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The UK Bible Students Website Christian Biblical Studies |
PERSPECTIVE
A short study on 2 Peter 3: 4-9
3 . . . understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing
and following their own evil desires.
4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?
Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”
5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.
6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8 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.
9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
[NIV-1984]
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The Apostle Peter writes of those in these ‘last days’ who scoff at the Bible’s prophecies and who ask, in smug, mocking tones, ‘Where is this “coming” he promised? . . . everything goes on as it [always] has . . .’ .
In fact, relatively few today have any interest whatsoever in anything the Bible has to say. Mockery of the Scriptures is expressed less by rational debate than by the hedonistic nature of contemporary culture, which utters volumes of contempt for the Christian’s God and Christian tradition.
In v. 7, the Apostle compares the coming crisis with that of the Flood, and informs us that ‘the present heavens and earth are reserved’ – not the literal heavens and earth, but rather the destructive elements of present society are held in check, until they erupt in ‘the day of judgment and destruction’ of the persistently wicked.
In v. 8 he puts Time itself into perspective with his declaration that from God’s standpoint a thousand years is like a day, and vice versa. Thus, in v. 9, he cautions us that ‘The Lord is not slow, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’ We have added emphasis to underscore the fact that God’s plan is to save most of humanity from the curse of sin, dying and death. And that although the tenor of this passage is ominous, there is promise on the other side of the storm.
The Lord’s apprehension of Time is quite different from our own. Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity gives a clue when it states that one’s perception of the passage of time varies, depending on where the observer is situated in the Universe. Jehovah is neither early nor late in carrying forward His plans, regardless of how we see things down here on the ground – ‘as some understand slowness’.
If we judge God’s action (or inaction) by our own rudimentary sense of the passage of time, we miss the point. Our own perspective is severely constricted, the product of a temporal existence, hemmed in, like fish in a bowl. God, however, is eternal and all-knowing. To Him the past and the future is an open book. He unfolds His plans thoroughly and fairly, the object in view being the salvation of mankind. The ransom-sacrifice of Christ on the cross is the guarantee of such an outcome.
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August 2017