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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
3:8-10 The Lord's Patience Determines the Timing of His Return. The Lord's perspective on time is different from that of humans. It is not that God is slow in fulfilling his promise, but rather that he is patient.
3:8-9 Beloved (cf. note on v. 1) introduces a new paragraph. Peter explains that the delay of the second coming is not a long time from God's perspective. He then explains further that the delay is also because God is patient, and he has not quickly brought the present period of history to an end because he does not wish that any should perish (see note on 1 Tim. 2:4; cf. also Rom. 2:4). Though Christians long for Christ's return and the defeat of all evil, as long as the present period of history lasts, an opportunity remains for people to turn to God in faith.
3:10 the day of the Lord. God's judgment will not be delayed forever (see note on vv. 8-9). When Christ returns it will be sudden, without warning, like the strike of a thief. The heavens (the sky) will pass away (cf. Ps. 102:25-26; Heb. 1:10-12; Rev. 6:14) and the heavenly bodies (stars, etc.) will be burned up and dissolved. There will be no place to hide (cf. Rev. 6:15-16), for the earth and every person's works on the earth will be exposed (Gk. heurethēsetai, lit., "will be found," a divine passive meaning "found by God") to God's judgment. Some translations read "will be burned up" (Gk. katakaēsetai) because some Greek manuscripts have this wording (instead of Gk. heurethēsetai). But the earliest and most reliable manuscripts have "will be found" (Gk. heurethēsetai), indicating with this reading that the annihilation of the earth is not taught in this passage. Scholars have debated whether the NT speaks of an annihilation of the present cosmos and the creation of a new universe, or whether it indicates the transformation of the present cosmos, including the earth. The latter seems more likely in light of:
