word “yesterday” can refer to either a period of time prior to another time (short or long), or to the past.

A Night Watch

A watch in the night was approximately four hours (Jude 7:19 refers to a middle watch, suggesting three periods). Such a portion of the night, when man sleeps, is brief³. We can conclude the same for this passage in Psalms as for the passage in 2 Peter. These time periods do not have to be a literal (1,000) years, although (they) could be.

How Do We Apply This To the Interpretation of Bible Prophecy?

In order for us to (further) apply this prophetic principle of “one day is like a thousand years,” we must first find proof in Scripture.

In the second book of Genesis, we (find) a good example of the prophetic application and fulfillment of this principle:

Genesis 2:17 MKJV
but you shall not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

It is no coincidence that those who lived before The Flood died just short of 1,000 years of age. Thus, figuratively speaking, Adam and all his offspring before The Flood, died within a “day”— that is, within (1,000) years.⁴

Can we assume that whenever the word “day” is used, it could mean (1,000) years? I don’t think so. It is more complex than that. As always, context is king when interpreting Scripture. Let’s look at some verses (that better) illustrate this point.

The Scripture says that the world was created in six days. Was the world actually created in 6,000 years? I would not go so far as to say that. Plants were created before the sun and (wouldn’t) be able to survive for 1,000 years without photosynthesis. Therefore, I support a literal six-day creation.

Another example would be the time Yeshua spent in the grave. Those were a literal three days and three nights. We can find many more examples.

Both verses Psalm 90 and II Peter 3 speak about the return of our Messiah. Therefore, we can conclude: the phrase “one day is like a thousand years” can only be applied in a prophetic context.

It is often said that Genesis 6:3 points to a prophetic time period. It refers to the period of man on earth before Yeshua returns. The calculation is as follows:

120 x 50 = 6,000

The ‘50’ refers to the number of years (in) a Jubilee Cycle.

Genesis 6:3 MKJV
And Jehovah said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, in his erring; he is flesh. Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

The (main) problem (with this) is a Jubilee Cycle is, (in truth), only forty-nine years.

How Long Is A Jubilee Cycle?

Leviticus 25:10-11 MKJV
And you shall make the fiftieth year holy, one year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you, and you shall return each man to his possession, and you shall return each man to his family. (11) That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. You shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself in it, nor gather in it of your undressed vine.

From the above Scripture, clearly the fiftieth year is the Jubilee. Why do I say forty-nine years?

How Do We Calculate A Jubilee?

We calculate the Jubilee Year in the same way we calculate the fifty days for Shavuot.

Leviticus 23:15-16 MKJV
And you shall count to you from the next day after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete. (16) To the next day after the seventh sabbath you shall number fifty days. And you shall offer a new food offering to Jehovah.

We are to count from the day after the weekly Sabbath—the first day of the week.
There shall be seven complete Sabbaths.
You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath—the first day of the week.

It is very important to follow the instructions carefully. We are to commence counting on the first day of the week and end the count on the first day of the week. Take note: the fiftieth day is also the first day of the weekly cycle. This is a pattern for us for the calculation of the Jubilee Years. Thus, the fiftieth year—the Jubilee Year—is also the first year of the next Sabbatical Cycle. Don’t you think it’s awesome to see how Yehovah uses the same pattern?

I would just like to add this for clarification: If a Jubilee Cycle is fifty years, then between the last year of the first cycle and the first Sabbatical Year of the next cycle, (that) would (constitute a total of) eight years to (make) a Jubilee Year. This cannot be as we are told in Scripture that a Sabbath Cycle is to be seven years.

Noting that each year begins, in Israel, in spring and continues until the following spring, the following charts present an example of the Sabbath (or “Sabbatical”) Years and the Jubilee Year:

One should understand that the Jubilee years become both the last year and the first year as they occur:

After 7 cycles of these 7 years periods (a total of 49 years), the 50th year – which is also the first year of the new cycle of years – is a special Sabbath year called the Jubilee year:

Leviticus 25:10-13 MKJV
And you shall make the fiftieth year holy, one year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you, and you shall return each man to his possession, and you shall return each man to his family.
(11) That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. You shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself in it, nor gather in it of your undressed vine.
(12) For it is the jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You shall eat the increase of it out of the field.
(13) In the year of this jubilee you shall return each man to his possession.

Scriptural accounts of this special year, the only time two Sabbath years occur in a row, can be found in the instructions given in Leviticus 25:2 concerning entering the land of Israel (1386 & 1387 BC) and in a special account of events in King Hezekiah’s life in Isaiah 37:30 and 2nd Kings 19:29 (700 & 701 BC). The first 2500 years of Creation (which led up to 1387 BC) can be calculated from the early pages of the Torah in the books of Genesis and Numbers. The Sabbath year of 701 BC and the following Jubilee year of 700 BC in King Hezekiah’s life is literally written in stone in museums around the world on the Assyrian King Sennacherib’s stone pillar annals.

Therefore…

We have just proven from Scripture the Jubilee Cycle is forty-nine years instead of fifty years.

We also have the prophetic Scripture:

Genesis 6:3 MKJV
And Jehovah said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, in his erring; he is flesh. Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

If we apply what we have learned, our calculation of prophetic years would be as follows:

120 x 49 = 5,880

We can conclude in saying that, “(a) day is like 980 years.”

Let’s now explore: A Deeper Retrospective on the Sabbatical & Jubilee Calendar?

1
Vine, W.E., Unger, M.F., & White, W. (1996). Vol. 2: Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson.
2
Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) by Swanson, J. (1997). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
3
The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Psalm 90:1-6) by Walvoord, J.F., Zuck, R.B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
4
http://www.1260-1290-days-bible-prophecy.org/day-year-principle.html