2 Peter 3:10

2 Peter 3:10 ‘But the day of the Lord will come like. thief, in which the heavens will pass away with. roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.'

‘But the day of the Lord' -‘But'-Not withstanding God's patience, such patience does have an end. God is waiting but He won't wait forever. ‘day of the Lord'-The same day mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and 2 Thessalonians 2:2.

‘will come' -‘stands emphatically at the beginning of the clause; whatever the mockers may say, whatever may happen, come certainly will the day of the Lord.' (P.P. Comm. p. 68)

‘like. thief' -(1 Thessalonians 5:1). Carefully note what Peter didn't say, ‘The Lord is coming soon', and neither did Peter make. prediction when Jesus would come. The time of His coming is not revealed and will never be revealed. He is coming like. thief, that is His coming, when it happens will be. complete surprise, without any warning. Thus, the time for repentance is now! ‘the force of an unexpected arrival with the significance of the language being the same with one's suffering irreparable loss if unprepared for the coming of the day.' (Hamilton p. 238)

Points to Note:

The KJV adds ‘in the night' which is in the Textus Receptus, but is absent in many manuscripts. But the addition or omission doesn't change the meaning of anything in the text. 2. The reader should note how the Bible describes the Second Coming, in contrast to modern Premillennial theories. 3. The entire universe ends at the same time that Jesus comes for Christians (1 Thessalonians 4:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:1). 4. All will be resurrected at the same time, both the wicked and the good (John 5:28). 5. The righteous will be rewarded while the wicked are punished (1 Thessalonians 4:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:1). 6. And while many claim that Jesus will reign on the earth for 1000 years following the Second Coming, Peter states that the entire physical universe will be destroyed when He comes.

‘in which the heavens will pass away with. roar' -‘in which'-on that day. ‘Heavens'-Must apply to the heavens that surround this planet, including the atmosphere and the material heavens, in which the sun, moon and the stars are placed (Genesis 1:8; Genesis 1:20; Genesis 1:14). ‘Pass away'-‘come to an end, disappear' (Arndt p. 626) Jesus taught the same truth (Matthew 5:18; Matthew 24:35; Revelation 21:1). The word ‘pass away' clearly teaches us that the ‘new heavens and earth', will not be. purified planet or simply. re-made or fixed up universe. ‘Roar'-‘such. destruction of the elements could not occur without. great noise' (Barnes p. 261) ‘It is. colorful….word, which can be used of the swish of an arrow through the air, or the rumbling of thunder, as well as the crackle of flames, the scream of the lash as it descends, the rushing of mighty waters, or the hissing of. serpent.' (Green p. 138)

‘and the elements' -‘any first thing, from which the others belonging to some series or composite whole take their rise; an element, first principle.' (Thayer p. 588) ‘the substance of the material world' (Vine p. 22). ‘elemental substances, the basic elements in the natural world from which everything is made or composed' (Arndt p. 769). ‘the elemental principles of which the universe is made' (P.P. Comm. p. 68)

‘will be destroyed with intense heat' -‘destroyed'-‘break up into is component parts, destroy, of. building, tear down' (Arndt p. 483) ‘to loosen, undo, dissolve, to dissolve something coherent into parts' (Thayer p. 385)

‘and the earth' -the earth as. whole, the world, as opposed to the heavens (Thayer p. 114)

‘and its works will be burned up' -‘works'-All the things upon this planet, especially all the works of mankind, monuments, buildings, roads, cities, and so on. Peter is saying ‘the planet and everything on the planet'. ‘burned up'-‘to burn up utterly' (Vine p. 159). ‘burn down, burn up, consume' (Arndt p. 411)

Points To Note:

These verses contradict the idea that God is simply going to cleanse the planet at the end of time, and then the vast majority will live on. rejuvenated earth forever. 2. First of all, the heavens which surround the earth are going to be destroyed. Can the earth exist without the universe that surrounds it? Second, the ‘elements', the basic building blocks, the most elemental substances of the universe, will all be burned up. All the elements which compose the periodic table will be destroyed! No more oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and so on. Thirdly, not only is the earth to be destroyed, but all the works on this planet will be destroyed! This is far beyond any so-called cleansing. Not only are the works on this planet to be completely burned up, but the planet itself! 3. In some manuscripts the word “burned up” at the end of 2 Peter 3:10, is rendered “shall be discovered”. But the reading “burned up” is well supported and suits the context best.

‘This terrifying picture…may be difficult for our modern minds to grasp (but no more difficult than for the ancient world). This once-for-all end to our space-time home is beyond imagination. But Peter would want to say that we should not be relying on our imagination.' (Lucas/Green p. 143)

Making The Application To Daily Living