2 Peter 3:3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to 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 creation.”
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8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us,not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Read what Peter wrote -
one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. - was he just crazy? And he wasn't just locked up, he was crucified.
This begs the question. You seem to be saying that Peter was crucified for saying what he did about the day and the 1000 years.
Question: Was Peter talking about a literal 1000 years versus a literal one day? Of course he was, otherwise the whole logical progression is suspect. And just because to God, 1000 years is as a day, does not mean that to us the same thing is true. Just because God, existing outside of the space-time continuum which He Himself created, can look at the whole scope of history at once, does not mean that we can do the same.
I know I have dotted out the examples Peter gives, referring to the flood, & the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. The scoffers are ungodly men who will be judged in the lifetime of this generation i.e. within 35-40 years after the Olivet prophecy. Hebrews 3 gives the same warning. But of course, he's quoting poetry so that needs "interpreting." [that's sarcasm] And Hebrews 4 shows the sword of his mouth about to smite. The forty years is nearing its end - AD 70.
I am not interpreting allegorically, I am interpreting according to the context & the allusion to Olivet comparing with Hebrews who quotes the Psalm 95 & Numbers 14.
The sad thing is that you
are interpreting allegorically and don't even know it. (This term does not mean that you interpret everything with an allegory, but that you do not interpret literally, but put a "spiritual" meaning above the literal meaning, according to Origen's method.)
You say you interpret Rev. 20 according to the context. Look again. In the context, the term "a thousand years" occurs no less than six times!! So you are ignoring the context completely when you say, "The day, the thousand years, will amount to 35-40 years." There is no basis whatsoever in the context to say that 1000 = 35-40.
Your reference to "various other authors" has no value in this discussion. And with reference to Rev. 20, the 1,000 years has run for 2,000 years. Does that make God slack concerning His promise?
Look again.
I didn't say that. I quoted A. T. Robertson, the greatest Koine Greek scholar of the 20th century, as saying that. He was amillennial, rejecting both the postmil and premil positions. (In spite of that, I highly recommend that you find his
Word Pictures in the New Testament and consult it often. It is available for free in e-sword and other software packages, being in the public domain.)
Again, Robertson's point: there are many different interpretations of the 1000 years, if you are amil or postmil. Why is that? Because every interpreter who interprets allegorically/spiritually interprets not from the text but from his own opinion. My point: if you interpret literally, there is only one possible meaning to the 1000 years:
1000 years!!
And of course, with reference to Daniel 9, the 70 weeks ran out around AD 33 after Jesus had finished his saving work & the Jewish leaders had rejected the Apostolic Gospel & been declared uncircumcised. Say that to the average person on the street and he'll see it makes sense. (That's literal understanding.)
Tell the average person on the street that there are hundreds of weeks between week 69 & week 70 and he'll call for you to be locked up. (That's hyperbole.)
Again, you miss the point of my tongue-in-cheek comment. The average person on the street interprets everything literally. He would interpret Daniel's weeks as literal weeks, then try to figure out what in the world Daniel meant (not an easy task). He or she does not look for secondary, "spiritual" meanings on the job, at the store, in the doctor's office, from his family, etc. The very idea is ridiculous.
I've dealt with many dozens of new believers in Japan, America, and other countries. Not a single one ever said to me, "But shouldn't we interpret the Bible spiritually instead of literally?" No, they interpret literally until some Internet dingaling tells them otherwise.
Patient--"Doc, tell it to me straight. Do I have cancer?"
Doctor--"Verily, there is an evil scourge within you. I say unto you, thou must repent and receive succor for thy temple, or face judgment upon thy temple."