May 14 at 11:24 PM ·
A brief exposition of 2Pet 3 - (part 2, v5-9)
#Willingly_Ignorant_Scoffers
#Context_Context_Context
Showing the Scoffers are willingly ignorant
of the Scriptures
2Peter 3
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.
=======
In these five verses, we have, first, a
charge against the scoffers, and then three biblical arguments to expose the
stupidity of the scoffing
1.
Why did Peter charge the scoffers as being willingly ignorant?
- Their premise, that since God created
Israel, therefore Israel shall remain and never be destroyed, is a result of
being willingly ignorant of the Bible facts that are easily available to them.
- They willingly choose not to know what can
be easily known.
- Such wickedness is also found among God's
children.
2.
What's the first argument refuting the scoffers?
- God did destroy His creation in Gen 6
- God, by His words, created the heavens and
the earth, Gen 1; "by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the
earth standing out of the water and in the water."
- The world that God created turned wicked
and then was destroyed in Noah's days; "... whereby the world that then
was, being overflowed with water, perished."
- What made the scoffers think that just
because God created Israel, He would not destroy it? Gen 6 demolishes the
premise of their argument. They are willingly ignorant of these plain biblical
facts.
3.
What are "the heavens and the earth, which are now"?
a. These refer to the universe of the Jewish
world, also by God's own creation, already mentioned in verse 4.
- Peter acknowledged that Israel has indeed
been thus far preserved by God's divine power, awaiting its prophesied end;
"by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men."
- Peter DID NOT use Gen 6 as the end of the
present world at the coming of Christ; he used it to describe the end of the
Jewish universe in 70AD. It is simple; the world on this earth remains after
the destruction by the flood except that it was purged of its wickedness; Noah
and his family continued on the same earth, but a new world rid of the old
world of wickedness.
- 70AD purged the world of the old geriatric
Israel, sworn enemy of Christ, and persecutors of His people; it was a completely new world for the Jews with the old destroyed.
- Those were the former heavens and the earth
that was done away with in 70AD, as prophesied by the holy prophets, and solemnly
warned by the Lord Himself in Mt 24 25.
This is the Lord’s promise to the Jews; He
would create the new heavens and a new earth: Isa 65:17 “For, behold, I create
new heaven.”
Isa 66:22 “For as the new heavens and the new
earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your
seed and your name remain.”
2Pe 3:13
Nevertheless we, according to his promise,
look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Please note that the doing away of the old - the complete destruction of the
old earthly theocratic Israel and the whole sacrificial system with it - is
such that it shall not be remembered nor come to mind. The resultant effect is
likened to the new heavens and a new earth, completely rid of and wholly free
from the shadow and tyranny of the old.
4.
What's the second argument refuting the scoffers?
a. God's time perspective is not the same as
that of man; "...that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a
thousand years as one day."
- "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this
one thing..." we are capable of being ignorant of a lot of things that
affect our well-being and usefulness immensely, and our pleasing God.
- The end of the old theocratic nation of
Israel was such a world-shattering, epoch-changing event that it was often
delivered with a sense of urgency, and implying imminency.
- Eg. Mt 24:29 "Immediately after the
tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not
give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see
the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
- Mat 24:34 "Verily I say unto you, This
generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."
- But nearly FOURTY years have lapsed, why
hadn't it come to pass? It must be a bluff, concluded the scoffers.
5. What's the third argument refuting the
scoffers?
a. The Lord's longsuffering and tender
mercies are misconstrued as His slackness: "... The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to
us-ward."
- Apostle Paul said the same thing, "Or
despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering;
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" Rom 2:4
- The apparent delay in executing the
vengeance is perversely and impudently understood as divine slackness.
b. The apparent delay had one specific
purpose, to give ample room for God's children among the Jews to be brought to
faith and repentance: "...but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
- "Us-ward" refers to the children
of God among the Jews in that generation. The Lord is not willing that any of
them should perish in the imminent and horrendous judgment to be unleashed
against it in 70AD.
- The Apostles were labouring hard to bring
them to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus, and to take heed of that
momentous event described as "For then shall be great tribulation, such as
was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall
be." Mt 24:21.
- Those who are unbelieving shall perish,
THAT IS, they shall be slaughtered and roasted by the Roman armies, or be
captured and sold as slaves to those (Gentiles) they had considered were dogs.
- But for the believing ones, that fiery
judgment upon Israel shall be redemption from that devil-possessed nation that
was hellbent on persecuting them, even the disciples of Jesus Christ, whom they
had rejected and had Him crucified.
- Luk 21:28 "And when these things begin
to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption
draweth nigh."
c. Some notes on "perishing" and
"repentance"
- The perishing/salvation that is conditioned
upon repentance is obviously in the realm of temporal salvation; therefore the
context cannot possibly be the second coming of Christ to judge the world.
- God's children are liable to perish in the
temporal sense by reason of unbelief. See Lk 13:1-5 "I tell you, Nay: but,
except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
- Those of the "usward" whose
perishing or deliverance is conditioned upon their repentance are most
certainly already children of God; their perishing or deliverance in the second
coming of Christ is REMOTELY conditioned upon their repentance.
- To say otherwise is to betray an ignorance
of the distinction between eternal and temporal salvation.
I'm aware that many great teachers take this
passage as speaking of the great judgment at the second coming of Christ. State
your disagreement with the thoughts offered above, and then we can study together.
========
Victorio
This
is very good explaination of post trib.
Sing
F Lau
What
is "post trib"?
This
is AN explanation of Peter warning the Jewish believers of the horrendous
judgment in 70AD, the end of the Jewish universe.
Mat
24:21
For
then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the
world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Victorio
Sing
F Lau, there is an on going discussion in other thread about pre-tribulation,
mid-tribulation, and post- tribulation refering to our present situation.
According to your message the great tribulation happened already to the Jews in
70AD. That is post trib already.
Sing
F Lau
I
have zero use for that pre-mid-post trib stuff.
Mat
24
¶ 15
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel
the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)...
21
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the
world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Verse
21 indicates one UNIQUE tribulation worth noting by the Jewish nation - it
meant the complete end of the nation that existed for few thousands years.
Victorio
Sing
F Lau , the Jewish nation, as a PATTERN or example and shadow of things to
come, what can you say about the christian wolrd of today? Are we just waiting
for the Second comming of Christ. I ask this question to learn from you.
Sing
F Lau
What
the text says and means, and what lessons we can learn are two different
things. All Scriptures are profitable...
The
end of the Jewish nation is not a pattern or shadow of things to come. Other
Scriptures speak plainly of the return of the resurrected and glorified Lord
and the lessons for us.
The
return of Christ will mean the end of the world and the ushering in of the
eternal state of blessedness. Period.
Victorio
Sing
F Lau, please read the book of HEBREWS, it is about, PATTERN, EXAMPLE AND
SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME. May be you can expound on it and give us more
learning.
Bill
Taylor
Sing
F Lau AMEN!!!
Sing
F Lau
Victorio,
the book of Hebrews was written to the Jewish believers who were under
tremendous temptations to revert back to Judaism... Apostle Paul wrote to warn
them that turning back to the shadow (the old covenant sacrificial system and
everything connected with the old geriatric Israel) and not holding fast to the
good things that HAVE COME, in Jesus Christ... have dire consequences...
Heb
2
3
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began
to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
4.
God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
(It
is as if Paul was screaming to them, desperately warning them, IF..)
You
turn back to Judaism, you are trampling Christ underfoot... ye shall
perish...you will be slaughtered and roasted by the Romans. If you are so
stupid to forsake the reality and return to the shadow... read Heb 6:4-6.
Victorio
Sing
F Lau, you sound irritated with me. I am here not to debate with any body. I am
here to learn, so teach me in a nice way, if you please.
Victorio
I
am not getting back to the PATTERN neigther to the EXAMPLE and SHADOW of things
to come. They are all abolished. What I am talking is our present world
situation.
Victorio
Sing
F Lau , I do not expect that a learned Pastor like you will say STUPID to a
person who is just making an inquiry and seeking deep knowledge of the
SCRIPTURE.
Sing
F Lau
Victorio,
I didn't say you are stupid. I addressed those words to the Hebrews... their
stupidity would cause them to perish in the hands of the Romans. READ the
little paragraph again.
Sorry,
you misunderstood. There are no Romans now to slaughter us however stupid we
may be.
Being
stupid is simply lacking common sense. God's children are capable of grievous
stupidity. Bible is full of their examples.
No,
you are a clever man; I would never call you stupid. Cheer up. No, I wasn't
irritated with you.
Victorio
Sing
F Lau , thank you. Be gracious to those who are seeking the truth.
Sing
F Lau
Victorio,
Christ taught the truth most graciously, yet not a few were incensed and, or
offended. 😥
