J.D. Farag: How Close is the Rapture? - 2 Peter 3:8-10

In this teaching titled “How Close is the Rapture? – 2 Peter 3:8–10”, Pastor J.D. Farag examines three key factors that reveal just how near we may be to the rapture of the church. Drawing from Scripture, he unpacks the apostle Peter’s words and helps us understand the times we are living in and what it means to be ready for our blessed hope.

Good morning. Welcome. You can be seated. I’m so glad you’re here—so glad you came. I also want to welcome those of you joining us online. We’re very glad you’re with us.

We’re going through Second Peter verse by verse on Sunday mornings, second service. Today’s text is 2 Peter 3:8–10. I know you just sat down, but I’ll ask you… You don’t have to, but if you’re able and want to, please stand and follow along as I read the text. If not, where you’re seated is fine.

2 Peter 3:8–10 (NIV):
“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.”

Let’s pray. Please join with me as we ask God to bless this to our understanding.

Father in heaven, thank You for Your Word, and thank You for this portion before us today. Lord, we come with great anticipation, looking to You to, by the Holy Spirit—as only You can—first and foremost get our attention. And then, once You’ve got our attention, hold our attention so our minds don’t wander, especially with this passage and what it has for us today.

Lord, we know You want to speak into our lives through Your Word. That’s not the question. The prayer is that when—not if—You speak, we would have ears to hear and hearts to receive what You’re saying. You’re always speaking, always instructing, always teaching. But are we hearing, learning, and heeding—taking heed to Your Word?

So today, Lord, that’s why we’re here. We ask You to do that for us by the Holy Spirit. Speak in that still, small voice. Thank You, Lord. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen and amen.

You can be seated. Thank you.

We’re going to talk about my favorite subject of all time—one I talk about all the time. There’s a reason for it: Peter is talking about it. We’re going verse by verse through Peter, so since Peter is talking about it, we’re going to talk about it. What are we talking about? How close the rapture is.

Spoiler alert: it’s really close, as we’re about to see.

What I want to do today is answer the question, “Just how close are we to the return of Jesus Christ to rapture His church?” The Apostle Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is writing to Christians then—and it was for them then—but how much more so is it for us now?

He’s explaining, even clarifying, why it seems like the Lord is delaying—why the Lord has not returned. “It seems like it’s taking a long time. I expected the Lord to have come by now. Why does it seem like He’s slow in keeping His promise?”

He’s addressed this in the prior verses because this was their issue. Not only were they dealing with this in their own hearts concerning the Lord’s return, but they were dealing with mockers who ridiculed them—all the time. “Where is the promise of His coming? Everything just keeps going as it always has. What makes you so sure it’s in your lifetime? Everyone thought it was in their lifetime.”

Yes—even the Apostle Paul. When he writes, “We who are alive and remain will be caught up,” Paul includes himself in the “we.” Notice he doesn’t say, “the people who are alive at that time will be caught up.” No—“we.” Why? Because the doctrine of imminence teaches that nothing has to happen before the rapture. Could the rapture have happened in Paul’s day? Yes. I’m glad it didn’t—let that sink in.

Are there prerequisites, preconditions, or signs? No. The rapture is a sign-less event. Nothing has to happen before it happens.

In that context, Peter wants to settle their hearts and explain: “I know it seems like the Lord is delaying His coming. He’s slow in keeping His promise.” But that’s not the case.

After praying and preparing to teach this text, I organized it into three sections—three factors to consider to understand just how close we really are to the rapture.

1) The Lord’s Timing (v. 8)

Peter refers to Psalm 90:4: “For a thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.”

Why reference this? Two reasons.

First, perspective. We see time fin-ite-ly; God is outside of time—infinite. God created time but did not create us for time; He created us for eternity. It’s impossible for us, in the finite, to fully grasp the infinite. So God uses anthropomorphisms—human terms (e.g., “the hand of God,” “the eyes of the Lord”)—to help us comprehend.

Peter, by the Spirit, is saying: our timing is not God’s timing. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. He must “download” eternal truths to our limited “hard drives,” so He gives us a gauge: with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years.

Think this through: from Adam to the present is about 6,000 years—six days to the Lord. That changes our perspective. We say, “It’s been 6,000 long years,” and God says, “It was a week ago.”

Second, typology and numerology. Scripture is filled with types, shadows, pictures—“Scripture pictures”—of what is to come.

• Enoch is a type of the church: he walked with God and then was not, for God took him—pre-flood, a picture of the pre-trib rapture.

• Noah is a type of Israel: preserved through the flood—saved in the midst of judgment, a picture of Israel preserved through the Tribulation and coming to salvation.

• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: the furnace heated seven times—pointing to the seven-year Tribulation—and the Fourth “like the Son of God” is with them in the fire.

• Daniel is conspicuously absent from the furnace—exalted prior—a picture of the church taken before the Tribulation.

Back to the “thousand-years-as-a-day” gauge: six days (6,000 years) from Adam brings us to now. The seventh day is the Sabbath rest—1,000 years—the Millennium.

Sequence: Rapture → seven-year Tribulation → Second Coming → Millennial Kingdom (the seventh “day”).

Hosea 6:1–2 adds more texture: “After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.” Two days (2,000 years) of Israel being torn and smitten—then revived (returned to the land). On the third day (the third thousand-year day), raised up—resurrection life in the Kingdom. Add the numbers: 4,000 years to Christ’s first coming + 2,000 years = 6,000 (six “days”); then the seventh.

So, “It seems the Lord is delaying.” But it’s only been six days. Where are we now? At the end of the sixth day. For Israel, at the end of the second day—next comes the third.

Jesus also said in Revelation, “Behold, I come quickly.” The Greek tachos (not tacos!) gives us tachometer—revolutions per minute. The minute is fixed; the revolutions increase. He comes when things are revved up. Are things revving up? Yes. We’re close.

2) The Lord’s Patience (v. 9)

Now it gets personal. Some were sure the rapture would happen in 1981. I’m so glad it didn’t—I got saved in 1982. The Lord is patient, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to—what? Repentance.

We’ve often misused that word, making it a precondition for salvation, as if we must “clean up our act” first. That’s not repentance. Repentance means a change of mind (Greek metanoia). Change your mind so God can change your heart. He won’t force Himself on you—He wants us to choose Him in love, not by compulsion.

John 3:16 doesn’t say, “…that whoever repents…” but “whoever believes.” When you change your mind about Jesus and believe, you have, in essence, repented. That’s why our simple “ABC’s of salvation” resonate worldwide—people are getting saved because the gospel is simple: believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

For me, it was 1982. I heard a simple gospel presentation, prayed a simple prayer (“I don’t want to go to hell; I want to go to heaven”), and the next day I was a new creation. The Lord took away old desires and birthed a hunger for His Word. Thank You, Jesus, that You didn’t return in 1981.

That’s Peter’s point: the delay is mercy. The Lord is patient.

3) The Lord’s Day (v. 10)

Not to be confused with what we call “the Lord’s Day” (Sunday), this is “the day of the Lord”—the commencement of the seven-year Tribulation, not the rapture. (In contrast, “the day of God” in v. 12 refers to the new heavens and new earth after the Millennium.)

This should encourage all who long for His appearing (distinct from His coming to earth). In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul reminds a very young church of what he taught them early on: the gospel includes Christ’s death, burial, resurrection and the imminent rapture—our blessed hope.

Peter says the day of the Lord will come like a thief. A thief doesn’t text you at 2 a.m. to schedule a visit. You don’t expect a thief—that’s the point. It’s sudden and unexpected.

Personal example: we recently lost electricity at home (not the windstorm). I wasn’t expecting it and I was unprepared—dead batteries, couldn’t find flashlights. Six hours later, power returned. What did I do? I stocked up—flashlights, lanterns, batteries, even a battery-operated fan. When the next outage came, I was ready. That’s Peter’s exhortation: expect it—be prepared.

It’s sunny now, trade winds are gentle. You’re not expecting an outage—but it can happen any time. So can the rapture: suddenly.

Notice the word “will” in our text: the day of the Lord will come; the heavens will disappear; the elements will be destroyed; the earth will be laid bare. It will happen. How soon? Very soon. Today? Perhaps.

Given the “six days” framework—for Israel, the end of the “second day”—we’re there. We are so close the rapture could happen at any time. Be ready.

Come on up, David. Why don’t you stand? We’ll close in prayer. I love talking about the rapture. Hardly anyone talks about it anymore—too controversial. But there’s one clear view right here in the Word.

Father in heaven, thank You for the Blessed Hope—our only hope of ever getting out of this dying, evil world. Thank You that You could come at any time, so suddenly. Based on Your Word, we are at the end. Encourage the discouraged who long for Your return, and reignite any hearts that have cooled because of how close we are.

Thank You for this passage and the verses that follow. Thank You for inspiring Peter to write this—we need and want to hear it. In Jesus’ name, amen.