Lesson 35
Second Peter
Warning against dangers
facing the Church
Chapter 3
The Certainty of the
Believers Hope – The Return of Christ
Review Summary of Gen 1:1
1. Right off the bat one of the important
observations here is that this verse does not argue for God's existence, it
assumes it.
2. It simply asserts that the existence of the
universe is contingent on God's existence.
3.
At a point in eternity past God created, from
nothing, the complete universe.
4.
This creation was instantaneous.
5. It was perfect, ready for habitation. Isa 45:18
6. Believe that it was created for angelic
beings since they are the next in the sequence of creation.
7. Angels being finite created beings, material
beings, although invisible to us now they need to have a habitat.
8. It is by means of faith in the revealed Word
- doctrine that are
able to know, understand that God created the universe. Heb 11:3
1:2a Formless and void
Have three circumstantial clauses to
describe the state that existed at this point.
First statement The earth was formless and void,
2 important
words
formless WhTo desolation, formlessness,
even used of the destruction of a city
void WhBo emptiness, waste, no
inhabitants [only used with tohu]
- 3 times they
are used together, Gen. 1:2;
Isa. 34:11; Jer 4:23
Second statement and darkness was over the surface of the deep,
- here the use of darkness is
related to the result of judgment - total physical darkness
Where was this darkness?
Over the surface of the deep
1:2a And the earth became formless/desolation and void (no inhabitants) and total darkness was over the surface of the deep water;
Observations:
1. So
what has happened between the creation in 1:1 and the results of judgement seen
in 1:2?
2. The only
thing from Scripture that fits I believe is the fall of Satan and a subsequent
judgment of the earth which was a part of his abode at the time. This is the
beginning of the angelic conflict!
3. There
is a time lag between 1:1 and 1:3 with 1:2 giving us the circumstances related
to the earth during that time.
4.
However long this time frame is, one thing you can count on, this interval is
not there to allow for, in any way, the millions or billions of years that
scientists, geologist and even some theologians want to inject to account in
some way for evolution.
5. At
the fall of Satan and the subsequent choice of a third of the angels God judged
the earth which implies that it was his domain, habitation at the time.
6. The
sentence was pronounced but the execution of the sentence was not carried out
then and still has not been executed.
7. The
big question then is
why the delay? What is the
reason? Human history is the time of Satan's appeal of his sentence by God.
8. The original creation was not created in the
state or condition that we find in 1:2.
Isa 45:18
9. The
term tohu deals with the topography, it was formless, a waste land.
10. The
term bohu a void, deals with the issue of
habitability.
Peter’s next example where the F/T’s have missed the boat if you
will is in 3:6
They have overlooked the fact of catastropheism has occurred, that
is something that superseded natural laws therefore destroys uniformitarianism.
through which
(water) the world at that time was
destroyed, being flooded with water.
was
destroyed, being flooded with water.
-
have 2 verbs here, one to describe what happened and the other to tell us how
it happened
Summary observations:
1. The environment that
existed prior to the flood was destroyed, ruined as a consequence of God’s
judgment. Gen 6:5-7
2. The divine viewpoint
points to the reality of catastropheism, events that supersede natural laws
which were established by God.
3. The academic world out
there does not accept catastropheism at any point and the universal flood
specifically.
They have many blind spots:
a. Rejection of Genesis and
Job as reliable.
b. Disregarding strata
graphic evidences of a global flood.
- have come up with a
horizontal thrust theory to account for older type strata being on top of
younger strata.
c. Disregarding the cause of
Mountains, orogenesis, or mountain building. Platonics. Psalm 104:5-9
d. Disregarding the time of
glacier formation (ice ages).
Job 38:29-30 at the time of the flood.
e. Disregarding normal genetic
codes in the development within species. (biogenesis)
4. What academia says took
millions of years to occur actually took 371 days, the length of the flood when
focused on the earth.
5. We need to remember that
the flood was also a judgment from the justice of God.
6. Those who hold to the
uniformitarian or evolutionary view deny divine judgment in the past and hence
also in the future.
3:7 Deals with reality of
future judgment
But by His word the present
heavens and earth are being reserved for fire,
Peter sets the contrast here between the past judgment by
the flood that he just covered and the future judgment of the earth that is
detailed in
His point is that these heavens and earth or the universe
as we know it is being held in reserve for a future judgment by His Word, His
power.
kept
for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
- kept is the present passive
participle of thre,w meaning
to keep or guard
- the ongoing keeping or guarding
the heavens and the earth refers to the ongoing task of Jesus Christ the God,
man in hypostatic union in upholding or sustaining all things by the word of
His power. Heb 1:2-3; also Col 1:17
destruction
of ungodly men
- avpw,leia, destruction
or ruin here of eternal punishment, judgment
in the LOF the result of the
GWTJ.
- The who! ungodly
men avsebh,j, describes the unbeliever as having no
reverential awe or respect for God and
who He is, having rejected Christ as Savior.
3:7 But the present heavens and earth by His Word are reserved for fire,
being kept for a day judgment and destruction of ungodly men (UB).