PETER’S SECOND LETTER ends, as it should, with a strong emphasis on his concluding point. He speaks here forcefully and prophetically of the Day of the Lord, and our spirits and minds are caught up in the urgency of his expression. There are over eighty verses about the Day of the Lord in scripture, ending with the terrible events that unfold on earth after the sixth seal is opened in the Book of Revelation and God’s wrath is poured out on the irredeemably perverse and corrupt population of the earth. (cf. Rev. 6:12-17) There are ten key verses in the bible short of the event itself regarding this day. The earliest is from Isaiah. “The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted and they will be humbled.” (Isa. 2:11-12) But it is Peter’s view of the time of the end that is most descriptive about the properties of the physical forces—and by extension, spiritual forces—at work as destruction becomes re-creation, and all things are made new. (cf. Rev. 21:1-8 > cosmology; 2 Cor. 5:17 > mankind’s old/new nature)
Peter moves towards his conclusion with this outcome in mind: “To stimulate you to wholesome thinking.” (2 Pet. 3:1) Earlier he states “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things.” (2 Pet. 1:20), and warns about the false prophets who “mouth empty, boastful words.” (2 Pet. 2:18) “They will say, ‘Where is this “coming” he promised?’” (2 Pet. 3:4) Peter rebuts them with a description of the inexorable Day, saying “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise.” (2 Pet. 3:9) He then adds his apocalyptic prophecy: “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.” (2 Pet. 3:9-10)
Greek thought heavily influences the N.T. writers, especially so Paul and Peter. The Greeks reasoned through observation that there are four primary elements: fire, earth, water, and air. Later, one of the great Doctors of the Church, Augustine, adds a fifth element—aether. Aether, in his view, was beyond the earthly elements, and was a mysterious agent of God that held the universe together. Peter seems to have a pre-knowledge of this view as he describes ‘the earth and everything done in it laid bare.’ Is his description from the Jewish view of the first heaven, that immediately above the earth, or beyond, into the second or third (or perhaps more) of the levels of heaven? From a modern scientific perspective, we might imagine our sun’s progression from life to death, from source of light and life to a black hole that devours everything around it. Peter describes this as, “That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.” (2 Pet. 3:12b)
Black holes are formed when stars come to the end of their lifetime in a supernova event. Everything that remains of the star is crushed down into an incredibly small, dense object. Close to the object, gravity is so strong that nothing can get away, not even light. God has given Peter a view into his immense sovereign powers over matter and life, and Peter has done his very best to bring us to the edge of understanding this maelstrom of destruction.
But Peter’s objective is not that we despair over the destruction; instead, it is to give us a sense of joy as we participate with God in re-creation. And so he says, “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” (2 Pet. 3:11-12a) He reassures us that the outcome of the Day of the Lord is “in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” (2 Pet. 3:13)
The phrase to ‘speed the day’ encapsulates *the endeavors of those whom God uses to bring about that day—these are the actions of the ‘holy and godly’ in their time on earth, and you and I stand in the long line from the first disciples to those who will be last. Each one is called to be ‘holy and godly,’ who by their conscious, intentional, and conscientious righteous actions have proven themselves set aside for the mysterious work of God against the surrounding world of the god of this age.
It is not so much that we make the Day happen—that is not it. But it is that we are salt and light (cf. Matt. 5:13-14) in a perverse and dark world in which darkness will eventually have its temporary pyrrhic victory as fire falls from heaven. This will occur when the gospel no longer has redemptive power due to people’s universal total rejection of Jesus. And until that time, both in the way we live our lives, and in our proclamation of the gospel, we await the Day. But it will come. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matt. 24:14)
We end with two foundational strengthening and life-sustaining scriptural axioms. This from Peter, gazing heavenward from below: “Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard.” (2 Pet. 3:17) John, however, gives us a view from heaven to earth, from beyond time and outside of infinity. “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.” (Rev. 14:12)
Yes, Lord, hurry the Day.
Q. Do I really understand this: “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psa. 139:16)
* Louw-Nida 68.80.
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