“Take heed lest there shall be any one that makes spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments
[stoikion] of the world [kesmos], and not after Christ…If you died with Christ from the rudiments [stoikion] of the world [kesmos] why as though living in the
world [kesmos] …” [Colossians 2:8-20]. It was the rudiments [elements] of the world [kesmos] that they died to, elements of the world [kesmos] that they were living in, not Israel that they had died to (past tense) before A. D. 70, before Realized Eschatology say the Law died in A. D. 70.
In 2 Peter 3, it is the heavens that shall pass away and the earth [gee] that shall be burned up in the day of the Lord, nothing is said about it being only a particular part of the earth, nothing is said about Israel.
"By which means the world [kesmos] that then was" [2 Peter 3:6]. Israel did not exist at that time. It was the world [kesmos] that then was, not Old Testament Israel that did not exist unto many years after the world perished by water.
"But the heavens that now are, and the earth [gee]” [2 Peter 3:7]. The earth that now exists that will perish by fire. ―Earth‖ cannot be changed to be only one of
the many nations that are on the ―earth [gee].‖ If this were speaking of only Israel and not the whole earth it would be saying Israel would be destroyed, not restored.
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief: in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth [gee] and the works that are therein shall be burned up" [2 Peter 3:10]. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” [Genesis 1:1].
“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth”
[Colossians 1:16]. The heavens, which “the heavens shall pass away with a great 383
noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat” is the universe that was created.
"But according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth [gee], wherein dwells righteousness" [2 Peter 3:13]. 2 Peter was written after A. D. 70, but even if it had been written a few years before A. D. 70, it would have been
written years after the beginning of the New Covenant; "But according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth [gee], wherein dwells righteousness" could not have been the New Covenant they say would replace the Old Covenant in A. D. 70. The New Covenant was a reality at the time this was
written, not something that they did not already have but were looking for it to come.
Fate of the ungodly in 2 Peter
Burned to ashes: Sodom was turned into ashes as example to those who live ungodly [2 Peter 2:6]. Sodom was “burned to ashes” and the earth “shall be burned up” and “have been stored up for fire” [2 Peter 3:7, 10], “the heavens shall pass away,” “the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat,” “the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat” [2Peter 3:10-12]. In the same passage Sodom was literally destroyed by fire and the earth and heavens will be literally destroyed by fire. One is not a literal destruction by fire and the other a figuratively destruction. The “water” cannot be literal and the “fire” made figuratively in the same sentence [2 Peter 3:6], just as the wicked were literally destroyed by water the wicked will literally be destroyed by fire.
Destruction of ungodly men [2 Peter 2:1; 3:7]
Destroyed: “To be taken and destroyed…shall in their destroying also be destroyed” [2 Peter 2:12]. “They are like brute beast (animals–Strong 2226), creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beast they too will perish” New International Version
Blackness of darkness has been reserved [2 Peter 2:17]
Perished [2 Peter 3:6]
Destruction: The day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men [2 Peter 3:7]
Perish [2 Peter 3:9]
Destruction: Some “wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto the own destruction” [2 Peter 3:16]
2 Peter 3:7 in eight translations
1. "The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing than that all these things shall be dissolved" King James Version.
2. "The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be
dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be
burned up. Seeing that these things are thus, all to be dissolved" American Standard Version.
3. "The heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way" New American Standard Version.
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4. "And then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be
dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be
dissolved. Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way" New Revised Standard Version.
5. " The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be lain bare" New International Version.
6. "The heavens will pass away with a terrible noise and the heavenly bodies will
disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be burned up. And so since everything around us is going to melt away" The Living Bible.
7. "The skies will disappear with a loud noise, everything in them will be destroyed
by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be burned up. In that way everything will be destroyed" New Century Version.
8. "In that day the heavens will vanish in a tearing blast, the very elements will
disintegrate in heat and the earth and all its works will disappear. In view of the fact that all these things are to be dissolved" J. B. Phillips.
If this passage does not say the heavens (the sky) and the earth shall pass away, all be dissolved, be burned up, will disappear, disintegrate, there is no way God could have said the heavens (the sky) and the earth will not be after the day of the Lord? There is no way to read the earth will be restored to be the way it was before Adam sinned in this passage; "disappear" "melt away" "vanish" "be destroyed" "be dissolved" "pass
away" "burned up" does not mean "be restored. "
If the second coming of Christ is passed and all end time prophecy has been fulfilled as Realized Eschatology teaches then life will go on forever on the earth as it is now for, according to them, nothing is said in the Bible about the earth ending, the victory over death when death will have been abolished, or the end of evil.
The fire is just a literal as the water; if one is figurative language the other must also be. "By which means [water] the world that them was...perished; but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire." If the "fire" is spiritualized to be something other than real fire then the "water" must also be spiritualized to be something other than real water; therefore, the story of the ark must also be figurative language; therefore, there were no real ark and no real flood.
Figurative language of the sun, moon and stars being darken or falling from heaven is used of the fall of Judea [a national judgment] in Jeremiah 4:1-28, and "The sun shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken" [Matthew 24:29]. Compare Matthew 24:29-30 to the fall of Egypt. "And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you and will set darkness on your land, declares the Lord God. I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations"
[Ezekiel 32:7-9]. However, Peter speaks of the utter destruction, passing away, disappearing, disintegrating, being dissolved of "the elements" on the day of the Lord; not just being darken and not giving their light. He is not using figurative language of the passing of a nation, but giving a literal description of the earth and the heavens, the same earth and heavens that He created out of nothing, passing away in one day.
Whichever way you make this [1] a figurative description of the end of a nation, [2] or a literal description, as a literal description of the end of the heavens and earth in the day 385
of the Lord, it is a description of the end of something, not the restoring, or making something better. The earth being restored is not in this passage; in it the earth is destroyed, not restored. There is not a word about the earth, Israel being restored and made better in 2 Peter 3.
"You, Lord, in the beginning did lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands: they shall perish; but you continues: and they all shall wax old as does a garment; and as a mantle shall you roil them up, as a garment, and they shall be changed; but you are the same, and your years will not come to an end" [Hebrews 1:10-12]. There is no way the writer of Hebrews could have said any stronger that the Earth, not Israel, will end but Jesus will have no end; that the earth and the heavens the Lord made will perish. Realized Eschatology says all prophecy has been fulfilled, therefore, according to them, this has already been fulfilled, and the earth and the heavens have already perished, according to them all end time prophecy has already been fulfilled.
All ungodly man will be destroyed on the day of the Lord, not just the ungodly Jews in A. D. 70 when Israel was destroyed. Is there anyone that cannot see that the ungodly have not yet been destroyed?
Summary: It was the world [kesmos] that was brought into being [“and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water” ] by the word of God [2 Peter 3:5]. It was the same world [kesmos] that was destroyed by water, all the world, not just one nation that had not come into exists at the time the world was destroyed [2 Peter 3:6]. It is the world
[kesmos] that now is that is stored up for fire at the Day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men [2 Peter 3:7]. The same world [kesmos] (this earth) that was created in 2
Peter 3:5 is the same world that will be destroyed by fire in 2 Peter 3:6. The fire is just as literal as the water. Nothing is said about Israel or about the end of an age [arion]
in 2 Peter 3. It was real water that floated a real boat that destroyed all of the world
[kesmos], not just one nation that did not exist at that time. It will be real fire that will destroy the world [kesmos], not just the end of an age [arion] for one nation.
NO PLACE FOR A RESURECTION
OF THE UNJUST IN THE A. D. 70 TEACHING
Most who believe the A. D. 70 teaching believe the just dead of the Old Testament was resurrected in A. D. 70 and the saved who have died after that time go to Heaven at the moment of death, but I have not found where they believe any unjust were resurrected in A. D. 70, or will be resurrected from the dead for judgment; no place for the second death after the resurrection in there teaching; no place for a resurrection or judgment that comes to them after death.
" There shall be a resurrection both of the just and unjust" [Acts 24:15]
"He has appointed a day in which he will judge the world" [Acts 17:31]. Not only the just and not only Israel, but in the same day Christ is going to judge the entire world. That day has not yet come.
"If so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you, and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord
Jesus from Heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering
vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of
our Lord Jesus who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when He shall come to be
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glorified in His saints, and marveled at in all them that believe (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day" [2 Thessalonians 1:6-10].
"He that rejects me, and receives not my sayings, has one that judges him: the word that I speak, the same shall judge him in the last day" [John 12:48].
"Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs
shall hear His voice and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of
judgment" [John 5:28-29]. The judgment is clearly said to take place after the resurrection, not at death.
“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge
the living and the dead” [2 Timothy 4:1].
“Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the living and the dead” [1
Peter 4:5]. The dead had not been judged but were still to be judged (future tense); they were not already judged at the moment of death and transition from this world to Heaven or Hell.
"For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God" [Romans 14:10].
"For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he had done,
whether it be good or bad" [2 Corinthians 5:10]. The Corinthians that had fallen asleep in Christ [1 Corinthians 15:20], the just and the unjust must be resurrected to stand before the judgment seat. That there was such a resurrection and judgment in A. D. 70 is pure fiction; there is nothing about it in the Bible.
"Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day
of' Judgment" [Matthew 12:36].
"He that rejects me and receives not my words has one that judges him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" [John 12:48].
" God now commands all men everywhere to repent because he has appointed a
day in the which He will judge the world by righteousness by that man whom he has ordained, whereof he has given assurance unto all men in that he has raised him from the dead" [Acts 17:30-31].
“For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, „vengeance is mine, I will repay‟ and again, „the Lord will
judge His people.‟ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God”
[Hebrews 10:26-31].
THE RESURRECTION ON THE LAST DAY
THE DAY OF THE LORD
All this in one day, the day Christ comes, the day of the Lord.
The second coming of Christ [2 Peter 3:10].
The resurrection and judgment of the righteous [Acts 24:15; John 5:28-29; 6:40-41].
The resurrection and judgment of the wicked [John 12:48].
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The final judgment [Acts 17:31; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10].
The total destruction of the earth and the heavens that were made from nothing and will return to nothing [2
Peter 3:7-11].
The total destruction of the lost [2 Peter 2:12; 3:7].
The second death [Revelation 2:11].
Death will be abolished [1 Corinthians 15:24-16].
The saved forever with the Lord [1 Thessalonians 4:14-17].
The kingdom will be delivered up to God [1 Corinthians 15:24-26].
Christ will bring the lawless one to an end by the appearance of His coming [2 Thessalonians 2:1-9].
"Wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" [2 Thessalonians 1:7-10].
[1] ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief" [2 Peter 3:10]. No one knows when the
"day of the Lord" will come, but when it comes, everyone on earth, living or dead, will know it. Coming "as a thief" shows the unexpectedness of His coming; no one knows what day or year. No one will be resurrected before the day of the Lord comes, all will be resurrected when it comes.
[2] ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT
OF THE RIGHTEOUS IN THE LAST DAY
"There shall be a resurrection both of the just and unjust" [Acts 24:15]. Both the righteous and the wicked will be raised and judged at the same time on the same day, not a thousand years apart. As far as I have been able to find no one who believes Christ came in A. D. 70 believes there will ever be a resurrection of the “unjust.”
"Marvel not at this; for the hour comes in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment" [John 5:28-29]. All will be raised in the same "hour." Not the saved raised and then the lost resurrected a thousand years later, and not many resurrection at the moment of death or each person.
The resurrection does not take place at death; there is a day appointed when all the dead will rise [John 5:28-29].
"And this is the will of him that sent me, that of all that which he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone that beholds the Son, and believes on him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day" [John 6:40-41]. Not a thousand years before the last day.
[3] ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT
OF THE WICKED IN THE LAST DAY
"He that rejects me, and receives not my sayings, has one that judges him: the word that I speak, the same shall judge him in the last day" [John 12:48].
[4] ON THE DAY OF THE LORD
THE FINAL JUDGMENT
Millennialists must divide the judgment into two parts. If it is shown that the judgment of both those in Christ and those who are not in Christ is one judgment of both at the same time and on the same day, not separated by a thousand years, it makes their view not be possible. In the passages above the judgment, it is not a broken judgment with the two parts a thousand years apart.
"He has appointed a day in which he will judge the world" [Acts 17:31].
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"If so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you, and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus
from Heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them
that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus who shall
suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and marveled at in all them that believe (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day" [2
Thessalonians 1:5-10]. This passage tells:
What is to be done to both
1. Them that know not God "Shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction."
2. His saints: "Counted worthy of the kingdom of God" Verse 5.
When it is to be done to both
o "At the revelation of the Lord Jesus from Heaven...when He shall come to be
glorified in His saints...in that day"
There is no way this passage can be broken apart and made to be speaking of two things that will be a thousand years apart. It is speaking of what will happen to both believers and nonbelievers "in that day," not a thousand years apart. If all the Bible is to be taken literally as the Millennialists say it is, could any passage say any clearer then this one that the resurrection and judgment are simultaneously on the same day?
"Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs
shall hear His voice and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment"
[John 5:28-29].
"But after your hardness and unrepentant heart treasures up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every