Lesson 34

Second Peter

Warning against dangers facing the Church

Chapter 3

The Certainty of the Believers Hope – The Return of Christ

 

 

7. So this uniformitarianism that the  F/T’s are promoting during the  last days rules out any divine intervention in human history.

 

8. We need to recognize that this belief in uniformitarianism has led to a number of false doctrines and practices; biological evolution; socialism; Freudianism (the psychological explanation for we don’t function as we ought); Marxism (militant socialism); Keynesianism  (economics).

 

9. All of these today are essentially unchallenged by most and taught as fact in school.

 

10. Their statement here in vs:4 not only questions the fact of His return but also denies the veracity and integrity of the Word of God, its inspiration and inerrancy. 

- denies 2 Tim 3:16-17 and conclude that the Bible is a pious fraud

 

11. These F/T’s maintain that God’s promise is unreliable and that the universe is a stable unchanging system where an event such as the parousia just will not occur.

 

12. Therefore for them the logical conclusion is that the parousia and the judgment to follow at the second advent are a delusion and therefore they are free to pursue their old sin nature lust pattern unrestrained.

 

 

Peter cited two events in history to prove his point: the work of God at Creation  (2 Peter 3:5), and the flood in Noah’s day (2 Peter 3:6).

 

3:5 For when they maintain this,  verb here is circumstantial participle of thelo qe,lw which means to will or desire

 

 

 

 

that by the word of God  Jesus Christ is the member of the Trinity in view here

God created the heavens and the earth by His word. The phrase “and God said” occurs nine times in Genesis 1.

John 1:1-3; Psalm 33:6-9  

 

 

 

 

 

the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter’s argument is obvious:  the same God who created the world by His word can also intervene in His world and do whatever He wishes to do! It is His word that made it and that holds it together, and His word is all-powerful.

 

Lit translation by Wuest I believe says it most clearly: “For concerning this they willfully forget that heavens existed from ancient times, and land [standing] out of water, and by means of water cohering by the word of God.”

 

Summary Observations:

1. The F/T’s in view willing accept evolution or uniformitarianism in spite of the facts.

 

…Professor D.M.S. Watson, who held the position of the Chair of Evolution at the University of London for more than twenty years, echoed the same sentiments when he stated that evolution itself is accepted by zoologists, not because it has been observed to occur or can be proven by logically coherent evidence to be true, but because the only alternative, special creation, is incredible (1929, 123 [sic 124]:233).

 

2. By accepting the premisses of evolution they deny Divine creation and hence the inspiration and inerrancey of the Bible.

 

3. The sequence or stages of earths history.

a. Perfect original creation  Gen 1:1; Psalm 33:6; Col 1:16

b. Fall of Satan   Isa 14:12-14; Ezk 28:15

c. Judgement of the earth which results are seen in Gen 1:2

- key here is the tohu wa bohu

- tohu refers to the chaos of the topography

- bohu refers to the habitibility

d. Restoration of the earth/universe for habitation Gen 1:3-31

 

4. During the restoration, water was dealt with in the 1st 3 days.

a. The thawing of the ice pack Gen 1:2b

b. The establishment of the canopy that surrounded the earth that would be condenced out at the time of the flood.

- Gen 1:6-8 have the separation of the waters above and from the waters below

c. Next the separation of land or ground from the water  1:9  dry land” is used of land once covered by water;  Ex. 14:16, 22, 29; 15:19; Joshua 4:22;         Neh 9:11; Psa 66:6

 

5. There is no place for geological ages to be added anywhere in the Scriptural account.

- some attempt to do so to make in their view Scripture line up with the long ages of evolution.

 

6. This verse clearly points to one land mass before the flood.

 

 

 

1:1 In the beginning God  created 

~yhi_l{a/  plural - often said to be a plural of majesty,

 

The important thing here is the focus, its on God, and if you recall this is the term that means the powerful one, the strong one.

 

 

created   arB    bara'   a definite act /not relative;

speaks of   creating something new, fresh, and complete; also to create without using pre-existing material; ex-nihilo   This is noted in Heb. 11:3

 

The material elements do not pre-exist God, or His creative acts,  nothing  pre-exists God.

God does not derive His existence in any way from His creation.

 

 

The what that God created here is the heavens and the earth.

 - this is a usual term to describe in Hebrew the entire universe.