2 Peter 3 Footnotes

3:3-10 One of the earliest apologetic problems in the early church was the issue of Christ’s second coming. The apparent delay caused some to question whether he would ever return. Apparently, Peter’s opponents asserted that the world would go on as it always had, with no interventions from God. Peter effectively punctured their objections. He reminded them that the world is not eternal. God acted decisively at creation by bringing the world into existence. Moreover, the cataclysm of the flood demonstrates that God does not sit idly by while history progresses. We now await, said Peter, the future destruction of the universe by fire. Finally, the apparent delay is not a postponement from God’s perspective since he does not reckon time as we do. A thousand years are like one day to him (Ps 90:4), and in any case, the interval before Christ’s coming gives people opportunity to repent.