Alt. 01/11/2025 – Prologue – How is our personal patience indicator? In our daily haste do we redline it? Who bears the brunt of our hurriedness? Self, others, God?
In closing [2 Peter] we need some Biblical forensics. [1 Thes.] was the first written book of the NT, cAD51. [1 Peter] was written cAD67 to encourage and instruct the Lord’s people. [2 Peter] was written the following year to warn against false teachers who promoted sinful living. He was martyred the same year. There is Biblical debate on the authorship and timing of portions of the Bible. This requires an element of scholarship. I will investigate these differences, but in the end will default to the Lutheran Study Bible ESV © 2009. I am very wary of those who offer esoteric knowledge of the Bible. I am also content with the assertion, “it is inspired.”
[2 Peter 3:1-10] – The Day of the Lord – Vigilance concerning the veracity of scripture is a continual process. Whether in the OT/NT one has to expect differences in translations and interpretation. That is human. Whence cometh disagreements? Possibilities: skill of the translators, accuracy of the copyists, readability of the text, and changes in the meaning of words. It is easy to say, “that makes no sense”. Generally speaking, liberal theologians attempt to interpret the Bible as allegorical which broadens interpretation. This, quickly morphs into acceptance of sinful living which is exactly what Peter is warning against in [2 Peter].
Dedicated scholars will work backwards through ‘families’ of translations to find a point of difference. Some may be inconsequential such as the use or omission of: ‘and’, ‘but’, or ‘the’; or the variations, while obvious, may alter the meaning of the passage very little. As a student of the Bible, I rely on the process of comparative studies, reading interpretations of others and the commentaries of an array of scholars. The offending phrase in [2 Peter] is: ‘reserved for fire.’ [v. 7] The problem arises by taking this phrase literally or meaning something else less catastrophic . There is a difference. It can be traced to translations of [2 Peter] when it was decided it made no sense and made substitutions.
One gets to the proper translation, by reviewing all of Peter’s writings and that of others. The Stoics were saying the present world (time, space and matter) would be burned up and destroyed. The general teachings of the early Christians was that fire would come to the earth. [Rev. 20:7-10] not to destroy it, but to burn/purge from the earth all that failed the test. That conclusion is drawn from the fact that Peter was saying repeatedly that humans would be judged for what they had done. The day will come, then, when all will be revealed and all will be judged by fire. That is the promise Peter was making to deal with those, in his time, who were saying it was all a big mistake because Jesus did not return within the first generation. [v. 3] This is the only passage in scripture which directly addresses the delay issue. The 2d Century teachers had no issues with the delay. Jesus himself may have been the genesis of the early return [Mark 13]. However, with careful reading it may be determined that Jesus was referring to the temple. Peter warns, as did the early Jewish teachers, that we must not be confused by days or years or their duration. [Ps. 90:4] The key to all of this is the virtue of patience. (Note: Patience was not considered virtuous by the pagan world.) We must employ patience daily and cosmically. Do not take the time spent in patience is a time for thumb-twiddling. It is a time for vocation!
[2 Peter 3:11-18] – God’s Patience – This will end our walk with Peter. Our feet should be dusty, our hearts overflowing with love and our minds filled with admiration for Peter. What was surprising in this lesson was the reference to Paul [v.15]; why was he mentioned? When [2 Peter] was written Paul’s letters were being widely read in many churches in Greece and Turkey. As folks travelled, they made copies to take, study and share. What is largely not covered today is that themes that Peter was exploring were also being explored by Paul. That is especially true in the matter of patience; patience in dealing with others, patience with God (Oh!), and God’s patience with us. Allow your imagination to run loose, as we visualize a person petulantly stamping his foot with impatience. As if we should be informing the creator on how things should be operated. The reality is that what we may display with arrogance, is our impatience with God; is explained by Peter and Paul as the need to recognize God’s patience with us.
If God were to foreclose on the world or on us individually, what would happen? This is rather like the Jews who were very impatient with the endless delays for God to fulfill His promises. The Jews rightly concluded, God was waiting for more people to repent, their lives transformed and society to come to its senses. For this we should be thankful! Here we are given an opportunity to link Peter and Paul. We should read [Rom. 2:1-11] and reflect with [2 Peter 3:11-18]. Paul wrote, “God’s kindness is meant to bring you repen-tance.” [Rom. 2:4] But if one does not avail themselves of the opportunity or if one selects other options for their time, it will make matters worse [Rom. 2:5-11]. Peter is saying the same thing, “When our Lord waits patiently to act, see that for what it is – salvation!” [v. 15] God’s patience is our opportunity. He is giving us time to work on the holy, godly lives we should be living. This is our chance to spread the gospel. We know what is coming, we know of God’s wonderful justice, we know God’s desire to setting things right. We do not know the timing. Thus, the vital question: Do we sit happily on our salvation or do we begin to work towards God’s will now?
The point being: a wrong view of God’s intentions will damage our understanding and our behavior. If we imagine that God wants to burn up the present world we need not worry what we should do here and now. It does not matter. We simply wait for whatever is next. But, if God intends to renew the heavens and the earth [Is. 65:17; 66:22] then it matters that we are ‘without spot or blemish’ [v. 14]. This sums it up: First, Peter has been saying, Be on your guard! This means being serpent like – wise. Be cautious, there are evil people who sound plausible; hold fast to the solid teachings of faith. Second, Peter’s message is not negative: we have the chance for sustained and lasting growth in Christian character – faith and life. It is our privilege, as a follower of Jesus, to remember what Peter said at the beginning – add together: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, piety, family, affection, and love. [2 Peter] may be a book for our time, 2025. Study it, pray it, take it to heart, and put it in practice. AMEN End [2 Peter] 12:38 AM 01/09/2025
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