day of the Lord
2 Peter 3:10
3:10 day of the Lord. Compare I Thessalonians 5:2. The very first phase of “the day of the Lord” will indeed be sudden and unexpected, when the great rapture of all believers, dead and living, into the heavens will take place (I Thessalonians 4:13-17; I Corinthians 15:51-53). Then the day of the Lord will continue for the seven-year period of tribulation judgments on earth (see on Daniel 9:24-27; Matthew 24:15-30; Isaiah 13:9-11) and the thousand-year millennial reign of Christ on earth following that (Revelation 20:6). Because of this thousand-year “day” of the Lord, many expositors, ancient and modern, have interpreted II Peter 3:8 to teach there would be just six thousand years of history before the millennium, thus making a total of seven thousand years to conform to the six work days plus one rest day of creation week. The main Biblical problem with this concept, however, is that it amounts to setting the day for Christ’s return, and would have discouraged any Christians during previous generations from looking for Christ’s return, as He had instructed them to do.