2 Peter 3 ( Part One)

By Joel McDurmon

The promise of His appearing (2 Peter 3)

The following is some background work on a larger study (to be completed tomorrow) on the “new heavens and new earth” motif in the New Testament. Before getting there, it turned out be necessary for me—psychologically at least, anyway—to lay the preterist foundations of the whole of 2 Peter 3. Tomorrow we will move on to the theological themes.

I fundamentally agree with the position Peter J. Leithart lays out in his little book The Promise of His Appearing: An Exposition of Second Peter.[1] Leithart presents the case that all of 2 Peter 3 (and all of 2 Peter for that matter) was a single coherent message that must be interpreted in the pre-AD 70 context. If you want a little broader treatment than what I present here, I recommend Leithart’s work.

This now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells (2 Pet. 3:1–13).

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Here are my own exegetical highlights from 2 Peter’s message as I see it:

First, Peter is writing to a group of first-century Jewish believers. This is the “second letter” to them (3:1), and is addressed “To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours” (2 Pet. 1:1), which is not very revealing in itself. But the first of those two letters (obviously 1 Peter) addresses this group more specifically as “those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion [diasporas] in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1 Pet. 1:1). “Diaspora” is a well-known technical phrase referring to a people scattered or migrated from one area to another, usually as a result of conquest or exile. First Peter goes on to address the persecution of those saints, giving them comfort and encouragement during their trials. These obviously include Jewish Christians who have fled (were exiled from) Jerusalem under persecution.

Second, the nature of Peter’s message of comfort is of interest: he encourages them by saying the persecution is only temporary—“a little while” [oligon arti]—until the “revelation of Jesus Christ”:

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:6–7).

This means both that their persecution would last only “a little while,” and also that Christ would be revealed after only “a little while.”

Both aspects of this promise correlate with the prediction Christ gave of the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in Matthew 24. In that discourse He said, “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matt. 24:34). Jesus promised He would return in judgment within that generation. Peter took Jesus at His Word (unlike many modern Christians) and was simply applying this promise to his readers’ situation. For the present, they were being persecuted and run out of town by unbelieving Jews; but Jesus would soon be “revealed” in judgment to destroy that Old Covenant system and its adherents—the very people who were doing the persecuting of these saints. Thus, in “a little while”—within the lifetimes of those original readers—Jesus would be revealed and this particular “revelation” would cause the persecution of these saints to cease (because it would kill most of the persecutors and demoralize the rest).

Note, then, how Christ said “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” Note also how something very similar applies to Peter’s comforting of the persecuted saints: their trial is only for a little while until Jesus is revealed. We should connect Jesus’ promise of a return-judgment on Jerusalem within His hearers’ generation directly with the situation of Peter’s audience which had already fled Jerusalem under duress. The “this generation” directly correlates with the “little while” of Peter’s audience.

In fact, there may well have been some of the same individuals who heard Jesus warn “this generation,” were later forced to flee Jerusalem and Judea, who were now sitting among the audience of Peter’s letters.

Third, the entire letter of 2 Peter is an exhortation to the same group addressed in the first letter during this same interim time period to continue trusting what they have been previously taught from the prophets, apostles, and especially the promises of Jesus. Peter “reminded” the group of the first message: “remembrance” is his goal in 2 Peter 1:12, 13, and 15, and 3:1. They were to hold to what had been promised and not to be deceived by false prophets and “scoffers” who had in the mean time (between letters) come among them. In both letters, therefore, patience is the key message—and patience toward the same goal and for the same reason.

Fourth, the message of the scoffers of 2 Peter 3 reveals that the issue was Jesus’ coming and coming soon. That is, it relates to both the fact of His appearing and the expectation of the saints that it would be soon. The first aspect is obvious as the scoffers’ message is, “Where is the promise of his coming?” The second aspect of the timing is implied. Why would they even be questioning why Jesus had not yet appeared if the operating assumption of the audience was not that He would appear soon, or within their lifetimes? Indeed, why would Peter consider such questioning as a product of “sinful desires” (v. 3) and a threat worth countering in writing unless it conflicted with a core expectation that was central to the very message Christ had left? If Peter and these first century Christians did not expect Jesus to return for thousands of years yet, the scoffing makes no sense and is certainly no threat at all to the faith and practice of these first century Christians.

These two aspects of Jesus’ coming and its first-century imminence are not only revealed here but are central to the whole reason Peter wrote to begin with. It was this very questioning of the soon appearing of Jesus that caused Peter to warn of the rise of false prophets immediately in the previous chapter, 2 Peter 2. Peter began that chapter warning that “there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Pet. 2:1).

Fifth, the scoffers themselves were first-century individuals. While the phrase “denying the Master who bought them” has made many appearances in free will-vs.-predestination debate, its first-century context must take precedence: these were unbelieving Jews who had been given the oracles of God, were expecting their Master and Messiah, and yet when He came they rejected Him. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11). Further, Jesus had warned his disciples, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18), and “you will be hated by all for my name’s sake” (Mark 13:13). Now this was literally coming true as those who rejected and denied Christ now turned against His disciples. They were persecuting the believing Jews, enticing them with many deceptions and arguments for leaving the Messiah they had embraced, and thus “denying the Master.” They were denying Him in every sense—including contradicting His own Word that He would appear within the generation.

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Therefore, the scoffers of 2 Peter 3 should be identified with the false prophets of 2 Peter 2. They did not believe Jesus was the Messiah when He came in the flesh, and they persisted in this unbelief throughout the generation. They tried to force it upon Jesus’ faithful followers by scoffing at His promise to return. Just as they had mocked Him to come down when He was on the cross, so they mocked Him to appear as His delay made His promise to return seem vain.

Sixth, the scoffers’ argument and Peter’s response relate directly to Jesus’ first-century warnings to His disciples. The scoffers’ argument is backed by a general appeal to something like uniformitarianism: “For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation” (v. 4). While there can be discussion about which “fathers” are actually in view here, the main aspect of the argument lies in the phrase “all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” These guys saw nothing out of the ordinary, life goes on, nothing changes, so much for this great prediction made by Jesus, allegedly supposed to happen in their lifetimes

If “fathers” refers to the first-century New Covenant “fathers”—the apostles—as most modern commentators seem to think, then this makes even more sense. Jesus was allegedly supposed to come within the generation, but if the very people who believed and spread this message were passing away, that promise would be looking all the more vain.

The only thing that stops me from quickly adopting this view is the definitive nature of the phrase “the fathers fell asleep.” The word “fell” is in the aorist tense which usually denotes simple passive without continuing action into the present. This is strengthened by the “since,” which indicates the audience was looking backward on the fact. And the phrase “the fathers” is comprehensive: It seems to indicate all the fathers fell asleep, not just some. But we know this is not the case with at least one of those “fathers”— Peter—who is alive to write this letter after all. So there should be some hesitation in adopting this view too quickly. In the end, however, the argument of the scoffers is driven more by the alleged uniform continuance of history through the audience’s present than by the starting point of the “fathers.”

Peter’s response is highly notable: “For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished” (2 Pet. 3:5–6). Peter says essentially, “You want to talk about uniform history since the beginning of creation? Ok, let’s do. Ever heard of a thing called the flood?” Peter says these scoffers are willingly ignoring how God once destroyed the world by the flood, and thus how things haven’t always continued as they were since the beginning of creation.

Peter had brought this up already when he covered the false prophets in the previous chapter. The entire world at that time scoffed at the prophecy of Noah:

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly. . . .

And furthermore,

if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority (2 Pet. 2:4–10).

Peter’s response to the scoffers’ argument is thus essentially to say, “You sound like the people who mocked Noah before the promised flood came. But . . . it came.” And to the persecuted saints the message was that God knows perfectly well how to bring judgment on those people while at the same time preserving His saints.

The argument and Peter’s response are vitally connected to the first century context, as they were directly anticipated by Jesus in Luke 17:

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 17:26–30).

We should, in fact, understand Peter’s response to the scoffers as merely an application of Jesus’ teaching here—a teaching Peter would have learned in person with Jesus. When the situation arose with his persecuted audience, it was not a hard call on how to respond. While the scoffers willingly ignored the nature of God’s cataclysmic judgments in history, Jesus and Paul emphasized them as blueprints of what was very soon to come.

Note not only the similarity in the reference to Noah and the flood, but also language of Jesus’ return to destroy the ungodly. Jesus describes it as a day in which he will be “revealed” (Luke 17:30); this is the same language with which Peter comforts his readers, assuring them that the “revelation of Jesus Christ” will occur in “a little while” (1 Pet. 1:7). The same Greek word, apokalypsis, is employed in both.

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The context of Luke 17 makes the first-century context clear as well: it puts this cataclysmic judgment in the context of the coming of the kingdom (Luke 17:1) and right on the heels of Jesus being rejected and suffering from “this generation” (Luke 17:25). As I wrote in Jesus v. Jerusalem:

But the disciples receive special instruction as to the nature of the visible coming judgment. Many will be looking for Christ after Christ is gone (thus there would be many false Christs in that interim period, Matt. 24:5; Luke 21:8), and of all people who had a keen interest in His arrival, the disciples would be most anxious, for they would be among the few who knew for sure He was coming back in their lifetimes. So Jesus makes sure to insulate them against false Christs. He does this by teaching them about the true nature of the coming destruction He has been preaching about:

And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather” (Luke 17:22–37).

We have already discussed part of this passage in relation to the exodus motif with Noah and Lot. These were forewarned men who were prepared for a coming judgment and got out when the time came. The others were all taken by surprise by a massive cataclysmic judgment. Here Jesus sees fit to give His disciples this warning, but not unto the multitudes or the Pharisees. This was a warning to the elect remnant only, for only they would get out.

The lesson is necessary because the pressure to follow after false Christs would be overwhelming. Jesus would later say that these false prophets would be so persuasive that, if it were possible, they would deceive even the elect (Matt. 24:24). The elect remnant, in other words, would need a special focus upon the true Christ, special warning, and here they received it. “Behold, I have told you in advance” (Matt. 24:25). After this, Jesus will immediately proceed to a parable concerning the focused prayers of the elect, as we shall see.

In addition to this lesson which we have already covered earlier, it is important to note Jesus’ prediction, “But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation” (17:25). This verse will have great importance later when we hear Jesus referring again to “this generation.” To those who may be tempted to argue there that “this generation” refers to something other than the generation to whom Jesus was speaking—something more general or more future—the context here in Luke 17:25 makes it clear that Jesus’ “this generation” would be the same generation which rejected Him and caused Him to suffer.

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Peter continues through with the logic of his argument: these scoffers are willingly ignorant of the judgment that overthrew the scoffers of the old world in the time of Noah, and yet the flood came. Just so, the present world (at the time) would indeed be judged by fire and the ungodly scoffers themselves would perish (v. 6–7). We’ll discuss these passages for their theology in a moment.

So up to this point we can understand:

1) Peter’s letters were written to a specific first century audience for a specific first century setting

2) That setting and the persecution in it was only temporary and brief, for Jesus would be revealed in “a little while.”

3) Second Peter follows directly and consistently from First Peter with the same theme, audience, context, promises, encouragement, message, etc.

4) The scoffers’ argument assumes that the saints expected Jesus to appear and to appear soon.

5) The scoffers themselves, therefore, must have come during that time in the first-century.

6) Peter’s response corresponds to Jesus’ teaching in Luke 17, which strongly suggests a first-century judgment-coming of Jesus.

In light of these facts, consider Peter’s extension of the logical argument:

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God (2 Pet. 3:8–12).

In light of what we have already learned, we can be sure Peter’s main point here has nothing to do with actual thousands of years, but simply with restoring the comfort of these persecuted saints and refuting the scoffers who argued essentially, “Look how much time has already passed and nothing has changed, the Lord has not appeared. Get a clue: He ain’t comin’ back.” Peter says wait a minute, God’s timing is not our timing: what seems like eons to us is merely a day to him; what we overlook as a passing day He may consider to have the import of a thousand years. God is patient, waiting to bring in the full number of elect saints to your fold before He completes his promise. The point is, trust God’s timing, not man’s perceptions of time. In God’s time, Peter says, that day of judgment would indeed come just as Jesus promised.

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Two teachings of Jesus come into view here: one is a direct reference from Jesus, the other an application. The first is Peter’s reference to the “thief in the night.” Jesus used this exact metaphor in Matthew 24:43 and Luke 12:39, among others (Paul repeats it as well in 1 Thessalonians 5:1). To the extent we understand Jesus as speaking in a first-century context in those passages, so we should also see it here with Peter, only nearer to becoming a reality.

And in the mean time, those persecuted followers needed to hold more steadfastly than ever to the faith they professed. This second idea is an application of Jesus’ teaching about the power of the false prophets that would come. He had said, “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand” (Matt. 24:24–25; Cf. Mark 13:23). “See” here is from the Greek idou and means “listen up,” “take heed” “pay attention.” Jesus was emphatic here because it would be of such importance to His audience (the disciples). This was not mere rhetoric, it was a critical reality: some false prophets would be so deceptive as to deceive even the elect if that were possible. Jesus essentially said, “Wake up, people. This is real. It will happen. I am telling you now so you know when it happens. I have warned you.” Peter took that warning to heart and was just as emphatically relaying it to his own readers.

So far then we have established a first-century context for the meaning and fulfillment of this passage. There are aspects we have not yet covered, but they do not affect the timing of the passage. What we’ve seen so far will be further enhanced by the theological study of more of the passage that follows.
Endnotes:
Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2004. [↩]