2 Peter 3:1-7
CONTEXT:
--- Beloved, I now write this second letter to you, in which I stir up your pure mind to remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of the Lord and Savior by us, the apostles. First, knowing this, that
there will come in the last days scoffers walking according to their own lusts and saying,
"Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God
the heavens (οὐρανός ouranós) were of old, and
the earth [γῆ gē] standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby
the world (O κόσμος kósmos) that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. ---
It does not say
the heavens (οὐρανός ouranós) and
the earth [γῆ gē] perished, but
the world (O κόσμος kósmos)
- all flesh - in it.
2 Peter 3:7
"But the present heavens and the earth being kept in store by the same word, are being kept for fire until the day of judgment and destruction
OF (CONTEXT) UNGODLY MEN."
According to the example Peter used, the above is just like the "all flesh" that perished in the flood, i.e not the heavens (οὐρανός ouranós) and the earth [γῆ gē] perishing, but the world (O κόσμος kósmos) - all flesh - in it ..
-- But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away [parérchomai] with a great noise, and the 1. elements [stoicheîon] shall be 2. dissolved [lýō] with fervent heat, the earth also and the 3. works [érgon] that are therein shall be burned up. -- 2 Peter 3:10.
1. stoicheîon refers to the rudiments of the world in every New Testament verse the word appears in;
2. lýō refers to something that was bound, being loosed;
3. érgon refers in some verses to the works of God, and in a very long list of verses, to the works of men or of Satan.
4. parérchomai: 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", or in reference to a time that has passed. It's not referring to the DEATH or burning up of anything, let alone the universe:-
[Strongs Greek 03928] παρέρχομαι parérchomai, par-er'-khom-ahee:
from 3844 and 2064; to come near or aside, i.e. to approach (arrive), go by (or away), (figuratively) perish or neglect, (causative) avert:--come (forth), go, pass (away, by, over), past, transgress.
The example of the flood used by Peter, and the fact that
the universe and the earth was not destroyed in the flood but
the world - all flesh - in it - tells us that 2 Peter 3:10 is referring once again to
the destruction of the flesh, i.e the rudiments of this world and the wicked works (ergon) of ungodly men - but not by water, and not by a flood.