1This second epistle, beloved, I now
write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2That ye may be mindful of the words
which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the
apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
3Knowing this first, that there shall
come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4And saying, Where is the promise of
his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were
from the beginning of the creation.
5For this they willingly are ignorant
of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out
of the water and in the water:
6Whereby the world that then was,
being overflowed with water, perished:
7But the heavens and the earth, which
are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day
of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8But, beloved, be not ignorant of
this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a
thousand years as one day.
9The Lord is not slack concerning his
promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10But the day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up.
11Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy
conversation and godliness,
12Looking for and hasting unto the
coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13Nevertheless we, according to his
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye
look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without
spot, and blameless.
15And account that the longsuffering
of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to
the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
16As also in all his epistles,
speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be
understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also
the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
17Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye
know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of
the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
18But grow in grace, and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever.
Amen.
Peter ends his epistle with an encouragement to set aside
that which is of this temporary world and instead to trust the promises of YHWH
of the new heavens and earth in which there shall be no corruption of any kind.
This stirring up of our minds to the purity of belief in that which has been
promised by both the prophets of old and the apostles of new is not without a
warning of those things which will try to undermine that trust.
that there shall come
in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,… For this they
willingly are ignorant of
I would suppose that any believer who has ever spoken about
the Lords return has heard “that has been claimed for two thousand years and
still the world goes on and He has not come.” Peter concludes two things about
those who scoff at the scriptures warning and promise of a future judgment in
which the things of this current world shall be done away with.
The first is that
such men are looking to obtain their own lust for the things of this current
world.
The other is that they willfully ignore that the scripture
is plain that the world of Adam, Cain, Seth, Enoch and all those who lived
prior to the flood lived in a world that perished by that flood. The same word
of God that tells us of these things tell us this present world shall be
destroyed by fire in the day of judgment and loss of soul to ungodly men.
We hear the voice of men accusing God “If He is real, if He
loves us why is there so much suffering in the world?” The answer is He is
longsuffering and forbearing to the end that all men have the chance to repent.
Despite this there is a set day when this present world of darkness will be
consumed by His light and every soul not gathered into His life shall be no
more for death itself will cease to be.
We by His promises look for this new heaven and earth in which
only righteousness will be found. Since we look for this day of His perfect way
then Peter stirs us to trust in Him to purge us and make us at peace with Him
in the life that is of His breath. For
the life that is generated by the will and way of men is an enemy of God.
