The last passage we’ll study in the Epistles is found in the third chapter
of the Apostle Peter’s second letter. In this chapter Peter provides a
grand scope of history from the creation to the destruction of this world.
Verses 8-10 tell us that the “day of the Lord” will last one thousand years.
It will begin when Jesus Christ comes “as a thief in the night” which we
saw in 1 Thess. 5:2 refers to the Rapture. The day of the Lord will end
with the total annihilation of the heavens and the earth in preparation
for the creation of new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness
dwells.
8 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.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up (2 Pet. 3:8-10).
If verse ten was pulled out of context and studied by itself, we
might get the wrong idea that Christ’s coming as a thief in the night referred
to the literal day when the heavens and earth pass away. Taken in context
with verse eight we see that this is not a literal day, but the millennial
reign of our Lord. We can read more about this time in the nineteenth and
twentieth chapters of Revelation. The real significance of this passage
to our study is that it defines the boundaries and the length of the day
of the Lord. Its duration is one thousand years. It begins with the Rapture
and ends with the complete destruction of the current creation. We know
that it begins with the Rapture because verse 10 says, “the day of the
Lord will come as a thief in the night.” We know that the destruction of
the current creation is the last event because of the passage referenced
in Revelation. After a thousand years have passed and the dead have been
judged, it says in Rev. 21:1, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:
for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was
no more sea.” It is not directly related to our study, but I must comment
on verse nine. It tells us that the Lord’s desire for mankind is salvation,
not damnation.
Casebook Notes:
When? - As the first event
initiating the day of the Lord, the millennial reign of Christ, 2 Pet.
3:10.
This has been section 6 of A New Scriptural Investigation into the Timing of the Rapture
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