Need to Have Jehovah's View

We need to have Jehovah's view of time, as Peter now reminds us:  "However, let this one fact not be escaping your notice, beloved ones, that one day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day."  How short by comparison is our life span of 70 or 80 years!  (2 Peter 3:8; Psalm 90:4, 10) So if the fulfillment of God's promise seems to delay, we need to accept the admonition  of God's prophet:   "Even if [the appointed time] should delay, keep in expectation of it; for it will without fail come true.  It will not be late." - Habakkuk 2:3.

Why have the last days of this system continued longer than many expected?  For a fine reason, as Peter next explains:  "Jehovah is  not slow respecting his promise, 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 Peter 3:9) Jehovah takes into consideration what is in the best interests of humankind.  His concern is with the lives of people, as he says: "I take delight, not in the death of the wicked one,but in that someone wicked turns back from his way and actually keeps living."  (Ezekiel 33:11)  So we can be confident that he end will come at just the right time to fulfill the purpose of our all-wise, loving Creator!


Next time: What Will Pass Away?

The Watchtower, 1997

Eagerness for the End to Come

Jesus' disciples wanted to know when the end would come, so they asked him:  "What will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?"  They evidently were asking about when the Jewish system would end, but Jesus' answer focused primarily on when the present 'heavens and earth' would suffer destruction.  Jesus foretold such things as great wars,food shortages, earthquakes, disease, and crime.  (Matthew 24:2-14; Luke 21:5-36)  Since the year 1914, we have seen the sign being fulfilled that Jesus gave for "the conclusion of the system of things" as well as the things the apostle Paul mentioned would identify "the last days."  (2 Timothy 3:1-5) Truly, the evidence is overwhelming that we are living in the time of the end of this system of things!

Jehovah's Witnesses have been eager to know when the day of Jehovah will occur.  In their eagerness they have at times made attempts to estimate when it might come.  But by doing so, they have failed, as did Jesus' early disciples, heed their Master's caution that we "do not know when the appointed time is."  (Mark 13:32, 33)  Ridiculers have mocked faithful Christians for their premature expectations.  (2 Peter 3:3, 4) Nevertheless, Jehovah's day will come, Peter affirms, according to His timetable.


Next time: Need to Have Jehovah's View

The Watchtower, 1997

God's Word Is Dependable

As noted earlier, pre-Christian prophets often warned that Jehovah's day of vengeance was near. A miniature "day of Jehovah" came in 607 B.C.E. when Jehovah executed vengeance upon his wayward people.  (Zephaniah 1:14-18)  Later, other nations, including Babylon and Egypt, suffered such a "day of Jehovah."  (Isaiah 13:6-9; Jeremiah 46:1-10; Obadiah 15)  The end of the first-century Jewish system of things was also foretold, and it occurred when Roman armies devastated Judea in 70 C.E.  (Luke 19:41-44; 1 Peter 4:7) But Peter points to a future  "day of Jehovah," one that will dwarf even the global Flood in magnitude!

Peter introduces his description of that coming destruction, saying:  "But by the same word."  He had just said that "by the word of God," the pre-Flood earth stood "out of water and in the midst of water."  This situation, described in the Bible's creation account, made possible the Deluge when the waters poured down at God's direction, or word.  Peter continues: "By the same word [of God] the heavens and the earth that are now stored up for fire are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men."  (2 Peter 3:5-7; Genesis 1:6-8) We have Jehovah's dependable word for it! He will bring an end to "the heavens and the earth" -This system of things -  in the fiery wrath of his great day!  (Zephaniah 3:8) But when?

Next time: Eagerness for the End to Come

The Watchtower, 1997

Willful and Despicable

Such ridiculers ignore a vital fact.  They deliberately ignore it and try to cause others to forget it.  Why? In order more easily to seduce the people.  "For, according to their wish," Peter writes, "this fact escapes their notice."  What fact?  "That there were heavens from old and an earth standing compactly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; and by those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was deluged with water."  (2 Peter 3:5, 6) Yes,  Jehovah did rid the earth of wickedness during the Flood in Noah's day, a fact that Jesus also emphasized.  (Matthew 24:37-39; Luke 17:26, 27; 2 Peter 2:5) So, contrary to what ridiculers say, all things have not continued "exactly as from creation's beginning."

Ridiculers may have mocked faithful Christians because these had as yet unrealized expectations.  Shortly before Jesus died,his disciples "were imagining that the kingdom of God was going to display itself instantly."  Then, after his resurrection they asked whether the Kingdom would be set up right away.  Also, about ten years before Peter wrote his second letter, some were "excited"  by "a verbal message" or  "a letter," reputedly from the apostle Paul or his companions, "to the effect that the day of  Jehovah is here."  (Luke 19:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:2; Acts 1:6)  Such expectations of Jesus' disciples, however, were not false, only premature.  Jehovah's day would come!

Next time: God's Word is Dependable

The Watchtower, 1997

The Desires of the Ridiculer

As noted before, the reason for Peter's admonition is that some had begun to scoff at such warnings, even as Israelites of earlier times had mocked Jehovah's prophets.  (2 Chronicles 36:16) Peter explains:  "For you know this first, that in the last days there will come ridiculers with their ridicule, proceeding  according to their own desires."  (2 Peter 3:3)  Jude says that the desires of these ridiculers are "for ungodly things."  He calls them "animalistic men, not having spirituality." - Jude 17-19.

The false teachers who Peter said "go on after flesh with the desire to defile it" are likely among these ridiculers who are without spirituality.  (2 Peter 2:1, 10, 14)  They mockingly ask faithful Christians:  "Where is this promised presence of his?  Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as from creation's beginning." -2 Peter 3:4.

Why this ridicule?  Why suggest that Christ's presence may never occur, that God has never intervened in human affairs and never will? Well, by undermining the sense of urgency that permeates the Word of God, these animalistic ridiculers seek to lull others into a state of spiritual apathy and thus make them easy prey to selfish seductions.  What powerful encouragement for us today to remain spiritually awake!   May we keep close in mind Jehovah's day and always remember that his eyes are upon us!  Thus we will be moved to serve Jehovah with zeal and maintain our moral purity. -Psalm 11:4; Isaiah 29:15; Ezekiel 8:12; 12:27; Zephaniah 1:12.

Next time: Willful and Despicable

The Watchtower, 1997

Warm Appeal to Remember

I am sorry that I have not been able to get online as the mother board in my computer went out and had to have a new one put in.  I have been chomping at the bit while it was in the shop to do my blogs, now that it is fixed, I am happy as I can be.  I hope you don't think I abandoned you all.


Peter's affection for his brothers is shown by his repeatedly addressing them in this  chapter as "beloved ones."  Warmly appealing to them not to forget what they had been taught, Peter begins: "beloved ones, . . . I am arousing  your clear thinking faculties by way of a reminder, that you should remember the sayings previously spoken by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles." -2 Peter 3:1, 2, 8, 14, 17; Jude 17.

What "sayings previously spoken by the holy prophets"does Peter urge readers to remember?  Why those about the presence of Christ in Kingdom power and about the judgment of the ungodly. Peter had earlier drawn attention to these sayings.  (2 Peter 1:16-`9; 2:3-10) Jude refers to Enoch, who was the first recorded prophet to warn about the adverse judgment of God upon evildoers.  (Jude 14, 15) Other prophets followed Enoch, and Peter does not want us to forget what they wrote. -Isaiah 66:15-18;  Zechariah  14:6-9.

In addition, Peter tells his read3ers to remember  "the commandments  of the Lord and Savior."  Jesus' commandments includes the exhortation:  "Pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down . . . and suddenly  be instantly upon you as a snare."  Keep looking, keep awake, for you, do not know when the appointed time is."  (Luke 21:34-36; Mark 13:33) Peter also urges us to heed the sayings of the apostles.  The apostle Paul for example wrote: "Jehovah's day is coming exactly as a thief in the night.  So, then, let us not sleep on as the rest do, but let us stay  awake and keep our senses." -1 Thessalonians 5:2, 6.

Next time: The Desires of Ridiculers

The Watchtower, 1997

KEEP JEHOVAH'S DAY CLOSE IN MIND

"In the last days there will come ridiculers." -2 Peter 3:3.


A FULL-TIME minister for more than 66 years wrote:  "I have always felt a keen sense of urgency.  Armageddon has always been, in my thinking, he day after tomorrow.  (Revelation 16:14, 16) Like my father, and his father before him, I have lived my life as the apostle [Peter] urged, 'keeping close in mind the presence for  the day of Jehovah.'  I have always viewed the promised new world as  a "reality though not beheld.' " -2 Peter 3:11, 12; Hebrews 11:1; Isaiah 11:6-9; Revelation 21:3, 4.

Peter's expression "keeping close in mind" in reference to Jehovah's day means that we do not put it off in our minds.  We should not forget that the day when Jehovah will destroy this system of things as a preliminary to establishing his promised new world is very near.  It should be so real to us that we see it clearly, as being immediately ahead of us.  That was how real it was to God's prophets of old, and they often spoke of it as being near. -Isaiah 13:6; Joel 1:15; 2:1; Obadiah 15; Zephaniah 1:7, 14.

Why did Peter urge us to view the day of Jehovah as though it could come, so to speak, "the day after tomorrow"?  Because some had evidently begun to ridicule the idea of Christ's promised presence during which wrongdoers would be punished.  (2 Peter 3:3, 4) So in chapter 3 of his second letter, which we will now consider , Peter answers the chargers of these ridiculers.

Next time: Warm Appeal to Remember

The Watchtower, 1997

Protected by Accurate Knowledge

Peter concludes this section of his letter by describing the consequences of failing to apply the knowledge  that he said earlier is vital to "life and godly devotion."  (2 Peter 1:2, 3, 8)  He writes:  "Certainly if, after having escaped from the defilements of the world by an accurate knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they get involved again with these very things and are overcome, the final conditions have become worse for them than the first."  (2 Peter 2:20) How sad! Such ones in Peter's day had thrown away the precious hope of immortal heavenly life for fleeting moments of sexual gratification.

So Peter says:  "It would have been better for them  not to have accurately known the path of righteousness than after knowing it accurately to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them.  The saying of the true proverb has happened to them:  "The dog had returned to his own vomit, and the sow that was bathed  to rolling in the mire.' " -2 Peter 2:21, 22; Proverbs 26:11.

Another problem that had evidently begun to affect early Christians was similar to one that affects some today.  Back then, some were evidently complaining about the seeming non arrival of Christ's  promised presence.  Let us examine how Peter addresses this matter. 

Next time: KEEP JEHOVAH'S DAY CLOSE IN MIND

The Watchtower, 1997

I am sorry about not having a blog yesterday, but  in our neighborhood they have been working on the cable, and some periods we have internet and others we don't. And I also think there may be something wrong with my modem, even though,   they say its okay. Of course this is a small town and anything can happen. 


Their Devilish Seductions



Describing Balaamlike ones, Peter writes:  "These are fountains [or,wells] without water,and mists [or, clouds] driven by a violent storm."  For a thirsty traveler in a desert, a dry well  may mean death.  No wonder "the blackness of darkness has been reserved" for those who resemble such things!  "For they utter swelling expressions of no profit,"  peter continues, "and by the desires of the flesh and by loose habits they entice those who are just escaping from people who conduct themselves in error."  They seduce the inexperienced by "promising them freedom,"  Peter says, while  "they themselves are existing as slaves of corruption." -2 Peter 2:17-19; Galatians 5:13.

The seductions of such corrupt teachers are devilish.  They may say, for example: 'God knows we are weak and subject to passion.  So if we indulge ourselves and satisfy our sexual desires, God will be merciful.  If we confess our sin, he will forgive us just as he did when we first came into the truth.'  Recall that the Devil used a  somewhat comparable approach with Eve, promising her that she could sin with impunity.  In Eve's case, he claimed that sin against God would give her enlightenment and freedom .  (Genesis 3:4, 5) If we should happen to encounter such a corrupt person associating with the congregation, we have an obligation to protect ourselves as well as others by reporting the individual to responsible ones in the Christian congregation. -Leviticus 5:1.

Next time: Protected by Accurate Knowledge

The Watchtower, 1997

"The Path of Balaam

These "accursed" ones have known the truth for some time.  They may still appear to be active in the congregation.  But Peter says:  "Abandoning the straight path, they have been misled.  They have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the reward of wrongdoing."  (2 Peter 2:14, 15) The prophet Balaam's path was to counsel a course of immoral seduction for his own personal gain.  He told Moabite King Balak that God would curse Israel if the people could be enticed to commit fornication. As a result, many of God's people were seduced by Moabite women, and  24,000 were put to death for their immoral conduct. - Numbers 25:1-9; 31:15, 16; Revelation 2:14.

Peter notes that Balaam was hindered when his donkey spoke to him, yet Balaam "loved the reward of wrongdoing" so much that even when that happened, he did not discontinue his "mad course."  (2 Peter 2:15, 16) How wicked! Woe to any like Balaam who try to corrupt God's people by tempting them  to commit immorality!  Balaam died for his badness, a preview of what will happen to all of us who follow his path. -Numbers 31:8.

Next time: Their Devilish Seductions

The Watchtower, 1997