2 Peter 3 contains mysterious words and prophecies concerning the second coming of Jesus, the Day of Wrath, and the new heavens and the new earth. Verse 12 remained veiled in secrecy for me until this very year, but now the LORD had made its meaning clear. Before quoting that verse, though, let’s consider what Paul told the Corinthians,
5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (2 Cor. 10:5-6 ESV)
Today, almost two thousand years after Paul wrote this, we still do not see the world or even wayward Christians punished for their disobedience. Why not? Because “your obedience,” that is the obedience of the 144,000 (God’s overcomers), is still not complete. Isaiah refers to this very thing when he says, “When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, he will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes.” (Isaiah 10:12) Understand that the overcomers comprise New Jerusalem which is God’s Mount Zion. Read Revelation 21 and 22 to see this in detail. Therefore Isaiah prophesies here that when God has completed his creation of each individual overcomer, when he has fashioned and chiseled their flesh to perfection in the quarry of this world, then, and only then, will he begin to punish “the king of Assyria,” the world and all worldly ways, for all their acts of disobedience. In doing this God fulfills the pattern he established with Solomon who built the first temple. Every stone had to be fully prepared at the quarry, away from the temple site, before it could be brought to Jerusalem and set into its particular place in the temple. In the same way God fashions each overcomer into a precious stone which he will personally place in New Jerusalem. As Peter said, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood.” (1 Peter 2:4)
Peter’s books, like most Biblical books, were written in order to help believers obtain the salvation of their souls, that is, to become overcomers. Jude, for example, wanted to write about our “common salvation,” that is, the salvation of our spirits which Jesus’s death and resurrection brought to all men, but the Spirit compelled him to write about “contending for the faith” instead. See Jude 3. He did this so that we could “obtain a faith of equal standing” to Peter’s and thus be counted overcomers and become part of New Jerusalem. See 2 Peter 1:1. Peter ended his second and last book by discussing the second coming of Jesus Christ and the Day of Wrath which soon comes.
2 Peter 3
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Day of the Lord Will Come
3 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing,following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,[a] not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies[b] will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.[c]
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Final Words
14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2Peter 3)
It is here in chapter 3 that Peter tells us that we, yes you and I, can actually hasten the coming of the Day of God. By comparing Scripture with Scripture we now see that we can hasten Christ’s coming by coming into agreement with his words and his ways and by obeying his commands. Finally, Jude tells us why this is necessary. It is the overcomers themselves who will bring God’s final judgment and punishment upon the world in the Day of Wrath. Jude says,
14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. (Jude 14-16)
These “ten thousands of his holy ones” are the 144,000 overcomers found in the Book of Revelation. These are those we find coming with Jesus in the final battle for planet earth.
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in[d] blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 19:11-16)
Be prepared, therefore, for the LORD comes soon, silently and as a thief in the night, to select and take back with him those living stones who are now fully prepared, who worked out their own salvations, who have hastened the coming of the Day of God.
