2 Peter 3:12

‘Looking for and hastening (or ‘earnestly desiring') the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?'

They are to live their lives as those who are looking for and seeking to speed up the coming of the Day of God. We can probably see the Day of God as the Day that finalises ‘the Day of the Lord'. It is the final day of Judgment. But we may ask, how can they hasten it? And the answer is by ensuring the fulfilment of all the requirements that lead up to it. That would include constant prayer for God to work out His purposes (Luke 18:8; Matthew 6:9); the reaching out of the Gospel to all nations (Matthew 24:14), and the making up of the number of God's elect (Revelation 6:11).

Note how this is described as ‘the parousia of the Day of God', linking it with the parousia of the Lord Jesus Christ in 2 Peter 1:16 and 2 Peter 3:4. All are linked together.

And when that Day comes then the divine fire will burn up the whole creation. The heavens will dissolve with fire, and the powerful heat will melt all that is. Like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah it will be total and complete. Only those whom God has delivered (as He delivered Lot) will remain to form the new heaven and the new earth.

This day of the Lord's judgment is pictured in many ways in Scripture. Its different aspects are found for example in Matthew 13:41; Matthew 25:31; 1 Corinthians 15:23; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; Revelation 6:12; Revelation 14:14; Revelation 16:20; Revelation 19:11; Revelation 20:11.

‘Looking for.' Note Peter's typical threefold use of the verb here and in 2 Peter 3:13. Here they are to look for the coming of the Day of God. In 2 Peter 3:13 they are to look for the new heavens and the new earth. And in 2 Peter 3:14 they are to look for these things.