““Destroyed Once By Water … Next, By Fire!””

Sunday, July 26, 2020

            In our last study, we read about Peter’s warning about “scoffers, walking after their own lust” who would come and question whether or not the Lord would return because “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (II Pet. 3:3-4). We learned what the word “scoffer” means and looked at this word from a general sense. Let’s study II Peter 3 and see what the “scoffers” were mocking specifically.

            Please read II Peter 3:4-10 and read Peter’s warning about men who were denying the teaching that the Lord will return one day (v. 4). They said that this world has never changed since the beginning. These scoffers were the original “uniformitarians”! They taught nothing had changed since the beginning of time, and so Jesus was not returning. Peter corrected this wrong by reminding the readers about the Flood (v. 5-6). He said these people were “willingly ignorant” of the events recorded in Genesis 6-9. In simple words, these people willingly ignored the plain words of Scripture. They ignored this because it didn’t fit with the “narrative” that they wanted to teach! Isn’t it tragic that when someone has a doctrine he wants to promote, he will willingly go to the point of ignoring Scriptures to keep it alive! This is what I call reading the Bible through a “filter”! Is this your practice? I pray not!

            In the chapter, Peter reminds the readers of the destruction by water that had happened because there is a day coming when the world will be destroyed by fire (II Pet. 3:10)! He assured the readers that God had made a promise, and He would keep it (II Pet. 3:9). He doesn’t count time as men do, and so is not beholding to men to do things on their time-table!

            Peter made it clear that just as this world was at one time overwhelmed in water (Gen. 7:19-23), so also one day, this world will be overwhelmed by fire! This is not merely a “purging” fire, like when a farmer burns off the chaff in his field. He said this is a fire wherein “the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (II Pet. 3:10). “Burned up” in this text means “to burn down to the ground, consume wholly or utterly” (Strong’s). In other words, after this event, there will be no earth left! 

            Are you ready for this fire? When we think of it from this perspective, it helps us prioritize our lives. Are you prepared for the Lord’s return and this world’s end? Is your soul ready? At the end of it all, there will be nothing left except our souls! Jesus asked, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26). If you gain the world world, what good will your “stuff” do you when it is on fire?

            How can I be confident that the Lord will destroy the earth one day by fire? It is because:

1. God said so.
2. He proved He would keep His promise by flooding the earth after He said He would. 

Don’t waste any more time, but make sure you are ready for the Lord’s return, or your death, whichever comes first (Jas. 4:13)! Believe on Jesus as the Son of God (Jn. 8:24), repent of your sins (II Pet. 3:9), confess your faith in Christ (Rom. 10:10) and be baptized for the remission of sins that your soul might be prepared for eternity (Mk. 16:16; I Pet. 3:21)! Do so today (II Cor. 6:2)!

- Jarrod M. Jacobs

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