Trust in the stability of what is seen and unbelief in God’s Word; willful ignorance of the past; warning of the sure future
In the last chapter, as we have said, it is materialism: trust in the stability of that which can be seen, in contrast with trust in the Word of God which teaches us to look for the coming of Jesus, the return of the Lord. They judge by their senses. There is, say they, no appearance of change. This is not the case. To the eye of man it is indeed true that there is none. But these unbelievers are willfully ignorant of the fact that the world has been already judged once; that the waters, out of which by the mighty word of God the earth came, had for the moment swallowed it up again, all perishing except those whom God preserved in the ark. And by the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. It is not that the Lord is slack concerning the promise of His return, but that He is still exercising grace, not wishing any to perish, but that all should come to repentance. And a thousand years are to Him but as a day, and a day as a thousand years. But the day of the Lord shall come, in which all things will pass away, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and all that is on the earth will be consumed. Solemn consideration for the children of God, to maintain them in complete separation from evil, and from all that is seen, looking for and hastening the day in which the heavens shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat! Everything on which the hopes of the flesh are founded shall disappear forever.
The eternal state: new heavens and a new earth; dissolution of the elements necessary for the renewal of all things
Nevertheless, there shall be new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness shall dwell. It is not here said, “Shall reign,” which would be the thousand years of the Lord’s dominion; here it is the eternal state, in which the government, that has brought all things into order, will terminate, and unhindered blessing will flow from God, the kingdom being given up to God the Father.
It is in following out the ways of God in government that the Apostle carries them on to the eternal state, in which the promise will be finally accomplished. The millennium itself was the restitution, of which the prophets had spoken; and, morally, the heavens and the earth had been changed by the imprisonment of Satan and the reign of Christ (see Isaiah 65:17-18, Jerusalem having been made a rejoicing); and the heavens indeed entirely cleared by power, never to be defiled by Satan again, the saints on high, too, in their eternal state, the earth delivered, but not yet finally freed. But, materially, the dissolution of the elements was necessary for the renewal of all things.
The day of God in contrast with the trust of unbelievers
It will be observed that the Spirit does not speak here of the coming of Christ, except to say that it will be scoffed at in the last days. He speaks of the day of God, in contrast with the trust of unbelievers in the stability of the material things of creation, which depends, as the Apostle shows, on the Word of God. And in that day everything on which unbelievers rested and will rest shall be dissolved and pass away. This will not be at the commencement of the day, but at its close; and here we are free to reckon this day, according to the Apostle’s word, as a thousand years, or whatever length of period the Lord shall see fit.
The reason for God’s apparent delay
So solemn a dissolution of all that the flesh rests upon should lead us so to walk as to be found of the Lord, when He comes to introduce that day, in peace and blameless; accounting that the apparent delay is only the Lord’s grace, exercised for the salvation of souls. We may well wait, if God makes use of this time to rescue souls from judgment, by bringing them to the knowledge of Himself and saving them with an everlasting salvation. This, the Apostle says, had been taught by Paul, who wrote to them (the Hebrew believers) of these things, as he did also in his other epistles.
Peter’s testimony to Paul’s epistles
It is interesting to see that Peter, who had been openly rebuked before all by Paul, introduces him here with entire affection. He notices that Paul’s epistles contained an exalted doctrine, which they who were unstable, and not taught of God, perverted. For Peter, in fact, does not follow Paul in the field on which the latter had entered. This, however, does not prevent his speaking of Paul’s writings as forming a part of the Scriptures; “as also the other scriptures,” he says. This is an important testimony; which, moreover, gives the same character to the writings of one who is able to bestow this title on the writings of another.
Peter’s final exhortation
Let Christians, then, be watchful and not allow themselves to be seduced by the errors of the wicked, but strive to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen!