In 2 Peter 2, the apostle writes against false teachers who were once faithful to the Lord and who then turned away. With that background in mind, read 2 Peter 3:1-11 and then answer these questions:
● To what source and authority does Peter immediately point the false teachers and scoffers? Why is that answer so important?
●What’s the real motive behind the scoffing? In what ways do we see the same principles manifested today?
● What point is Peter making by reference to the Flood story here? See 2 Peter 2:5.
What is fascinating among Peter’s words is his statement that the scoffers will say that “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Pet. 3:4). These verses point to a dramatic fulfillment of prophecy that has been especially revealed in the past century and a half. Science has proposed a geological interpretation that favors long ages, rather than a sudden catastrophe like the Flood, to account for the surface condition of the earth. In other words, things just keep on as they have before; many of the massive canyons and rock formations didn’t come, we are told, by some sudden catastrophe but simply were the result of things continuing as they were from the beginning of creation; they’re there only from a long uniform progression of events.
This idea also is the basis of evolution, a steady process of things slowly evolving as they did from the beginning of time, rather than a sudden literal six-day creation of life on the earth, as the Bible teaches. It is remarkable that long ago Peter pointed to these two areas as being the points of contention in the last days. That this has happened as predicted is a strong sign that we are living in a time when we are going to have to make a firm choice on whose side we are going to stand.
Read over again the texts for today in Peter. Do we see ourselves in there—some doubts, some questioning, some scoffing? What must we do in order to get back on the narrow path? Matt. 7:14.