Continuing: today another, deeper, examination of the meaning conveyed by Peter in 2 Peter 3. As we know from previous discussions, Peter in the entire book is warning against the degenerative effects of the heresies perpetrated upon the church and all humanity, by false (erroneous – error filled) teaching. These were brought in by men who were first led away by their own cravings for self-elevation, and choosing their own ways, instead of waiting for the LORD to move, moved themselves. We know this strayed thinking continued until it has now become the foundation principles upon which the entire world relies when making all its decisions; the world meaning, the culture, encompassing the individual, and through all its inhabitants.
We know these corrupted principles, which place no value on truth: according to, in agreement with, the law of nature and nature’s God, as the “elements” (stoechieon) Peter tells of melting away in the fires burning up heaven and earth. We know from his later telling of the new heaven and the new earth we look for, wherein dwells righteousness, that what is lacking in this time on fire is righteousness: truth which brings with it right reasoning and equity ending in good judgment. Peter tells us the fires are both caused by these elements and are also what causes them to melt away, as we see occurring before our eyes, manifested in the negative effects on the old heaven and earth they’ve corrupted, causing it to become without form, and void.
We know the world that ends is actually the culture that depends on lies and deception, producing (with intention) only confusion of thought, resulting in hopelessness, and then, in this state of meaningless desperation, chaos. (Hopelessness is a result of the mind having reached a state where it thinks itself incapable of reasoning its way through and out of. In a world that relies on untruth, requiring and then forcing the mind to accept the demanded contradictions of reality, there can be no peace in mind as long as the solution is always said to be to go deeper into contradiction.) It is into this darkness the LORD comes with His enlightening us to realize the condition, leading us out of it and into His light, and into the peace that accompanies it as result.
This takes us to what has become seemingly a trivial statement by Peter, which is then followed by the entire and greatest point of his and all Christian teaching – the gospel – the Good News found in the name of Jesus Christ, this latter part having also become (in our modern culture) a meaningless cliché. The Good News is found in the name literally meaning Jehovah’s Salvation, shining forth from one He appoints (anoints) to preach it to the world become hopeless, without form, and void.
Peter tells of one day being as a thousand years with the LORD, and then the greatest of all news, “The 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.”
The promise mentioned here is the promise told to Moses and he then telling it, to be sure it was carried forward for us to know when we heard it in this time of need. It appears in Deuteronomy 18 as Moses tells of it being told by the LORD, and it appears later repeated twice, in Acts 3:22 & 7:37. It is the promise of the LORD sending one we would hear. This is also who the LORD speaks of in John 16:13 where he is telling of the coming Paraclete, the Holy Spirit come first to us and then in us, as the Spirit of truth, and telling us the truth according to, that is in agreement with, the law God and man (the law defining man’s relationship with God, and his human interaction, which lead to peace and abundant life).
Peter mentions the promise because it specifically speaks of this as the means of ending the troubles caused by the false prophets (misleaders) among us. It also speaks of the better ideas of the unique culture of the people of God, and warns against lusting after the corrupted ways of other cultures, and does so because of the destruction they always produce (as we see before our eyes each and every day).
Deuteronomy 18
9 When you are come into the land which the LORD your God give you, you shall not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
10 There shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire [the trouble created by seeking and following bad advice], or that uses divination [“experts” claiming to know the future], or an observer of times [cultural relativism], or an enchanter, or a witch.
11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer [consulting the dead in mind, and all those using words (deceptive and dark knowledge) to manipulate people into doing their will, and following their beguiling – fake news media and their guile].
12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD your God does drive them out from before you.
13 You shall be perfect with the LORD your God.
14 For these nations, which you shall possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for you, the LORD your God has not suffered you so to do.
15 The LORD your God will raise up unto you a Prophet from the midst of you, of your brethren, like unto me; unto him you shall hearken;
16 According to all that you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
17 And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto you, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21 And if you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken, but the prophet has spoken it presumptuously: you shall not be afraid of him.
We know Hebrew 12 tells of this same time, and of correction that come to us in the form of one who will speak the word of God to us, and this being what shakes the world, and more specifically to shake these corrupted ideas out of it.
Hebrews 12
11 Now no chastening [discipline and correction] for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the PEACEABLE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS unto them which are exercised thereby.
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the LORD:
15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
17 For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
18 For you are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated [demanded] that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
22 But you are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.
25 See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven:
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Friends, the false prophets among us in church and culture, the fake reports coming over our airways and from our pulpits are those that never come to pass, and which we now see in the fake news media and the doomsday preaching of religious eschatologists, never arriving and always “coming” sometime out in the future. These are heresies, even denying the LORD that bought them; those creating them not knowing his voice and therefor never hearing His warnings and calls to repentance, they with blinded eyes and closed ears, choose to remain in their error and with them choose self-destruction as their folly is manifested before the eyes of a now awakening world.
2 Peter 3
1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2 That you 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 Savior:
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And 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.
5 For 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:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But 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.
8 But, 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.
9 The 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.
10 But 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 [the joyful noise calling all to the battle against darkness], and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking 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?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
15 And account that the longsuffering of our LORD is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him has written unto you;
16 As 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.
17 You therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things before, beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness [never retreat from truth].
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
When Peter tells of the LORD’s will being that all would come to repentance and none be destroyed, following his telling of a thousand years being as day in describing the longsuffering of the LORD in correcting us, he is quoting from Psalms 90:4. There we read in verse 3 of man going on his own into destruction, and the LORD saying, “Return, you children of men.” It then tells of the thousand years as a watch in the night, once it has past (and man has returned to his senses – awakened from the night).
In 1 Corinthians 15:34 (below) we are told of our rising after this long night (season of corruption and darkness of minds), and in context, our awakening being as dying to this old corrupted way, and coming to this new life after having put on incorruption. It is our resurrection from the dead, dying to corruption’s thoughts, which themselves brought the death of all humanity, and in doing humanity puts on immortality – never to return to this same death – now understanding and rejecting its methods of misleading.
1 Corinthians 15
31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our LORD, I die daily.
32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus [men having attacked him because he preached this new life], what advantages it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die [if the dead can’t be brought back to life in this way, then their hopelessness is justified – which isn’t the case].
33 Be not deceived: evil communications [fake news – false teaching – false prophesies] corrupt good manners.
34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
36 You fool, that which you sow is not quickened, except it die:
37 And that which you sow, you sow not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
38 But God giveth it a body as it has pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differs from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
47 The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the LORD from heaven.
48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound [the joyful noise], and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law [the law that says if you sin (err) you shall surly die].
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our LORD Jesus Christ [the way of escaping the sentence on all humanity].
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, immoveable [never retreating], always abounding in the work of the LORD, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the LORD.
Psalms 90
1 LORD, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
3 You turn man to destruction; and say, Return, you children of men.
4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
5 You carry them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which grows up.
6 In the morning it flourishes, and grows up; in the evening it is cut down, and withers.
7 For we are consumed by your anger, and by your wrath are we troubled.
8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance.
9 For all our days are passed away in your wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.
10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11 Who knows the power of your anger? even according to your fear, so is your wrath.
12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
13 Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent you concerning your servants.
14 O satisfy us early with your mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad according to the days wherein you have afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
16 Let your work appear unto your servants, and your glory unto their children.
17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish you the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish you it.
Hebrews 4
11 Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
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