Psalm 25:1-3 – Real World Talk

Again, here is my literal translation of these verses:

[Given] to David: To You, Yahveh, I lift up my soul. My God, I trust [recklessly] in You. Let me not be ashamed. Do not let my enemies triumph over me. Also, do NOT let ones waiting for/hoping in You be ashamed. Let be ashamed ones dealing unfaithfully without cause.

I have become more and more convinced over the years that preaching today does people an enormous disservice by focusing almost entirely on “church” and utterly failing to address people’s everyday lives. With all due respect, I think that those in full-time ministry have developed a severe case of “in-grown eyeballs.” Their world centers around the church-building and its programs. And so their preaching does the same. But, sadly, as I’ve lamented before, the fact is that the average lay-person will spend no more than maybe 3 hours a week at the church building. They spend the other 165 hours of their week in a real world – a real world where those same people need desperately to be equipped to know how to live out their faith – the real world of their workplace, their families, their grocery stores, their mechanics, a world of pressing deadlines, bills to be paid, grass to be mown, runny noses, and soccer games. God help me, as I study the Bible, I am trying desperately to bridge that gap in my own life. What I’m reading MUST apply to my life all day every day or it really means nothing at all. It needs to change me as I live in that real world. It needs to make me different, make me like Christ, whether I happen to be inside the four walls of a church building or sitting in a meeting at work.

I say all of this because I think even these first three verses have everything to do with my everyday life. I have read a number of commentaries, both from my own shelves and on-line, and they have offered many helpful insights. Yet not one of them made any connection to real life, at least nothing beyond the very general sentiments of trusting God in difficulty.

What I’d like to do here is offer a way I see the passage applying in my life. I believe my application is valid and hope it might be encouraging to someone else who stumbles onto this post.

The passage involves a stark contrast between those who “wait for/hope in God” and those who “deal unfaithfully without a cause.”

The word “bagad,” which I have translated “to deal unfaithfully” is a word that gets translated by others in a variety of ways. One of the most familiar to me is “to deal treacherously” as in Malachi 2:14 of husbands “dealing treacherously” against “the wife of their youth”. I feel personally that translations like “deal treacherously” lose their effectiveness in their very melodrama. Apparently, in the right context, the word could mean that. But even in Malachi 2:14, the problem is not that the man turned into some kind of arch-fiend and sold his wife into slavery or gambled her away to some ex-con. Even in the passage, the Lord says, “Yet she is your companion and the wife of your covenant.” The man’s heinous crime is simply that he failed to live up to his promise. He promised to be her husband, to take care of her, in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, till death do us part. But she displeased him in some way so he packed her bags and pointed her toward the door. He simply was unfaithful. He didn’t keep his promises.

I believe the real and very practical meaning of bagad is simply “to deal unfaithfully;”  “to not keep one’s promises;” “to fail to follow through when others are counting on me.” Can I just pause and say I find that immediately far more likely than that I might “deal treacherously.” I don’t feel “treacherous.” But I am very, very capable of simply not doing what I said I would – whether out of forgetfulness, laziness, distraction, or whatever. I doubt if I’ll be “treacherous.” But I am all too often “unfaithful.”

Now why is that a big deal? It is a COLOSSAL deal. The very essence of our relationship with God is His faithfulness. He keeps His promises. He is Who He said He’d be. He does what He said He’d do. You can count on it. Jesus said, “I am the Truth.” We build our lives, hang our eternal souls, stake our hopes on His promises. And He is absolutely, 100%, totally, unwaveringly dependable. Faithful. He won’t disappoint you. He won’t leave you ashamed. In fact, as I just learned in II Peter, it is through His "very great and precious promises" that we are allowed to "particpate in the divine nature!" So much is built on the fact that He keeps His promises!

You and I live in a world where we MUST do the same. We count on God. Others count on us. They base their plans on what we said we’d do, who we said we’d be. In a sense the entire human race is like a house of cards built on our mutual promises.

So then there are the others. They’re not like God. They “deal unfaithfully without a cause.” Can I say again in warning, don’t lose the practicality here by being melodramatic. We’re not looking here at some kind of monsters. We’re talking simply about people who don’t keep their promises, who don’t do what they said they would. The monstrosity is in the sin itself. Unfaithfulness, the simple act, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant, is itself a MONSTROUS sin. And why? As I said above, because we all depend on each other – to do what we said we would. Again, the whole human race is like a house of cards built on our mutual dependence. And simple unfaithfulness is the death of it all.

Back to our passage. David is praying as one of the people who is sincerely trying to live faithfully. It’s a precarious thing. It’s often uncertain. Just trying to be who I’m supposed to be, do what I’m supposed to do, to live with integrity. I have to make a lot of hard choices. I have to make promises. I have to present myself as a person of integrity, a person of sincere and good intentions. But I live in a world where it can all blow up in my face, turn out not at all as I planned, leave me looking like a liar, a charlatan. On the other hand, even as I’m going about trying to be faithful, I live in a world where others have no such intentions. They make the same promises as me, present themselves the same way, yet have no intention at all of living up to it. And they usually are the ones who seem to succeed. They’re the ones who get rich. David says, “No, no, no. Lord, please don’t let me be ashamed. Don’t let the people who are trying to be faithful be the ones who end up ashamed. The ones who ought to do down in shame are all these slinky jerks who go around promising people the world, then just using them. May those be the ones who end up ashamed!”

This antithesis is patently obvious in my business world. I am an engineer. I work particularly with small towns. I want to be their engineer. I want to help them. They need an engineer who cares, who is sincerely watching out for their best interests. They need someone who will help them plan projects that really will benefit the town. They need someone who is always available to answer questions, give them advice, and simply provide them with the technical expertise that they cannot possibly have on their own. The same is true of Town attorneys, but I’m not one, so I won’t go there. But I hope you see my point. And although we have to be paid and we have to make money (my creditors  insist on it!), yet it’s not about the money. It’s about sincerely providing a real service to meet real needs. I sincerely believe I can trust God that if I’m faithful to take care of my clients, then, in the long run, they’ll take care of me.

Let me not be ashamed (!).

On the other hand, everywhere I go I am literally awash in an ocean of others’ unfaithfulness. These poor little towns (and pardon me now if I seem to get melodramatic) have been raped for years by engineers and salesmen who have promised them the world, been more than happy to take their money, but utterly failed to look after their best interests. It is heart-breaking to see the junk they’ve been sold, the messes they’ve been left with, the money they’ve paid for nothing. I don’t want to be that way. Even if by sincere failure on my part. To fail is to fail whether the intent was sincere or not. I don’t want to be ashamed.

As I related in my last post, I’m working on a project right now that MUST succeed. There is no plan B. I walked into a hopeless situation where 350 people could lose their jobs and, based on my knowledge of engineering, I offered them a solution that I sincerely believe will work and will work well. I’m sure it will. And based on my recommendations, they are now spending $30,000 to see if it will work.  I sincerely believe it will. I’m sincerely pursuing this for their benefit. Yes, I’m getting paid, but that isn’t what it’s about. Others have made many, many, many similar promises, have pawned themselves off as someone who cares, only to let them down and run off with their money. I don’t want to be like them. I really do want to help. But I could fail too.

And so I pray,

To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. My God, I trust [recklessly] in You. Let me not be ashamed. Do not let my enemies triumph over me. Also, do NOT let ones waiting for/hoping in You be ashamed. Let be ashamed ones dealing unfaithfully without cause.

For whomever might have stumbled across this post, I hope you see what I mean. This passage is NOT just some general nice sounding religious words. This is a very real and heartfelt prayer in a world where I desperately need my God to carry me in His arms, to bless the work of my hands, to honor me so that I can in turn honor Him by doing my work well and being a real benefit to those who depend on me.

O my God, I trust in Thee. Let me not be ashamed. Let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Psalm 25:1-3 – Nice Psalm

Here is my literal translation of these verses:

[Given] to David: To You, Yahveh, I lift up my soul. My God, I trust [recklessly] in You. Let me not be ashamed. Do not let my enemies triumph over me. Also, do NOT let ones waiting for/hoping in You be ashamed. Let be ashamed ones dealing unfaithfully without cause.

Lots of things cross my mind as I’ve pondered these verses.

First of all, this Psalm has a characteristic opening which says simply “To David.” Once when I was studying the Psalms with a Rabbi, I said something attributing a Psalm to David, at which time the Rabbi most emphatically corrected me, pointing out that the Hebrew says “to David,” not “by David.” He suggested that someone else wrote it and perhaps presented it to David. I had to acknowledge that his translation was correct. It does say, “To David.” On the other hand, I knew there was some explanation. Interestingly, in Matthew 22: 43-45, Jesus very clearly recognizes David as the author of Psalm 110:1. He says, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?" Also interestingly, Psalm 110 begins with the same “To David;” yet Jesus unequivocally recognizes David as the author.

So why is it “to David?” I think Jesus explains it in the passage quoted above when He says, “…David, speaking by the Spirit …” I doubt not one whit that David was far too humble to claim authorship of a Psalm. He was all too aware that the Psalms were given to him, and so, in that humility, he never signed them “By David” but rather “To David.” Simple explanation, in my humble opinion.

Then I notice that David says, “To You, Yahveh, I lift up my soul.” This is in stark contrast to Psalm 143:3, where he says, “The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground.” That is why we have to constantly “lift up our souls” to the Lord. We have an enemy who is constantly crushing us down to the ground. David says in Psalm 27:13, “I would have fainted except I believed …” Satan and this world and even our own sin natures work quadruple over-time to knock us down, in a million different ways: “You’re no good. You’ll never make it. You’ll never amount to anything. See, you just can’t win, can you? What’s the point of trying? Give it up, stupid. That’s what you get for hoping. Of course you’re angry. You should be. Go ahead, let them have it! Go ahead, you deserve it! Go ahead. Give in. Why fight it any longer?” On and on, day after day, ad nauseum. Spurgeon said, “Very often, the soul cannot rise, [it is] more like a burrowing mole than a soaring eagle.” I personally can imagine no other cure than to “lift up my soul to the Lord.” “Much of what they’re saying may be too true. But You are my strength, my hope, my shield. By grace let me walk today. By grace give me the victory of love. To You I lift up my soul.” Apparently I find life very much like David did. Guess things haven’t changed much in 3000 years.

Another thing I love: In v2, he says, “I trust in You.” “Be-ka batakti.” I love the Hebrew word Batak. Simply translated it means to trust. But the Hebrew picture is far more colorful. It means to trust recklessly. It means to leave nothing in the bank. It’s like the “trust falls” the kids like to do. I hope that is how I trust the Lord: recklessly. He certainly deserves it.

Then he says, “Let me not be ashamed.” This is an important point, I think, where we have to shift cultures. In English, to be ashamed can be a very personal, private thing, the bad feelings I have when I deeply regret a course of action I pursued. But that is very, very American. We are first and foremost individuals. There is almost no sense of community in our souls. Yes, I am an American. Yes, I may be part of a team. But I am very much an individual within those communities and I expect to be recognized as such.

From what I have read of history and certainly from reading through the Old Testament numerous times, I am often amazed at how much more the ancient world was truly a community. People saw themselves first of all as members of a family, of a village, of a nation. I think we saw that in the Beijing Olympics even with the opening ceremonies, where there was an amazing number of Chinese able to perform together in perfect harmony and rhythm. As I watched that performance, I thought to myself, “You could never do that in America. You couldn’t get that many people to perform together in a group so large that they completely lose their independent existence". What this all comes down to is this word “shame.” In Hebrew it is not a private word for feelings I have sitting alone in my room. It is a very public word. It describes the feelings I have when I know I have failed and everyone else knows it too … and they’re all standing around pointing at me.

David is saying, “Lord, I want to trust recklessly in You. But if I do so, I fear my own failure. I fear people mocking and saying, 'Trust in God? Ha! See where it got you?'” The problem is that, even if what I’m doing is good, I have an infinite capacity to screw it up and make a mess of everything. I desperately need God’s help to actually succeed, to stick it out to the end, to overcome the obstacles, to not lose heart in the middle, to see it through to a successful end. I have projects at work right now where that is exactly what I’m praying. They must succeed. One in particular we are pusuing specifically because I said it will work. $30,000 from now, it had better work. If it doesn’t, I’ll be ashamed for recommending it, for wasting their money. And I’ll also be ashamed in the community sense because it simply must work. It is critically important.

So, although, we are very individual in America, public shame is a very real threat. While I hate the private feelings of regretting my own failures, I like that this Hebrew word is so much bigger. And I’m glad I can pray, “Let me not be ashamed,” and mean it in that very large public sense. The simple fact is, I fear that too.

There is much, much more to say, but I’ll end this post by noting that David adds, “Also, do NOT let ones waiting for/hoping in You be ashamed …” I don’t know if he means “Don’t let them be ashamed because of my failure” or just in general he’s thinking of others. Either way, he’s thinking of others. There’s that community thing again. And it’s a good thing. I hope when I’m praying, and especially when I’m praying out of suffering and anguish, that my heart is big enough to remember that people all around me are suffering too. David obviously was like that. Jesus certainly was like that. I should be too. Also, for whatever it's worth, I capitalized the NOT because it is the most emphatic Hebrew word for "Not." If anything, David was more concerned for others than for himself! "Let me not be ashamed, but let them NOT be ashamed." finally, I love the word translated wait/hope. It interestingly means both in one word. That is why I translated it with both.

Very encouraging Psalm. Thank you, Lord.

II Peter – “Good-bye, Old Friend!”

As I mentioned in my last post, one of the reasons I chose to study II Peter was to ponder its similarity to Jude. There was no question in my mind that Jude is chiastically ordered and I wondered if II Peter is also … and then whether the two were interrelated.

Also as I mentioned in the last post, as I have waded through II Peter, I did in fact find a considerable amount of repetition and often that repetition does appear to be symmetrical around the center of the book, all strongly suggesting order and likely chiastic order. I am especially intrigued when the center of the book is in the area of the reference to Balaam and his greed – which is the apex of the chiasm in Jude.

However, all of that said, I simply cannot see the pattern. Lots of repetition. Repetition that often appears symmetrical. Repetition of highly significant words like “promise” and “diligence” and the “Coming.” But for all my staring and diagramming, I just can’t see the pattern. So I think I’m going to have to close the file and move on.

It is possible that the “order” used is something I’m not familiar with. Pretty much I only know to look for chiasms. There’s no question in my mind that there is in fact some kind of order going on. I just can’t see it.

Here is where I give it my best shot, pray about it, and at some point decide that now simply is not the time. If I live long enough I may come back. It may be that I have to learn some other things, grow in some other ways, know God better, then it will fall off the page in my lap.

The fact is, I have learned so much from this book. There may be more to learn if I can discern an order. But regardless, the journey has been a sweet refuge sitting at the feet of my Lord. He reminded me how much He loves me and intends to do me good (“grace and peace be multiplied to you). He explained that it is by His promises that I actually participate in His divine nature – very great and precious promises indeed! Then He laid out for me the seven virtues of 1:5-7 and explained their meaning. I particularly was struck by the concept of “group love” and have tried to remember that as I deal with the many, many different “teams” I work with day in and day out. Once again, it appeared that, if there is a chiasm, the apex centers on Balaam and his greed. In Jude I concluded that greed is the supreme symptom to watch for in those who would propose to teach the Word – whether it is greed for money, or perhaps (as in the fundamentalist camp) for power and applause. People who give any evidence at all that they’re “in it for themselves” are utterly unfit to be teaching the Word, and, in fact, according to Jude and Peter, they’re dangerous(!). Finally, it was great being reminded that “the end of it all” is quite in God’s hands. It is thrilling to me to ponder this earth and the entire universe recreated in its original perfection and then to have forever to explore its magnificence. There will definitely be some awesome camping trips! And I’m looking forward to exploring the universe – “to go where no man’s gone before”(!).

According to my records I started my study of this book on August 11, 2009. Today is January 15, 2011. It has sure been fun. But it’s time to move on. So … good-bye, old friend. Till we meet again … The Lord and I have plans to meet in Psalm 25. Only He knows what delights He has awaiting me there. He's quite the tour guide, you know! So, off we go!

II Peter – “Pondering Order”

One of the reasons I chose to study II Peter was to ponder its similarity to Jude. There was no question in my mind that Jude is chiastically ordered. II Peter 2 in particular is obviously very similar to Jude, such that people have pondered for years whether Peter is copying Jude or Jude Peter or if perhaps both are referencing some other document. Regardless, the similarities are undeniable. After observing the very clear chiasm in Jude, the thought occurred to me that maybe II Peter is also chiastically ordered and that the two chiasms were deliberately related—perhaps one the mirror image of the other, like the top and bottom v’s of an X.

(For whatever it’s worth, once again, I want to assert that such investigations are not mere academic exercises. The text we’re considering is the Words of the living God. If there is order present, it is deliberate – and since it’s His Word, it’s Him being deliberate. He’s using order to provide emphasis, to communicate His truth in some way. Now, since His truth is logically fractal, one does not have to discern that order to “understand” Him. As anyone would read or study the Word, every little nugget we grasp, every individual piece of the fractal pattern we see is divine truth and when we know the truth, the truth sets us free. But, to understand more is to know Him better … and that is my goal. It’s not a matter of knowing Him at all. It’s a matter of knowing Him better. If the order is there, it is His order, it is deliberate, and to understand it is to understand Him a little better, to think just a little more like Him, to see the world just a little more through His eyes. So, just in case anyone is wondering, I don’t think it is at all a frivolous academic exercise to ponder the order of Scriptural text. I intend it to be intensely practical).

So, is there an order to the book of II Peter?  And is that order somehow tied to Jude?

I don’t know. I think there is order in the book itself, although I don’t see it yet. But I “smell” it. There is considerable repetition of terms within the book. I noted about 25 Greek words that get repeated in ways that look suspiciously like ordered terms.

In particular, there are two phrases that get repeated, one word for word, and the other very closely. In 1:20 and then again in 3:3, the Greek words identically say, “…knowing this first, that ...”. In the NIV, 1:20 is translated, “Above all you must understand that …” and 3:3 gets translated, “First of all, you must understand that …” The two phrases are obviously similar in English, but they are identical in Greek. Their position on either side of chapter 2 looks suspiciously ordered and deliberate.

The other repeated phrase has to do with “stirring you up to remember” and is in 1:13 and 3:1. Interestingly, in Jude 5 and 17, there is also reference to “remembering” and there the two references serve clearly as level D in the chiasm(!). In 1:13, the phrase is “διεγειρειν ύμας εν ύπομνησει” while in 3:1 it is “διεγειρω ύμων εν ύπομνησει”.

Then another very interesting repetition is the word and concept of “coming.” In 1:16, Peter asserts, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ …” Then specifically what the scoffers challenge in 3:4 is His coming: “They will say, ‘Where is this coming He promised?’” Of course chapter 3 centers entirely around the fact of verse 10, “The Day of the Lord will come …” (although “coming” is a different Greek word there).

Other interesting repetitions include the word “promise” (1:4,2:19,3:4,9,13), “diligence” (1:5,10,15;3:12,14), “destruction” (2:1a,1b,3; 3:6,7,16), and words for “remembering/forgetting” (1:9,12,13,15;3:1,2,5,8).

Then, interestingly, the list of virtues in 1:5-7 contains exactly seven virtues.

I strongly suspect that chapter 2 does somehow correspond to the chiasm in Jude while chapters 1 and 3 serve as some kind of (perhaps) chiastic border around it.

I still don’t see anything for sure but I do see a lot of indications that the order is there. So I’ll keep staring at it for just a bit longer before I close up my file and head off to another delicious study.

II Peter 3:17,18 – “Conclusion of the Matter”

And so I come to the end of this book. My very literal translation of the final two verses of this passage would be as follows:

“Therefore, you, beloved, knowing [these things] beforehand, beware that you do not fall of your own stability, being led away by the error of the lawless, but keep on growing in [the] grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him [be] the glory both now and into [the] eternal day. Amen.”

There are two identical statements in the book, in 1:20 and 3:3. Both say “continually knowing this first …” In 1:20, we must “continually know this first” that “No prophecy of Scripture is of its own interpretation but …” while in 3:3, we must “continually know this first” that mockers will come mocking, asking ‘Where is this Coming He promised?” and following their own desires.

In both cases what is in question are God’s promises. We must believe God’s promises and act on them. Mockers mock at God’s promises and follow their own desires. That is the antithesis of the entire book.

Another way this is expressed is that false teachers and those who follow them ignore God’s promises to their own destruction (2:1a,b,3;3:16) and thus become part of the final destruction of the entire material universe (3:6,7,10,12).

Alongside this, the passage warns us that believers are in danger of imbibing the same error, of “being led away by the error of the lawless” – of failing to remember and act on God’s promises. Peter warned us in 1:9 that we are quite capable of being “blind, near-sighted and forgetting the purification of our old sins” and this comes from failing to be diligent to provide along with our faith virtue, self-mastery, etc. (1:5-7), which in the current passage equals failing to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Also in the current passage, failing to grow causes believers to “fall from their own stability.” Believing God’s promises and acting on them makes us “stable.” Disregard (whether deliberate or slothful) of God’s promises leaves us sinking like Peter on the waves.

So, rather, believers, “knowing all this” are to “look forward to the Day of the Lord” (believe God’s promise) and thus be diligent to be found by Him “spotless and blameless” (3:14). God gave us His “very great and precious promises” that we might “participate in the Divine nature” and “escape the corruption in the world through desires” (1:4). That is another way to express our “stability” – to “participate in the Divine nature” and “escape the corruption in the world through desires.” To not “beware,” to “be led away” by the error of the lawless, is to lose sight of God’s promises, to fail to act on them, to fail to be diligent to grow in grace, and thus be left to follow only our desires, to participate not in the Divine nature but instead the corruption and thus destruction of this world.

All of this keeps leading us back to His admonitions in chapter 1 to “remember” those “very great and precious promises” and “be diligent to provide with our faith virtue …”

So what do we do with all of this? To “remember” His “very great and precious promises” first of all requires us to give earnest heed to the Scriptures. I must be constantly reading and studying the Scriptures that His promises might “ride herd on my heart” (Deut 6:4). But I need to do more than just read and study. I have to be diligent to be thinking through those Scriptures – to be asking how they should apply in my life. I need desperately to see my life through God’s eyes. What is really “right” and what is “wrong?” What am I thinking? Why do I do the things I do? Am I making my choices in light of His promises? Or am I forgetting them and instead making my choices based simply on my own desires? I need God’s Word to cast His light on these questions and help me be honest, to not be “blind” and instead to see the truth about myself. And then I must act on that knowledge.  From back in 1:5-7 I do that by:

For this very reason, make every effort to furnish along with your faith manly resolve; and with manly resolve, knowledge; ⁶and with knowledge, self-mastery; and with self-mastery, endurance; and with endurance, godliness; ⁷and with godliness, brotherly kindness; and with brotherly kindness, love.

Once again, what does this mean? For me, the fact is I am facing what to me (like everyone else) are very fiery trials even as I type. There are many things right now weighing heavily (crushing to be precise) on my heart. I feel the pain. I feel the fears. I feel they’re crushing the very life out of me. I’m deciding on some course to follow. What will I do? How will I deal with those things? “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I, I chose …” “I chose …” I chose what?

I chose what? Is that not the very question? Every moment of every day I stand at the two roads and I choose. Again and again and again. Choose what?

Choose to see it and believe God’s promises and act accordingly? To choose to provide with my faith manly valor, …” Or choose instead to follow some self-devised plan to somehow “escape” or “conquer”?

Ahhhh (or “ow”), God help me as I face these trials – at this very minute – to cling to Your promises. I don’t want to sink in the waves. I don’t want to suffer the destruction of this world’s rottenness. I want to participate in Your nature – to love, to live truth. God help me not to “jump ship” on You. Help me not to choose the path of my own self designs. Help me to choose the path that is lit by Your promises. Whether they make sense or not. No matter how much I fear. God help me. Help me. Help me.

That is the conclusion of the matter.

If I succeed, and I guess whether I do or do not, like the book closes: “to Him be the glory both now and into the eternal day. Amen.”  What more can I say? Without Him, I am nothing. Without Him, I’ll surely fail. God give me the victory of love and truth. Today. In these trials. In this pain. You will have Your Day. May I somehow be to Your glory then. May I somehow be to Your glory now.

“…to Him be the glory both now and into the eternal day. Amen.”

God help us.

II Peter 3:17,18 – “Progress in Perfection”

My very literal translation of this passage would be as follows:

“Therefore, you, beloved, knowing [these things] beforehand, beware that you do not fall of your own stability, being led away by the error of the lawless, but keep on growing in [the] grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him [be] the glory both now and into [the] eternal day. Amen.”

While studying this passage I made what is to me a most profound discovery. It doesn’t necessarily derive exegetically from the passage itself but I would like to record my thoughts nonetheless and then come back to the passage in another post.

What particularly caught my eye was the second imperative of the passage: “… keep on growing …” Growing. An interesting concept. Progressive sanctification or more commonly “christian growth” is, to me, an undeniable reality. A person is born again at some point, then spends their earthly existence “growing” in grace, looking forward to that final time when Christ returns and “when we see Him, we will be like Him.” Again, I think it undeniable that “perfection” cannot be attained in this life. I cannot ever stop being a sinner as long as I live in this Adamic body. Only when I am freed of this flesh and given a new body will I be able to live without sin.

All of this seems to me undeniably Biblical and tidy. However, there is within it all something quite untidy and which has perplexed me for years. My quandary particularly focuses on a passage, Hebrews 2:10, that says, “For it was fitting for Him, for Whom are all things and by Whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings”.

Jesus “made perfect?” How could He be “made perfect” when He already was? He was born perfect. He’s God. He can’t be anything else. Even apart from the passage itself, I’ve puzzled over the fact that Jesus had to “learn.” He had to. He was born a little baby, became a toddler, grew into a boy, then a man. The very process itself involves learning. But how can you “learn” if you’re already perfect? Doesn’t “learning” imply progress? And if I learn something today, doesn’t that mean that I somehow was lacking yesterday? I find all of this quite perplexing. A few years ago, while asserting my resolved conclusion that we cannot be “perfect” in this life, yet, based on Heb 2:10, I offered the wild extrapolation that perhaps there is some sense in which it is actually possible to make progress in perfection.

“Progress in perfection”? The words seem almost oxymoronic. But what do we do with Jesus? What do we do with Heb 2:10? And beyond that, the question grows even larger. What about us? We will be “made perfect” to enjoy Heaven forever. But we are not infinite like God. We are finite. The very fact of our creation, that we had a beginning, makes us inextricably finite. And if we’re finite and God is infinite, then no matter how much we know of Him, there will always be more to know. Even if “perfect,” finite beings by definition must “progress” in their knowledge of that which is infinite – a process that is itself infinite, since finiteness will go on infinitely and never reach infinity(!). Is not “knowing God” inextricably a process – a process of continual learning – even in a perfect Heaven? Does it not seem logically necessary to conclude that, in fact, there is some sense in which it must be possible to make progress in perfection?

It suddenly struck me that the answer to this question is yes. There is a sense in which one may progress in perfection(!).

Here is another place where I think our hopelessly obligate linear logic binds us to the ground like lead weights. Since we see everything linearly, this then this then this, we see perfection as a destination to be reached, like moving from left to right on a number line or climbing to some point on an x-y graph. We see it as something one progresses toward until it is finally achieved: the perfect apple pie, the perfect piano concerto, the perfect “10.” I suggest herein is the root of our problem: Perfection is not a destination but rather a pattern. The logic is fractal, not linear. The logic of perfection is not linear; it is not a destination to be reached; it is a pattern – a pattern that can grow forever and still be the same pattern.

Consider a tree. At some point you look and see a tree. Is it a perfect tree? Basically yes. Obviously in this cursed world, we must allow for the reality of deformations, malnutrition, insect infestations, etc.; but given that is true, is not a tree basically a perfect tree? It has a trunk, it branches and grows leaves. A tree is a tree. But if you come back in two years what will be true? It has grown. It stands taller. It has limbs and branches it didn’t have two years ago. So is it “more” perfect? Of course not. It just is perfect. It’s still a tree, with a trunk and branches and leaves. But it has progressed. It’s progress doesn’t mean it was somehow “less” perfect two years ago. And the fact of its progress doesn’t make it “more perfect” now. It’s just still perfect.  How can this be? Because it is the pattern that’s perfect. And the tree can progress within its pattern, be more than it was, and yet not be “better” – just “perfect” because it perfectly fits its “pattern.”  It very naturally progresses in perfection!!

The very immediate and salient application of this truth is our own spiritual “growth.” Here is a place where I think we must distinguish between our created being and the curse of sin. Sin mars the image of God in us, yet that image remains. That image itself is perfect. And that image very specifically is the image of Christ. What is an “image”? It is a pattern. Here I propose that the image of Christ is patently not a destination but rather a pattern.

Here again, I will offer a wild proposition: our charge to “grow in the image of Christ” is inherent in our createdness. Even without sin, Adam and his race would have enjoyed the wonderful prospect and charge to progress, to actually know God better and better, to learn more and more how to be like Him, to grow in the likeness (the pattern) of Christ. Even without sin, and so it will be in Heaven, we will forever be learning, be progressing, as us finite creatures endlessly plumb the depths of our wonderful God’s being, and we, like the tree, add “branches” as it were to the pattern of the likeness of Christ. We will be constantly “taller” and constantly adding “branches” to that pattern, that perfect pattern – thus we’ll progress in perfection(!). It is part of our very createdness to progress.

Sin’s presence and effects mar the pattern. But, as is true throughout God’s perfect creation, it can only mar the pattern. It is not part of the pattern itself. It is “in addition to.” Sin is, in a sense, an overlay. The pattern itself is still perfect. Human beings should be progressing in the likeness of Christ with or without sin. As in every way, sin adds a complication to this process. It’s like the insect infestation for the tree. It mars the pattern. Part of a tree “growing” as a perfect tree is the challenge to prevent or to resolve insect infestations. In this world, part of me “growing” in the likeness of Christ is my need to be constantly “putting off” the sinful habits I’ve learned, the recurring and frequent sinful choices I might make, and I must constantly battle the very presence and existence of my own sinfulness.

But all that said, the image of Christ is still the image of Christ. I think this explains why even a new believer, still deeply marred by their sinful lifestyle, yet can glow with the likeness of Christ. We see that glow and, granted it’s maybe clouded here, short-changed there, yet it is still there. Any true believer knows what I mean. The likeness of Christ – that very beautiful sweet something – is very real whether you get to see it like a new believer's diamond in the rough or perhaps like the polished gold in an aged, godly person. It is the likeness of Christ either way and it is beautiful. That likeness itself is perfect.

In this world, the presence of sin’s marring confuses our understanding of our pursuit. In order to grow in Christ’s likeness, we must, at the same time, put off sin and grow in grace. The putting off of sin may perhaps be a linear pursuit. One by one we must recognize our sinful habits and conquer them. And ever victory certainly makes the likeness of Christ in us more apparent. But is the likeness of Christ not a perfection in itself? And rather than being linear it is absolutely fractal, a pattern to be expanded and enlarged. Now I’ll stick out my neck and call that, in itself, a progress in perfection. It is something that will go on in Heaven even without the sin problem.

So what is the bottom line of all of this? I suspect that we have done a poor job of distinguishing between God’s perfect creation and sin’s marring. I propose that there is some godly value in being able to look at people (along with the rest of creation) and see the perfection of their creation while at the same time owning a very healthy respect (and disdain) for the sinfulness that overlays and mars that perfection. Somehow we need to recognize God’s perfection and encourage people to grow in it while at the same time also recognizing the presence and effects of sin, calling it what it is, and dealing appropriately with it.

I suspect the ramifications of all of this go far beyond these initial observations and conclusions I’ve offered. But I am persuaded the basic idea of “progress in perfection” is legitimate. I think that, to see the world this way is to see it more clearly through God’s eyes.

And isn’t that really what we’re looking for?

II Peter 3:15b,16 – “Hard to be Understood?”

My very literal translation of this passage would be as follows:

“…just as the beloved brother of ours, Paul, has written to you, according to the wisdom given to him, as also in all [his] letters, speaking in them concerning these things, in which are some things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable contort, as [they do] the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”

Peter apparently intends to reinforce his admonition for people to “bear in mind that the patience of the Lord means salvation,…” (v15a) by appealing to the apostles’ solidarity. The false teachers unfortunately greatly confuse the common folk, because they seem to teach from the Bible too, but come to very different conclusions. One of their favorite subjects has always been the things “hard to be understood.” They seldom teach on that which is all too clear. The things “all too clear” leave no room for them to weave their deceptions. Even while Peter condemns the false teachers (all of chapter 2), the existence of the “things hard to be understood” remains. What are we to do with the things “hard to be understood”?

First of all, Peter acknowledges that there are these “things hard to be understood.” One could ask, “Why is it particularly Paul’s writings in which Peter finds these ‘hard’ things?” Interestingly, look back at my literal translation and note there is no “his” in the Greek. It is merely understood (hence I put the word in the [  ]). The thing is anyone knows there are “hard” things all through the Bible. That isn’t at all disputed.

Rather, acknowledging them, Peter goes on to say the problem is not that the “hard” things are there, but that false teachers, who are “the unlearned and unstable” contort them, and that to their own destruction. So the problem is not with the Scriptures, not even with the “hard to be understood” parts of the Scriptures, but rather with the morally responsible agents handling them. In the false teachers’ case, them impiously contort the Scriptures (again see all through chapter 2 and the book of Jude, among many other places). The problem is with hearts that have no intention of acknowledging the King.

So, first of all, we ought not be dismayed by the seemingly infinite preponderance of charlatans, quacks, idiots, and bald-faced liberals who flood the earth with a hopeless cacophony of their confusion. They may in fact have twelve degrees but they’re still “unlearned” and, since they’ve never ever “built their house on the rock” they remain “unstable” though they’re allowed to sin for a lifetime.

Second, of all, we should pause and consider this whole business of “hard things.” What are we to do with it? These men handle the “hard things” “to their own destruction.” Should we somehow be intimidated ourselves from reading and studying the Scriptures, lest we handle them to our own destruction?

One of the great and championed doctrines of the Protestant Reformation was called the “Perspicuity of Scripture.” Contrary to the “magisterium” teaching of the Catholic Church (which said only the clergy could understand the Scriptures), the Reformers insisted that the Bible was written in such a way as to be clear for anyone to understand.  That doctrine in particular drove them to translate the Bible into people’s mother tongues, so anyone literate could read for themselves and enjoy the life-giving power of the Word of God.

As I have studied this matter and looked up passages to support the Perspicuity of the Scriptures, I am driven to say: I have been reading and studying the Bible myself for over 30 years. To my knowledge not a day has gone by in the last 30 years that I did not spend some time reading from the Bible. Proof-texts aside, I feel qualified and confident to assert that the entire Bible from cover to cover invites the simplest to hear its message and live. “Wisdom has built her house … ‘Let all who are simple come in here!’ she says to those who lack judgment … Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding’” (Prov 9:1-12). “Now what I’m commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond you …No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth, and in your heart so you may obey it” (Deut 30:11-14). I have always and will continue to encourage anyone and everyone to open the Water of Life and read it for themselves. It is the very personal message of a very personal God intended to very personally impart life to every man, woman, boy, and girl who would personally drink from it. Even the Bereans were commended because they “received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). I could multiply texts to support this doctrine but, what I’m saying is, “Read it for yourself. See for yourself if it does not speak clearly to you from cover to cover. See if you ever get the feeling that God somehow didn’t intend for you to read it.” I guess I’m calling the Bible as its own witness and challenging anyone to be the judge. It is clear. It will speak to you. It is alive. It is powerful. Read it yourself.

But what about the “hard things?” As anyone would read from cover to cover, will you find things “hard to be understood?” Yes, you will. I remember the first time I read through the Old Testament. I have to confess there was much I did not understand. But there was also much I did. And it benefited me greatly. What truly amazed me was to read through it again a year or two later and realize how much more I did understand. Since then I have read the entire Bible through from cover to cover so many times I have long since lost track of the number. I still find many things “hard to be understood.” But I also find it constantly speaking to me, teaching me, correcting me, guiding me, and, again and again, I still find it true, “When you know the truth, the truth shall set you free!”  

But they are there. Why are they there? The first and most obvious reason is exactly what I’ve found as I read it through over and over: Jesus told His disciples, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. Yet, when He, the Spirit of Truth shall come, He shall guide you into all truth” (John 16:12,13). “…you cannot bear them now.” Truth must be learned. And learning is a process. As the writer of Hebrews expressed, “Strong meat is for the mature, for those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern good and evil” (Heb 5:11-14). There will always be much in the Bible that I find “hard to be understood” simply because it is the Word of God, the infinitely deep well of divine truth, from which I may draw and draw and draw and draw and never plumb its depth. I personally do not find the “hard things” intimidating or discouraging. I honestly find them exciting. To find things I don’t understand means I might … if I read and study and pray. And if I don’t, I read and study and pray on, and still someday I might. In the meantime, the Lord is saying to me, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now …”

Another reason there are hard things is because there are some things He actually does not intend us to understand (yet). In John 14:29, Jesus told His disciples, “I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.” “…so that when it happens …” When it happens. While I believe we all should study every verse of prophecy we can as long as time and life allows. We should strive to understand it. We should even try to put it together into some kind of logical order. Yet, what Jesus’ words should do is humble us. His words should make us hold our understandings with humble, gentle, kind hearts, with open hands saying, “Perhaps I don’t have it all put together correctly. I’ve tried to give it my best shot. But the most important things is that I know the Scriptures themselves, that, ‘when it happens’ I’ll be moved by the Scriptures and not by my own understandings. It simply is true that, particularly in prophecy, there will be truths that are “hard to be understood” precisely because they weren’t meant to be understood … until it happens.

Of course we could discuss the problem of spiritual enlightenment, that “the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God” (I Cor 2:14). It will ever be a problem of our fallen nature that we must humbly and prayerfully inquire of the Author to understand what He meant. To not do so is an evil presumption, a “barging in where angels fear to tread.” To approach the Bible with anything less than a humble, teachable spirit guarantees there will be much that is “hard to be understood.”

And then we need to add that a “humble, teachable spirit” of necessity includes the intention to come away obediently applying truth to one’s life. The man who “built his house on the sand” heard the Word just like the other. The difference was that he “did not put it into practice” and his house came down “with a crash.” Anyone who studies the Scriptures without the intention of personally meeting the Author, of personally receiving His loving message, of personally embracing and applying whatever truth He might show him, guarantees he’ll find therein many things “hard to be understood.”

So then let us acknowledge the presence of “things hard to be understood” but let us give ourselves humbly, obediently, and diligently to the reading and study of the Words of the Living God. While others may presumptuously peer into the Ark and pay for it with their own destruction, may we eat the Bread of Life and live.

II Peter 3:9-15a – Blameless and Spotless

⁹[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;

¹⁰but [the] Day of [the] Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens shall vanish with a roar and [the] elements will be dissolved burning intensely and [the] earth and the works in it shall be burned up.

¹¹Thus all these things being dissolved, what sort [of persons] ought you be in holy livings and godlinesses;

¹²looking for and eagerly desiring the coming of the Day of the God, through which [the] heavens will be dissolved burning and [the] elements are melting burning intensely?

¹³But, according to the promise of Him, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴Wherefore, beloved, looking for these things, be diligent to be found by Him to be spotless ones and blameless ones in peace,

 ¹⁵and reckon the patience of the Lord of us [to be] salvation …

Interestingly, forms for the word translated “be diligent” (as in v14) occur 5 times in this book (1:5,10,15;3:12,14). Obviously, He expects us to be diligent. While it’s true that “without Him we can do nothing” (John 15:5), on the other hand it is abundantly clear that it is our part to “be diligent.” “I can’t, but I must, and, by His grace, I will.” 

And what is it we’re to be diligent about in this particular passage? “…to be found by Him to be spotless ones and blameless ones in peace …”

First of all, it is important to note that the reference “spotless and blameless” is a sacrificial word.  Jesus is “the Lamb without blemish and without spot” (exact same Greek words as our passage) in I Peter 1:19.  Lambs brought to sacrifice were required of course to be “without blemish and without spot.” In their case the matter was physical, of course. No crippled or maimed animals were suitable for sacrifice. In our case, it is clearly spiritual. We are to see our lives as living sacrifices, to be like our Lamb Christ, and thus be diligent to “be found by Him to be spotless ones and blameless ones in peace …”

But what does that mean? Spotless and blameless. If we leave the words hanging in space, we are free to assign them whatever sort of morality appeals to us. But what does the Lord mean? We should always strive to let Him define His own terms. Consider the following passages that address the same issues and use the same Greek words:

Phil 1:9-11

⁹And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ…

Phil 2:14,15

¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”

James 1:27

²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

I Thes 3:12,13

¹² May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. ¹³ May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

Once again, I think it is enormously significant what He says … and what He doesn’t say. Christianity today is suffocated under all the things people would tell you make you so you are or are not “spotless and blameless.” But, have we lost sight of what God really thinks, in filling our minds with all those seemingly appropriate “rules” and “standards” and “applications”?  “We by our traditions have made the Word of God of no effect.” Look again at just this tiny smattering of passages. The big issues to God are whether we love, and clearly that love is not just good intentions – it expresses itself in real, observable efforts to actually do good for those who need it, in watching our mouths and the words we utter. 

I need to be diligent to keep my heart loving. To not love is to be spotted by this hateful, cruel world. To keep on loving, like Jesus, is to keep oneself unspotted by this world.

It is so easy to reduce “unspotted” to matters of how we dress, the music we listen to, how many times a week we attend church services, or what does or does not go down our throats. But in so doing we miss the real point, and fail the real mission: to love.

It is incredibly liberating to cast off all the extraneous “touch not, taste not” and all the other Pharisaical “rules” and realize my mission is to love.

But then it becomes a challenge to make that love a constant reality – to be diligent about it(!). Then again, what if everybody did?

Lord, help us to be real, to be truly “blameless ones and spotless ones in peace” as we keep ever in mind that “the Day of the Lord will come.”

II Peter 3:9-15a – A Single Word, A World of Meaning

⁹[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;

¹⁰but [the] Day of [the] Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens shall vanish with a roar and [the] elements will be dissolved burning intensely and [the] earth and the works in it shall be burned up.

¹¹Thus all these things being dissolved, what sort [of persons] ought you be in holy livings and godlinesses;

¹²looking for and eagerly desiring the coming of the Day of the God, through which [the] heavens will be dissolved burning and [the] elements are melting burning intensely?

¹³But, according to the promise of Him, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴Wherefore, beloved, looking for these things, be diligent to be found by Him to be spotless ones and blameless ones in peace,

 ¹⁵and reckon the patience of the Lord of us [to be] salvation …

Sometimes a single word can mean so much. As I thought over this passage, my thoughts focused on v14, and specifically the very first word:

“Wherefore…” – Interesting. The word “wherefore” is a logic word. One lays out some kind of “facts,” then says, “Wherefore …” and draws some kind of (theoretically) logical conclusion. Ideally, the “case” presented is very convincing and compelling, so that all who listen will readily agree that your “wherefore…” is perfectly reasonable. Hopefully “it makes sense.” What strikes me is the realization that the “case” or “facts” presented are basically the “truths” presented in vv9-13 – but those “truths” are faith truths. Go back and look at them. Someone else can simply say, “I don’t believe that.” Fine (sort of). If you choose not to believe the “facts” presented in vv9-13, then you will find the “wherefore” of v14 is not compelling at all.

For myself, as I read the passage it is not just compelling, it is captivating. But why? Because I believe vv9-13. My mind finds the “truths” presented to be totally reasonable and believable. My heart “checker-outer” tells me these are facts. And they are facts of cosmic importance. They literally define my reality! In light of such facts as these, how could one help but draw a conclusion?? When I read, “wherefore…” my heart feels subpoenaed! Ten-hut, Bixby! I carefully, thoughtfully read vv9-13 and suddenly my soul is not “sleepy” anymore. Wow. So this is what’s really going on? This is where we’re all really headed. Major reality check. How can I help but say, “wherefore …” My soul wants to say, “wherefore…”

The problem is that my mind easily loses sight of those “facts.” I turn away from the passage, face the pressing issues of my very personal existence and it’s easy to forget the “real” picture. Hmmmm. I hope as I work and think and interact and speak and respond and plan, etc., today that somehow my mind can stay aware of “the facts.” The Day of the Lord will come. May my days be lived in light of His Day.

II Peter 3:9-15a – Random Commentary on the Preferred Method of Waste Disposal

⁹[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;

¹⁰but [the] Day of [the] Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens shall vanish with a roar and [the] elements will be dissolved burning intensely and [the] earth and the works in it shall be burned up.

¹¹Thus all these things being dissolved, what sort [of persons] ought you be in holy livings and godlinesses;

¹²looking for and eagerly desiring the coming of the Day of the God, through which [the] heavens will be dissolved burning and [the] elements are melting burning intensely?

¹³But, according to the promise of Him, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴Wherefore, beloved, looking for these things, be diligent to be found by Him to be spotless ones and blameless ones in peace,

 ¹⁵and reckon the patience of the Lord of us [to be] salvation …

Here’s a random thought from an environmental engineer as he ponders the meaning of this passage of Scripture: What is God’s preferred method of waste disposal? Incineration. While being perhaps a little facetious, I think the observation is at least interesting. What did people do with their wastes for centuries? Burn them. What does God do with wastes? Burn them. It’s only been in the current scientifically “enlightened” age that we implemented the glorious notion of landfills. I feel a rant coming on, but suffice it to say, in my humble opinion, landfills are perhaps one of the most idiotic, environmentally offensive, and cost prohibitive ways we could possibly “dispose” of our waste. People don’t want municipal incinerators because it might pollute the air with one ten billionth of a milligram of mercury. So instead they create Mount Trash, an incredibly unsightly eye sore that invariably pollutes the area’s groundwater and will exist throughout the millennia as an environmental cleanup site constantly bleeding public tax dollars. If every city had an incinerator, they could today attach to it some form of energy recovery and derive at least some recovered revenues, producing in the end nothing but a relatively tiny amount of  ash which could be land applied (not land-filled). It’s too bad our world hasn’t noticed that God does occasionally come up with some good ideas. If I could be king for a day, I would decree (and fund) every city (and perhaps localities for rural areas) to install an energy recovering incinerator and I would immediately begin the process of running the existing landfills through incinerators until every single one of them is completely gone and their acreage restored to some useful function.

Purely random and perhaps conceived entirely of my own personal preferences and predudices. But I can’t pass up the opportunity to say it. Someone wise once said, “Fools delight in airing their own opinion …” Perhaps I’m a fool, but to my grave I’ll loathe the existence of landills. There’s got to be a better way … and I think there is.

II Peter 3:9-15a – Nuclear Sundown

⁹[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;

¹⁰but [the] Day of [the] Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens shall vanish with a roar and [the] elements will be dissolved burning intensely and [the] earth and the works in it shall be burned up.

¹¹Thus all these things being dissolved, what sort [of persons] ought you be in holy livings and godlinesses;

¹²looking for and eagerly desiring the coming of the Day of the God, through which [the] heavens will be dissolved burning and [the] elements are melting burning intensely?

¹³But, according to the promise of Him, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴Wherefore, beloved, looking for these things, be diligent to be found by Him to be spotless ones and blameless ones in peace,

 ¹⁵and reckon the patience of the Lord of us [to be] salvation …

What does this passage say about how the present universe will end? I’ve read several different understandings of these verses. Some propose it doesn’t really mean the present earth will actually be destroyed but only that it will be significantly altered. Others question whether the destruction will actually extend to the “heavens” or whether it simply means that things will change from the perspective of the earth.

First of all, I would like to note that a simple reading of the text does not present anything less than an absolute and total conflagration of the entire known universe.  Note:

The heavens: “…will vanish with a roar” (v10), “…will be dissolved burning” (v12)

The elements: “…will be dissolved burning intensely” (v10), “…are melting burning intensely” (v12)

The earth: “…and the works in it will be burned up” (v10)

All these things: “being dissolved” (v11)

According to His promise, we are looking for a “new heavens and a new earth” (v13)

The “heavens” are the “sky” as we see it which is the material universe including all of the stars, all of the galaxies, and whatever else exists “out there.” Some might object that the rest of creation should not be destroyed for the sins of the earth. However, Romans 8:20-22 says, “For the [whole] creation was subjected to frustration … will be liberated from its bondage to decay … has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time …” I think it is clear that the curse of Adam’s sin fell upon the entire material universe, not just on the planet earth. It is true that man’s sphere of existence has been limited to the earth, with a few forays to the relatively nearby moon, but we are all aware that is temporary, that given enough time man would certainly find ways to conquer distance and be enabled to “go where no man’s gone before.” Only our current technology prevents us from traveling literally to the ends of the material universe. And everywhere we go, we will take the curse with us. Cain can kill Abel on some planet in the Andromeda galaxy just as easily as here.

This extent of the curse to the entire material universe is not only evident from Scripture, it is also evident scientifically. The 2^nd Law of Thermodynamics, the “Law of Entropy,” that “everything tends to disorder,” applies to the entire universe. The entire universe is obviously decaying. Where it finds water and oxygen, iron will rust anywhere in the universe. That is what Paul was referring to in Romans when he says “the whole creation will be liberated from its bondage to decay…”  The “bondage to decay” is the Law of Entropy and it clearly applies to the entire known universe – physical proof that the curse was not limited to the earth.

There is probably no question in anyone’s mind that the earth has suffered under the curse – not only from our sins and sinfulness but also just the “natural” process of decay (which is not really “natural” but rather a result of the curse). What one must realize is that even the furthest corners of the universe have been decaying down through the millennia since Adam’s fall.

I suspect that we would be (will be) shocked by the brilliant colors of the original Creation. Part of the “decay” and “aging” process is that colors fade and gray and yellow. We’ve all seen side by side comparisons of old movies “remastered” where they remove the yellowing and restore their original brightness and color. I always find that astounding. It’s hard to believe I could watch the yellowed movie and never even realize it could be so much more brilliant. So it is with our world, I believe. A flower garden is a stunningly beautiful thing but what must it have been in the Garden of Eden?? I suspect the world was made to look like a Thomas Kincaid painting with his brilliant colors. We all see the same effect on ourselves. To be young is to be colorful. To age is to gray.

My point is that this effect has impacted the entire universe, including the earth, … and us. Although sin has abounded, grace will “much more abound.” Our good God not only plans to redeem us – He will also restore the entire creation to its original unspoiled dazzling beauty. And how will He “fix” this universe? That is answered in the passage before us.

I would like to suggest that what is pictured here is actually a total nuclear holocaust of the entire universe. We saw at Hiroshima what happens when a single atom “dissolves.” What if every atom in the entire universe were to be let go at once? Personally I think that is what “elements” refers to – atoms. Even if Peter didn’t understand nuclear physics, he understood that the universe is somehow made of basic “elements” and the Lord used that perhaps foggy understanding to allow Peter to very accurately express this total nuclear holocaust. Read the passage again. Total sudden instantaneous nuclear holocaust. Probably for a brief second the temperature of the entire universe will reach billions of degrees. And then there will be … nothing.

One more reason why I think this; Col 1:15-17 teaches that:

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, … all things have been created through Him and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

In science we learn that no one really knows what “holds the universe together.” No one knows why atoms stay together. They have a name for the “force” but the only proof it exists is the fact that it happens. Actually no one knows what “gravity” really is. We observe it, acknowledge it, model it mathematically and (hopefully) respect it. But what is it? What is this force that holds us in place? No one knows. It is simply true that the universe “holds together.” As a scientist, I just accept that. As a Christ-follower, I know what that force is. It is the Lord. “In Him all things hold together.”

What I believe will happen is, on the Day of the Lord, He will simply “let go” and every atom of every planet, every spec of dust, every drop of water will suddenly come apart. All of the energy of all of the universe will suddenly be released in a single micro-second. Go back and read the passage again. I believe this fits the description perfectly. The eternal God “spoke” (expressed energy) and that energy concentrated into matter and, according to His design, became an entire universe. He alone continues to restrain that energy into the form of matter. But the instant He “lets go,” it all goes back to energy – a single, sudden, universal nuclear explosion.

Then that same God Who created it the first time will speak and create it again in all its original form and beauty. The earth we walk in eternity will have not one evidence of the millennia of decay. Its dirt will hold not one drop of anyone’s blood. There will be no graves. There will be no mercury in the bottom of its lakes and oceans. It will be His original perfect beautiful unspoiled world.

And the heavens will glow again in all of their original beauty and color.

The Lord does nothing “half way.” When He has “His Day” we’ll get a totally recreated, spectacular, dazzling and stunningly beautiful world.

That is what I think this passage is teaching.

II Peter 3:9-15a – Thinking Aright

⁹[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;

¹⁰but [the] Day of [the] Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens shall vanish with a roar and [the] elements will be dissolved burning intensely and [the] earth and the works in it shall be burned up.

¹¹Thus all these things being dissolved, what sort [of persons] ought you be in holy livings and godlinesses;

¹²looking for and eagerly desiring the coming of the Day of the God, through which [the] heavens will be dissolved burning and [the] elements are melting burning intensely?

¹³But, according to the promise of Him, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴Wherefore, beloved, looking for these things, be diligent to be found by Him to be spotless ones and blameless ones in peace,

 ¹⁵and reckon the patience of the Lord of us [to be] salvation …

The above is my DWB very literal translation of the passage. There is a great deal of repetition in the verses, so I tried to carefully translate the same Greek words with the same English words wherever they were used. Once again I have to say this book is an exegetical candy-shop. Time and space won’t allow me to even begin to point out all of the juicy grammatical conundrums. A couple of exegete-heads could spend hours noting all the peculiarities and discussing their significance, meaning, how best to translate, etc. But alas, I’ll have to content myself to jot down a few delicious observations and hope they’re of some help to someone else stumbling onto this blog.

Concerning the repetition, I am still convinced there is extensive deliberate repetition in this book. I still can’t see the pattern in it myself, but, knowing ancient writers, I am certain the repetition is part of some larger order such as one giant chiasm or perhaps a number of smaller ones that all fit together. Assuming there is one, it is also possible that Peter’s chiasm interlocks somehow with Jude’s. The similarity and repetition between the two books has puzzled theologians (including me) for years. Thinking in the total linear logic of Western culture, everyone asks, “Which book was written first? Which is copying from the other? Or perhaps they both copied from some other common source?” Totally linear. And possibly legitimate questions. Another entirely captivating option would be to shift to the fractal logic of Eastern culture and consider whether the repetition between Peter and Jude was deliberate and intended to make a point?

My prayer is that, if there is such a connection, I would see it before I have to file away my notes and move on to another study. And, again, this is not idle curiosity. This is the Word of God. Granted (because it’s fractal) it makes perfect sense and is of eminent practical value whether I figure out this larger order or not. But that being true, if the order is there, it is there deliberately, and it is there to make a point, and I would very much like to know what is that point. It’s not a matter of knowing the Lord’s mind or not, but rather of knowing it better. So, on I study. I’ll keep looking at the order and trying to decipher it. But, in the meantime, there are other interesting truths one can glean from the passage.

The entire passage is a response to the scoffers’ challenge in verse 4, “Where is this ‘coming’ He promised?” It begins with the defense in v9 that:

“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 all to have room into repentance …”

 It ends in v15 with:

“… [What you must do is] reckon the patience of the Lord to be salvation …” and that “according to His promise” from v13.

Once again, note the repetition of terms, which I tried to indicate by underlining. We should “reckon” that the apparent delay is not “slowness” but rather it is the Lord’s “patience” which He intends for our “salvation” (“room into repentance” in v9), and all of this centers around His “promise.” The four words (or, in the case of “salvation,” the concept) are deliberately repeated to draw us into Peter’s conclusion. Here is a place where, practically speaking, we need to “take captive every thought unto the obedience of Christ.” He’s telling us “how to think.” What is the “right” way to think? When we observe that the Lord seems to be acting slowly, how should we think?

Let me expand into practicalities: When we see world events growing ever more cruel and fearful, when it seems the wicked more and more take over positions of power even in our own government, when it seems that things are spinning beyond out of control, and perhaps we’re tempted to think, “Why doesn’t the Lord do something? Why doesn’t He just come now and get it over with?” – when we find ourselves asking such questions, then we are to remind ourselves that the very reason He’s delaying is actually His patience. (We may not be patient, but He is!). While what we see is devolution, the Lord is somehow seeing further opportunities for salvation. He intends it for good. This is just another place where we must believe that, in fact, He works all things together for good.

The Day of the Lord will come. This present twisted polluted universe will be destroyed. There will be a new heavens and a new earth, and righteousness will dwell there.

But it will happen at the time when the Lord knows is best. To us, His “slowness” is salvation. We have to believe that, see our world through that, and like the kids say, “Wrap our brains around it.”

Such is how we should view “end-times.”

Before I close this blog, may I point out that all of this truth is fractal? This same “pattern” of thinking applies to our everyday lives as well. In fact, I would say I have a much greater problem dealing with the Lord’s “slowness” in my everyday life than I do in my thoughts of eschatology. Isn’t it exactly the same? “Why doesn’t He answer me? Why doesn’t He take this pain away? I’ve asked and asked a thousand times.” I feel like the believers in Isa 26:16, “They came to You in their distress … they could barely whisper a prayer.” In many, many sometimes very painful ways, it seems like He’s taking too long. What should I do? “Reckon the Lord’s patience means salvation.” In some way, He is working out some good eternal end. He runs my life the same way He runs a universe. He’s up to something good. The pattern is the same. I just need to “wrap my brain around it” and keep on “wrapping” it.

More thoughts on this passage in another blog.