2 Peter (written)

Thursday, 27 February 2020

Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:13

In the Greek, the stress is not on “we,” but on “new.” A direct translation would be, “New, however, heaven and earth new.” And more, the word translated as “new” requires further explanation.

There are two different Greek words translated into English as “new.” The first is kainos. It signifies something new in quality. One might say, “It was not seen like this before.” The second is neos. That signifies new in age. One might say, “This was not seen before.” The difference is that the first existed but has changed, whereas the second is completely different. The first is what is being referred to by Peter. The heavens and the earth are new in the sense of being the same heavens and earth, but they are completely changed.

This is also the same word used in Revelation 21:1 which speaks of “a new heaven and a new earth.” The universe is not being recreated, but rather it is refreshed to a state which did not previously exist. This is the state that Peter speaks of. And he says that it is “according to His promise.”

Peter’s words now are based on the promise of the Lord from the Old Testament. In the book of Isaiah, this state was prophesied about –

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.” Isaiah 65:17

He also refers to this in Isaiah 66:22. However, it must be noted that the descriptions of Isaiah and Revelation do not match entirely. For example, Isaiah 65 also says –

“No more shall an infant from there live but a few days,
Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days;
For the child shall die one hundred years old,
But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.” Isaiah 65:20

There, Isaiah prophesies of a time when people will live to great ages, but there will be death. However, Revelation goes on to say, “

“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 22:3, 4

God slowly and progressively reveals His plan of redemption to man. What Isaiah foresaw was certainly the time of the millennial reign of Christ. What John saw included that time (Revelation 20), but he then goes beyond it to a time of complete renewal.

Peter’s words may (and probably do) only go as far as the millennium as prophesied by Isaiah. This is what Israel had anticipated, and it would be what Peter is speaking of. John’s revelation came later and is the final fulfillment of the plan of the ages. No matter what, the plan of redemption is now laid out in its entirety for us to know what is coming in both the millennium and into the final, eternal state.

Peter’s speaking of this new heaven and new earth, which is based upon his previous words of destruction, only align properly with the change from the current state to that of the millennial reign. There must be a destruction by fire, where things melt in heat (see Zechariah 14:12 and other OT cataclysmic passages to understand this better) in order for that to come about.

Life application: The things we treasure now will be completely burned up. Because of this, we are told time and again in the Bible to not let ourselves become attached to earthly things, nor to let them run our lives. Rather, we live here, use the world while taking care of it, but we should be willing to look beyond what we have now to that which is eternal. And God won’t fail to surprise us!

He promises new heavens and a new earth. And what He has prepared is surely beyond anything we can imagine or hope for. Best of all though, it will be an earth where righteousness dwells. Think on that for a moment… Even the things we cherish most can’t keep us happy. This is because we live in an unrighteous world.

The showy car we spend so much time on is bound to get scratched or dented by a person jealous of what we have. The large house with expensive delights in it is susceptible to robbery, leaving us with a sense of being violated. The whopping bank account we saved diligently for, and which we relied on for our “golden years,” is lost in a moment when some hacker replaces our personal information with his own. Even our unrighteous governments seize what has been earned, taking from the rightful owners and handing it over to those who haven’t worked for it.

The list can go on to everything we have, every person we love, every hope we have stored up for. In the end, this world of unrighteousness will be replaced with a world where contentment reigns, where justice is established, and where peace and joy are the hallmark of our dealings with others.

Best of all though is the prospect of sharing eternity with Jesus – the One who made it all possible. His work destroyed the devil’s work, and it allows us access once again into the paradise lost so long ago. What a great and wonderful Lord!

Yes, Lord Jesus! How wonderfully splendid will be the day when we share in Your eternal kingdom – one established in righteousness and with all the heavenly delights we once had with you at the beginning. May we never become consumed with this temporary and fallen world when that which You have prepared for us is yet future. Amen.

Wednesday, 26 February 2020

… looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 2 Peter 3:12

There is an appointed time when the heavens and the earth will go through their cataclysmic changes. Peter just noted that because of this, believers should conduct their affairs in holiness and godliness. In this, they will be “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.”

First, the term, “day of God,” is unique in Scripture. It is an event usually associated with Jesus – the day of the Lord, for example. However, the term God is used, probably to show that the entire Godhead is uniquely involved in what shall come to pass. This seems evident because of the use of the Greek word Parousia, which signifies actual presence. It is “a technical term with reference to the visit of a king or some other official” (HELPS Word Studies). God’s visitation will be the reason for, and evidenced in, what occurs.

For the believer, the term “looking for” signifies more than just looking around to find something, but looking in eager anticipation. It is a state of expectation that something will come to pass. Believers are to always be eager for the events which have been prophesied. This does not mean that they will be participants in that time of destruction, but that their deliverance will come because the timing of those events has also come. This is seen with the word “hastening.”

The idea here is that what believers do will actually affect the timing of these events. Paul says in Romans 11:25 –

“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” 

There are a set number of Gentiles that will be brought into the redemptive plan of God before the rapture. When that number is met, the current age will come to its close. Obviously, if nobody evangelized anyone for a year, that number would be delayed. If everyone evangelized everyone they knew, and many converts came about each day, the time would be shortened.

A similar thought is found in Acts 3 –

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19

Peter knew that when Israel as a nation repented of their crucifixion of Christ, the nation would finally be granted all of the promises which had been made to it. Thus, if the whole nation did so 2000 years ago, the earthly kingdom would have come at that time.

This means that our actions affect the timing of such events. And yet, God already knows what our actions will be, and so the timing has been set and prophesied in advance. Like free will in man, there is a synergistic working out of the timing of redemptive events. Just because God knows what will happen, it does not negate that we must act in order for it come about. Jesus says as much in Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

Next, Peter says of this coming “Day of God” which we should look for and hasten, “because of which the heavens will be dissolved.” This returns to the thought of verses 10 and 11 which spoke of this event. At first, it sounds contrary to right thinking that anyone would want the heavens to be dissolved. But if we are to “hasten” that day, then it must be a day with a good purpose.

With that understanding, and before that good purpose is explained, Peter continues with the state of those heavens, which is “being on fire.” One can think of the very oxygen of the atmosphere being ignited. Everything will burn as the fuel is brought into the burning, causing it to continue growing and increasing in fervency. This will be so much the case that “the elements will melt with fervent heat.”

It appears that what man has produced through nuclear science is the very thing God will use to bring about the destruction of the earth. Whether God actively or passively brings about an action, it is still ascribed to God. This is true throughout Scripture. A battle may be won by Israel, but it is said that the Lord brought about the victory. There is no reason to doubt that this will be the case in the end times.

In the next verse, Peter will explain why it is, in fact, appropriate for believers to look for this coming day with expectation, and to even hasten its coming.

Life application: The book of 2 Peter has spent a great deal of time speaking of false prophets and destruction. When analyzing it, it is hard to miss the fact that, unlike Jesus’ earthly ministry, there is another side to His expectations.

Jesus came and spoke a gospel of peace to the world. He preached about love and servanthood, and he demonstrated these attributes personally and faithfully. So why do Peter and other apostles write so much about faithlessness and destruction?

The reason is that Jesus’ ministry was an example to us of how we should live and conduct our lives now – following His lead. Additionally, it was intended to show us our own state of moral depravity – what He did we could never do.

Finally, He gave His life to reconcile us to God the Father. All of this was accomplished for our benefit and to give us a choice – to accept Him and be saved from what we deserve. Peter is merely showing us what to avoid, how to avoid it, and also the consequences for not paying heed to Jesus and His work. The “day of God” is coming, and we need to choose now what we will do about Jesus Christ.

Peter’s words about the coming destruction are not some exaggerated speech intended to scare us into loving God. They are intended to show us the consequences of not loving Him. Peter says we should look forward to and hasten this coming day. No one in his right mind would do this, knowing what it will be like, unless he was already securely protected from that day.

The fact of the matter is that God’s justice demands the destruction of the wicked. This is all of us. None of us meet His standards, but in His great mercy, He judged wickedness in His own Son. If we accept the payment rendered at the cross, then we are free. If not, we will meet our Maker in the vast inferno prepared for that horrifying day.

Lord Jesus, what You endured on the cross clearly demonstrates the guilt we as humans bear and the punishment we deserve. Thank You for giving us life through Your death and hope through Your resurrection. We look forward to the day of Your visitation, knowing that through You we are safe from the wrath to come. What a splendid Lord You are! Amen.

Tuesday, 25 February 2020

Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 2 Peter 3:11

Peter now gives a practical application for what he has just said. The word “therefore” is not found in the Greek, even if it is implied. Rather, it reads more simply, “These things, in this way, all being dissolved.” It is a way of asking them to consider the importance of their ties to materialistic things. “If all of this stuff is going to be dissolved, then of what true importance is it?”

Man builds empires which seem as if they will last forever, and yet, within a very short time, there is nothing left but rubble. The great Assyrian kingdom was so completely destroyed that Bible naysayers claimed it was only a myth. Eventually, the ruins of Nineveh were discovered, proving the biblical account, but what was once great and imposing eventually became nothing but a curiosity for archaeologists to dig through for clues about the past.

The same is true with all that is around us today. The empires of the world are all set to be dissolved in the heat of the end-times destruction. None of the things that are so highly valued by man will be of any value at all.

Considering this, then what is of true value? What is it that man should be pursuing? Peter asks, “what manner of persons ought you to be?” The question is a rhetorical device in which the answer itself is stated with the words “in holy conduct and godliness.” If the material world is set to be obliterated, then man should be focusing on something other than that material world. If the creation is a futile place to set one’s desires, then the Creator must be the only place to do so.

In setting one’s desires on the Creator, one will then conduct himself in a manner which is pleasing to the Creator. This is what Peter is relaying. There is no true reward in earthly gain, but there is great reward in conducting one’s affairs in holiness and godliness. Paul makes a similar argument in 1 Timothy 4:8 by saying, “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”

Life application: Whether we like the thought of the world being destroyed by fire or not, it will be. And regardless how we feel about everything man has done being wiped out, the fact is that God has spoken, and it will be so. The end of all things is at hand, and so we need to look forward to what God has planned after this age, not during it. This means that our lives in the current age need to be conducted in holiness and godliness.

Is this something you are pursuing? You alone are accountable for what eternity holds in store for you. Make sure you live without the prospect of eternal regret, but instead for rewards from the Lord for your conduct now, during this walk of faith in what lies ahead.

Heavenly Father, may we live our lives without fear of the promised coming destruction upon this earth. But rather, help us to be confident in our hope of a surer foundation in a world without end – a world where we will live in the presence of Jesus. Give us the wisdom to live our lives for Him now so that when that time comes, we will be welcomed into our eternal dwelling with abounding joy and not regret. Amen.

Monday, 24 February 2020

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 2 Peter 3:10

Peter has been speaking of the coming of the Lord, something denied by the scoffers due to the lengthy time which is said to elapse between the promise and the occurrence. The very fact that Peter penned this, after such a short time from Christ’s ascension, should clue these scoffers in that it would be a really long time. He went on to say that one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Reading his words, then taking the rest of Scripture in that light, it should be obvious to anyone willing to heed the word that a great time interval of millennia could be expected to pass before the return of the Lord. Obviously, hindsight is 20/20, but for the scoffers of today, it should be as plain as the noses on their faces. Regardless of this, Peter now continues the thought by saying, “But the day of the Lord…”

This is a phrase used rather sparsely in the New Testament. He spoke of it in Acts 2:20 –

“The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.”

What is obvious from Peter’s words here in 2 Peter, is that the prophecy of Acts 2:20 was not fulfilled at that time. He was not speaking of the events surrounding him and his audience as being fulfilled, but that they were anticipatory of a later date when they would be. The same term, “the day of the Lord,” is seen again in 1 Thessalonians 5:2. An allusion to this is also seen in 1 Corinthians 1:8 and in 2 Corinthians 1:14. The one from 1 Thessalonians 5 says –

“For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.”

This is exactly what Peter next says, that it “will come as a thief in the night.” The question is, “Was Peter making a generally known statement, or was he citing Paul?” It is true that Jesus spoke with similar terms in Matthew 24:43, where He spoke of a thief coming, but it is not as specific. Further, John will quote Jesus with the same “thief” terminology in Revelation twice. And finally, some manuscripts only say, “like a thief.” Thus, many translations follow in that. Therefore, it is hard to be dogmatic about Peter’s words.

However, Peter will, in just five more verses, speak of Paul’s letters. The fact that he does this, and the fact that Paul had said to those at Thessalonica, “For you yourselves know perfectly,” it seems to show that this was a common teaching of Paul’s, and possibly one commonly taught by the other apostles as well. Their message was consistent that the coming of the Lord Jesus would occur, and then there would be a time of great cataclysm which would come upon the earth. Peter begins to describe that with “in which the heavens will pass away with great noise.”

Peter now uses a word found only here in Scripture, rhoizédon. It is an onomatopoetic expression where the sound of the word expresses the meaning. It comes from rhoizos, the whistling of an arrow. Thus, there will be a rushing noise which fills the heavens as the atmosphere is sucked up and out of the areas where the events occur. This is a perfect expression to describe modern thermobaric weapons that use oxygen from the surrounding air to generate extremely high-temperature explosions. In such explosions, there is a blast wave which is normally significantly longer in duration than that produced by conventional explosives.

This follows with what Peter had just said in verse 3:7 which also spoke of the heavens and the earth coming under judgment. It also is what Jesus referred to in Matthew 24:35 with the words, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” What Peter is referring to here is a passage from Isaiah 34 which speaks of a great heavenly cataclysm –

“All the host of heaven shall be dissolved,
And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll;
All their host shall fall down
As the leaf falls from the vine,
And as fruit falling from a fig tree.” Isaiah 34:4

Peter then continues with, “and the elements will melt with fervent heat.” In our modern times, we can see how this is easily possible – thermonuclear war. Before this age, it would not have been imaginable how such things could take place. Now, it is hard to imagine how, eventually, they will not take place. The world is becoming more and more fractured in ideology, and the greed of the human heart will, at some point, bring about the fulfillment of these ancient prophecies. At that time, Peter says that “both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”

These words used by Peter are greatly expanded on in Isaiah 24. It is a passage which speaks of judgment upon the earth on a global scale. The entire passage is worth reading to get the sense of what is coming, but verse 6 is rather clear –

“Therefore the curse has devoured the earth,
And those who dwell in it are desolate.
Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned,
And few men are left.” Isaiah 24:6

Life application: Someday, the world will rejoice at the thought of “peace and safety” brought about by a treaty between Israel and the surrounding nations. But the very thing they believe will bring peace is what will bring about destruction.

The dividing of the Land of Israel as prophesied in Joel 3 will lead to judgment. The land belongs to God and He has given it to Israel as a heritage. But the world is now working to divide it. This will come about as prophesied, and the nations will be judged because of it. The book is written, and the prophecies have been spoken. The question isn’t whether these things will come to pass, but when.

Lord Jesus, when You come for Your faithful at the rapture, we certainly want to be counted among that number. Just as important, though, is that many around us will hear and accept the good news of the gospel now, so that they too will be saved from the Day of Judgment to come. May we be bold to open our hearts and our mouths so that we may proclaim this good news while there is still time! Amen.

Sunday, 23 February 2020

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. 2 Peter 3:9

In the previous verse, Peter, refuting the scoffers, noted that to the Lord, a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years are as one day. That was provided to show that “The Lord is not slack.” The word here is bradunó. It signifies, “to loiter” or “to be unduly slow.” There is the sense of being late in regard to an appointment.

Peter is saying that this is not the case with the Lord. Rather, He has His appointed time for all things, and He will meet those appointments perfectly. This includes the timing “concerning His promise.” That is speaking of the return of Christ which Peter said the scoffers bring up as a way of mocking His truthfulness. In verse 3:4, he cited them as saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?”

But Peter shows that the promise has been made, and that even if it seems like an inordinate amount of time has gone by, and that the Lord is tardy to His appointment, this is not the case, especially “as some count slackness.”

In the previous verse, it was noted that we as humans look at time, and the events in time, from our own personal perspective. This is why there have been prognosticators in every generation who have claimed that the Lord was coming during their own lifetime. When it doesn’t come about, there is the accusation that the Lord is unnecessarily tarrying, or that He is actually slack. These scoffers then use that as a pretext to deny the truth of Scripture.

But what they believe is a delay which allows them to sin, and to live in lives of sin, is actually a delay which has come about for their own possible good. It is the Lord’s way of showing mercy, even on them. As Peter says, the Lord “is longsuffering toward us.” This is one of the main attributes of the Lord. In Exodus, Moses asked to see the Lord’s glory. When the Lord passed before Him, He made a proclamation concerning Himself to explain His very nature. When He did, He said –

“The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.” Exodus 34:6

The Lord is merciful even to those who scoff at Him. He is gracious in giving them time to consider their errant ways, and He is longsuffering in His attitude toward them, not immediately giving them exactly what they deserve. He is also “abounding in goodness and truth.” He has made sure and reliable promises to His people, and He will fulfill them exactingly. Peter then precisely explains this by saying that the Lord is “not willing that any should perish.”

Man is made in His image. The value of man is not in who he is, however, when in Adam. In Adam, man is fallen and is already condemned. However, the Lord Jesus came to remedy that. He entered into the stream of human existence to specifically correct that defect in man – giving him a value which he was originally intended to possess. After His coming, He gave instruction to those who have come to Him to continue teaching about Him – even to the ends of the earth.

If Christ came back immediately, or after a short time, the world would not be fully evangelized. But when we set our priorities correctly, we will desire to have others come to Him, and we will set our budgets, our actions, and our lives to work in accord with that. All of this is because the Lord truly desires “that all should come to repentance.”

These words are specifically spoken concerning even the scoffers. To repent simply means “to change one’s mind.” One cannot repent about Jesus if he has never heard of Jesus. However, scoffers have obviously heard of the Lord. They have heard of His promised return, and they have scoffed at it. This indicates that they are not saved, and they therefore need to repent, or change their minds, about who Jesus is and about the state of their relationship with Him.

The words of this verse, as much as any others in Scripture, show definitively and without any ambiguity, that the doctrine of free will is correct. It utterly refutes the Calvinistic concept of the Lord first regenerating a person to believe, who then believes and is born again, and who then chooses Christ and is saved. If this was so, then what Peter says here would also indicate that God has failed.

If he desires that none should perish – but that people do perish – then God is the one who failed to regenerate the people that He desired to not perish. Rather, man has been given free will, and man must come to his own conclusions about the Lord, calling out to Him for salvation.

Life application: Peter reveals here what he has been leading up to for the past eight verses. Those who laugh at or argue against the Lord’s return, because of the many intervening years, have failed to understand the reason for the delay. It is for our personal benefit that the Lord is waiting, and for the sake of all who will be a part of His heavenly temple. As Paul says in Ephesians 2:19-22 –

 “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

The Lord is building a holy temple and is using the saved of the ages as living stones to form it. What we may perceive as “slackness” is the Lord’s longsuffering. As wickedness abounds in the world, He is holding out His hands to those who would call on His name. He is doing it as a master Architect. No builder would start a project without considering the materials needed to complete it. God knows the exact number of souls that it will take to build His temple, and when the last person who is needed to finish the next phase of that project calls on Jesus, then the next event in His time schedule will come to pass.

The Lord is not willing that any should perish in the process, but that all will call on Him. Those who actually do will receive their reward; those who fail to do so will be condemned. The process is completely just and is perfect in its scope and execution. What a great God!

O God! How precious it is to be one of the elect – a living stone in Your glorious temple. Thank you for having been patient and longsuffering, and that those who have called on Jesus have been given the chance to do so. Now, please give us patience as we watch You work in other lives, bringing them to the same state of salvation which we now stand in. To Your praise alone! Amen.