A Short Note on 2nd Peter.
P. Ben
Feb. 2016.
_______
Peter’s second epistle occupies the mind of its reader with
objects of hope. The objects include the kingdom (word of prophecy), rapture (day
star) and eternity (day of God). Not only are the objects of solemn
considerations disclosed to the eye of faith in this epistle, but even the
hindrances which seek to prevent (though assuredly failing) the materialization
of these objects are mentioned.
In chapter one, the apostle brings to mind the fact that the
spiritual privileges* are presently confirmed in the Christian by means of
knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Besides privileges, responsibility is
also called for to prove one’s election conspicuous before the world.
[*The Christian in the epistle of 2 Peter, enjoys in general
two sets of privileges: the present privilege of partaking eternal life by
knowledge of God and Jesus Christ (compare John 17:3 and 2 Peter 1:2,3) and the
privilege of entering the manifest kingdom as shown in 2 Peter 1:11-21.]
From v11, it is the manifest kingdom which forms the
expression of a Christian’s hope. The divine inspiration here is to testify of
Peter’s witness beyond his absence*. The objects of consideration in Acts 1 to
4, corresponds to Mt Olives (Ch1), Mt Sinai (Ch2) ^, Mt Moriah
(Ch3) and Mt Zion (Ch4) to which the faithful witnessed in terms of testimony.
Here in our epistle, however Peter brings in the mount of Transfiguration as
the last object of consideration to occupy the earnest believer of final
assurance of the kingdom manifestation.
[*In our epistle, Peter reiterates the blessed Lord’s
testimony of the manner of his death (v14) as shown in John’s Gospel. The
kingdom preaching will end with Peter’s death, but not the hope of the kingdom.]
[^ In Acts 2, three thousand get life in the Spirit as three
thousand get death at Sinai under the law.]
As already stated, there is in this epistle presented two
sets of privileges. The former has to do with participating in fresh life and
power by the knowledge of Christ even as divine power provides all things which
relate to life and godliness, for the enjoyment of the elect which are
separated from the corruption that is in the world (ch
1:4). The latter has to do with entry into the glorious kingdom (ch 1:11). Now, chapter 2 presents the antithesis or the
vessel of opposition to the former privilege while chapter 3 brings in the
confrontation of the kingdom’s hope. In other words, the false teachers of chapter
2 having a form of pretence in having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through the knowledge of Christ retrogress back to the mire (ch2:20-21)
while the mockers of chapter 3 engage themselves in opposing the hopes of a
kingdom- ‘where is the promise of his coming?’
In chapter two, the apostle begins his long description of
the teachers of falsehood. In our epistle, we have to do with false teachers
and not with false prophets, though a parallel is drawn in v1. The false
teachers wallow in lusts and corruption though pretending to have escaped it*
while the false prophets are exclusively antichristian (1 John 4) as much as
the False Prophet of the Apocalypse is himself the Antichrist.
[*In our epistle, the false teacher is a false pretender of
having freed himself from the lusts of the flesh by the knowledge of Christ and
claims to free others (ch 2:19) when in fact he
practices it shamelessly. Here, it is not in the interests of the false teacher
to ridicule the hope of kingdom manifestation, for that is instead the work of
a mocker who is presented in chapter 3.]
Firstly, there is denial of the authority of Christ while
yet associating with His Name; since if the latter be unobserved, they would be
excommunicated which would then negate their presence within the assembly.
Besides, there is merchandise of pulpit. Here, a sort of parenthesis is
introduced, to allay the fears of the elect of being judged along with these
pretenders; since we have to do with government here. Achan’s
sin can bring to a loss the entire community of God’s people but divine wisdom
then provides for selective judgment in the
Secondly, the denial of the authority of Christ is
interposed with the denial of spiritual wickedness in high places*. It is a
marked dissent into the canopy of subtlety to dispel the identity of evil
spirits. For this opens the door to the materialist mockers of the next chapter
(3). Further, the instinct of making money from the pastures of the faithful
soon assumes the proper shape of Bosor’s infamous
son. The other feature that attends these evil men is their reinterpretation of
Christian love and fellowship as carnal eros (eyes of
adultery) and rioting. In a measure, these false teachers serve as Epicureans
while the mockers of the next chapter function as Stoics; the two forms of
popular and perennial confrontation against the truth either in this epistle or
at
*If it were angels in general, then there is no point for
angels not charging against each other injuriously before the Lord. In Jude, it
is a similar thought though deepened to an extraordinary degree as in the case
between Michael and the devil.
In chapter 3, the vessel carrying within it the energy of
opposition to the kingdom establishment is presented. The mockers differ from
the false teachers in that while the latter are found feasting with the
assembly men (found within), the former need not necessarily be found so. The
mockers believe in the immutability of nature: ‘…all things remain thus from
the beginning of the creation’. Now, the Old Testament scriptures present two
subjects: Creation and the Law. Failure of man under the law (responsibility in
any sense) opened up the door of prophecy (grace and truth in Christ). Thus,
the scriptures of old disclosed the fact of creation and hope of prophecy. The
mockers confront both these truths in that having questioned the hope of
prophecy as to Christ’s coming (kingdom), they proceed to speak about creation.
The apostle then confirms the Old Testament truths of creation and hope of
prophecy in final condemnation of the mockers. With respect to creation, it is
not the immutability of nature (as the mockers claim) but the twice affected
cataclysm by waters*. If it is in reference to the hope of prophecy, the
apostle this time; even the Spirit of God presents the counsel of God for the
apparent delay, which the mockers chose to ignore. It is the longsuffering of
God that none should perish^ besides reiterating the truth of the establishment
of millennial kingdom (v8- ‘…one day with the Lord is as a thousand years).
*At first, when the deep covered the earth and secondly, the
deluge (‘out of water and in water’.)
^It is important to observe the differing emphasis of the
kingdom in chapter 1 and chapter 3. In chapter 1, the kingdom’s entry is the
hope of glory for the elect while in chapter 3; the cataclysm by fire at the
kingdom’s close is the solemnity that guards the elect. {2 Peter is not mere
reiteration of old Jewish prophecy. For, the prophets of old ever spoke of
judgment of the nations in connection with the day of the Lord, and not about
dissolution of elements as here is the case.}
Poor mockers, impelled even as they are to think of nature
as immutable and prophecy as unviable; the Spirit of God assigns the
culmination of both nature and prophecy to the same object- fire*. If the Old
Testament writers had to their oracles attached the verity of truths relating
to creation and prophecy, then assuredly the new testament writers speak of new
creation and a promise: as the case with Paul in 1 Cor
15:24-28, with John in Rev 21:1-8 and with our apostle here in Ch 3:12-13 (day
of God). The Spirit of God here brings in the distinctiveness of Pauline
ministry^. In case of Paul, it is not just new heavens and new earth but as
well as the mystery of the body and the bride (‘hard to be understood’) but
carries with it the same inspiration (‘…wrest as also the other scriptures’ v16)~.
*The curse of
^Paul withstood Peter to the face- back at
~If one denied Paul, he denied everything of the New
Testament since Paul wrote what the other inspired writers penned with respect
to the subjects of the New Testament (‘speaking in them of these things’),
added to which were the mysteries of his epistles (hard to be understood); thus
forming a complete circle of divine thoughts- compare Colossians 1:25-26. In
chapter 3 of 2 Peter, we thus are presented with the mockers who deny the old
scriptures about creation and prophecy and also those who wrest with Paul’s
epistles, which provided the completeness of divine thought. In a sense, the
word of God is rejected in all totality. Of course, one cannot deny the new and
yet claim to abide by the old, which is then Jewish apostasy.
The study of 2 Peter is incomplete without the parallel
study of Jude, in which the same subjects are spoken of but from the view of
apostasy*. In Jude, the false teachers and mockers are again differentiated and
shown in their last terminal stages. In case of false teachers^, unlike in 2
Peter, where they deny the authority of Christ though associating with His
name; here in Jude they are found to assume the final character of rebellion
against Christ Himself (v 15). Even the mockers in the epistle of Jude have
assumed a final form unlike shown in 2 Peter- they form a closed loop and an
organized unit- ‘these are they who set themselves apart…’ v19.
*In Jude, it is apostasy rather than the commission of sins
which is the focus- as the apostasy in the wilderness, angels not keeping their
original state and the cities that had practiced the unnatural act of sodomy;
apostasy in three forms as against government, against order and against
nature.
^There is a marked development in Jude. In 2 Peter, they are
described as ‘springs without water’ while here in Jude, their description is
‘clouds without water’. There are many others to be observed.
[I have in these few words, supplied a feeble presentation
of some thoughts on the epistle of 2 Peter, without dwelling upon the epistle
of Jude for restraints of space; as doing so, amounts to a study beyond the
capacity of this short note.]
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