In this post, I will summarize1 ten reasons I believe Peter’s day of the Lord passage deals with the end of the Mosaic age, not the end of history.
Here is the passage:
Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Pet 3:1–13)
John Formsma, John Owen, and I have discussed most of the following points in the last six posts, starting here. I believe Peter was talking about the Mosaic-to-messianic age transition,
1. Because the prophets used fire imagery to describe God’s judgment on a city or empire. For example, Nahum used fire to describe God’s judgment of Nineveh: “His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him” (Nah 1:6). And Micah used fire to foretell a judgment coming on apostate Israel:
The word of the LORD that came to Micah … concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.… For behold, the LORD is coming out of His place; He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth. The mountains will melt under Him, and the valleys will split like wax before the fire. (Mic 1:1, 3–4)
Other prophets used fire to foretell God’s judgment of Israel (e.g., Deut 32:22; Ps 50:3, 7; Isa 5:24–25; 9:19–21; 29:6; et al.).
Peter said the prophets had spoken of the judgment he had in mind (2 Pet 3:2), so I think he likely used fire imagery the way they had—to describe God’s judgment of Jerusalem and her temple.
None of the prophets had said fire would consume the physical cosmos, and it’s unlikely Peter did so.
2. Because Jesus and the apostles used fire imagery in this way. Peter said they, too, had spoken of the judgment he had in mind (2 Pet 3:2). They had said God would punish wicked men with fire (e.g., Matt 3:10–12; 5:22; 2 Thess 1:8; Jude 7; et al.). They also applied this imagery to God’s soon-coming judgment of Israel (e.g., Luke 3:9). They never said God would destroy the physical cosmos by fire.
Peter followed the Lord’s example and apostolic practice. He used fire to describe God judging men, not the material world.
3. Because Peter said this judgment would occur in the parousia (presence) of Christ. The mockers were saying, “Where is the promise of His coming (Gk. parousia)?” (2 Pet 3:4). In his response, Peter said his readers should be “looking for and hastening the coming (Gk. parousia) of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat” (2 Pet 3:11–12).
Jesus had linked His parousia to God’s judgment of the temple (Matt 24:1–3, 27, 37, 39) and said this event would occur in His generation (Matt 24:34). Jesus nowhere limited His parousia to the end of history.
Peter followed Jesus. He was thinking of the judgment that would occur before some of Jesus’ hearers died (cf. Matt 16:27–28).
4. Because Jesus had used the same cosmic collapse imagery to describe His judgment of the temple. Jesus said, “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Matt 24:29). Peter said, “The heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat” (2 Pet 3:12).
This imagery described a temporal judgment in Peter’s generation (Matt 24:34), not the end of history.
5. Because Jesus had used the flood to describe the temple’s judgment. The Lord did so in the Olivet Discourse: “As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt 24:37).
Speaking of the scoffers in his day, Peter said, “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished” (2 Pet 3:5–6; cp. 2 Pet 2:4–5).
Jesus used the flood to illustrate the temple’s judgment in His generation, not the end of history. So did Peter.
6. Because Jesus had used thief imagery to describe His coming to destroy the temple: “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up” (Matt 24:42–43).
Peter used this imagery to describe the judgment of which he spoke: “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night” (2 Pet 3:10).
I think it is unlikely that Peter, knowing his Lord had used this thief imagery to describe the breakup of the temple, used it differently.
7. Because Peter’s timeframe for the day of the Lord matches Jesus’ timeframe for the end of the Mosaic age. Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Matt 24:34). These things included His coming and parousia, the “great tribulation,” the collapse of the cosmos, the end of the (Mosaic) age, etc.
Peter wrote from this perspective, as a few examples will show. He talked about a “salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet 1:5). He said, “The end of all things is at hand” (1 Pet 4:7), not meaning the end of history, but the end of the Mosaic age. “The time has come,” he said, “for judgment to begin at the house of God” (1 Pet 4:17)—not at the church, the messianic-age house of God, but at the temple, the Mosaic-age house of God. Peter affirmed that the messianic-age glory was “about to be revealed” (1 Pet 5:1 HCSB).
These timestamps (and others) pertain to events in Peter’s generation, not to the end of history.
8. Because the word Peter used for “elements” (2 Pet 3:10) elsewhere means the rudiments of the Mosaic-age law. For example, Paul uses it to describe our life before Jesus came: “We, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world” (Gal 4:3). He referred to these elements as “the first principles of the oracles of God” (Heb 5:12).
Peter used “elements” this way, too. The temple’s burning would complete the church’s transition from childhood to maturity; it would “melt” the elements of the law.
The New Testament never uses this word in other passages to mean the physical elements of the cosmos.
9. Because God used “heaven and earth” imagery to describe the Mosaic-age world in which Israel lived. When God brought them out of Egypt, He said, “I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens, lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, ‘You are My people’” (Isa 51:16). The Jews thought the temple stood at the center of this heaven and earth, and for someone to destroy it by fire would be for their cosmos to burn.
10. Because of historical developments in Peter’s generation. Roman armies “[destroyed] the city and the sanctuary. The end of it [was] with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations [were] determined” (Dan 9:26). The Romans destroyed the temple—as Daniel and Jesus predicted—and their scorched-earth tactics validated Peter’s fire imagery: the city and sanctuary went up in flames.
All these observations flow from the inmillennial prophetic model.2
I’m interested in seeing a similar list of reasons from the Scriptures that show Peter spoke about the end of history. Please point me to it in the comments below if you know of one.
Footnotes
- Mathematicians and practitioners in related disciplines use the capital Greek Sigma (see graphic) to indicate a sum.
- For a full-length account of this prophetic model, see Michael A. Rogers, Inmillennialism: Redefining the Last Days (Tullahoma, TN: McGahan Publishing House, 2020). It is available here. For a summary, see the free PDF here.
