Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Patient Father!
The Questions
1) Who is the audience of this letter?
2) What is the promise referred to in these verses?
3) Why do these verses emphasize God’s delay?
2 Peter 3:8-12
8 Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed. 11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness 12 as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming. Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat. 13 But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
Original Intent
1) Who is the audience of this letter?
Unlike other letters written in the New Testament, Peter writes this letter to a broad audience of believers. 2 Peter 1:1 introduces the letter to “those who have received a faith” instead of to a specific church. There are many scholars who believe this letter was written to the churches in Asia Minor. These churches were undergoing both persecution and false teaching and Peter is writing to warn them. Peter wants to remind them to cling to their faith and the promises God has made. He wants them to stand firm and not waiver in the face of outside influence.
2) What is the promise referred to in these verses?
These verses center around a promise the audience is waiting to be fulfilled. The promise is seen in verses 12-13. It is the promise Jesus left His disciples with when He ascended to the right hand of the Father. Acts 1:10-11 promises that just as Jesus left, He will return. When He does, Revelation promises the establishment of a new heaven and a new earth where everything is as it was supposed to be. A coming redemption where there is freedom from sin and death for all who have placed their faith in Jesus and received the gift of salvation. The promise Peter speaks of is the fulfilled promise of the redemption for all creation!
3) Why do these verses emphasize God’s delay?
When Jesus ascended to Heaven and promised to return, He did not give a time frame for His return. He simply promised to return. Since Peter died during the reign of Nero, we know his death occurred before 68 A.D. This letter would have been written before then, but scholars assume it was towards the end of his life. This is important because it means it had been over 30 years since Jesus was crucified, resurrected, and ascended. There were believers who lived during Jesus’ life and those born after Jesus’ time on earth. Yet, they are still waiting on the fulfillment of the promise made to them. These verses emphasize God has a timing and His timing is perfect, even when it doesn’t align with mankind’s timing. Believers are being reminded God will not delay in fulfilling the promise made to them, even though it may have seemed like He has. They are also reminded God’s delay is intentional. He is providing an opportunity for others to accept Jesus and receive the gift of salvation before His return. Once Christ returns, the time for choosing His offered salvation will be over.
Everyday Application
1) Who is the audience of this letter?
The broad audience of this letter should remind us that, as believers, we too are included in these warnings and encouragement to hold tight to the faith. Just as the believers in the early church faced persecution and false teaching, believers today face it as well. We are not exempt from any of this. Peter writes to the early believers and warns them of false teachers and we too need to know there are false teachers and be prepared. We too need to cling tight to Scripture, to what we know is true, and to not be swayed when the false teachings arise. Even Jesus, in Matthew 7:15, warned there would be false teachers and they would come as wolves disguised in sheep’s clothing. The encouragement, however, is found in that when we know the fruit to look for, we know if it is truth being shared. We know this fruit when we spend time knowing Jesus and reading His Word.
2) What is the promise referred to in these verses?
The promise in these verses is the promise we are still waiting for the complete fulfillment of. As believers, we have assurance of what is yet to come. Revelation 21:3-4 promises a time when God will dwell with us, when there will be no more death, no more tears, and no more pain. What an incredible promise! When we place our faith in Jesus and surrender our lives to Him, this is the certain hope we look forward to. God doesn’t promise we will be free from pain, temptation, death, or persecution while on this earth, but He does promise there is something so much better coming, something we can only imagine! The promise the disciples and early followers of Jesus clung to is the same promise we cling to. The promised day is coming, we just don’t know when.
3) Why do these verses emphasize God’s delay?
Two thousand years after Christ’s ascension to Heaven and we are still waiting on the fulfillment of God’s promise. Patience is hard on the best of days, but when circumstances are tough and life doesn’t make sense, patience is even harder. Yet, just as the early believers are reminded God does not delay, so are we. God is faithful and His promise will see fulfillment, however, it will be in His perfect timing… not ours. That tension isn’t always easy to live in. These verses remind us, just as much as they did early believers, that God is providing an opportunity for lost people to receive the Good News and share in the promise made. We can cling tight to this promise knowing that in God’s perfect timing, Jesus will return and His Kingdom will reign forever! It is a promise we can cling tight to on both good days and hard days, and it will never fail. Patience is hard, but as someone I know and love says, “God is never late, but He is always on time.” His delay is intentional and means our work of sharing the Good News is not complete. The delay will end in God’s ultimate and perfect timing!
What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with The Groom &His Bride!
Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
Digging Deeper Community
Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
Join us in the GT Facebook Community!
Our Current Study Theme!
This is Kaleidoscope Week One!
Don’t miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to receive every GT Journey Study!
Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
Memorize It!
Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.