II Peter 3:10 – Not Surprised

“…but [the] Day of [the] Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens shall vanish with a crash and [the] elements will dissolve burning intensely and [the] earth and the works in it shall be burned up.”

As I noted in the last post, there is one grand certainty which reigns above all others: “The Day of the Lord will come.”

The passage before us goes on to say its coming will be “as a thief.” (The Majority Text reads “as a thief in the night” as Paul states in I Thes 5:2 and as Jesus described in Matt 24:42-45, however, I don’t think those words “in the night” are original in this text. The overwhelming preponderance of evidence omits them).

In Matthew 24, Jesus emphasized how sudden and unexpected would be His Second Coming: “No one knows the day or the hour …” (v.36), “As it was in the days of Noah …” (v.37), “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come (v.42), “…the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him” (v44); hence this description that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief.

It has always intrigued me that He says we do not know “the day or the hour” but He never said we don’t know “the year.” (!). Now I am not suggesting we all start calculating and date setting. What I mean is that, while His Coming will be sudden, it need not be unexpected for believers. This is supported by Paul’s assertion in I Thes 5:4: “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.”  Believers need not be “surprised” by its coming. When we purchased our home in Kewanna, there was a large ash tree in the front yard. It was a beautiful tree but I could see that at some recent time it had taken a severe lightning strike. I knew it was coming down … some time. I just didn’t know when. Again, it was a beautiful tree, so we enjoyed its presence and its shade, but I also always kept an eye on it and watched as I could see the tell-tale signs of its demise. One day we were hit with a particularly fearsome windstorm. Suspecting this was the day, I stepped out on the porch and could see the tree finally opening up at its split every time a particularly fierce gust came. I called the family out on the porch telling them, “This is it. It’s coming down today.” As they stepped out on the porch to see, one more heavy gust blew and, sure enough, down it went … right before our eyes.

It surprised them. I didn’t realize I had never pointed out to them that I knew it was coming down. They didn’t expect it. It came like a thief, suddenly. But while I didn’t know “the day or the hour,” I knew it was coming and watched for it. And, as a result, we were all standing on the porch at just the right time and actually watched it happen. We weren’t surprised.

I think this exactly illustrates the Day of the Lord’s coming “as a thief” and why believers don’t need to be surprised.

Jesus also said, “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door” (Matt 24:32,33). Jesus specifically taught that, although His Coming would be “like a thief,” believers should not be surprised.

Note this too, that the “these things” are all the horrific events previously described in Matt 24, such as the “wars and rumors of wars,” and “famines and earthquakes,” and the “abomination of desolation,” and “great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now.” Basically, what I understand Him to be saying is, “As you begin to see world events taking the shape of those predicted for the End Time, realize His Coming can’t be far off.

At this point, you might be thinking, “Duh. Every believer knows all of this.” True. But, when it comes to God, I refuse to be content to simply “know” things. I refuse to be happy until those truths “rock my world”. He is amazing, All that He does is amazing. If He touches me and I’m not amazed, it means I missed the point.

For myself, I would have to back up and ask, “What do I see?” Quite frankly, I see world events stacking up exactly as Jesus and the prophets described the End Times. All through history events have been sweeping toward, even sometimes closely mimicking End Times. But today I see such events actually accelerating in frequency and intensity. I haven’t seen any objective data, but it seems to me that the frequency and intensity of natural disasters has increased exponentially in my lifetime. The earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis seem to come almost weekly. There in fact is a European Union (revived Roman empire) and certainly world politics seem to be moving rapidly toward one-world government. Government by mass deception also seems to be more and more the rule of the day. (How else could a far-left wing socialist get elected President of the United States and after two years half the country still doesn’t know it?).

And just before I plunge into dark depression, here is exactly where I think this passage can encourage us. “The Day of the Lord will come like a thief …” but, “You, brethren, are not in darkness, that it should take you like a thief …” The very world events which frankly “wax worse and worse” are in fact the very fig tree lessons that tell us that “it is near, right at the door.”

So rather than sinking into (another) fit of discouragement, I need to remind myself that I already knew the world would wax worse and worse. I already knew government by deception would become the rule. I already knew natural calamities would accelerate. It all tells me the Day of Lord is in fact very near—which ought to encourage me and strengthen me to keep on trying to learn to love the people around me – be busy with my Master’s work!

I don’t think it is at all wrong to be disheartened by the national and world events I see around me. At one point even the Lord Himself said, “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion” and “Blessed are they that mourn.” But at some point I have to shake off the ashes, stand up, be brave, and carry on. My good God is quite in charge. And He will have His day!

II Peter 3:10 – Certainty

“…but [the] Day of [the] Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens shall vanish with a crash and [the] elements will dissolve burning intensely and [the] earth and the works in it shall be burned up.”

This verse has intrigued me for years. What a pleasure to finally get to actually study it.

What has intrigued me most is those first few words, “The Day of the Lord will come.”

So many things in life might happen. It might rain. The Colts might win the Superbowl. I might get a good job. Some things are more likely than others. Some matter more or less than others. But through all of that, there is one thing absolutely certain: “The Day of the Lord will come.”

That certainty has intrigued me. I was glad to find that the Greek in fact corroborated the English emphasis. In fact, in the Greek “will come” is the very first word of the sentence. The Greeks had the freedom to re-arrange their sentences in a way we cannot and so they liked to provide emphasis by putting a word or phrase first in a sentence. (Interestingly enough, I understand that in Latin [so often similar to Greek in many ways], they provided emphasis by placing the word or phrase at the end of their sentences. Interesting). This emphatic position is indicated in my translation by the underlining of the word will.

“The Day of the Lord will come.”

The mockers say, “All things continue as they have from the beginning” and the natural human observation is that it seems to be taking an awfully long time. Verse 9 explained why it is taking so long – because the Lord is patient, wanting to make room for all to come to repentance. BUT verse 10 assures us, “the Day of the Lord will come.”

It has been interesting in my life to observe other people. In particular I remember being in school. The teacher or professor would announce that a particular assignment was due on a specific date, or perhaps that a test would occur on a certain date. I would begin right away to plan and work toward that deadline, knowing full well it would come. But it seemed so many around me would go into what looked like careless denial … until suddenly it was upon them. It is hard for me to understand. We all know the day will come. How can someone possibly pretend they don’t know it’s coming? It has always seemed to me like completely irresponsible foolishness. This very problem is exactly why people get head over heels in credit card debt. They are deliberately disregarding the fact they will have to repay it. The bills will come. A simple healthy dose of reality would in an instant eliminate the whole problem of credit card debt. (As an aside, when it comes to all of this, I don’t believe I think that somehow I’m “better” than others. I am quite sure I owe it to my parents’ good training even before I was old enough to know I was being trained. Somehow, they imprinted in my young impressionable heart a respect for those things which most certainly would come to pass. Still don’t know what they did, but I’m confident that is the only explanation why I’m different).

So it is, as I read this passage, it cuts to the very heart of who I am. “The Day of the Lord will come.” It will come. That realization should move us all to sit up straight, to consider what it means, how we should prepare, how we should perhaps re-order our lives in realization of its certainty.

It’s a good thing to have certainty in our lives. It’s good to know there are some things that we can absolutely count on. We all build our lives around that which we think is certain. The sun will rise and fall. Winter, spring, summer, and fall will come. Every year will have 365 ¼ days. The office will be there Monday morning. The car will start. The furnace will turn on and off and keep the house warm. Certainty allows us to plan, to live, to order our lives.

And this one grand certainty reigns above them all: “The Day of the Lord will come.”

The rest of II Peter 3 is basically answering the question, “Seeing we know this is true, how should we then live?” so I’m not going to spend any time here to go into the applications that cross my mind. I just want to say that the certainty of these words “The Day of the Lord will come” actually provide the very basis to ask that question, “How should we then live?”

Blessed assurance. Jesus is mine.

II Peter 3:9 – The Tragedy of Unrequited Love

[The] Lord is not being slow of promise as some are reckoning slowness, but [He] is being patient into you, not purposing that any perish but [purposing] all to have room into repentance.”

II Peter 3:9 is one of those verses I wait excitedly to study. Since I chose to study this book, I have been looking forward to the delicious hours studying the Greek words and grammar of this very verse, of considering the word meanings one by one, noticing their tenses and cases, even investigating textual variants. But I enjoy all of that because, having done it all, I then feel particularly free to ponder the meaning of the verse, to absorb its truth into my soul, possibly to have it expose some twist in my thinking and lead me to the real truth. All so tantalizingly delicious. And suddenly here I am, with my UBS open and savoring the moments. This is another one of those verses where I feel I need to take off my shoes just to ponder it.

I should probably note, obviously, this passage is another theological battle ground. The “Calvinists” and “Arminians” instantly throw on their helmets, dig their trenches, and start lobbing semantic hand grenades at each other. Just for the record, I really couldn’t care less what either of them think. The question is “What does the Bible say?” If on a particular verse, someone says, “Hey, you’re a Calvinist!,” or “You’re an Arminian!,” I really don’t care. The only question is whether my understanding of the verse is defensible or not. I just want to know God. Just for the record.

Here are some exegetical tidbits: Interesting that all of the verbs and participles in the verse are present tense while the infinitives are aorists. The aorist is of course the default tense of the Greek language (as the present is for our English). So, for myself, any time I see tenses other than aorist, I look more closely. A person writing or speaking in Greek is being deliberate when they choose any tense other than aorist. In the translation above, I tried to reflect the use of the present by translating the verbs “not being slow,” “are reckoning,” and “being patient.” The only thing I can think of is to say Peter is being very specific to the immediate argument. In other words, of course it is true that, in general, the Lord is “not slow,” that some “reckon,” and that He “is patient.” But here the question is, “Why is He taking so long?” The answer is not general. It is very specific. He is “not being slow,” even though some “are reckoning,” and in fact, the big answer is He is “being patient” right here, right now, even as we ponder our question. I think that is the point of the present tense verbs.

Thought: Is it not a mistake to ever read the Bible and think what it says is merely “generally” true? Is it not always true that what God does He “is doing.” Is that perhaps the difference between “knowing about Him” and “knowing Him?” Yes, He “works all things together for good,” but oh the glorious moment to look up and truly realize He is working all things together for good” … right here, right now(!). Aorists are nice things. It is very instructive and comforting to know what God characteristically does, what He is like, the kind of God He is. And that is important. May we all long to know more. But it is all so important that we bring that truth down to presents -- He is ___ing.

Next exegetical tidbit concerns the use of the Greek word “boulomai,” which gets translated “is not willing,” “does not desire,” “not wanting,” “not wishing.” Let me pause to say this is a delicate place because we are truly considering God’s heart. We’re actually considering His deepest motives. “Why is He taking so long?” “What moves Him to act this way?” I fear we lose an enormous opportunity to truly know Him because this very verse is a place where people’s theological obligations precede their exegesis. Indulge me one second to say that, at such an important verse, we all should leave presuppositions and obligations behind, let the words say what they say, let them tell us what they tell us about our God, truly and prayerfully seek to know Him, then reemerge with the truth and care nothing for what “camp” someone thinks we fall in. “For this is eternal life, that we might know Him …” (John17:3). Go back to the top and read the verse in this light, then please follow along and consider what I’d like to say:

There are two closely related Greek words that express the idea of “wishing,” “purposing,” desiring,” etc. – the word used here “boulomai” and its semantic bedfellow “thelo.” I have actually been watching these two words for twenty years. I have specifically noted their occurrence in verse after verse as I’ve studied. Each time, aware of their respective semantic ranges, I have thought deeply about each of those usages. I would like to offer my conclusion (while fully aware of Edie’s quote, “Interpretations are generally false in proportion to their ingenuity): The word “thelo” always expresses a wish as simply that, a wish. “Boulomai” also involves wishing/desiring but always goes on to express the idea of intention. “Boulomai” is a purposeful word. That is why in my translation above I used the word “purposing.” Here’s the semantic overlap – that there is in fact a fine line between wishing and purposing. I’ll never purpose something to happen until I first have desired that it happen. And it is perfectly right to say, “I wish (thelo) to go to town,” when in fact I have every intention of doing so. It is equally right to say, “I have determined (boulomai) to go back to school” intending to communicate to someone my desires. So we see what appears to be almost a synonymous interchange. But here again is my rub: to wish and only wish is in fact completely different than to wish and purpose it to be. Over these twenty years, in every context I have observed, thelo expresses wish/desire (which may or may not lead to intention); but every occurrence of boulomai expresses intention. Boulomai is a volitional word.

Lexicons may or may not pick up on this distinction. But Louw & Nida, for instance observes that boulomai means “to desire … with the implication of some reasoned planning or will to accomplish the goal … to purpose, to plan, to intend …” (25.1 and 30.58).

Based on all of this, wherever it occurs, I very deliberately translate thelo as “desire” or “wish.” And I very deliberately translate boulomai as “purpose,” as I have done in this passage.

Here again, it is time to put aside presuppositions and let this passage speak. What does it say? It says God is “…not purposing that any perish…”

Again? God is “…not purposing that any perish…”

We are not talking about wishing. We are talking about purpose. About volition. About resolved determination. God is “…not purposing that any perish…”

Call me what you will, but I cannot escape the belief the Scriptures clearly teach that God “has chosen us in Him before the creation of the world.” Although I believe salvation does somehow involve a volitional element on the part of the believer, yet the Scriptures abundantly teach that God predestines, that He chooses, that He calls … that I will enjoy Heaven forever because my wonderful gracious God unexplainably purposed to save me.

Some would say, “That logically implies that He has elected others to damnation, that if He predestines some to heaven, then He has predestined others to burn in hell.” Logically maybe, but human logic fails at infinity. And here in II Peter 3:9 we trespass into the heart of the infinite God and hear the very clear statement that He is “…not purposing that any perish…” I don’t know of any clearer statement anywhere in the Bible to unarguably assert that our God does not predestine anyone to burn in hell. “But, but, but!,” someone cries, “…that is the only logical …” I totally care not. God has spoken. Let Him speak for Himself. And, I’m very sorry if anyone doesn’t like it, but it is an established fact of human math that human logic fails at infinity. To divide by zero is meaningless. An asymptote goes on for all eternity yet never reaches the axis. Human logic fails at infinity. And again, we are talking about our infinite God’s heart. Is He logical? Usually. But what if He clearly says things that we find illogical? What do we do when His Word clearly says things we simply cannot reconcile in our minds? What are we to do? Fall on your knees and worship, my friend. Here it is: In His infinite, unfathomable, divine love He can deliberately plan for the salvation of some while at the same time not plan for the damnation of others! Worship!

“Love divine, all loves excelling,

                                             Joy of Heaven, to earth come down!”

This post is already way too long. But there is more:

The verse isn’t done. He hasn’t purposed any to perish, but what has He purposed? “That all should have room for repentance.” (!!!) Again, I think translations miss the boat here and maybe it’s because they’re afraid of the theology, but the Greek clearly declares that what God is purposing that all “xorasai” into repentance. The word “ xorao” means “to make room, to provide opportunity.” Read it again. Not only does it clearly say He is not purposing any to perish, but it is going on to say that what He is purposing is that “all should have room for repentance.” All. All. All. Once again, let’s let Him speak for Himself. Has He purposed some to be saved? Yes. Unquestionably. But does that mean He has purposed some to perish. No. No. No. A thousand times No. What has He purposed? That all should have room for repentance. (!)  Somehow, someway, it is inescapably true that not one single person will burn in hell because God predestined them to be there. There was room. There.was.room. For.all.

Which brings us back to the whole point of the whole verse. Why is He taking so long? What does it say? “He is being patient with you … not purposing that any should perish, but that all should have room for repentance.” He’s being patient!!! He not only hasn’t purposed that any should perish, He instead is wishing all could be saved! The door stands open. There is room. Truly, “there is room at the Cross for you!” Even as some scoff and mock at His promise, though they would deride Him His apparent delay, even as they scoff, His door stands open. Even they have room for repentance!

Love divine, all loves excelling.

And can it be?

Amazing the length and the breadth and the height and the depth of the love of Christ.

What an absolutely tragic loss for so many that they will never fall willingly into the embrace of such an infinite, unfathomable divine love.

May my own heart fill with such a love. May my words, my hands, my eyes offer such a love to the people I work with, the people I deal with day by day, the people this loving God places around my path.

“Love divine, all loves excelling,

                                             Joy of Heaven, to earth come down!”

I can't seem to get on my old xanga site, so I've moved here to Blogspot. Guess I'll post my thoughts here. I love to study the Bible and want the Lord to radically change my thinking and help me to love like Christ. This blog gives me a place to gather my thoughts and conclusions. If it helps someone else, that would be great, but I've studied enough to realize what will really "help" others is for me to truly grow and live a life of God's love at work, at home, in the community, wherever my responsibilities take me. So here are some more thoughts from my study of II Peter:

II Peter 3:8 – Exegetical Ponderings 4

II Peter 3:8 is an interesting verse, one that induces several exegetically and perhaps theologically significant discussions:

 ⁸But do not forget this one thing, beloved ones: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

Where do I begin? First I noticed in Ponderings 1, Peter’s affectionate appellation. Then, in Ponderings 2 I considered this interesting business of forgetting and remembering. In Ponderings 3 I considered the meaning of the 1000 years/1 day statement.

As I stated in 3, I don’t know how we could possibly assert, based on II Peter 3:8, that the “1 day = 1000 years” is some kind of secret formula to unlock prophetic timelines. Nothing whatsoever in the passage even hints that God is offering us a secret formula of any kind. As I said there, I feel it is almost beyond debate that Peter’s point is simply the irrelevance of time in light of God’s transcendent eternality.

On the other hand, anyone who reads and studies to any significant degree has run across some “1 day = 1000 years” arguments that definitely seem plausible. I am not referring to arguments to derive such a formula from this passage, but rather, the simple fact that there does appear to be some correlation.

John Gill stated:

“…the Jews interpreted days of millenniums, and reckoned millenniums by days, and used this phrase in confirmation of it. Thus they say (a),

‘in the time to come, which is in the last days, on the sixth day, which is the sixth millennium, when the Messiah comes, for the day of the holy blessed God is a thousand years’.

And elsewhere (b),

‘… the day of the holy blessed God is a thousand years. And in that day the King Messiah shall come, and it shall be called the feast of gathering, for the holy blessed God will gather in it the captivity of his people’.

So they call the sabbath, or seventh day, the seventh millennium …” ((a) Zohar in Gen. fol. 13. 4. (b) Ib. fol. 16. 1.)

The thought has intrigued me for years that all of human history could seriously comprise a period of 7000 years or 7 millennia. The Jewish calendar actually has Creation occurring about 4000 BC, then we are of course at about 2000 AD, and still looking for a final 1000 year Millennial Reign of Christ (Rev 20:4-6), which interestingly adds up to about 7000 years. If that were true, and in fact we are to expect a Pre-Millennial Rapture, then we are very close to His second Coming.

As the old Rabbi’s wrote in the quotes above, obviously they expected God’s timeline for history to follow the pattern of the week, with six “days” of labor and a seventh of “rest.” On the one hand, one has to be careful about taking everything they thought too seriously. After all, don’t forget, basically they were the Pharisees – not exactly the kind of guys you want to follow too closely. On the other hand (and I don’t know of anyone who would agree with me on this) I personally think it extremely important to realize that God’s prophets spoke orally to the Jewish people way more than they wrote down for us to read. Even reading Apocryphal and other non-Scriptural books, I try to keep an open mind as, they may not be Scripture, but it is also possible that they are expressing truths spoken by the Prophets but never written down. Ancient writings are windows into the minds of ancient people. And any window into the mind of God’s ancient people is worthy of attentive study.  Even reading the Bible itself, sometimes one has to ask, “How did they know this? There was no previously written Scripture that spoke to these issues. Obviously they were taught orally long before many subjects were ever written down.This is a subject I’d love to discuss with any one.

I wouldn’t build my faith on such things or even confidently propose any kind of prophetic timeline – but I wouldn’t just dismiss them either. They may not be “Scripture” but that doesn’t mean they’re untrue. It just isn’t “truth” I can build my life on.

All of that said, I certainly think the 1 day = 1000 years is at least an interesting concept. Again, I absolutely do not think that is the point of II Peter 3:8. And even if it was, it doesn’t say anywhere that human history will in fact comprise a period of 7000 years. It might be 70,000. All I’m saying is it’s an interesting concept and that the fact that the Jews had a tradition to this effect at least makes it worthy of some playful contemplation.

One more reason I think it worthy of at least playful contemplation – is the fact that I believe the fundamental logic of God’s creation is fractal. It is obviously true that the whole universe is built on the logic of repeating patterns – patterns that appear and re-appear on a million different scales – fractals. The possibility that God’s large scale timeline (7000 years) is built on the same pattern as His small scale (7-day week) – that it is fractal -- is to me entirely possible.

So … will human history amount to a period of 7000 years? And are we then extremely close to the Rapture? I don’t know … but it’s interesting.

Should we ponder such things even if the conclusion is “Maybe?” Theological pondering usually begs a conclusion that is of absolute certainty. But … I would contend that when it comes to prophetic timelines, we need to do our best to study, to understand, and even to conclude – then be careful to distinguish between what was clearly Scripture and what were merely our conclusions. Jesus said, “I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe” (John 14:29) … “so that when it does happen you will believe”. Clearly there is an element of prophecy which God has no intention we understand until it comes to pass. But this uncertainty is no deterrent to study and pondering. Rather it is a motivation to so. I want to know in fact what God has actually said, to have pondered it, to see it within the full vista of His great creation, and be as familiar as I can be, so that “when it does happen” I will recognize His touch. Realizing that God’s universe is not only linear but logically fractal as well is simply part of understanding Him. Who knows? Maybe the whole thing is a big Fibonacci Series!! Maybe it will come together in some kind of magnificent universal Golden Ratio. … maybe.

“O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise …”

O for a thousand lifetimes to ponder the greatness of my Redeemer’s creation!