John Gill Commentary 2 Peter 3

This second epistle, beloved, I now write to you
This is a transition to another part of the epistle; for the apostle having largely described false teachers, the secret enemies of the Christian religion under a profession of it, passes on to take notice of the more open adversaries and profane scoffers of it; and from their ridicule of the doctrine of Christ's second coming, he proceeds to treat of that, and of the destruction of the world, and the future happiness of the saints: he calls this epistle his "second epistle", because he had written another before to the same persons; and that the author of this epistle was an apostle, is evident from (2 Peter 3:2); and which, compared with (2 Peter 1:18) shows him to be the Apostle Peter, whose name it bears. He was an eyewitness to the transfiguration of Christ on the mount, (Matthew 17:1Matthew 17:2) (Mark 9:2).

He addresses these saints here, as also in (2 Peter 3:8 2 Peter 3:14 2 Peter 3:17), under the character of "beloved"; because they were the beloved of God, being chosen by him according to his foreknowledge, and regenerated by him, according to his abundant mercy; and were openly his people, and had obtained mercy from him, and like precious faith with the apostles; and were also the beloved of Christ, being redeemed by him, not with gold and silver, but with his precious blood; for whom he suffered, and who were partakers of his sufferings, and the benefits arising from them, and who had all things given them by him, pertaining to life and godliness, and exceeding great and precious promises.

And were likewise beloved by the apostle, though strangers, and not merely as Jews, or because they were his countrymen, but because they were the elect of God, the redeemed of Christ, and who were sanctified by the Spirit, and had the same kind of faith he himself had. The Syriac and Arabic versions read, "my beloved"; and the Ethiopic version, "my brethren": his end in writing both this and the former epistle follows;

in [both] which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance ;
that this was his view both in this and the former epistle, appears from (1 Peter 1:13) (2 Peter 1:12–15).

He calls their minds pure; not that they were so naturally, for the minds and consciences of men are universally defiled with sin; nor are the minds of all men pure who seem to be so in their own eyes, or appear so to others; nor can any man, by his own power or works, make himself pure from sin; only the blood of Christ purges and cleanses from it; and a pure mind is a mind sprinkled with that blood, and which receives the truth as it is in Jesus, in the power and purity of it, and that holds the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

Some versions, as the Vulgate Latin and Arabic, render the word "sincere", as it is in (Philippians 1:10); and may design the sincerity of their hearts in the worship of God, in the doctrines of Christ, and to one another, and of the grace of the Spirit of God in them; as that their faith was unfeigned, their hope without hypocrisy, and their love without dissimulation, and their repentance real and genuine; but yet they needed to be stirred up by way of remembrance, both of the truth of the Gospel, and the duties of religion; for saints are apt to be forgetful of the word, both of its doctrines and its exhortations; and it is the business of the ministers of the word to put them in mind of them, either by preaching or by writing; and which shows the necessity and usefulness of the standing ministry of the Gospel: the particulars he put them in mind of next follow.

That you may be mindful
This is an explanation of the above mentioned end of his writing this and the other epistle; which was, that those saints might be mindful of two things more especially:

of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets ;
that is, the prophets of the Old Testament, who were holy men of God, and therefore their words are to be regarded, and retained in memory; the Gospel itself was spoken by them, and so was Christ, and the things relating to his person and offices, and to his incarnation, sufferings, and death, and the glory that should follow; and indeed the apostles said no other than what they did, only more clearly and expressly; and particularly many things, were said by them concerning the second coming of Christ to judge the world, and destroy it, and to prepare new heavens and a new earth for his people, which is what the apostle has chiefly in view; see (Jude 1:14) (Isaiah 11:3) (65:17) (Malachi 4:1) (Daniel 7:9Daniel 7:10Daniel 7:13Daniel 7:14) ;

and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour ;
that is, Jesus Christ, as (Jude 1:17) expresses it, and the Ethiopic version adds here; and which likewise, and also the Syriac version, and some ancient copies, read, "our Lord and Saviour", and omit the us before the apostles; by whom are meant the twelve apostles of Christ, of which Peter was one, and therefore says, "us the apostles"; though the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions, and the Complutensian edition, read "your apostles", and so the Alexandrian copy; but the former is the received reading: now "the commandment" of these intends either the Gospel in general, so called because it was the commandment of our Lord to his apostles to preach it; and therefore the word "commandment", in the original, stands between "us the apostles", and "the Lord and Saviour", as being the commandment of the one to the other; unless it can be thought any regard is had to the new commandment of love, or that of faith, inculcated both by Christ and his apostles; (John 13:34) (1 John 2:7 1 John 2:8) (3:23) ; or rather, particularly the instructions, directions, and predictions of the apostles concerning the second coming of Christ, and what should go before it, as appears from the following words, and the parallel place in (Jude 1:17Jude 1:18) , the words of the prophets and apostles being here put together, show the agreement there is between them, and what regard is to be had to each of them, and to anything and every thing in which they agree.

Knowing this first
In the first place, principally, and chiefly, and which might easily be known and observed from the writingsof the apostles and prophets; see (1 Timothy 4:1 1 Timothy 4:2) (2 Timothy 3:1) ;

that there shall come in the last days scoffers ,
or "mockers"; such as would make a mock at sin, make light of it, plead for it, openly commit it, and gloryin it; and scoff at all religion, as the prejudice of education, as an engine of state, a piece of civilpolicy to keep subjects in awe, as cant, enthusiasm, and madness, as a gloomy melancholy thing, depriving menof true pleasure; and throw out their flouts and jeers at those that are the most religious, for the just,upright man, is commonly by such laughed to scorn, and those that depart from evil make themselves a prey;and particularly at the ministers of the word, for a man that has scarcely so much common sense as topreserve him from the character of an idiot, thinks himself a wit of the age, if he can at any rate break ajest upon a Gospel minister: nor do the Scriptures of truth escape the banter and burlesque of thesescoffers; the doctrines of it being foolishness to them, and the commands and ordinances in it being grievousand intolerable to them; yea, to such lengths do those proceed, as to scoff at God himself; at his persons,purposes, providences, and promises; at Jehovah the Father, as the God of nature and providence, andespecially as the God and Father of Christ, and of all grace in him; at Jehovah the Son, at his person, asbeing the Son of God, and truly God, at his office, as Mediator, and at his blood, righteousness, andsacrifice, which they trample under foot; and at Jehovah the Spirit, whom they do despite unto, as the spiritof grace, deriding his operations in regeneration and sanctification, as dream and delusion; and, most ofall, things to come are the object of their scorn and derision; as the second coming of Christ, theresurrection of the dead, a future judgment, the torments of hell, and the joys of heaven; all which theyrepresent as the trifles and juggles of designing men.

Such as these, according to the prophets and apostles, were to come in "the last days"; either in the days of the Messiah, in the Gospel dispensation, the timesbetween the first and second coming of Christ; for it is a rule with the Jews ^F19 , that whereverthe last days are mentioned, the days of the Messiah are intended; see (Hebrews 1:1) ; when the prophetsforetold such scoffers should come; or in the last days of the Jewish state, both civil and religious, called"the ends of the world", (1 Corinthians 10:11) ; a little before the destruction of Jerusalem, wheniniquity greatly abounded, (Matthew 24:11Matthew 24:12) ; or "in the last of the days"; as the words maybe rendered; and so answer to (Mymyh tyrxab) , in (Isaiah 2:2) , and mayregard the latter part of the last times; the times of the apostles were the last days, (1 John 2:18) ;they began then, and will continue to Christ's second coming; when some time before that, it will be aremarkable age for scoffers and scorners; and we have lived to see an innumerable company of them, and thesepredictions fulfilled; from whence it may be concluded, that the coming of Christ is at hand: these scoffersare further described as

walking after their own lusts ;
either after the carnal reasonings of their minds, admitting of nothing but what they can comprehend byreason, making that the rule, test, and standard of all their principles, and so cast away the law of theLord, and despise the word of the Holy One of Israel; or rather, after their sinful and fleshly lusts, makingthem their guides and governors, and giving up themselves entirely to them, to obey and fulfil them; thephrase denotes a continued series of sinning, a progress in it, a desire after it, and pleasure in it, and anobstinate persisting in it; scoffers at religion and revelation are generally libertines; and such as sit inthe seat of the scornful, are in the counsel of the ungodly, and way of sinners, (Psalms 1:1) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: Kimchi in Isa. ii. 2.

And saying, Where is the promise of his coming ?
&c.] That is, of the coming of the Lord and Saviour, (2 Peter 3:2); the object of their scorn and derision, and whom they name not, through contempt; and the meaning is, what is become of the promise of his coming? where the accomplishment of it? The prophets foretold he would come; he himself said he would come again, (John 14:3John 14:28); the angels, at his ascension, declared he would come from heaven in like manner as he went up, (Acts 1:11); and all his apostles gave out that he would appear a second time to judge both quick and dead, (Acts 10:42) (2 Timothy 4:1) (1 Peter 4:5), and that his coming was at hand, (Philippians 4:5) (2 Thessalonians 2:2); but where is the fulfilment of all this? he is not come, nor is there any sign or likelihood of it:

for since the fathers fell asleep ;
or "died": which is the language of the Scriptures, and here sneered at by these men, who believe them so fast asleep as never to be awaked or raised more; and by "the fathers" they mean the first inhabitants of the world, as Adam, Abel, Seth and all the patriarchs and prophets in all ages; the Ethiopic version renders it, "our first fathers":

all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation ;
reasoning from the settled order of things, the constant revolution of the sun, moon, and stars, the permanency of the earth, and the succession of the inhabitants of it, to the future continuance of things, without any alteration; and consequently, that Christ would not come, as was promised, to raise the dead, judge mankind destroy the world, and set up a new state of things: the fallacy of which reasoning is exposed by the apostle in the following words.

For this they willingly are ignorant of Namely, what follows; for as these men were such as had professed Christianity, and had the advantage of revelation, and had the opportunity of reading the Scriptures, they might have known that the heavens and the earth were from the beginning; and that they were made by the word of God; and that the earth was originally in such a position and situation as to be overflowed with a flood, and that it did perish by a general inundation; and that the present heavens and earth are kept and reserved for a general burning; and it might be discerned in nature, that there are preparations making for an universal conflagration; but all this they chose not to know, and affected ignorance of:

particularly that by the word of God the heavens were of old : not only in the times of Noah, but "from the beginning"; as the Ethiopic version reads, and which agrees with the account in (Genesis 1:1) ; by "the heavens" may be meant both the third heaven, and the starry heavens, and the airy heavens, with all their created inhabitants; and especially the latter, since these were concerned in, and affected with the general deluge; and these were in the beginning of time, out of nothing brought into being, and so were not eternal, and might be destroyed again, or at least undergo a change, even though they were of old, and of long duration:

for it was "by the word of God" that they at first existed, and were so long preserved in being; either by the commanding word of God, by his powerful voice, his almighty fiat, who said, Let it be done, and it was done, and who commanded beings to rise up out of nothing, and they did, and stood fast; and so the Arabic version renders it, "by the command of God"; or by his eternal Logos, the essential Word of God, the second Person in the Trinity, who is often in Scripture called the Word, and the Word of God, and, as some think, by the Apostle Peter, (1 Peter 1:23) , and certain it is that the creation of all things is frequently ascribed to him; see (John 1:16) (Hebrews 1:2Hebrews 1:10) (11:3) ; wherefore by the same Word they might be dissolved, and made to pass away, as they will:

and the earth standing out of the water and in the water ; that is, "by the Word of God"; for this phrase, in the original text, is placed after this clause, and last of all; and refers not only to the being of the heavens of old, but to the rise, standing, and subsistence of the earth, which is here particularly described for the sake of the deluge, the apostle afterwards mentions: and it is said to be "standing out of the water", or "consisting out of it"; it consists of it as a part; the globe of the earth is terraqueous, partly land and partly water; and even the dry land itself has its rise and spring out of water; the first matter that was created is called the deep, and waters in which darkness was, and upon which the Spirit of God moved, (Genesis 1:2) ; agreeably to which Thales the Milesian asserted ^F20 , that water was the principle of all things; and the Ethiopic version here renders the words thus, "and the Word of God created also the earth out of water, and confirmed it":

the account the Jews give of the first formation of the world is this ^F21 ; ``at first the world was (Mymb Mym) , "water in water"; what is the sense (of that passage (Genesis 1:2) ;) "and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters?" he returned, and made it snow; he casteth forth his ice like morsels, (Psalms 147:17) ; he returned and made it earth; "for to the snow he saith, Be you earth", (Job 37:6) , and the earth stood upon the waters; "to him that stretched out the earth above the waters", (Psalms 136:6) ;''

however, certain it is, that the earth was first covered with water, when at the word, and by the command of God, the waters fled and hasted away, and were gathered into one place, and the dry land rose up and appeared; and then it was that it "stood out of the water"; see (Genesis 1:9Genesis 1:10) (Psalms 104:6Psalms 104:7) ; moreover, the earth consists, or is kept and held together by water; there is a general humidity or moisture that runs through it, by which it is compacted together, or otherwise it would resolve into dust, and by which it is fit for the production, increase, and preservation of vegetables and other things, which it otherwise would not be: and it is also said to stand "in the water", or by the water; upon it, according to (Psalms 24:2) ; or rather in the midst of it, there being waters above the firmament or expanse; in the airy heavens, in the clouds all around the earth, called the windows of heaven; and water below the firmament or expanse, in the earth itself; besides the great sea, a large body of waters is in the midst of the earth, in the very bowels of it, which feed rivers, and form springs, fountains and wells, called "the fountains of the great deep", (Genesis 7:11) ;

and in this position and situation was the earth of old, and so was prepared in nature for a general deluge, and yet was preserved firm and stable by the word of God, for a long series of time; so the Arabic version renders it, "and the earth out of the water, and in the water, stood stable, by the command of God"; but when it was his pleasure, he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly, of which an account follows.

FOOTNOTES:

• F20: Vid. Laert. l. i. in Vit. Thaletis.
• F21: T. Hieros. Chagiga, fol. 77. 1.