Neither Is A Measure

 

 

Psalm 90:4

 

For a thousand years in thy sight

are but as yesterday when it is past,

and as a watch in the night.

 

2 Peter 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.

 

Neither of these quotations

Was spoken by the Lord

Although it is a fact

They are both in His Word.

 

It is important, however,

That we treat to the context

And not for our own purposes

To read into the text.

 

Neither of the two verses

Relate to the return of the Lord

But some say we are in the last days

And to the same they refer.

 

Others use these verses

To redefine the days of creation,

Instead of six literal days

6000 years is their summation.

 

Regarding the truth of the matter

Both explanations are off

And as a consequence, I must add,

The real essence was lost.

 

 

In the first Scripture reference

Relating to Moses’s prayer

Moses notes man’s short lifespan

Cannot with God's compare.

  

Time will swiftly pass by

While eternity is forever

And while we reference the former

The latter we can never.

 

Man is soon cut off

And he flies away,

Obituaries are the regular news

Each and every day.

 

Yet God is from everlasting

And to everlasting is God,

Which of us can number His days?

That's not possible at all.

 

The Lord is not slack

Regarding any promise He makes

However, we badly falter

When we try to give dates.

 

 

The second Scripture reference

Is attributed to Peter

And is not meant to be a measure,

Not by this speaker.

 

Some, however, use it

To arrive at a specified time

And to which we are admonished

To keep on our mind.

 

They are date setters

And they like to speculate

Hence, they read the daily tabloids

And set erroneous dates.

 

They are not ashamed

That each time they get it wrong

But evaluate and adjust again,

The more headstrong.

 

Jerusalem was judged

In the first century A.D.,

And coming is another judgment

This time for everybody.

  

God doesn’t reckon as we do;

He need not reckon at all,

He transcends time and everything else

He alone is God.

 

Thus, neither is a measure

Of how God counts

And even if it were,

To what would it amount?

 

Stewart Russell © October 29, 2021