Gospel News — Jun-Aug 2012

8

The Earth & The Works Therein Shall Be Burned Up (2 Pet.3:10)

Bro. Ralph Green (Torquay. UK)

This terrifying prophecy may well cause us to wonder when this will happen; will it be in my lifetime? A literal understanding of these words has its problem. With its mighty oceans the surface of the earth consists of more water than dry land. At the north and south poles and within the arctic circles there are vast areas of ice and snow. From a physical point of view it would be necessary for the earth to gravitate into the sun to fulfil that prophecy by Peter.

In other parts of scripture we find clear statements inferring the permanence of the earth. For instance in Psalm 115:16, "The heavens, even the heavens are the LORD'S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men". And again in Ps.37, "The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein for ever." (v.29). The word `land' here is a translation of the Hebrew word `erets' which is most often translated `earth'... This teaching in the Psalms is confirmed by the Lord Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount. "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth" (Matt.5:5).

To get a better understanding of Peter's statement we ought to read the whole verse as follows: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with the fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up".

You will notice that here, Peter includes `the heavens' which shall also pass away in a fiery destruction. This inclusion of `the heavens' could alert us to the probability that Peter's

words should be understood more figuratively than we at first thought. This suggestion is confirmed when in reading the earlier part of this chapter we find Peter is referring in similar language to the flood. Peter was combating the notion of scoffers that "all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation". He points out that the flood is an illustration when all things do NOT continue as before.

Peter says the flood came by the `Word of God': that is to say by his authority and power. His wording is "Whereby (by his power) the world that then was, being overflowed with water perished". He then adds, "But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men." (v.7).

These verses teach that whereas the world of Noah's day was `subjected to a day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men' by water, another one is reserved `for the future' but this time by the use of fire.

Significantly,

Peter uses this phrase to mean the world of the present which is kept and reserved for the fiery judgement which is yet to be executed when the `day of the Lord' has arrived.

You may have noticed that in writing of the constitution of things in Noah's day he uses the word `world' (Gr. Kosmos). The wording was, "Whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water, perished". Peter then goes on to write, "But the heavens and the earth which are now are reserved for judgement and perdition of ungodly men". One can understand from this sequence of thought that the phrase `heaven and earth' (which are now) is equivalent to the term `world' used in the first case. This being so we can understand