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2 Peter 3:12 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

12 Looking for and truly desiring the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will come to an end through fire, and the substance of the earth will be changed by the great heat?

Cross Reference

2 Peter 3:10 BBE

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; and in that day the heavens will be rolled up with a great noise, and the substance of the earth will be changed by violent heat, and the world and everything in it will be burned up.

Micah 1:4 BBE

And the mountains will be turned to water under him, and the deep valleys will be broken open, like wax before the fire, like waters flowing down a slope.

Psalms 50:3 BBE

Our God will come, and will not keep quiet; with fire burning before him, and storm-winds round him.

Isaiah 34:4 BBE

And the heavens will be rolled together like the roll of a book: and all their army will be gone, like a dead leaf from the vine, or a dry fruit from the fig-tree.

Titus 2:13 BBE

Looking for the glad hope, the revelation of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ;

Isaiah 64:1-12 BBE

O let the heavens be broken open and come down, so that the mountains may be shaking before you, As when fire puts the brushwood in flames, or as when water is boiling from the heat of the fire: to make your name feared by your haters, so that the nations may be shaking before you; While you do acts of power for which we are not looking, and which have not come to the ears of men in the past. The ear has not had news of, or the eye seen, ... any God but you, working for the man who is waiting for him. Will you not have mercy on him who takes pleasure in doing righteousness, even on those who keep in mind your ways? Truly you were angry, and we went on doing evil, and sinning against you in the past. For we have all become like an unclean person, and all our good acts are like a dirty robe: and we have all become old like a dead leaf, and our sins, like the wind, take us away. And there is no one who makes prayer to your name, or who is moved to keep true to you: for your face is veiled from us, and you have given us into the power of our sins. But now, O Lord, you are our father; we are the earth, and you are our maker; and we are all the work of your hand. Be not very angry, O Lord, and do not keep our sins in mind for ever: give ear to our prayer, for we are all your people. Your holy towns have become a waste, Zion has become a waste, Jerusalem is a mass of broken walls. Our holy and beautiful house, where our fathers gave praise to you, is burned with fire; and all the things of our desire have come to destruction. In view of all this, will you still do nothing, O Lord? will you keep quiet, and go on increasing our punishment? []

1 Corinthians 1:7-8 BBE

So that having every grace you are living in the hope of the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ; Who will give you strength to the end, to be free from all sin in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 3:7 BBE

But the present heaven and the present earth have been kept for destruction by fire, which is waiting for them on the day of the judging and destruction of evil men.

Jude 1:21 BBE

Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for life eternal through the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 6:13-14 BBE

And the stars of heaven were falling to the earth, like green fruit from a tree before the force of a great wind. And the heaven was taken away like the roll of a book when it is rolled up; and all the mountains and islands were moved out of their places.

Isaiah 2:1-22 BBE

The word which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw about Judah and Jerusalem. And it will come about in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord will be placed on the top of the mountains, and be lifted up over the hills; and all nations will come to it. And the peoples will say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will give us knowledge of his ways, and we will be guided by his word; for out of Zion the law will go out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he will be the judge between the nations, and the peoples will be ruled by his decisions: and their swords will be turned into plough-blades, and their spears into vine-knives: no longer will the nations be turning their swords against one another, and the knowledge of war will be gone for ever. O family of Jacob, come, and let us go in the light of the Lord. For you, O Lord, have given up your people, the family of Jacob, because they are full of the evil ways of the east, and make use of secret arts like the Philistines, and are friends with the children of strange countries. And their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their stores; their land is full of horses, and there is no end to their carriages. Their land is full of images; they give worship to the work of their hands, even to that which their fingers have made. And the poor man's head is bent, and the great man goes down on his face: for this cause there will be no forgiveness for their sin. Go into a hole in the rock, covering yourselves with dust, in fear of the Lord, before the glory of his power. The high looks of man will be put to shame, and the pride of men will be made low, and only the Lord will be lifted up in that day. For the day of the Lord of armies is coming on all the pride of men, and on all who are high and lifted up; And on all the high trees of Lebanon, and on all the strong trees of Bashan; And on all the high mountains, and on all the hills which are lifted up; And on every high tower, and on every strong wall; And on all the ships of Tarshish, and on all the fair boats. And the high looks of man will be put to shame, and the pride of men will be made low: and only the Lord will be lifted up in that day. And the images will never be seen again. And men will go into cracks of the rocks, and into holes of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and before the glory of his power, when he comes out of his place, shaking the earth with his strength. In that day men will put their images of silver and of gold, which they made for worship, in the keeping of the beasts of the dark places; To take cover in the cracks of the rocks, and in the holes of the hills, for fear of the Lord, and before the glory of his power, when he comes out of his place, shaking the earth with his strength. Have no more to do with man, whose life is only a breath, for he is of no value.

Philippians 1:6 BBE

For I am certain of this very thing, that he by whom the good work was started in you will make it complete till the day of Jesus Christ:

Commentary on 2 Peter 3 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 3

2Pe 3:1-18. Sureness of Christ's Coming, and Its Accompaniments, Declared in Opposition to Scoffers about to Arise. God's Long Suffering a Motive to Repentance, as Paul's Epistles Set Forth; Concluding Exhortation to Growth in the Knowledge of Christ.

1. now—"This now a second Epistle I write." Therefore he had lately written the former Epistle. The seven Catholic Epistles were written by James, John, and Jude, shortly before their deaths; previously, while having the prospect of being still for some time alive, they felt it less necessary to write [Bengel].

unto you—The Second Epistle, though more general in its address, yet included especially the same persons as the First Epistle was particularly addressed to.

pure—literally, "pure when examined by sunlight"; "sincere." Adulterated with no error. Opposite to "having the understanding darkened." Alford explains, The mind, will, and affection, in relation to the outer world, being turned to God [the Sun of the soul], and not obscured by fleshly and selfish regards.

by way of—Greek, "in," "in putting you in remembrance" (2Pe 1:12, 13). Ye already know (2Pe 3:3); it is only needed that I remind you (Jude 5).

2. prophets—of the Old Testament.

of us—The oldest manuscripts and Vulgate read, "And of the commandment of the Lord and Saviour (declared) by YOUR apostles" (so "apostle of the Gentiles," Ro 11:13)—the apostles who live among you in the present time, in contrast to the Old Testament "prophets."

3. Knowing this first—from the word of the apostles.

shall come—Their very scoffing shall confirm the truth of the prediction.

scoffers—The oldest manuscripts and Vulgate add, "(scoffers) in (that is, 'with') scoffing." As Re 14:2, "harping with harps."

walking after their own lusts—(2Pe 2:10; Jude 16, 18). Their own pleasure is their sole law, unrestrained by reverence for God.

4. (Compare Ps 10:11; 73:11.) Presumptuous skepticism and lawless lust, setting nature and its so-called laws above the God of nature and revelation, and arguing from the past continuity of nature's phenomena that there can be no future interruption to them, was the sin of the antediluvians, and shall be that of the scoffers in the last days.

Where—implying that it ought to have taken place before this, if ever it was to take place, but that it never will.

the promise—which you, believers, are so continually looking for the fulfilment of (2Pe 3:13). What becomes of the promise which you talk so much of?

his—Christ's; the subject of prophecy from the earliest days.

the fathers—to whom the promise was made, and who rested all their hopes on it.

all things—in the natural world; skeptics look not beyond this.

as they were—continue as they do; as we see them to continue. From the time of the promise of Christ's coming as Saviour and King being given to the fathers, down to the present time, all things continue, and have continued, as they now are, from "the beginning of creation." The "scoffers" here are not necessarily atheists, nor do they maintain that the world existed from eternity. They are willing to recognize a God, but not the God of revelation. They reason from seeming delay against the fulfilment of God's word at all.

5. Refutation of their scoffing from Scripture history.

willingly—wilfully; they do not wish to know. Their ignorance is voluntary.

they … are ignorant of—in contrast to 2Pe 3:8, "Be not ignorant of this." Literally, in both verses, "This escapes THEIR notice (sagacious philosophers though they think themselves)"; "let this not escape YOUR notice." They obstinately shut their eyes to the Scripture record of the creation and the deluge; the latter is the very parallel to the coming judgment by fire, which Jesus mentions, as Peter doubtless remembered.

by the word of God—not by a fortuitous concurrence of atoms [Alford].

of old—Greek, "from of old"; from the first beginning of all things. A confutation of their objection, "all things continue as they were FROM THE BEGINNING OF CREATION." Before the flood, the same objection to the possibility of the flood might have been urged with the same plausibility: The heavens (sky) and earth have been FROM OF OLD, how unlikely then that they should not continue so! But, replies Peter, the flood came in spite of their reasonings; so will the conflagration of the earth come in spite of the "scoffers" of the last days, changing the whole order of things (the present "world," or as Greek means, "order"), and introducing the new heavens and earth (2Pe 3:13).

earth standing out of—Greek, "consisting of," that is, "formed out of the water." The waters under the firmament were at creation gathered together into one place, and the dry land emerged out of and above, them.

in, &c.—rather, "by means of the water," as a great instrument (along with fire) in the changes wrought on the earth's surface to prepare it for man. Held together BY the water. The earth arose out of the water by the efficacy of the water itself [Tittmann].

6. Whereby—Greek, "By which" (plural). By means of which heavens and earth (in respect to the WATERS which flowed together from both) the then world perished (that is, in respect to its occupants, men and animals, and its then existing order: not was annihilated); for in the flood "the fountains of the great deep were broken up" from the earth (1) below, and "the windows of heaven" (2) above "were opened." The earth was deluged by that water out of which it had originally risen.

7. (Compare Job 28:5, end).

which are now—"the postdiluvian visible world." In contrast to "that then was," 2Pe 3:6.

the same—Other oldest manuscripts read, "His" (God's).

kept in store—Greek, "treasured up."

reserved—"kept." It is only God's constantly watchful providence which holds together the present state of things till His time for ending it.

8. be not ignorant—as those scoffers are (2Pe 3:5). Besides the refutation of them (2Pe 3:5-7) drawn from the history of the deluge, here he adds another (addressed more to believers than to the mockers): God's delay in fulfilling His promise is not, like men's delays, owing to inability or fickleness in keeping His word, but through "long-suffering."

this one thing—as the consideration of chief importance (Lu 10:42).

one day … thousand years—(Ps 90:4): Moses there says, Thy eternity, knowing no distinction between a thousand years and a day, is the refuge of us creatures of a day. Peter views God's eternity in relation to the last day: that day seems to us, short-lived beings, long in coming, but with the Lord the interval is irrespective of the idea of long or short. His eternity exceeds all measures of time: to His divine knowledge all future things are present: His power requires not long delays for the performance of His work: His long-suffering excludes all impatient expectation and eager haste, such as we men feel. He is equally blessed in one day and in a thousand years. He can do the work of a thousand years in one day: so in 2Pe 3:9 it is said, "He is not slack," that is, "slow": He has always the power to fulfil His "promise."

thousand years as one day—No delay which occurs is long to God: as to a man of countless riches, a thousand guineas are as a single penny. God's œonologe (eternal-ages measurer) differs wholly from man's horologe (hour-glass). His gnomon (dial-pointer) shows all the hours at once in the greatest activity and in perfect repose. To Him the hours pass away, neither more slowly, nor more quickly, than befits His economy. There is nothing to make Him need either to hasten or delay the end. The words, "with the Lord" (Ps 90:4, "In Thy sight"), silence all man's objections on the ground of his incapability of understanding this [Bengel].

9. slack—slow, tardy, late; exceeding the due time, as though that time were already come. Heb 10:37, "will not tarry."

his promise—which the scoffers cavil at. 2Pe 3:4, "Where is the promise?" It shall be surely fulfilled "according to His promise" (2Pe 3:13).

some—the "scoffers."

count—His promise to be the result of "slackness" (tardiness).

long-suffering—waiting until the full number of those appointed to "salvation" (2Pe 3:15) shall be completed.

to us-ward—The oldest manuscripts, Vulgate, Syriac, &c., read, "towards YOU."

any—not desiring that any, yea, even that the scoffers, should perish, which would be the result if He did not give space for repentance.

come—go and be received to repentance: the Greek implies there is room for their being received to repentance (compare Greek, Mr 2:2; Joh 8:37).

10. The certainty, suddenness, and concomitant effects, of the coming of the day of the Lord. Faber argues from this that the millennium, &c., must precede Christ's literal coming, not follow it. But "the day of the Lord" comprehends the whole series of events, beginning with the pre-millennial advent, and ending with the destruction of the wicked, and final conflagration, and general judgment (which last intervenes between the conflagration and the renovation of the earth).

will—emphatical. But (in spite of the mockers, and notwithstanding the delay) come and be present the day of the Lord SHALL.

as a thief—Peter remembers and repeats his Lord's image (Lu 12:39, 41) used in the conversation in which he took a part; so also Paul (1Th 5:2) and John (Re 3:3; 16:15).

the heavens—which the scoffers say' shall "continue" as they are (2Pe 3:4; Mt 24:35; Re 21:1).

with a great noise—with a rushing noise, like that of a whizzing arrow, or the crash of a devouring flame.

elements—the component materials of the world [Wahl]. However, as "the works" in the earth are mentioned separately from "the earth," so it is likely by "elements," mentioned after "the heavens," are meant "the works therein," namely, the sun, moon, and stars (as Theophilus of Antioch [p. 22, 148, 228]; and Justin Martyr [Apology, 2.44], use the word "elements"): these, as at creation, so in the destruction of the world, are mentioned [Bengel]. But as "elements" is not so used in Scripture Greek, perhaps it refers to the component materials of "the heavens," including the heavenly bodies; it clearly belongs to the former clause, "the heavens," not to the following, "the earth," &c.

melt—be dissolved, as in 2Pe 3:11.

the works … therein—of nature and of art.

11. Your duty, seeing that this is so, is to be ever eagerly expecting the day of God.

then—Some oldest manuscripts substitute "thus" for "then": a happy refutation of the "thus" of the scoffers, 2Pe 3:4 (English Version, "As they were," Greek, "thus").

shall be—Greek, "are being (in God's appointment, soon to be fulfilled) dissolved"; the present tense implying the certainty as though it were actually present.

what manner of men—exclamatory. How watchful, prayerful, zealous!

to be—not the mere Greek substantive verb of existence (einai), but (huparchein) denoting a state or condition in which one is supposed to be [Tittmann]. What holy men ye ought to be found to be, when the event comes! This is "the holy commandment" mentioned in 2Pe 3:2.

conversation … godliness—Greek, plural: behaviors (towards men), godlinesses (or pieties towards God) in their manifold modes of manifestation.

12. hasting unto—with the utmost eagerness desiring [Wahl], praying for, and contemplating, the coming Saviour as at hand. The Greek may mean "hastening (that is, urging onward [Alford]) the day of God"; not that God's eternal appointment of the time is changeable, but God appoints us as instruments of accomplishing those events which must be first before the day of God can come. By praying for His coming, furthering the preaching of the Gospel for a witness to all nations, and bringing in those whom "the long-suffering of God" waits to save, we hasten the coming of the day of God. The Greek verb is always in New Testament used as neuter (as English Version here), not active; but the Septuagint uses it actively. Christ says, "Surely I come quickly. Amen." Our part is to speed forward this consummation by praying, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Re 22:20).

the coming—Greek, "presence" of a person: usually, of the Saviour.

the day of God—God has given many myriads of days to men: one shall be the great "day of God" Himself.

wherein—rather as Greek, "on account of (or owing to) which" day.

heavens—the upper and lower regions of the sky.

melt—Our igneous rocks show that they were once in a liquid state.

13. Nevertheless—"But": in contrast to the destructive effects of the day of God stand its constructive effects. As the flood was the baptism of the earth, eventuating in a renovated earth, partially delivered from "the curse," so the baptism with fire shall purify the earth so as to be the renovated abode of regenerated man, wholly freed from the curse.

his promise—(Isa 65:17; 66:22). The "we" is not emphatical as in English Version.

new heavens—new atmospheric heavens surrounding the renovated earth.

righteousness—dwelleth in that coming world as its essential feature, all pollutions having been removed.

14. that ye … be found of him—"in His sight" [Alford], at His coming; plainly implying a personal coming.

without spot—at the coming marriage feast of the Lamb, in contrast to 2Pe 2:13, "Spots they are and blemishes while they feast," not having on the King's pure wedding garment.

blameless—(1Co 1:8; Php 1:10; 1Th 3:13; 5:23).

in peace—in all its aspects, towards God, your own consciences, and your fellow men, and as its consequence eternal blessedness: "the God of peace" will effect this for you.

15. account … the long-suffering … is salvation—is designed for the salvation of those yet to be gathered into the Church: whereas those scoffers "count it (to be the result of) slackness" on the Lord's part (2Pe 3:9).

our beloved brother Paul—a beautiful instance of love and humility. Peter praises the very Epistles which contain his condemnation.

according to the wisdom given unto him—adopting Paul's own language, 1Co 3:10, "According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master-builder." Supernatural and inspired wisdom "GIVEN" him, not acquired in human schools of learning.

hath written—Greek aorist, "wrote," as a thing wholly past: Paul was by this time either dead, or had ceased to minister to them.

to you—Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, the same region as Peter addresses. Compare "in peace," 2Pe 3:14, a practical exhibition of which Peter now gives in showing how perfectly agreeing Paul (who wrote the Epistle to the Galatians) and he are, notwithstanding the event recorded (Ga 2:11-14). Col 3:4 refers to Christ's second coming. The Epistle to the Hebrews, too (addressed not only to the Palestinian, but also secondarily to the Hebrew Christians everywhere), may be referred to, as Peter primarily (though not exclusively) addresses in both Epistles the Hebrew Christians of the dispersion (see on 1Pe 1:1). Heb 9:27, 28; 10:25, 37, "speak of these things" (2Pe 3:16) which Peter has been handling, namely, the coming of the day of the Lord, delayed through His "long-suffering," yet near and sudden.

16. also in all his epistles—Ro 2:4 is very similar to 2Pe 3:15, beginning. The Pauline Epistles were by this time become the common property of all the churches. The "all" seems to imply they were now completed. The subject of the Lord's coming is handled in 1Th 4:13; 5:11; compare 2Pe 3:10 with 1Th 5:2. Still Peter distinguishes Paul's Epistle, or Epistles, "TO YOU," from "all his (other) Epistles," showing that certain definite churches, or particular classes of believers, are meant by "you."

in which—Epistles. The oldest manuscripts read the feminine relative (hais); not as Received Text (hois), "in which things."

some things hard to be understood—namely, in reference to Christ's coming, for example, the statements as to the man of sin and the apostasy, before Christ's coming. "Paul seemed thereby to delay Christ's coming to a longer period than the other apostles, whence some doubted altogether His coming" [Bengel]. Though there be some things hard to be understood, there are enough besides, plain, easy, and sufficient for perfecting the man of God. "There is scarce anything drawn from the obscure places, but the same in other places may be found most plain" [Augustine]. It is our own prejudice, foolish expectations, and carnal fancies, that make Scripture difficult [Jeremy Taylor].

unlearned—Not those wanting human learning are meant, but those lacking the learning imparted by the Spirit. The humanly learned have been often most deficient in spiritual learning, and have originated many heresies. Compare 2Ti 2:23, a different Greek word, "unlearned," literally, "untutored." When religion is studied as a science, nothing is more abstruse; when studied in order to know our duty and practice it, nothing is easier.

unstable—not yet established in what they have learned; shaken by every seeming difficulty; who, in perplexing texts, instead of waiting until God by His Spirit makes them plain in comparing them with other Scriptures, hastily adopt distorted views.

wrest—strain and twist (properly with a hand screw) what is straight in itself (for example, 2Ti 2:18).

other scriptures—Paul's Epistles were, therefore, by this time, recognized in the Church, as "Scripture": a term never applied in any of the fifty places where it occurs, save to the Old and New Testament sacred writings. Men in each Church having miraculous discernment of spirits would have prevented any uninspired writing from being put on a par with the Old Testament word of God; the apostles' lives also were providentially prolonged, Paul's and Peter's at least to thirty-four years after Christ's resurrection, John's to thirty years later, so that fraud in the canon is out of question. The three first Gospels and Acts are included in "the other Scriptures," and perhaps all the New Testament books, save John and Revelation, written later.

unto their own destruction—not through Paul's fault (2Pe 2:1).

17. Ye—warned by the case of those "unlearned and unstable" persons (2Pe 3:16).

knowing … before—the event.

led away with—the very term, as Peter remembers, used by Paul of Barnabas' being "carried," Greek, "led away with" Peter and the other Jews in their hypocrisy.

wicked—"lawless," as in 2Pe 2:7.

fall from—(grace, Ga 5:4: the true source of) "steadfastness" or stability in contrast with the "unstable" (2Pe 3:16): "established" (2Pe 1:12): all kindred Greek terms. Compare Jude 20, 21.

18. grow—Not only do not "fall from" (2Pe 3:17), but grow onward: the true secret of not going backward. Eph 4:15, "Grow up into Him, the Head, Christ."

grace and … knowledge of … Christ—"the grace and knowledge of Christ" [Alford rightly]: the grace of which Christ is the author, and the knowledge of which Christ is the object.

for ever—Greek, "to the day of eternity": the day that has no end: "the day of the Lord," beginning with the Lord's coming.