WHAT DID "QUICKLY" AND "LAST DAYS"
MEAN IN GOD'S MIND?


In the book of Revelation, we read phrases such as:
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. (Rev 1:3)

Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. (Rev 3:11)

Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the saying of the prophecy of this book. (Rev 22:7)
Those who accuse us of interpreting scriptures "spiritually" too much, are doing the very same thing with these verses above.  Some mock the idea of the last days being the days between the cross and the destruction of Jerusalem. They say that 2000 years may seem like a long time to man, but God sees one thousand years as one day. I wonder if they teach they are in the last days in contrast to earlier years, as few as 100 years ago?

This is an example of a commonly distorted piece of scripture. Here is the quote referred to.
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. (2 PE 3:8)
This section of scripture is not saying that God reckons time as so much smaller a deal than mankind does, since God is eternal. It is not saying anything of the sort! This is a famous distortion of scripture.

Notice the actual context of the passage:
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 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. 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: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. 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. 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. 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. 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 Pe 3:3-10)
This is speaking about the veracity of God's promises based upon whether or not they can stand the test of time. Peter said that it is ridiculous to doubt the Lord's coming on the basis that the duration of time since the promise was given has been so long that "our fathers fell asleep". Peter explained that God's promises are not weakened as time passes before they are fulfilled. God is able to ensure that a promise is kept whether a day passes for the fulfillment or one thousand years. The amount of time that has elapsed since God made a promise does not affect the possibility of that promise coming to pass one iota.

The reason some of His promises have not been fulfilled after so long a time since they were pronounced is due to the fact that God is longsuffering. This is particularly referring to judgment. And God's word concerning coming judgment is not weakened because of decades having elapsed since it was first foretold. God was simply giving the people all the chances in the world they might need, in order to repent. He does not want anyone to perish. He does not rejoice in judging people in wrath. It's not as though He is hasty to hurt.

But this passage in no way is telling us that God's calendar looks at one day as we would regard one thousand years. It is contrasting long periods of time with short periods of time -- one thousand years as opposed to a day -- and is saying that the assurance of the promise being fulfilled is the same whether one day has passed or one thousand years has passed. This is not saying God sees one thousand years as one day.

We could read it like this: "The surety of a promise being fulfilled over one day or one thousand years is the same, when it comes to God making the promise." With God, we have no worries. With God, a promise that He means to fulfill in one day is the same in quality of the assurance of fulfillment as a promise He ordained to bring to pass in one thousand years.

Men might be unable to fulfill a promise after a few hundred years pass by, of course. But when we are dealing with God, there is no need to despair. With God, fulfilling a promise over one thousand years is just as easy as fulfilling one over one day's duration. That is what Peter is actually saying.

It is absolutely irrelevant for the Lord to note a frame of reference according to His eternal oversight when speaking to men. To say that Revelation's references to the Lord coming "quickly" are spoken from God's viewpoint, who considers millennia as we do mere days, is to imply that God forgets about our perspective, and ignores our limitations of thought. If a proposed "quick" coming meant two thousand years, since two thousand years is hardly no time at all in the mind of a God who has no limitations with time as we do, then all other divinely inspired references in the Bible of a quick coming "at hand" must refer to approximately refer to two thousand years as well.

Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God being "at hand." He repeated John the Baptist's words concerning the same. We know the Kingdom came when the church came, because we enter the Kingdom by being born of the water and of the Spirit.
And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Mat 3:2)
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Mat. 4:17)
"At hand" means very, very soon, in our human terms. And AD70 did indeed arrive quite soon. In fact, it arrived so soon that the angel told John to not seal the book of visions and words he received since the time was so close. Daniel wrote some five hundred years before John wrote. And Daniel was told to not seal the book because the time was afar off for it's fulfillment.
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. (Dan 12:4)

And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. (Dan 12:9)
Compare that with:
And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand . (Rev 22:10)
If Daniel was only 500 years behind John, and was told to seal the book because time was too far away to concern Daniel, but this was not so with John, then how can two thousand years since John fit the scenario? Is there a limit to the extent of man's concern that lies somewhere between our time today since John, and our time today since Daniel? Is the magic limit number between 2,000 years and 2,500 years before the sealing must occur? That must be the case if futurists are correct.

Or maybe God recalled man's limitations when speaking to Daniel, but neglected them when speaking with John. The only problem with that is that God had Daniel seal the book when speaking from man's perspective, whereas He did not when speaking to John from the eternal perspective. One brother was ripped off and cheated from insight, if the futurists are correct, depending upon which perspective God from which chose to speak to these men!