(Read 2 Peter 3:8-14)
Note: This blog post is split up into sections for ease of reading.
2 Peter 3:8-9
If people in Peter’s day thought that God would never return (if indeed he was ever there in the first place), how much more hardened and apathetic are the people of today with two thousand more years of getting comfortable with their “nothing will happen” mentality. It is imperative that God’s people understand why the last days have lasted as long as they have and why they may last even longer. It is not because God is forgetful or apathetic or senile or powerless or asleep. It is because he is patient. It is because of us—he wants to give people like us a chance to repent and live. He had many people in Asia Minor to call to faith. And the only reason the world has lasted long enough for you to be reading this book is that God still has people to gather into his church. Let his patience arouse in you not apathy but evangelism!
2 Peter 3:10
This earth, though outwardly as beautiful as Sodom, is doomed. At a time known only to God, he will intervene suddenly, massively, destructively in the universe. Peter calls this “the day of the Lord,” a phrase used often by the Old Testament prophets to teach that God does indeed enter human history to change the course of events. The concept of “the day of the Lord” is the main message of the prophets Joel and Zephaniah.
To unbelievers that day will come like a thief’s attack. It seems as if thieves just seem to know when to steal. Their act of theft is always unexpected, always a cruel shock, and by the time we find out, it is too late to prevent it. It leaves us feeling helpless and angry.
Peter was probably remembering Jesus’ own words of warning and preparation from Tuesday of Holy Week. The disciples had been babbling away about the timeless beauty of the temple in Jerusalem when Jesus gave this solemn prophecy: “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Matthew 24:29,42-44).
For believing Christians, however, that day will come not like a thief, dreadful and shocking. It will be like a beloved father who finally comes home from a lengthy business trip, bursting suddenly through the door, arms wide open to hug his children, pockets bulging with treats. His children’s hearts will be filled not with terror but delight. “Father! You’re finally here!”
“The elements will be destroyed by fire,” says Peter. This doesn’t refer to the elements of the periodic table, which of course was unknown in the 60s a.d., but rather to the ordered structure of the universe. Everything will be taken apart, everything above (the heavens) and everything below (the earth). Everything that seems so permanent—oceans and mountain ranges—and everything we thought we could depend on—the sun’s radiant light and the food chain—will be dismantled.
“Everything in it will be laid bare” as well. That’s a bit of a paraphrase—the Greek says literally “the earth and all the works in it.” Those works surely are God’s, and a stunned humanity will behold the outward and inward wonders of God’s ordered structure. But those works to be laid bare will also be the things people have done. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). Yes, God’s eyes are universal enough to see the works of billions of people, his memory is big enough to keep them all straight, and his mind is sharp enough to evaluate them.
2 Peter 3:11-14
We are relieved of the terror of the end by the blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanses us of all sin. The wrath of God will pass over us just as the angel of death passed over all homes in Egypt that had been marked with the blood of the Passover animal. We are safe in God’s care—no one can snatch trusting sheep out of the hands of the Good Shepherd.
So now what? What difference does this foreknowledge of judgment day make in our daily lives? Peter is blunt. He calls on people who are washed, justified, sanctified, and filled with the Spirit’s power and gifts to “live holy and godly lives . . . be . . . spotless, blameless, and at peace with him.” He doesn’t want the people in his congregations to be paralyzed by the thought of judgment day. Knowing of the final destruction should not make people idle, apathetic, fruitless, and wasteful of God’s gifts. God invested heavily in his children so that they could bring his blessings to other people. Clear knowledge of the end, rather, will energize us to lead lives that worship God, obey his Word, build Christian communities, and make God look good where we live.
Sometimes Christians look at the church as a great place to hide until the second coming. They see the church as a refuge where they can get away from ungodly people. A better vision is to see the church as a place to be refreshed, healed, trained, and inspired, to glorify God in the world in word and deed. Christians pray “come soon, Lord Jesus,” confident that the Lord will most certainly answer that prayer.
American poet Robert Frost mused about the end of the earth: “Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice.” Peter says it will be in fire. Some physicists predict that the world’s end will come millions of years from now when the sun’s fuel is exhausted and the earth slowly cools down to the point where human life is unsustainable. Peter says it will happen violently, suddenly, and with intense heat. No ice here—the heat will be so intense that the very molecular structure of matter itself will collapse.
All this sounds terrifying, doesn’t it? Fear not. Believers will witness these sights from the safe arms of God’s holy angels, who will lift us from the earth as the judge returns (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Furthermore, God is coming not just to take things away from us. After the dismantling of the universe is complete, he will utter his creative word once again and a new heaven and earth will spring into being. This will not be an entirely other sort of existence, strange and alien, but our own universe, dismantled and rebuilt, transformed and renewed. The new world will have some great advantages over the old: heaven and earth will be together, not separate, as John saw and heard in Revelation 21:3: “Now the dwelling of God is with men.” “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him” (Revelation 22:3). “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
It will be the “home of righteousness”; that is, no more sin, evil, violence, war, cruelty, crime, and jails. This old order of things will have passed away. The second half of Isaiah chapter 65 is a poetic description of how wonderful life with God will be. “The sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more” (verse 19). Jesus Christ has done far more than to just bring us back to the Garden of Eden, back to where Adam and Eve started. Once we enter the new heaven and earth, there will be no more satanic testing and tempting.
This blog post is an excerpt from The People’s Bible: James, Peter, John, and Jude. You can check out the book here. The People’s Bible series is a Bible commentary for everyone. The authors of the series have served as pastors, college teachers, or seminary professors. Each author began with the original Hebrew or Greek text and then worked to bring the message of God’s Word to Christians who are looking to dive deeper into their study of the Bible. Two important truths guide all the commentaries: First, the Bible is God’s inspired Word and is therefore true and reliable. Second, the central message of the entire Bible is Jesus Christ.