How long is a "day" in God's realm?

Within the Holy Bible, I can find not one statement or proof that a "day" to God is an exact period of 24 hours. So much of the inspired words of the Bible are symbolic. One writer's commentary on the book of Revelation made a great observation: "The Book of Revelation does not mean what it says. It means what it means." How true! Most of Revelation is symbolic in nature. Why not in Genesis as well? The scriptures were given to mankind thousands of years ago, back when there were no computers, telescopes, or the ability of most people to communicate with others beyond a short distance. It seems to me, that God inspired the writers of the scriptures to put His Word in terms that the people of the time could relate to and understand. I have a struggle comprehending the concept of "a million years" .... the people at the time of the writing of Genesis would have no basis of understanding much beyond the physical world they lived in, hence, a "day" to them was the "period of time" from sunrise to sunrise, or 24 hours. This is certainly an easy and convenient way of rationalizing the Creation story, but I know of no proof that God's "day" is limited to 24 hours. Likewise, what is important to believe is that "God created". God does not elaborate on the process He used to create. We could not understand anyway. That it was HE that CREATED is the only truth needed to believe the events of creation. Comments?

In Genesis it is stated that evening and morning are a day. In the NT Jesus stated that there are 12 hours of daylight in a day. Of course, the bible also says that a day in the eyes of the Lord is like a thousand years and a thousand years a day. You are correct in stating that God put his word in terms that could be understood to the people at the time, including the present. God did elaborated though on the creation process. "Let there be light" and there was light.

Not to put words in your mouth, but it seems as if you are opening the door to evolution with your comments regarding the length of time in a day, and especially in relation to the book of Genesis.

There are many ways to prove that a “day” in Genesis was a literal 24-hour cycle, and here is but one of them:

Exodus chapter 20

[8] Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
[9] Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
[10] But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
[11] For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

The children of Israel were instructed to rest on the seventh day in the same manner in which God rested on the seventh day.

Was God instructing them to work 6 million years, and then to rest for a million years?

Of course not.

The book of Genesis tells us exactly how long a day is:

“And the evening and the morning were the first day.” (Genesis 1:5)
“And the evening and the morning were the second day.” (Genesis 1:8)
“And the evening and the morning were the third day.” (Genesis 1:13)
“And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.” (Genesis 1:19)
“And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.” (Genesis 1:23
“And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:31)

Although it’s not explicitly stated in the Genesis account, it stands to reason that the seventh day was also one cycle of “the evening and the morning”.

As tourist rightly stated, Jesus did mention that there are twelve hours in a day:

“Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.” (John 11:9)

Again, it stands to reason that there are also twelve hours in the evening, which comes first, so there is the Biblical basis for our 24-hour “day” (12 hours of evening followed by 12 hours of day).

That said, as tourist also rightly noted, the Bible does say that a day with the Lord is as a thousand years:

II Peter chapter 3

[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.
[11] Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
[12] Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
[13] Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

In the context of speaking about the end times or the ever-approaching “day of the Lord”, Peter instructed his readers (which includes us today) not to be ignorant of the fact that “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day”.

Peter’s basis for this reasoning is found here:

“For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.” (Psalm 90:4)

In other words, when we read about the things which are yet to transpire on the coming “day of the Lord”, we are NOT to think that all of these prophesied events are going to transpire within a single 24-hour period. Instead, they are going to transpire over a 1000-year period of time which begins at the ushering in of Christ’s Millennial Reign or 1000-year reign. Revelation chapter 20 gives us the most concise description of what will transpire during this 1000-year period of time, but there are other places in scripture where we’re given the same breakdown as well.

Under Divine inspiration, the prophet Isaiah wrote:

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:” (Isaiah 46:9-10)

God truly has “declared the end from the beginning” or from the book of Genesis.

Again, although the days of creation were literal 24-hour days, from God’s vantage point, they are also at times the equivalent of a 1000-year period of time.

In other words, in the same manner in which God worked for 6 days and then rested on the seventh day during the creation week, so too will man labor for 6000 years and then rest (this rest is only for Christians) during the seventh 1000-year period of time or during the coming Millennial Reign of Christ:

Hebrews chapter 4

[4] For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
[5] And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
[6] Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
[7] Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
[8] For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
[9] There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
[10] For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
[11] Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Again, God labored for 6 literal days during the creation week and then rested on the literal seventh day.

Seeing how “a day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (II Pet. 3:8), Christians are called to labor for 6000 years and then to rest for 1000 years during the coming Millennial Reign of Christ.

Incidentally, although they’re/we’re not sure that it is completely accurate, it is the year 5782 on the Hebrew calendar. If this date is accurate, and it may actually be later than that, then we’re running out of time.

I hope that this helps.

P.S.

In Hebrews 4:8, "Jesus" would be better translated as "Joshua" (their names are the same in the Greek).

In other words, the writer was pointing out that this "rest" which we're to labor to enter into was NOT fulfilled when Joshua brought the children of Israel into "the promised land".

Instead, as the writer rightly noted, "there remains therefore a rest to the people of God" (Heb. 4:9), and no one will truly enter into it until the coming "day of the Lord" or until the coming Millennial Reign of Christ.

Thread Topic ----How long is a "day" in God's realm?

I say ------God Has no time in His Realm --He is Spirit ----so God describes a day -----IS LIKE -------a thousand years ----there is no time in the Spirit realm ------you will find that out when you pass from this world to the next

Psalms 90:4
4 A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.

2 Peter 3
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.

True, yet, in our present realm, God does have us operating within the construct of "time".

Anyhow, in relation to the duration of time in a "day" in Genesis, there are also things like this to consider:

Genesis chapter 1

[11] And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
[12] And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
[13] And the evening and the morning were the third day.
[14] And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
[15] And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
[16] And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
[17] And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
[18] And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
[19] And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Are we to believe that millions or billions of years transpired between days three and four of creation?

I mean, how did the grass, trees, fruit, etc. grow without sunlight for millions or billions of years if a "day" wasn't a literal 24-hour period of time?

There's simply no harmony whatsoever between the Biblical account of creation and the theory of evolution.

amen time is established in earth for man God exists beyond our measure of time he’s the one who created it for man and order upon earth. And even in the universe as the earth revolves around the sun in perfect time

It’s part of creation not applicable to the creator.

You are just pointing to scripture that tells us that in the world God lives in time is different than time for the world of the flesh. God lives in eternal time as we are told over and over, and eternal time is very different from our time. God uses our kind of time as God works with us. The commands given to us through Moses were used in our kind of time, the spirit of those laws remained the same but Christ changed them to laws to be obeyed in the spirit and not the only the flesh. The actual laws were eternal, not changed by time, but God used our kind of time to explain those eternal laws in ways our fleshly self could understand.

There is fleshly time that is sequential and Godly time that is eternal.

“There is fleshly time that is sequential and Godly time that is eternal”

amen the order of the created v. The one who created time and ordered creation
who existed before time and will exist after time as one day Will his children

True; there isn't one. However, IMHO, "there was evening, and there was morning, the [nth] day" couldn't be much clearer.

True, some of the Bible is symbolic, but most of it is literal. The genre and context help the reader determine which it is.

Genesis 1 simply isn't written in symbolic form. It's narrative, not apocalyptic (the genre of the Revelation). If we were to apply your logic, then we could do so for the gospels as well. After all, they have some Jewish guy healing the sick, raising the dead, and rising from the dead Himself? Rather fantastic, I think, and therefore it must be symbolic.

Um, no. The gospels, and Genesis, are literal.

Which leads me to wonder why you think Genesis could be symbolic. If it were written to reasonably intelligent but technically limited people, would it not say directly what it intended to say? There are passages (the parables for example) that are intended to veil the meaning to the hearers; Genesis is not a parable.

Respectfully, I strongly disagree. You are inserting a belief about the intent of the text rather than allowing the text to tell you what is important. God put many time references in Genesis 1; I don't think He did so just to fill out the word count. They are there because they are important to the story.

Genesis 1 is the only passage in Scripture where the time references are commonly questioned. Nobody assumes that the Israelites marched around Jericho for seven thousand years, or seven "ages". Nobody assumes that Jesus was in the tomb for three thousand years, or for three "ages". Perhaps we should wonder why... and consider what is at stake if the days are redefined as something other than normal (roughly 24-hour) days.

I agree with everything you've written up to here.

And here, I disagree. Peter puts his statement two contrasting ways, which completely undermines any prophetic implication.

“One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day”.

In other words, God's perception of time is completely different than our conception of time... simple as that. What is a long time for us is a short time to Him, and what is a short time for us is a long time for Him.

How long is a "day" in God's realm?


God dwells above and outside of time.

I definitely agree with you that God's perception of time is different than our perception of time.

However, Peter's words clearly have prophetic implication, and such is easily (?) seen if we just read what he actually said in context.

II Peter chapter 3

[1] This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
[2] That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
[3] Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
[4] And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
[5] For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
[6] Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
[7] But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
[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.
[11] Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
[12] Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
[13] Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

For starters, Peter is talking about "the last days" (vs. 3), "the promise of his coming" (vs. 4), and "the day of the Lord" which "will come as a thief in the night" (vs. 10), so there's definitely a prophetic nature to his words. Furthermore, he's clearly talking about "his promise" of a "new heavens and a new earth" (vs. 13), while contrasting it with "the heavens" which "were of old" (vs. 5) or the heavens which existed prior to Noah's flood, and "the heavens and the earth, which are now" (vs. 7). Again, this "new heavens" is talking about A FUTURE TIMEFRAME, so, again, the context here is clearly prophetic in nature.

To ensure that his readers aren't confused as to what he's about to say, Peter prefaces certain of his comments with these words:

"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" (vs. 8).

In other words, if we don't start with this understanding, then we're going to misunderstand what he went on to say about "THE DAY of the Lord" (vs. 10).

I mean, if we simply look at what he said is going to transpire during this "day", while also comparing his words to what others have said in relation to the same in scripture, then it becomes rather obvious that these things are NOT going to all transpire with a literal 24-hour timeframe or a literal "day", but rather over a 1000-year timeframe.

Let's just look at two things that he mentioned:

1. Jesus' coming as "a thief in the night" (vs. 10).
2. "The heavens passing away with a great noise, and the elements melting with fervent heat", and "the earth also and the works that are therein being burned up" (vs. 10) in order that a "new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness" (vs. 13) might replace them.

Do these both transpire on the one and same "day" as in a 24-hour timeframe?

No, they most definitely do not.

Instead, when Jesus "comes as a thief in the night", this ushers in his 1000-year Millennial Reign or begins "the day of the Lord".

It is not until THE END OF CHRIST'S MILLENNIAL REIGN or not until the end of this "day of the Lord" which lasts 1000 years that we see a "new heavens and a new earth".

In relation to the same, we read:

Revelation chapter 20

[7] And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
[8] And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
[9] And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
[10] And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
[11] And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
[12] And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
[13] And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
[14] And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
[15] And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation chapter 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.
[2] And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Anyhow, Peter was clearly speaking within a prophetic context.

...and yet he entered into time when "Emmanuel", or "God with us" (Matt. 1:23), was incarnated or when "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14).

Yes, the broader context of Peter's statement is prophecy. However, the statement in question is not prophecy, but a plain statement of clarification.

Verses 8 and 9 go together:

[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.

The day/thousand years comparisons speak to the fact that the Lord is not slow in coming (for that we should be thankful). They don't speak to other parts of the passage.

If they did, the thousand-year reign would be one day long, and the "day of the Lord" would be a thousand years long. That doesn't make sense. However, the passage makes perfect sense if Peter is not defining the day of the Lord or the thousand-year reign.

Simply.. there is no TIME where God is. He is out side of time. He IS in the past He is now and He is in the future. Hes out side of time. So we see over 2k years past since Christ rose AMEN! Yet it still is only been a tad over two days to God haha who IS out side of time Well look what Christ said "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad." We keep putting GOD in some box and.. miss so much because He will never go against our will. We don't believe in somethings.. that what we get..exactly what we believe

Again, I agree that verses 8 and 9 go together, but that doesn't negate the fact that Peter's comment applies to other parts of the passage as well.

I already gave you an example in relation to Jesus' coming as a thief in the night and the new heavens and the new earth.

Those two events are 1000 years apart.

The first ushers in Christ's Millennial Reign, and the second closes it out.

That said, they're both a part of the coming "day of the Lord".

In a video game the passage of time passes however the game is programmed to pass time. Meanwhile time for you in the real world experiences time differently. Don’t you think the creator of the game doesn’t have to abide by the rules of the game since he is outside of the game? Just trying to use this illustration to help understand how I think God experiences times differently than us.

Before there was anything, even light, God existed. That means He outside of space and isn’t bound by the laws and physics they govern the material universe.

Time for God is whatever He wants it to be I suppose.

If you could hear God speak, it’s possible, He might actually tell you where He is. He’s literally everywhere.

I don't agree. I don't see anything in Scripture to support that idea.

A “day” is an “appointed time” when God “shows up to begin something and finish it.”

It begins in darkness and ends in Light.