Jeffrey Johnson Supporter

2nd Peter 3: 9: The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; But is long-suffering about you, not being minded that any should perish, but that all may come unto repentance. 10 Howbeit the day of the Lord will be here as a thief,—In which the heavens with a rushing noise will pass away, While elements becoming intensely hot will be dissolved, And earth and the works therein will be discovered. --Rotherham Bible.

The apostle Peter is telling us: "GOD is not slow respecting his promise [of the coming day of reckoning], as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance." (2 Pe 3:9) If God already foreknew and foreordained millenniums in advance precisely which individuals would receive eternal salvation and which individuals would receive eternal destruction, it may well be asked how meaningful such 'patience' of God could be and how genuine his desire could be that 'all attain to repentance.' The inspired apostle John wrote that "God is love," and the apostle Paul states that love "hopes all things." (1Jo 4:8; 1Co 13:4, 7) It is in harmony with this outstanding, divine quality that God should exercise a genuinely open, kindly attitude toward all persons, he being desirous of their gaining salvation, until they prove themselves unworthy, beyond hope. (Compare 2 Pe 3:9; Heb 6:4-12.) Thus, the apostle Paul speaks of "the kindly quality of God [that] is trying to lead you to repentance."​—Ro 2:4-6.

This day is detailed in the Scriptures as a time of battle, a great and fear-inspiring day of darkness and burning anger, a day of fury, distress, anguish, desolation, and alarm. "What, then, will the day of Jehovah mean to you people?" God asked wayward Israel through the mouth of his prophet Amos. This: "It will be darkness, and no light, just as when a man flees because of the lion, and the bear actually meets him; and as when he went into the house and supported his hand against the wall, and the serpent bit him." (Am 5:18-20) Isaiah was told: "Look! The day of Jehovah itself is coming, cruel both with fury and with burning anger." (Isa 13:9) "That day is a day of fury, a day of distress and of anguish, a day of storm and of desolation, a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick gloom." (Zep 1:15) During such a time of trouble, one's money is absolutely worthless. Into the streets they will throw their very silver... Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of GOD's fury."​—Eze 7:19; Zep 1:18.

Note, in the following verses, Peter points to the marvellous prospect for those manifesting "holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion," namely, that they may survive into God's promised "new heavens and a new earth."​—2 Peter 3:10-13

It is interesting to note that about a century before the Alexandrine Codex was produced, the Vatican Codex (and the contemporary Sinaitic Manuscript) rendered Peter's prophecy "earth and the works in it will be discovered." Does this harmonise with the rest of the Bible? Certainly! The literal earth "will not be made to totter to time indefinite, or forever." (Psalm 104:5) How, then, will the earth be "discovered"? Other scriptures show that the expression "earth" can be used figuratively. "The earth" can speak a language and sing songs. (Genesis 11:1; Psalm 96:1) So "earth" can refer to humanity, or human society. 

Despite that coming disaster, Christians can have confidence in the future, just as Micah did. How? By following the counsel found in the succeeding verses of Peter's letter. The apostle exclaims: “What sort of persons ought you to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion, awaiting and keeping close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah!" (2 Peter 3:11, 12)

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