God’s Patience and Our Repentance, 2 Peter 3:9

God is slow to bring the day of justice because he is patient, determined to give us all the time we need to repent and return to him. If we do not, it will be our choice, not his, to remain in the present world when he removes his care from it and it disintegrates under the weight of sin.

Continuing with the theme of repentance, in one striking passage Peter briefly explains God’s view of time and relates it to God’s patience, our repentance, and the timing of the “day of the Lord,” the promised final cleansing and restoration of all things:

But the heavens that exist now and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance (metanoian).  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.  Therefore since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

2 Peter 3:7-13 (WEB).

Indeed, when read in detail, this passage, in itself, does not speak about God judging anything or anyone. The judgment of ungodly people, who have not used the present time to repent but have instead gone to the end of their time here loving this world, is to be trapped in this world when it self-destructs. And the picture painted here of the “day” (hēmeran) of “decision” or “crisis” (krísis) here is just that–a brief period, like the time between sunrise and sunset on a single day, in which the consequences of all decisions, human and divine, will be confirmed. One result will be the eternal destruction of the present “heavens”–the plural translation is accurate, the “heavens,” from the air around us all the way up to the highest heaven we perceive or can conceive–and the earth. But this destruction will occur not by means of God pouring fire on the present Creation, but simply by means of God withdrawing his sustaining activity from a Creation whose keepers have previously decided they do not want him around. See, Romans 1:18 and 21-25. Their collective decision (krísis) to reject God will be confirmed. They will be given what they wanted. God will no longer “interfere” in their management of the Creation, and everything will fall apart.

Recall that, in the beginning, after God created what was to become the present creation, he spoke order into it. Genesis 1:1-3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26. Before God spoke to the Creation, it was formless, empty and dark. Genesis 1:2. God created all things by his Word–spoken and personal–who is found in his Son, Jesus. John 1:1-3; Hebrews 1:2; Colossians 1:16. And since the Creation, it has been Jesus, God’s eternal Word, who has held everything together by his power. Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3.

So, what happens when God, having inaugurated “new heavens and a new earth” free from sin, “in which righteousness dwells,” withdraws his care from the present heavens and earth? It arrives at its destination, as the first verb in verse 10 (hēxei) states, the destination for which it set its course when Adam brought sin into it. Hēxei is, in fact, the only active voice verb in verse 10; all of the others are in either the passive or middle voice. Hēxei is the third person singular indicative active form of hḗkō, which has the primary meaning “to reach the destination” of a journey. Ever since Adam sinned, this Creation has been on a journey which has as its ultimate, inevitable destination that it renders itself void (pareleusontai, middle voice–a thing the Creation does to itself) by incinerating itself (kausoumena–which can be either middle or passive voice), a process which is already happening but has not yet been completed (as we see time). This does not require that God vengefully pour fire on the old Creation. It requires only that God cease from his activity of holding it together. When this happens, in an instant all that remains is heat–maximally disorganized energy–and darkness. (Recall that the first orderly thing God spoke into the Creation was Light. Genesis 1:3). It returns to the state it occupied before God started to speak order into it, with one exception–those angels and humans who have chosen the old order of things in defiance of God are permitted to remain trapped in it when it eternally incinerates itself.

They are given what they have chosen–an existence outside of God’s care. This is the outer darkness (Matthew 8:12; Matthew 22:13; Matthew 25:30) the place where the consuming “worm” of the condemned never dies and the fire is never quenched (Isaiah 66:22-24; Mark 9:43-48). Note that this place is not outside of God’s presence–he remains omnipresent. It is simply outside of his care. He has given it up to destruction.

But Peter does not give this brief description of the eternal destination of the present Creation and those who choose it as an end in itself. It is not here to (literally) “scare the Hell out of us,” as I have heard some preachers say. No, this description of the end of all things is sandwiched in the middle of an explanation of God’s patience. The question Peter was trying to answer was not “what will Hell be like?” but “why is God taking so long setting things right?” Or, as Habakkuk put it,

Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you “Violence!” and will you not save?  Why do you show me iniquity, and look at perversity? For destruction and violence are before me. There is strife, and contention rises up. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.

Habakkuk 1:2-4 (WEB).

God’s answer to this is that he sees what is happening, and has not forgotten any of it. He has stored up the present world for fire, the same way one would store up a treasure. A day is coming, as we see time, when God will give the wicked, who have obstinately refused his care, all that they have chosen for themselves–existence outside his care. He will also at that time give us who have believed him what he has prepared for us–the “new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” (We are also told, in other passages, that at this same time God will give us our reward–the good things we have stored up for ourselves by living in him in this life. See, e.g., Matthew 6:19-21; 1 Corinthians 3:7-15; 1 Timothy 6:17-19). It is because we know that this world is destined for destruction and we are receiving better one, in which righteousness dwells, that we should live lives set apart to God (“holy,” set apart living) that increasingly look like the life of Jesus, God himself here on earth (“godly,” i.e., like or appropriate to that of God). Our motivation isn’t fear of Hell, but knowledge of our eternity with God.

But the prospect of Hell is God’s answer to the question why he is taking so long. Peter tells us that, at the present time, God is not being unduly slow (bradynei) about bringing about the thing about which he has announced his decision (epaggelía)–the “promise,” as announced, to bring justice. Instead, he is being patient, literally practicing a long (makró-) fuse, a long-temper (makrothyméō, to exhibit a makró + thymós). He is restraining his anger because he has not willed that any should perish, outside his care, but that all should come to repentance (metanoian). The phrase here translated “is not willing” is mē boulomenos. Mē is a simple negative particle, “not.” Boulomenos is a present participle. middle or passive voice, of boulomai, which is the stronger of the two Greek verbs most commonly translated as to desire, will or plan. The distinction between the two verbs is explained, fairly simply, by Helps Word-studies:

1014 /boúlomai (“resolutely plan”) is a strong term that underlines the predetermined (and determined) intention driving the planning (wishing, resolving). In contrast, 2309 (thélō) focuses on the desire (“wishfulness”) behind making an offer (cf. TDNT, 1, 629).

Helps Word-studies on Bible Hub.com, Online Greek Concordance, boulomai, Strong’s number 1014.

So God is not presently willing, in the strong sense–positively deciding–that any should be condemned. Instead, the indicative verb in the sentence, which provides the action to which the participle boulomenos refers, is makrothymei–showing a long fuse, holding back his anger. God is at the present time actively restraining his anger because it is his purpose for “all to repentance to come.” So he is not now actively deciding upon, planning or willing the destruction of anyone. If we go to destruction, we must ignore everything he has done, climb over all of the barriers he has placed in our way, and, ultimately, exceed the bounds of his long temper. He will have given each of us all the time we need to return to him–and THAT is why he is waiting so long to bring justice.

For God, the “justice” we seek is only the less-preferred default condition. What God seeks is restoration, by our own choice, and he is waiting for all who will choose it to do so, before he brings justice. God literally has all the time in the world.

Therefore, and this is the conclusion of the whole passage, we who have chosen repentance and the restoration God offers should live like a people who are looking for the new heavens and new earth he has promised.

Next: Of Seeds, Growth and Fruitfulness (coming soon)