#2. The Purpose of the Ages.
Peter’s testimony of the three Creations (II Pet. iii. 1-13).


In our opening article we introduced the figure of the balances and examined the terms in which this figure is presented to us in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. It is our intention in this series to test the doctrine and practice of the Scriptures by this principle of balance, and endeavour to discover how far it underlies the ways and will of God.

Scripture opens with the creation of heaven and earth (Gen. i. 1); it closes with the creation of heaven and earth (Rev. xxi. 1), and, intervening between these two extremes, are “the heavens and the earth which are now” (II Pet. iii. 7).

We are indebted to the second epistle of Peter for a comprehensive statement concerning these three phases of creation, which are dealt with, not scientifically, but in so far as they bear upon the purpose of the ages, which is the background of all Scripture.

Before we can attempt to interpret II Pet. iii. it is essential that we view the whole epistle, so that we may neither misplace, nor over, nor under, emphasize any one feature. The Apostle has before him one theme, namely, the fact of the second coming of Christ, and one great thing to do, defend that hope against the attack of the scoffers of his own day. These scoffers, in their turn, were prophetic of the attitude of men generally against the doctrine of the second coming and the day of judgment, which will characterize the last days. Consequently in writing the epistle we find the Apostle adopting (consciously or unconsciously) the principle of the balance. Omitting for the present the exhortative introduction and conclusion (II Pet. i. 1-11, and iii. 14-18) we discover that the theme of the epistle is distributed thus:--

II Peter i. 12 - iii. 13.

A | i. 12-15. PETER. | Parousia truth.
                                 Stir up . . . . . remembrance.
    B | i. 16-21. APOSTLES and PROPHETS. |
                       Visions of second coming confirmed by Prophets.
        C | ii. 1-22. FALSE PROPHETS. |
                          Judgment neither lingers nor slumbers.
                          Angels, the Flood, Sodom, are evidences
                               that God does not intervene in judgment.
                          He knows how “to reserve” angels and man
                               for the day of judgment.
A | iii. 1. PETER. | Second Epistle.
                            Stir up . . . . . remembrance.
    B | iii. 2. PROPHETS and APOSTLES. |
                  Words of Prophets confirmed by Apostles.
        C | iii. 3-13. SCOFFERS. |
                          God is not slack concerning His promise.
                          Creation itself bears evidence that He does intervene.
                          He has reserved unto fire the present system.
                          The godly will be preserved just as Noah was through the Flood.
                                 Noah saved through the Flood.

The recognition of this “balance” is worth more than pages of comment. Peter has but one theme, and he presents it in this twofold manner so that we shall not miss the point he desires to make. The second coming of Christ, he said, was not a fable, but based solidly upon the testimony of prophecy, which came, not by human intelligence, but by inspiration of God. The scoffers said, “Where is the promise of His coming?” (II Pet. iii. 4). “Where is?” (Pou estin). This is the formula of incredulity, not a genuine enquiry. Another instance of its use is, “My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?” (Ps. xlii. 3). The “promise” in II Pet. iii. 4 is put for “the fulfillment of that promise”, which these scoffers denied, and indicates no desire on their part for instruction in the text of prophecy. Weymouth renders the passage, “What has become of His promised return?” The scoffers do not wait for an answer but themselves supply it: “For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (II Pet. iii. 4).

The words supplied by the A.V. “as they were”, houtos, “thus”, would be better paraphrased “as they are” or “as we now see them”.

(1) The time from which waiting for the fulfillment of the promise dates is from the death of the fathers, to whom these promises were originally made, and
(2) These promises imply a violent interference with the course of nature, which is unscientific, for since the beginning of the creation until this same time no such interference has been experienced.

Peter takes up this challenge and in the first place reveals that the real reason for the rejection of the promise of the second coming is the condition of heart; the wish to have it so. That is why he prefaced this section with a reference to the believers’ “pure”, or “honest”, minds (II Pet. iii. 1), and why he said these scoffers were “walking after their own lusts (or desires)” (II Pet. iii. 3). They were not honest doubters who could not make prophecy square with science or philosophy.

“For this they willingly are ignorant of” (II Pet. iii. 5, A.V.).
“For this they willingly forget” (R.V.).
“For this purposely escapes them” (Diaglott).
“For they are willfully blind to the fact” (Weymouth).
“They willfully ignore the fact” (Moffatt).
“For this hidden from them through their own willfulness” (Darby).
“For this they willfully forget” (Rotherham).

Here are seven different renderings, but each preserves the true meaning of the Apostle. Perhaps Alford’s translation and notes are as near as the English idiom will permit.

“For (i.e. they speak thus, because) this (viz., this fact which follows) escapes them (passes unnoticed by them) of their own will (i.e., they shut their eyes to the fact).”

As the wisdom of the world has put it, “There is none so blind as he that will not see”. What these scoffers willfully ignored was the testimony of the Scriptures, the observation and findings of philosophy, and the traditions of their own faith.

In reading these few verses of II Pet. iii.—the references to the heavens of old; the complicated statement regarding “the earth standing out of the water and in the water”—many questions are started and many problems suggested, with the result that we may easily miss Peter’s intention. Perhaps the following paraphrase will help.

“Instead of it being true that ‘since the beginning of the creation’ things have continued without interruption and interference, such a statement is palpably false. The surface of the earth bears evidence of the disintegration that has gone on for ages, and amongst the most active agents has been water. Gen. i. 1, 2, the findings of the earliest philosophers (Thales for example), and the very tradition preserved among us of the prophetic utterance of Adam himself, should make men pause before uttering so obviously untenable a statement. Further, observe this. The world that has passed away was destroyed by the very water, in which and out of which it consisted, the self-same Word of God, which had called it into being, had pronounced the words that had accomplished its end. The heavens and the earth which are now, we know, by the activity of volcanoes and the presence of hot springs, are stored with fire, ‘by the same word’, and this is purposely reserved against the day of judgment and the perdition of ungodly men.”

Josephus, in his “Antiquities of the Jews”, preserves a tradition which was common knowledge in the days of Peter. According to this, Adam predicted “that the world was to be destroyed at one time by the force of fire, and at another time by the violence and quantity of water” (Ant. I. ii. 3), and while there is nothing to warrant this in the book of Genesis, neither is there any statement in Genesis that would lead us to conclude that Enoch prophesied of the second coming of Christ, yet Jude, writing by inspiration, assures us that he did (Jude 14).

No, the scoffer must willfully forget, not only Gen. i. 2, and the record of the Flood, but he must deny the record of the destruction of Sodom, the plagues of Egypt, the deliverance of Israel, the giving of the law at Sinai, the crossing of the Jordan, the fall of Jericho—in fact the whole of O.T. testimony and the unwritten testimony of the earth’s crust.

The following analysis may be of service to the earnest student. We cannot now pursue the detailed argument, but after giving the structure of the passages must examine more definitely the truth about the three phases of creation, which was our purpose in turning to II Pet. iii.



The whole of the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, deals with these three phases of creation.


We are only too conscious that in this outline there is more left unexplained than is clarified. This of course is due to the magnitude of the subject, and we cannot here offer proof of the many relative points, such as the true translation of katabole, or the bearing of tohu and bohu upon the theme, but the “Indices to the Berean Expositor, Volumes I-XX, 1909-1930” indicate, under the Greek words katabole and kataballo, explanatory articles in four different volumes and, under the Hebrew words tohu and bohu, references in another four volumes. The subject inseparable from dispensational truth and the interested reader will find under “The Subjects”, “Scripture References”, “Hebrew Words” and “Greek Words” Indexes at least enough evidence to render the enquiry one of serious import.

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(From The Berean Expositor, vo. 33, page 217).

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