“scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing”
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I encourage you to look at the passage in 2 Peter before you read this Blog entry. What do you see in the text yourself? What questions come to your mind? How would you interpret what the writer says? After even a few minutes examining and thinking about the text you will be much better prepared to evaluate the comments in the Blog.
Difficult times can create spiritual tension. How do I continue trusting (or even believing in) God through unresolved health issues, or a prolonged job search, or family friction, or church conflicts? Our extended discussions through Hebrews and James and 1 Peter have repeatedly returned to that question. Now in his second letter, Peter emphasizes another complication. How much harder is a Christian life that is the target of scoffers?
Reminders
One of the first comments in our discussion on this text was to paraphrase Peter as, “I already told you!” Peter points out that this is the second time he has written. He may be referring to the canonical book of 1 Peter, or there may be another letter he wrote that we don’t have. In either case, his point is clear. Remember, and be motivated! He even repeats that theme from the beginning of this letter:
I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder… so that you may be able to recall these things… (2 Peter 1:13, 15, emphasis added)
I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember… (2 Peter 3:1b-2a, emphasis added)
He is eager for believers to experience what God has granted to us, “all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). He is aware of the dangers of internal threats, the “false teachers” (2 Peter 2:1) that actively entice people (vv. 14, 18) away from that “life and godliness.” They use “sensual passions” (v. 18) to prey on “unsteady souls” (v. 14). Their victims are those on the edge of faith “who are barely escaping from those who live in error” (v. 18). No wonder Peter calls them “children of cursing” (ASV), or “children of a curse” (DLNT),[1] at the end of verse 14 (κατάρας τέκνα, kataras tekna), a Hebraism similar to the prophetic denunciations “children of destruction” (Isaiah 57:4) or “children of wrongdoing” (Hosea 10:9).[2] This is
a thought interjected with intense emotion. Our author is a pastor, and he is upset by what he sees happening to unstable individuals in the community.[3]
And who would be more vulnerable to scoffers than those who are new to the teaching and way of Jesus, unsure of themselves, indecisive about which conflicting leaders to follow?
Scoffers
The discussion question “What is a scoffer?” was met with the response, “Well, that’s a stupid question.” The good-natured answer perfectly illustrated the nature of scoffing.
More discussion provided specific characteristics of Peter’s emphatic “scoffers with scoffing” (3:3). Scoffers
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- Mock
- Make light of
- Dismiss as not important
- Are not sincere
The accusation of scoffing and the repeated references to sensuality (2:2, 18) come together in the reminder in 2 Peter 3:2-3. Peter gives this reminder a high priority:
2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. (emphasis added)
Scoffing seems to be the main strategy of the false teachers. They weren’t debating doctrine. They were mocking morality.
Christians surrounded by a pagan society (which some have just recently left) would be easy targets for scoffers. The lifestyle emphasizing virtue, self-control, and steadfastness (along with the other character qualities Peter listed in 1:5-7) appears rigid and inflexible. The comparison with the promiscuous “freedom” would attract those not convinced by (or not understanding) the gospel.
The scoffers pointed to the “unfulfilled” expectations of Christians with the simple charge:
Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. (2 Peter 3:4)
Nothing has changed. Jesus is not returning. And if there was no second coming, then there would be no judgment. And if no judgment, why follow inconvenient and boring rules? Hence, those who continued following rules were easy to ridicule. And since no one wants to be ridiculed, and “freedom” always sounds good, “unsteady souls” followed.
The denial of a future judgment opened the door for a libertine lifestyle (2:1-3, 11-16). Or perhaps they began by living licentiously and then defended the lifestyle theologically by denying a future judgment. They probably used Paul’s writings (3:15-16) in defense of their licentiousness, perhaps arguing that God’s grace released believers from ethical obligations (cf. Rom 3:8, 5:20-6:1).[4]
Whatever the exact mechanism of their deceit, their scoffing strategy depended on their simplistic argument, “Where is the promise of his coming?”
Response
Peter provides a practical, two-pronged answer for his readers. He wants them to be able to answer their adversaries. (Remember 1 Peter 3:15, “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”)
God’s Actions
The ridicule from the false teachers was based on a mistaken view of history. Peter answers their scoffing claim that “all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4b). The implied conclusion (like modern naturalistic materialism) is that there is no God to intervene in history, or if there is, He never changes the regular order of nature.
Peter’s answer, “Yes, He does and He has.” Since the scoffers mentioned creation, they must have been familiar with the story of Noah and the flood as well. Clearly the claim that things are continuing (and therefore will always continue, and therefore there will be no judgment) is not true. God has acted to judge unrighteousness, and He will do so again. Even if the scoffers “deliberately overlook” (v. 5a) such a simple, logical answer, it will be reassuring to believers and to honest seekers.
God’s Timing
The scoffers’ first error was historical; their second error was theological. They presume to know that God’s delay disproves His pledge: “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep….” (v. 4a).
Peter highlights their mistaken view of God. It does seem like a very long period of time to us (scoffers and believers alike). Christians for two-thousand years have eagerly anticipated the return of Jesus, and scoffers have derided the delay. But believers know what scoffers choose to ignore, the perspective of an infinite, eternal God.
…that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (v. 8)
In fact, Peter stresses the simplicity of that answer: “do not overlook this one fact” (v. 8a, emphasis added). That reminder takes the sting out of the scoffers’ ridicule.
Room for Repentance
In fact, what scoffers take as evidence of God’s apathy, Peter welcomes as His great mercy.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
Judgment will come. It will be sudden and surprising and unexpected “like a thief” (v. 10). But only and exactly in God’s timing. As someone in our group pointed out, “timing” is not quite the right word for God who equates millennia with days in His eternal present. Perhaps the best we can do is to trust that the day of the Lord will come according to his sovereign, providential plan.
In spite of the false teachers and their scoffing, there are those who will “reach repentance” (ESV) or “make room for”[5] repentance.
Where the English Standard Version uses “reach repentance,” the majority of English translations render the verb “come to repentance” (KJV, NASB, NIV, etc.) or something similar.[6]
However, the word that is used deserves a little more attention. The Disciples’ Literal New Testament[7] uses the phrase (mentioned above) “make room for repentance.” That word (χωρέω, chōreō)[8] is used only ten times in the New Testament. For example,[9]
-
- Mark 2:2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door.
- John 2:6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.
- John 21:25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
These uses show the word used to indicate physical size or capacity. The verb is also used figuratively indicating acceptance or acknowledgement.
-
- Matthew 15:17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?
- Matthew 19:11, 12 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive
- John 8:37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.
- 2 Corinthians 7:2 Make room in your hearts for us.
The idea of “room for repentance” uses different wording but is reminiscent of the fate of Esau.
For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears. (Hebrews 12:17, emphasis added)
Both Peter and the writer to the Hebrews use the image of “room” or “space” or “capacity” for repentance.
The picture seems to be that our heart can be too crowded. The false teachers offered the attraction of the sensuous pleasures of “freedom.” The scoffers’ ridicule pressured believers to give in to desires. Thoughts of the Lord can get crowded out. All things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) and participating in the divine nature (1:4) are overshadowed by present temptations and trials. There is no room left for repentance. Our earlier study in Hebrews saw this tragic reality in the life of Esau.
Esau’s emotional search for repentance was his reaction to pain, not to recognition of sin. He regretted the consequences of losing his inheritance, not the reality of rejecting God. Genuine repentance is regret over sin against God’s holiness (Psalm 51:4), not distress over the discomfort of natural consequences.[10]
Beyond the example of Esau, genuine, sincere Christians still face temptations, as evidenced by Peter’s repeated exhortation to diligent perseverance. God’s merciful patience gives struggling believers the opportunity to be reminded (1:12-13; 3:1-2) and to be stirred up. Remembering God’s very precious and great promises and our eternal future with Him (1:3-4) takes the focus off the temptation and makes room for repentance in our thinking.
Wishing?
In this passage, Peter again uses a phrase that is too often taken out of context and misinterpreted. Earlier he describes the false teachers as “denying the Master who bought them” (2:1b). Our discussion about that passage considered the context, and we concluded that his intent was to warn against error. Interpreters who use the verse to define Jesus’s work on the cross are ignoring that context.
In 2 Peter 3:9b he describes the Lord as “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” But not all people reach (or “find room for”) repentance, and some do in fact perish, such as the false teachers themselves (“bringing upon themselves swift destruction,” 2:1b, 3, 12; 3:7). There are those who would point to this verse as evidence that our human free will can frustrate God’s “wish” (ESV) or His “will” (KJV, NASB).
Obviously Arminians have found in this verse very important support for their view that the only reason human beings fail to experience God’s salvation is because of their own choice.[11]
Here again, closer reading of the context clears away the confusion.
In this case, we don’t have to look further than the beginning of the verse for the relevant context.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, (ESV, emphasis added)
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, (NIV, emphasis added)
Peter’s statement about God’s wish, or will, or desire, or plan (βούλομαι, boulomai)[12] is not a universal declaration about God’s sovereignty or human free will. He is writing specifically about God’s patience as it affects believers, “toward you,” or literally, His patience “into you” (εἰς ὑμᾶς, eis hymas). The objects of Peter’s affirmation are the believers, those who share his faith, the ones he is writing to encourage:
To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: …
2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, (2 Peter 1:1-4, emphasis added)
So how should Peter’s words in 3:9 be interpreted?
In this verse, the statement about God wanting ‘everyone to come to repentance’ is preceded and governed by the statement that ‘he [the Lord] is patient with you.’ … False teachers have arisen in the Christian community. They have begun to infect others with their dangerous views. Rather than bringing judgment on them instantly, God withholds his wrath, patiently waiting for his people to repent and to get right with him again before it is too late.[13]
The verse itself limits the extent of God’s wish in this matter. Scoffers see the unfulfilled promise of the Lord’s return and the promised judgment as God’s “inaction … due to impotence or negligence.”[14] Peter knows that God’s will is that none of His people will perish, and they won’t even if He intentionally delays His return. That apparent delay provides His people, “those in the church who wavered under the influence of the false teachers,”[15] with the opportunity to “make room for repentance” in order to be prepared for the joy of His return.
What Sort…
The passage we considered ended with words worth pondering. Peter’s descriptions of the “last days” (3:3), “the day of judgment” (2:9, 3:7), “the day of the Lord” (3:10), and “the day of God” (3:12) are not intended for idle speculation about current events in God’s timetable. The purpose is very personal and very practical.
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, … (2 Peter 3:11)
Whatever we think about the end times, the result should profoundly affect our behavior and our character.
Notice that the sentence doesn’t end in that verse. Peter has more to say on the topic. And if you compare translations (including the continuation in verse 12), notice the punctuation at the end of the sentence. Is Peter asking for opinions? Is this a rhetorical question? How does he want us to think about what he has said? More to explore when we come to the final portion of Peter’s second letter.
[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/2%20Peter%202%3A14
[2] Peter H. Davids, The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006), 241.
[3] Peter H. Davids, The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006), 241.
[4] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude, Christian Standard Commentary (Nashville: Holman, 2020), 325.
[5] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20peter%203.9&version=DLNT,ISV
[6] https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/2%20Peter%203%3A9
[7] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Peter%203%3A8-10&version=DLNT
[8] https://www.billmounce.com/greek-dictionary/choreo
[9]https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%202%3A2%2CJohn%202%3A6%2CJohn%2021%3A25%2C2%20Corinthians%207%3A2&version=ESV
[10] https://www.goodnotsafe.com/gods-holiness-gods-grace/#:~:text=Esau%27s%20emotional%20search,to%20recognize%20his%20sin
[11] Douglas J. Moo, 2 Peter, Jude: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Academic, 1996), 188.
[12] https://www.billmounce.com/greek-dictionary/boulomai
[13] Douglas J. Moo, 2 Peter, Jude: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Academic, 1996), 188, original emphasis.
[14] J. N. D. Kelly, The Epistles of Peter and Jude, Black’s New Testament Commentary (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1969), 362.
[15] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude, Christian Standard Commentary (Nashville: Holman, 2020), 457.