Peter & the Millennial Week
Paul wrote the book of Hebrews around AD 62 at the end of his first Roman imprisonment. In it he spoke of the “Seventh Day,” God’s “Rest,” and our “Sabbath-observance” as being the Kingdom hope of Christians. About five years later, following his second imprisonment in Rome, Paul was executed under Nero in AD 66. Peter was in prison in Rome at the time awaiting his own appointment with Nero’s executioner which occurred in AD 67. Peter was certainly familiar with Paul’s treatment of this subject and he was also acutely aware of his responsibility to commit certain things in writing to be added to Paul’s written testimony. In his second epistle, written shortly before his execution, Peter affirmed all of Paul’s letters including Hebrews.
Both Paul and Peter had been gradually taught by the “Breath of Truth” concerning “things to come.”[1] Peter, having already considered Paul’s earlier treatment of the Millennial Sabbath in Hebrews 3-4, based his Chiliasm on the same foundation — Moses’ Prayer in Psalm 90. That Peter fully understood the implications of Moses’ prayer concerning the millennial week is evident from the fact that he applied Moses’ Millennial “Days” to the long-anticipated delay in Jesus’ return. It is also apparent that Peter was affirming what Paul had already taught publicly. This is evident from his strong endorsement of the entire collection of Paul’s letters which Peter was affirming and to which he was appending his own two epistles.
2 Pet. 3:14-16 (LGV) 14 Through this, beloved, anticipating these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, unblemished and flawless. 15 And consider the patience of the Master to be deliverance, just as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom that was given to him wrote to you, 16 as in all of his letters, speaking in them concerning these things, in which is some difficult scholarly things, which the unlearned and unstable pervert, as also the rest of the Scriptures, toward their own destruction.
Peter then set out to briefly relay certain critical reminders in writing, meant to outlive himself and continue to provide this authoritative apostolic reminder for future generations.
2 Pet. 1:12-15 (LGV) 12 Therefore, I will not be negligent to constantly remind you about these things, even though you have perceived and have stood firm in the present Truth. 13 Yet, I consider it appropriate, for as long as I am in this – the tent, to awaken you by reminding, 14 having observed that the laying aside of my tent is impending, just as our Master Jesus Anointed made plain to me. 15 And I will be diligent also for you to always have the reminder of these things after my exit.
One of the most important points that Peter wanted to preserve in writing was his eyewitness testimony to the Transfiguration of Jesus, a collective vision he had witnessed along with James and John. According to Peter, this event confirmed the prophecies regarding Jesus’ coming Kingdom.
16 For [it was] not from following cleverly devised fabrications that we made known to you the power and arrival of our Master, Jesus Anointed, but having become eyewitnesses of the magnificence of that One! 17 For receiving from God the Father the honor and glory of the voice carried to Him (that which is beneath the Most-Excellent Glory), “This is My beloved Son, for Whom I delighted.” 18 And we heard this voice carried out of the sky, being together with Him in the holy mountain. 19 And we have the prophetic word verified, to which you do well in heeding (like a lamp appearing in a dark place until the Day breaks and the morning star arises),
Peter’s companion and nephew was John Mark who had become Peter’s scribe. According to Eusebius, Mark wrote his Gospel as a compilation of stories about Jesus from Peter’s preaching. According to both Matthew and Mark, the transfiguration took place “after six days” which is a particularly critical point.
Mark 8:38 – 9:2,7 (NKJV) 38 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” 9:1 And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.”2 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” – 6 because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. 7 And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”
The Mount of Transfiguration experience was a vision-preview of the arrival of Christ’s Kingdom meant to confirm the words of Moses and the Prophets to Jesus’ disciples. Jesus Himself was “transfigured” before them, appearing in glory exactly as He did much later to John in Revelation 1. This shows plainly that Jesus was being portrayed as already resurrected and glorified even before His crucifixion. Moses and Elijah were also present in the vision and according to Luke 9:30-31 they too appeared “in glory,” also portrayed as already resurrected and thus in the Kingdom. The reason these two men were portrayed in this way along with Jesus is because both men separately had a supernatural encounter with the Son of God at the top of Mt. Sinai during their lifetimes, and both of these prophets fasted forty days in conjunction with their encounter with the Son of God. Moses was given the Law on Mt. Sinai by the “Messenger of the LORD” according to Steven in Acts 7:38. Elijah visited the Mt. Sinai site much later and had a similar spectacular encounter with the Messenger of the LORD according to 1 Kings 19:5-18. Their presence in the company of Jesus, portrayed in the vision as all three having been resurrected and glorified, was further proof to the disciples that Jesus was the “Messenger of the Lord” who had previously appeared to each of these men on Mt. Sinai.
At the top of this mountain, a thick cloud enveloped Jesus and the disciples (just as it had done with Moses on Mt. Sinai). Then God’s voice came from heaven, “This is My beloved Son…” This was God’s announcing in the vision that His only-begotten Son was being installed on Mount Zion as King just as the second Psalm prophesied.
Psalm 2:6-9 (LXX) 6 “But I have been made King by him on Sion his holy mountain, 7 declaring the decree of the Lord: the Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son, today have I begotten You. 8 Ask of me, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance, and the ends of the Land for Your possession. 9 You shall shepherd them with a rod of iron; thou shalt shatter them like a potter’s vessel.”
For Peter, James, and John, the Transfiguration experience was especially meant to parallel Moses’ own Mt. Sinai experience.
Exodus 24:16-18 (NKJV) 16 Now the glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 The sight of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
After the six weekdays, on the Sabbath, the same Messenger of the LORD,[2] who formerly appeared to Moses in the burning bush, called Him to come up into the cloud to the top of Mt. Sinai to meet with Him face to face and receive the Ten Commandments.
In the parallel Transfiguration experience, Jesus Christ, the same “Messenger of the LORD” who “became flesh,” took Peter, James, and John up into the mountain. This was also after the six weekdays reckoned by Moses, on the Sabbath day, into the thick cloud.[3] In doing so, the repeated patterns from Moses’ and Elijah’s Mt. Sinai experiences with the Son of God were being intentionally duplicated. This pattern implies that the first resurrection and Christ’s Kingdom will arrive after six millennia, and will occur on the Seventh Day, the Sabbath just as Paul indicated in Hebrews 4.
In the second chapter, Peter warned his readers of the many false teachers who would bring in damnable heresies and lead many Christians away from the true Hope. He then reminded his readers again of the trustworthiness of the testimonies of Moses, the prophets, Jesus, and His Apostles.
2 Peter 3:1-10 (LGV) 1 This second letter I am now writing to you, brothers, in which I am awakening your serious contemplation by recollection, 2 to be reminded of the declarations which have been spoken previously by the holy prophets and the instruction from us, the Emissaries of the Master and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that upon the endings of the days scoffers will come, walking according to their own desires 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His arrival? For since the fathers fell asleep, everything continues like this from the original formation.” 5 For they are willingly oblivious to this: that the skies continued from antiquity, and the land out from water and by water having been upheld by the announcement of God, 6 through which [announcement] the existing order was destroyed. 7 And the present skies and land, having been set aside by the same announcement, are reserved for fire until the Day of Justice and the destruction of ungodly men. 8 Yet, do not miss this one thing: that one day with the Master is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Master is not tardy concerning His promise, as some define tardiness, but is patient towards us, not intending anyone to be destroyed, but to make room for repentance for everyone. 10 However, the Day of the Master will arrive like a thief in the night …
In verses 1-2 Peter again mentioned that his words were meant to provoke recollection of what the Apostles had already taught concerning what the “holy prophets” had predicted (including Moses). This no doubt included Paul’s specific teaching in Hebrews 3-4.
Notice the words of the “scoffers” in verse 4. They recognize and affirm both the creation and “the fathers” (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). The ‘scoffers’ are not atheists, but rather arrogant teachers within the assemblies. A “scoffer” is not identified by one comment, but by his pride and arrogance. According to Proverbs 21:24, “A proud and haughty man – ‘Scoffer’ is his name; He acts with arrogant pride.” In this passage the ‘scoffer’ is Jesus’ wicked servant who was placed in charge of His other servants to give them the necessary food at the proper time. Yet he says, “’My Master is delaying His coming’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk” (Luke 12:45).
These arrogant Christian teachers and leaders will scoff concerning the time of Christ’s coming, denying the hand of God as guiding history according to His prophetic revelations and patterns. Notice especially the reference to the creation account – “the original formation.” The scoffers are “willingly oblivious” to how history has proven prophecies true, and to the patterns in Scripture which provide prophetic types to be fulfilled by future antetypes.
God gave Noah advanced warning 120 years before the flood came.
Gen. 6:3 (NKJV) And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
From the time of this warning, which was twenty years before Noah began building the ark, the flood was withheld for exactly 120 years. That particular announcement of God actually delayed the flood while Noah gathered materials and built the entire ark. Yet it also brought the flood since God Himself set the time limit. Peter stated in verse 7 that “the same announcement” which withheld the flood also reserves the present earth for the judgement by fire on the Day of the Lord. How is it possible that the statement in Genesis 6:3 reveals how long God has delayed the Day of the Lord and exactly when it will come? It is because this single announcement by God to Noah has two distinct fulfillments. The first concerned Noah’s day and reckons the 120 years as regular luni-solar years.
But this same announcement of God also both delays and sets the time of judgement by fire on the Day of the Lord. This is because the 120 years in Genesis 6:3 is also reckoned using the Sabbatical-Jubilee calendar that God outlined in Leviticus 25. After every seven “weeks” of years (49 consecutive years), there must be a special “50th” year intercalated, called the Jubilee year. When the same announcement God gave to Noah is applied using God’s revealed calendar, it counts only the special intercalated Jubilee years which only occur every 50th regular year. Calculating from creation, this gives 6000 years until the Day of the Lord (120×50=6000). By Peter’s reference to “the same announcement” given to Noah in Genesis 6:3, it is apparent that both Peter and his audience were already aware of the double fulfillment of Genesis 6:3 using the Jubilee calendar. Otherwise, his claim that “the same announcement” delays and brings both judgements would make no sense to his readers.
Then, as his way of reinforcing the Millennial Week chronology, Peter reminded his readers of Moses’ prayer in Psalm 90 where this mystery was first concealed by Moses. “Yet, do not miss this one thing: that one day with the Master is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” It is critical to understand that Peter applied Moses’ Psalm to the delay in Jesus’ return. Moses wrote “Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!” (Ps. 90:13). Peter answered the scoffers who say, “Where is the promise of His coming,” by writing, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” So he pointed Christians to Moses’ Prayer and the principle that it contains regarding millennial Days.
Just as in Psalm 90:4, that “one day” referred to the specific “Day” contained in God’s warning to Adam[4] which Moses called “yesterday” that is “past.” That particular “Day” was a thousand years, the first millennium during which Adam died according to God’s threat. Yet, Peter added something that Moses did not say, “and a thousand years as a day.” Peter’s addition to what Moses’ wrote reverses the principle stated by Moses that applied only to the first millennium. In Peter’s second statement, subsequent millennia are also referred to as “a Day.” Peter, under the inspiration of the holy Breath, did exactly what Moses did, referring to a very specific passage in Genesis, the six days of creation week. When he added the second statement, “a thousand years [are] as a day,” he meant that each subsequent millennium was also a “Day.” But it cannot refer to just any “day,” but only to the six days of creation week plus the Sabbath.
This was Peter’s inference from Moses’ statement that the first millennium was also “as a watch in the night,” thus 1/6th of the larger whole. This means that there must be a total of six millennia from creation until the Kingdom arrives. Peter was reminding his readers of the fulfillment of what Moses requested in Psalm 90:12-15: “Teach us to number our days, … how long will it be? … according to the days You have afflicted us, and the years we have seen evil.” Peter specifically applied these things to the delay in Jesus’ return,[5] exactly the same anticipation that Moses spoke of in Psalm 90:12,13,15.
Remember, Psalm 90 also mentioned calculating the entire period of time under the curse, and “numbering” the days and years of all mankind (which was explicitly relayed by Moses in Genesis 6:3). Thus, Peter implicitly linked each millennium to the six days of creation.
John, in the book of Revelation, is the third “witness” (along with Moses, Paul, and Peter) to Chiliasm’s Millennial Week and the Seventh-Day, Sabbath-Rest Kingdom of God. This was accomplished by simply stating plainly that the Kingdom of Christ, when He will reign with the resurrected faithful, will be for a thousand years.[6] Moses’ prayer was not only a request to God to provide the wisdom necessary to understand when the curse would end and the Kingdom would arrive, it also contains the key to the entire mystery. Paul, Peter, and John, led by the Breath of Truth, unlocked the mystery which Moses first wrote about. They taught it to their students orally, and they left these Scriptures under the inspiration of the Breath of Truth as reminders, but also to be illuminated for us at the time of the end.
It is also important to realize that the “scoffers” Peter referred to in the last days are “Christian” leaders. But they are willingly ignorant of the prophetic announcements of God, His hand in guiding history towards His determined outcome, the patterns concealed in Scripture, and His Spirit moving His Son’s bride to “make herself ready.”[7] They are the foolish virgins in Jesus’ parable who were asleep and had no reserve “oil” for their lamps. That “oil” is the illumination and understanding of God’s written Word given by His holy Breath. So when they are caught off-guard by the sudden realization that the end is upon them, they will be unprepared to be overcomers. They will scramble to buy illumination of the Scriptures from those who “sell,” but all to no avail.[8] Then they will seek after Wisdom, but Wisdom will say to them:
Prov. 1:10-33 (NKJV) 22 “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge. 23 Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. 24 Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, 25 Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke, 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, 27 When your terror comes like a storm, And your destruction comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. 28 Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. 29 Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD, 30 They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke. 31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies. 32 For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them; 33 But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil.”
Isa. 66 (NKJV) “2 For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the LORD. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word. … 5 Hear the word of the LORD, You who tremble at His word: “Your brethren who hated you, Who cast you out for My name’s sake, said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified, That we may see your joy.’ But they shall be ashamed.”
God has been counting down the days, years, Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles, and the six millennia which are about to expire. His promises and threats are real and His timing is precise. His hand is just as apparent in history and prophecy as it is in the physical creation. God leaves His fingerprints all over both the creation and history for those who choose not to be “willfully ignorant,” who humble themselves before Him, seeking Him with their whole heart, and being careful to obey all of His commandments.
Go to: Prophetic Patterns of God’s Calendar
[1] John 16:13
[2] Acts 7:30-32,37-38
[3] Luke 9:34
[4] Gen. 2:17
[5] vs. 9
[6] Rev. 20:1-7
[7] Rev. 19:7
[8] Matt. 25:1-13