“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” (2 Peter 3:8).
When we pray and ask God for the salvation of a loved one or healing of a dear friend who is sick, we expect immediate answers, and sometimes we actually receive them. However, have you ever considered the difference between God’s timing and ours when waiting for answered prayer?
One day = 1000 years
In Genesis 2:17, the consequence for disobeying God in the Garden of Eden, was “in that day you will surely die.” When Adam sinned, did he immediately die? No. “In that day” referred to God’s “one day = 1000 years” rendering of time, not humanity’s 24-hour day. Adam lived to be 930 human years, but not quite 1000 or one day in God’s time.
Human lifespan became significantly shorter, 70-80 years, after the flood when conditions on the earth changed (Psalm 90:10). However, Noah lived to be 950 years while many generations later, Moses still lived to be 120. By the time of King David, 70 years was considered the ‘strength of man.’ Yeshua (Jesus) only had 33 years on this earth – barely a moment in God’s rendering of time.
“The span of our life is seventy years, or if we are strong, eighty; yet at best it is toil and sorrow, over in a moment, and then we are gone” (Psalm 90:10).
There are always exceptions to the 70-80 years with some people much longer or dying when only an infant. During the Messianic Era, the 1000-year life span will be restored. Someone who is 100 years old will be considered a child (Isaiah 65:20-21). While Yeshua and his kingdom of priests will be in resurrected immortal bodies, mortal men and women of the earth will continue to die.
After two days [millennium], he will revive us; on the third day [millennium], he will raise us up; and we will live in his presence” (Hosea 6:2).
When it comes to understanding God’s timing, ‘days’ should be rendered as 1000 years. Because one ‘day’ in God’s timing is like 1000 years, some teach that the week of creation took 6000 years. This interpretation is wrong because the Hebrew word ‘yom’ for ‘day’ in the creation account was from ‘evening to morning,’ a 24-hour period. Adam and Eve, along with trees, birds, fish, and horses were created in maturity; they did not ‘evolve’ throughout the ‘day.’
Let’s Do Some Math
If 1 day = 1000 years, then 24 hours = 1000 years. We will divide 1000 years by 24 in order to find 1 hour of God’s time.
1 hour = 41.6 years
The number 40 appears 146 times in the Bible. A Biblical generation is 40 years and also symbolizes a ‘time of testing.’ For 40 days and nights, God sent rain upon the earth in the days of Noah (Genesis 7:12). Moses lived 40 years in Egypt, 40 years in Midian, and spent 40 years leading the children of Israel to the Promised Land. He spent 40 days and nights on Mount Sinai, twice (Exodus 34:28). He sent the spies into the Land for 40 days on a recon mission; Joshua was 40 years old at that time (Numbers 13:250. The Israelites ate manna in the wilderness 40 years (Exodus 16:35). and watched a generation of their relatives die over 40 years. In the days of the Judges, the land rested 40 years. King David ruled Israel for 40 years (2 Samuel 5:4). In Nineveh, Jonah told the people that they would be judged in 40 days if they did not repent (Jonah 3:4). Yeshua was tested 40 days and nights in the wilderness and he appeared to his disciples and many others 40 days after his resurrection and his ascension (Mark 1:13, Acts 1:3).
The next equation:
If 1 hour equals 41.6 years, then 60 minutes equals 41.6 years. We will divide 41.6 by 60 and find how long 1 minute is in God’s time. The result is .69 of a year or approximately 251 days or nine months.
1 minute = 251 days or nine months
The number 9 is used 49 times in the Bible. It symbolizes ‘a perfect move of God’ and patience, one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Goliath was 9 feet tall (1 Samuel 17:4). A hand-span for measuring is about 9 inches (Ezekiel 43:13). Yeshua cleansed 10 lepers, but 9 did not return to thank him (Luke 17:17). It was 9 a.m. when Yeshua was nailed to the cross (Mark 15:25). It was 9 a.m. when the Spirit of God filled Peter and and he preached the very first message of salvation to the Jews gathered in Jerusalem for Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) (Acts 2:15).
Nine months is the gestation period for a baby –– a perfect movement of God that requires patience on the part of the pregnant mother who is waiting for her child’s arrival.
The next equation:
If 1 minute is 251 days, we will divide 251 by 60 to find out 1 second in God’s time.
1 second = 4.183 days
On day 4 of creation, God created the sun, moon, and stars. These heavenly bodies rule the day, the month and the year. The Garden of Eden had a river of life which separated into four other rivers: Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates (Genesis 2:10-14). The 4th commandment is “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8-11). It takes 4 years for the fruit of a planted tree to become consecrated (Leviticus 19:24). Goliath had 4 ‘giant’ sons who all died at the hands of David and his warriors (2 Samuel 21:22). Ezekiel sees 4 living creatures with 4 faces and 4 wings moving around the throne of God with 4 sides and 4 wheels (Ezekiel 1:6, 10). Yeshua will send out his angels with a shofar blast and they will gather his chosen people from the 4 winds from one end of heaven to the other (Matthew 24:31). Four men took a vow in Acts 21:23. Four angels will stand at the 4 corners of the earth and hold back the 4 winds so that no wind will blow on the land or sea (Revelation 7:1).
When we are praying and receive an immediate response, this would be a nano-second in God’s time. To wait at least 4 days for an answered prayer is only 1 second in His time.
“For from your viewpoint a thousand years are merely like yesterday or a night watch” (Psalm 90:4).
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