Hi all,
I just finished my latest video, which was inspired by my discussion with folks on the thread concerning Amillennialism. I want to thank all those who stuck with me and helped me understand the topic better.
Here is a link to the video.
Title: The Big Whoosh 2Peter 3:10
Opening line: Today we are going to examine 2 Peter chapter 3. Peter will mention the Day of the Lord and the Second Coming of Christ, but his main point is focused on the believer's standpoint with regard to the total destruction of the heavens and the earth, or what I am calling the “Big Whoosh” based on Peter's remark that the heavens and earth will pass away with a roar.
I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think.
@WPM @Spiritual Israelite @Timtofly @Truth7t7 @covenantee @Randy Kluth @jeffweeder @Marty fox @Charlie24 @stunnedbygrace @The Light
I was not invited but I would like to comment. It's a very well-presented video, but I hope you will consider these facts also. I have a question I'd like to ask you at the bottom of this post:
Let me first just say that If you'll pardon the pun, heaven and earth do not depend on how we interpret 2 Peter 3:10-12, but there is something I don't understand about the way most interpret it, which I'd like to get your comment on:
Bear in mind that the context of these three verses is the fact that Peter had been talking about the lawless deeds of false teachers and false prophets (chapter 2), and after speaking about how
these will be utterly consumed when the Lord appears, and replaced with a New Heavens and a New Earth where righteousness dwells, he goes back in typical "Markan sandwich" style to a final mention (2 Peter 3:16-18) of the lawless deeds of the false prophets and false teachers that he began speaking about in 2 Peter Chapter 2.
The works of men and the chemical elements of the earth and the heavens?
1 Corinthians 3:13
"Each one's
work [érgon] shall be revealed. For the Day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try each one's work as to what kind it is.
1. In the very, very long list of verses where the word appears, and without even one exception,
érgon (works) refers to either the words of God / Christ, or of men, or of Satan
(the vast majority of times it refers to the works of men). I can supply the list but the list of verses using this word is very long. This post is already long enough.
2. In all the other New Testament verses where it's used, the word
stoicheîon only refers to
the rudiments of this world - never to the physical elements of the earth:
Galatians 4:3; Galatians 4:9; Colossians 2:8; Colossians 2:20; Hebrews 5:12. (each verse quoted below).
3. In every verse it's found, the word
parérchomai is used interchangeably for "passing by", "passing closeby", "coming near" or "to seize upon, to come upon" (the list is provided in a table below this article). Here is an example:
Acts 24:7:
"But the chief captain Lysias
came upon [parérchomai] us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands."
Seize upon / come upon / come near:
Luke 12:37; Acts 24:7 (quoted above).
Past / passing / passing by / passing nearby or close-by:
Matthew 8:28; Matthew 14:15; Matthew 26:39; Matthew 24:34-35; Mark 6:48; Luke 18:37; Acts 16:18; Acts 27:9; 2 Corinthians 5:17; James 1:10; 1 Peter 4:3; Luke 11:42; Luke 15:29.
Galatians 4:3:
Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage
under the elements [stoicheîon] of the world
Galatians 4:9:
But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again
to the weak and beggarly elements [stoicheîon], whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Colossians 2:8:
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men,
after the rudiments [stoicheîon] of the world, and not after Christ.
Colossians 2:20:
Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ
from the rudiments [stoicheîon] of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?
Hebrews 5:12:
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be
the first principles [stoicheîon] of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
You can go through all the Greek words used in 2 Peter 3:10-12 and see what the same word means in
EVERY OTHER New Testament verse it's found in, and you will discover that the meaning given 2 Peter 3:10-12 by the English translation of the passage ascribes
a completely different meaning to the same words.
Why?
But if we remain consistent with the meaning of the words wherever else they appear in the New Testament, we get this:
"The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. On that day the heavens will seize upon [parérchomai] men with a rushing noise, burning up their works [érgon] and melting the rudiments of this world [stoicheîon] with fervent heat."
THIS IS HOW IT HAS BEEN TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH:
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall [parérchomai] PASS AWAY with a great noise,
and the [stoicheîon] ELEMENTS shall be dissolved [lýō] with fervent heat [kausóō], the earth also and the [érgon] WORKS that are THEREIN shall be burned up [katakaíō].
There is also a lot of metaphor employed in biblical scripture dealing with the day God's judgment comes upon a nation or nations - whether it be Babylon, or the beast at the close of this Age, for example:
Psalm 75:7-8
"But God is the judge; He puts down one and sets up another. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is fully mixed; and He pours out from it; but the dregs of it, all the wicked of the earth shall drain its dregs and drink."
Psalm 75:2-3
"When I take the appointed time, I will judge uprightly. The earth and all its people are melting away; I hold up its pillars. Selah."
Question: Do you believe that we should
ignore what the words used in 2 Peter 3:10-12 mean in every other verse in scripture where they are used when interpreting what they mean in 2 Peter 3:10-12?