Reading for February 7th

 Read 2 Peter 3.1-13. In verses 1-7: Another refutation. In verses 1-2: Peter claims that this is his second letter, but 1 Peter can hardly be the earlier one because it shares so little of this author's vocabulary or themes. Moreover, by referring to what was said by your apostles, the author positions himself as a much later authority. This letter aims to remind the recipients of what their holy prophets and Lord and Savior said about the Day of the Lord, which is the crux of the conflict. In verses 3-4: Farewell addresses generally predict future crisis, here scoffers ridicule the prophecy of Jesus' return. "Where is the promise of his coming?" Delay serves as their chief argument against Jesus' coming and God's judgment. In verses 5-7: The author refutes their scoffing by emphasizing the reliability of God's word. God's word created the world out of water and judged it (recall Noah, 2.5), that the same word declares that God will judge by fire what is created. It was common to describe God's two basic powers as creative power as the world's beginning and executive power at its end. The Christians God is also confessed as having both powers, which the opponents here deny. In verses 8-13: Challenge and riposte. Peter challenges more scoffing statements from his opponents. In verses 8-9: The standard argument against divine judgment is its delay; sinners seem to escape, and faithful people seem not to be rewarded. Peter refutes this in two ways. First, God's time is not our time, as Ps 90.4 indicates (one day is like a thousand years); moreover, God's delay is a gift of time for repentance (Rom 2.4-5) because God does not want any people to perish. In verse 10: Yet the traditional prophecy of the Lord's coming like a thief (1 Thess 5.2; Rev 3.3) reminds us that the exact time cannot be known. In verses 11-13: Correct theology leads to correct behavior; hence, all who await the world's dissolution and recreation will live upright lives guided by this truth. The idea of new heavens and anew earth reflects a technical idea in Greek Philosophy called cosmic "regeneration" (see Mt 19.28). The Stoics, for example, claimed that the world would dissolve in fire but then be recreated. A claim, then, is made that all right-thinking people accept the idea of the world's end. Comments or Questions..