Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Peter 3:12
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
12. looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God ] The English versions follow the Vulgate and Luther in this rendering. It is doubtful, however, whether the Greek verb for “hasten,” followed by an accusative without a preposition, can have this meaning, and its natural transitive force (as e.g. in the LXX. of Isa 16:5, and Herod. i. 38) would give the sense hastening the day. So taken, the thought of the Apostle is that the “day of God” is not immutably fixed by a Divine decree, but may be accelerated by the readiness of His people or of mankind at large. In proportion to that readiness there is less occasion, if we may so speak, for the “long-suffering of God,” to postpone the fulfilment of His promise.
wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved ] More accurately, on account of which, viz. “the day of God,” the destruction of the present order being for the sake of that which is to usher in a new and better state. On the words that follow see note on 2Pe 3:10, which is almost verbally reproduced. Mic 1:4 may be referred to as presenting the same picture of destruction.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Looking for – Not knowing when this may occur, the mind should be in that state which constitutes expectation; that is, a belief that it will occur, and a condition of mind in which we would not be taken by surprise should it happen at any moment. See the notes at Tit 2:13.
And hasting unto the coming – Margin, as in Greek: hasting the coming. The Greek word rendered hasting, ( speudo,) means to urge on, to hasten; and then to hasten after anything, to await with eager desire. This is evidently the sense here – Wetstein and Robinson. The state of mind which is indicated by the word is that when we are anxiously desirous that anything should occur, and when we would hasten or accelerate it if we could. The true Christian does not dread the coming of that day. He looks forward to it as the period of his redemption, and would welcome, at any time, the return of his Lord and Saviour. While he is willing to wait as long as it shall please God for the advent of His Redeemer, yet to Him the brightest prospect in the future is that hour when he shall come to take him to Himself.
The coming of the day of God – Called the day of God, because God will then be manifested in his power and glory.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. The heavens being on fire] 2Pet 3:10. It was an ancient opinion among the heathens that the earth should be burnt up with fire; so OVID, Met., lib. i. v. 256.
Esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur, adfore tempus,
Quo mare, quo tellus, correptaque regia coeli
Ardeat; et mundi moles operosa laboret.
“Remembering in the fates a time when fire
Should to the battlements of heaven aspire,
And all his blazing world above should burn,
And all the inferior globe to cinders turn.”
DRYDEN.
Minucius Felix tells us, xxxiv. 2, that it was a common opinion of the Stoics that, the moisture of the earth being consumed, the whole world would catch fire. The Epicureans held the same sentiment; and indeed it appears in various authors, which proves that a tradition of this kind has pretty generally prevailed in the world. But it is remarkable that none have fancied that it will be destroyed by water. The tradition, founded on the declaration of God, was against this; therefore it was not received.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Looking for; patiently waiting for, and expecting.
And hasting unto; by fervent desire of it, and diligent preparation for it.
The coming of the day of God; the day of the Lord, 2Pe 3:10.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. hasting untowith theutmost eagerness desiring [WAHL],praying for, and contemplating, the coming Saviour as at hand. TheGreek may mean “hastening (that is, urging onward[ALFORD]) the day of God”;not that God’s eternal appointment of the time is changeable, but Godappoints us as instruments of accomplishing those events whichmust be first before the day of God can come. By praying for Hiscoming, furthering the preaching of the Gospel for a witness to allnations, and bringing in those whom “the long-suffering of God”waits to save, we hasten the coming of the day of God. TheGreek verb is always in New Testament used as neuter (asEnglish Version here), not active; but the Septuagintuses it actively. Christ says, “Surely I come quickly.Amen.” Our part is to speed forward thisconsummation by praying, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Re22:20).
the comingGreek,“presence” of a person: usually, of theSaviour.
the day of GodGod hasgiven many myriads of days to men: one shall be the great “dayof God” Himself.
whereinrather asGreek, “on account of (or owing to) which”day.
heavensthe upper andlower regions of the sky.
meltOur igneous rocksshow that they were once in a liquid state.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God,…. The same with the day of the Lord, 2Pe 3:10, and so the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions here read; and it intends the day of Christ’s second coming to judgment, and so is a proof of the deity of Christ; and is called “the day of God”, in distinction from man’s day, or human judgment, 1Co 4:3, which is often fallacious; whereas the judgment of God is according to truth; and because in that day Christ will appear most clearly to be truly and properly God, by the manifest display of his omniscience, omnipotence, and other glorious perfections of his; and because it will be, as the day of God is, a thousand years; and also the day in which God will finish all his works, as on the seventh day the works of creation, on this the works of Providence; when all his purposes, promises, and threatenings, relating to the final state of all persons and things, will be fulfilled, and every work be brought to light, and into judgment, and everything will stand in a clear light; for the day will declare it, either respecting God, or men; and there will be a display, as of his grace and mercy, to his church and people; for it will be the day of his open espousals to them, and of the gladness of his heart; so of his wrath and anger towards the wicked: for this great and dreadful day of the Lord shall burn like an oven, and destroy the wicked, root and branch: and it will be the day of Christ’s glorious appearing, and of his kingdom, in which he will reign, before his ancients, gloriously; and when it is ended, God, Father, Son and Spirit, will be all in all: now “the coming” of this day saints should be “looking for” by faith; believing that it certainly will come, since the patriarchs, prophets, Christ himself, the angels of heaven, and the apostles of the Lamb, have all declared and asserted the coming of this day; and they should look for it, and love it, as with the strongest affection for it, and most vehement desire of it, since they will then appear with Christ in glory; and they should look out, and keep looking out for it, as what will be quickly; and though it is not as soon as they desire and expect, yet should still look wistly for it, and with patience and cheerfulness wait for it: yea, they should be “hasting unto” it, or “hastening” it; for though the day is fixed for the coming of Christ, nor can it be altered, as his coming will not be longer, it cannot be sooner, yet it becomes the saints to pray earnestly for it, that it may be quickly, and for the accomplishment of all things that go before it, prepare for it, and lead unto it; such as the conversion of the Jews, and the bringing in of the fulness of the Gentiles; and by putting him in mind of, and pleading with him, his promises concerning these things, and giving him no rest till they are accomplished; there seems to be some reference to the prayers of the Jews for the Messiah’s coming, which they desire may be , “in haste”; which will show that they are in haste for the coming of this day; and all which things God will hasten, though it will be in his own time: and moreover, saints should be hasting to it by their readiness for it, having their loins girt, and their lights burning, and their lamps trimmed, and they waiting for their Lord’s coming, and going forth in acts of faith and love, and in the duties of religion, to meet him, and not slumber and sleep:
wherein; in which day, as in 2Pe 3:10; or by which; by which coming of Christ, or of the day of God,
the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; at whose coming and presence, and from whose face the heavens and earth shall flee away, just as the earth shook, and the heavens dropped, and Sinai itself moved, when God appeared upon it; see Re 20:11. This is a repetition of what is said in 2Pe 3:10, exciting attention to the exhortation given.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Looking for (). Present active participle of (Mt 11:3) agreeing in case (accusative plural) with .
Earnestly desiring (). Present active participle, accusative also, of , old verb, to hasten (like our speed) as in Lu 2:16, but it is sometimes transitive as here either (preferably so) to “hasten on the parousia” by holy living (cf. 1Pe 2:12), with which idea compare Matt 6:10; Acts 3:19, or to desire earnestly (Isa 16:5).
Being on fire (). Present passive participle of , old verb (from pur), same idea as in verse 10.
Shall melt (). Futuristic present passive indicative of , old verb, to make liquid, here only in N.T. Hort suggests (future middle), though Isa 34:4 has (second future passive). The repetitions here make “an effective refrain” (Mayor).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Looking for [] . The same verb as in Luk 1:21, of waiting for Zacharias. Cornelius waited (Act 10:24); the cripple expecting to receive something (Act 3:5).
Hasting unto [] . Wrong. Rev., earnestly desiring, for which there is authority. I am inclined to adopt, with Alford, Huther, Salmond, and Trench, the transitive meaning, hastening on; i e., “causing the day of the Lord to come more quickly by helping to fulfil those conditions without which it cannot come; that day being no day inexorably fixed, but one the arrival of which it is free to the church to hasten on by faith and by prayer” (Trench, on “The Authorized Version of the New Testament “). See Mt 24:14 : the gospel shall be preached in the whole world,” and then shall the end come. “Compare the words of Peter, Act 3:19 :” Repent and be converted, “etc.,” that so there may come seasons of refreshing “(so Rev., rightly); and the prayer,” Thy kingdom come. “Salmond quotes a rabbincal saying,” If thou keepest this precept thou hastenest the day of Messiah. ” This meaning is given in margin of Rev.
Wherein [ ] . Wrong. Rev., correctly, by reason of which.
Melt [] . Literal. Stronger than the word in vv. 10, 11. Not only the resolving, but the wasting away of nature. Only here in New Testament.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1 ) ” Looking for and hasting.” (Greek prosdokontas kai speudontas) “awaiting anxiously and hastening on.”
2) “Unto the coming of the day of God.” (Greek ten parousian) toward “the bodily presence.” (tes hameras) “the day” (tou theou) “of the God.”
3) “Wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved.” (di en) on account of which” (ouranoi puroumenoi) “the heavens being on fire, burning, set” (Greek luthesontai) “shall be dissolved, disintegrated.”
4) “And the elements shall melt.” (kai stoicheia) even the elements,” (teketai) melt”
5) “With fervent heat.” (Kausoumena) “with burning fury? In verses 10, 11 Peter both certifies 1) that the total physical destruction of -heaven and earth are to occur at the coming judgment of the day of the Lord and 2) that, believing this, the manner of conduct of every child of God, members of. The church especially, should be devout, conscientious.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
12 Looking for and hasting unto, or, waiting for by hastening; so I render the words, though they are two participles; for what we had before separately he gathers now into one sentence, that is, that we ought hastily to wait. Now this contrarious hope possesses no small elegance, like the proverb, “Hasten slowly,” ( festina lente .) When he says, “Waiting for,” he refers to the endurance of hope; and he sets hastening in opposition to topor; and both are very apposite. For as quietness and waiting are the peculiarities of hope, so we must always take heed lest the security of the flesh should creep in; we ought, therefore, strenuously to labor in good works, and run quickly in the race of our calling. (182) What he before called the day of Christ (as it is everywhere called in Scripture) he now calls the day of God, and that rightly, for Christ will then restore the kingdom to the Father, that God may be all in all.
(182) The first meaning of σπεύδω is to hasten, and it is often used, when connected with another verb, adverbially as proposed by Calvin; but when followed as here by an accusative case, it has often the secondary meaning of earnestly desiring a thing. It is so taken here by Schleusner, Parkhurst, and Macknight; “Expecting and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God.” — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) Hasting unto.There is no unto in the Greek. The margin is probably right, hasting the comingi.e., hastening Christs coming by holy lives, by helping to make the Gospel known to all nations (Mat. 24:14), so as to accomplish the number of the elect, and by praying Thy kingdom come. (Comp. 2Ti. 4:8; Rev. 22:20.) The thought is singularly parallel to St. Peters speech in Solomons Porch (Act. 3:19-21, where see Notes); and as the thought is striking and unusualperhaps nowhere else in the New Testament distinctlythis coincidence may fairly be admitted as a note of genuineness.
The coming of the day of God.A phrase which occurs here only. It is doubly remarkable: (1) coming, in the special sense indicated by the particular word used in the Greek, is elsewhere used of Christ Himself, not of the day; (2) the day of God is a very unusual expression.
Wherein.Rather, by reason of which, either the day or the coming being meant.
Shall melt.Melt is here correct, being quite a different word from that rendered melt in 2Pe. 3:10, which is the same as that here translated be dissolved. In the so-called Second Epistle of Clement (chap. 16) we have a somewhat similar passageThe day of judgment cometh even now as a burning oven (Mal. 4:1), and [the powers] of the heavens shall melt, and all the earth as lead melting on the fire.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Looking for Maintaining expectation of; unlike the scoffers, who denied and forgot.
Hasting unto Intensely earnest in regard to.
Heavens The atmospheric elements.
Dissolved Decomposed.
Elements Material constituents.
Melt By calorical separation of particles.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Looking for and hastening (or ‘earnestly desiring’) the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?’
They are to live their lives as those who are looking for and seeking to speed up the coming of the Day of God. We can probably see the Day of God as the Day that finalises ‘the Day of the Lord’. It is the final day of Judgment. But we may ask, how can they hasten it? And the answer is by ensuring the fulfilment of all the requirements that lead up to it. That would include constant prayer for God to work out His purposes (Luk 18:8; Mat 6:9-10); the reaching out of the Gospel to all nations (Mat 24:14), and the making up of the number of God’s elect (Rev 6:11).
Note how this is described as ‘the parousia of the Day of God’, linking it with the parousia of the Lord Jesus Christ in 2Pe 1:16 and 2Pe 3:4. All are linked together.
And when that Day comes then the divine fire will burn up the whole creation. The heavens will dissolve with fire, and the powerful heat will melt all that is. Like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah it will be total and complete. Only those whom God has delivered (as He delivered Lot) will remain to form the new heaven and the new earth.
This day of the Lord’s judgment is pictured in many ways in Scripture. Its different aspects are found for example in Mat 13:41-43; Mat 25:31-46; 1Co 15:23-28; 1Co 15:52-57; 1Th 4:13-18; 1Th 5:1-3; 2Th 1:7-9; Rev 6:12-17; Rev 14:14-20; Rev 16:20-21; Rev 19:11-21; Rev 20:11-15.
‘Looking for.’ Note Peter’s typical threefold use of the verb here and in 2Pe 3:13-14. Here they are to look for the coming of the Day of God. In 2Pe 3:13 they are to look for the new heavens and the new earth. And in 2Pe 3:14 they are to look for these things.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Ver. 12. Looking for ] As Sisera’s mother looked out at a window, and expecting the return of her son, said, “Why are his chariots so long in coming?” so should we look up and long for Christ coming in the clouds, those chariots that carried him up, and shall bring him back again.
And hasting unto ] Votis accelerantes, speeding and accelerating. True it is that God hath set the day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness,Act 17:31Act 17:31 , and we cannot alter it; yet we may be said to hasten it by our preparations and prayers. O mora! Christe, veni, ” Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.”
The heavens being on fire, &c. ] A far greater fire than that at Constantinople, where 7000 houses are said to have been on fire at once, A. D. 1633. (Blount’s Voyage.)
And the elements shall melt ] And fall like scalding lead or burning bell metal on the heads of the wicked, who shall give a terrible account with the world all on fire about their ears. Whether this shall happen in the year 1657 (as some conjecture, because in the year of the world 1657 the old world was drowned, and because the numeral letters in MU-n-DI Conf-L-agrat-I-o, MDCLVII make up the same number), I have nothing to affirm. (Alsted Chron.) Sure it is, the saints shall take no hurt at all by this last fire, but a great deal of benefit. Methodius writeth that Pyragnus (a certain plant so called) grows green and flourishes in the midst of the flames of burning Olympus, as much as if it grew by the banks of a pleasant river. And of this he saith that himself was an eyewitness. Praeclarum sane novissimi diei indicium et documentum.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
12 .] looking for and hastening (the older Commentators mostly supplied after . So E. V., “ hasting unto :” but there seems no reason for this. Two meanings are possible, regarding the accus. as in direct government by the participle: 1. ‘ busied about :’ so in reff.; also Pind. Isthm. v. 22, . But in each of these, the object of seems more properly to belong to the action than here. In Isa., and in Pind., it is an abstract substantive: in Hom., it is , matters within the power and personal employment of the speakers. And so in the numerous other examples in Palm and Rost. Whereas the . . ., a future thing, no matter of human practice, does not appear with equal propriety to be in this sense an object of . 2. We have the other and cognate meaning of transitive, to “ hasten ,” “ urge on :” which I agree with De Wette in adopting, and in understanding as he does, “They hasten it by perfecting, in repentance and holiness, the work of the Gospel, and thus diminishing the need of the 2Pe 3:9 ,” to which the delay of that day is owing. Huther’s objection to this is not difficult to answer. It is true, that the delay or hastening of that day is not man’s matter, but God’s: but it is not uncommon in Scripture to attribute to us those divine acts, or abstinences from acting, which are really and in their depth, God’s own. Thus we read, that “He could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief,” Mat 13:58 compared with Mar 6:5-6 ; thus repeatedly of man’s striving with, hindering, quenching, God’s Holy Spirit) the advent ( elsewhere commonly used of a person, and most usually of the presence or advent of the Lord Himself) of the day of God (= above. De W. compares Clem.-rom. Eph 2 ad Cor. 12, p. 345, . See also Tit 2:13 ), by reason of which ( , scil. ; or, but not so well, , on account of, for the sake of, which) the heavens being on fire (the pres. part. gives the reason of the fut. verb following) shall be dissolved, and the heavenly bodies being scorched up are to be melted ( , the pres. of destiny: see above on , 2Pe 3:11 . De Wette thinks the meaning is not to be literally pressed, as if the were a solid mass which would actually liquefy: but why not? The same liquefaction has actually taken place in the crust of the earth wherever the central fires have acted on it. All our igneous rocks have been in a liquid state: why should not that day, in its purifying process, produce a similar effect on the earth again, and on her cognate planets, if they are to be included?
In this recapitulation, the Apostle mentions that part only of the destruction of that day which concerns the heavens : arguing majori. The similarity to Isa 34:4 can hardly escape notice, . See also Mic 1:4 ).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Pe 3:12 . . Either (1) “earnestly desiring,” cf. Isa 16:5 , , or (2) preferably, “hastening the coming”. “The Church may be said to bring the day nearer when it prays, ‘Thy kingdom come’ ” (Bigg). The writer is here referring to the Jewish idea that the sins of men prevented Messiah from appearing. “Si Judaei poenitentiam facerent una die, statim veniret Messias, films David.”
The words are capable of a still more spiritual meaning, which, however, is rather beyond the consciousness of this writer. The kingdom of God is “within” us, and Christians may be said to hasten this coming by holiness of life. Christian conduct is itself both a rebuke to vice and a realisation of the presence of Christ in the hearts of His disciples.
. Again present for future. The phrases in this verse are repeated from 2Pe 3:10 in order to introduce the more impressively the idea in 2Pe 3:13 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Looking for. App-133. See Luk 3:15 (be in expectation).
hasting unto = hastening. Greek. speudo. Elsewhere intransitive. Luk 19:5. Act 22:18; &c. Man can neither hinder nor advance the kingdom of God. But here the meaning is “Looking for, yes and earnestly looking for, the coming of the day of God”.
wherein = on account of (App-104. 2Pe 3:2) which (plural)
being on fire. See Eph 6:16 (fiery).
melt. Greek. tekomai. Only here.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
12.] looking for and hastening (the older Commentators mostly supplied after . So E. V., hasting unto: but there seems no reason for this. Two meanings are possible, regarding the accus. as in direct government by the participle: 1. busied about: so in reff.; also Pind. Isthm. v. 22, . But in each of these, the object of seems more properly to belong to the action than here. In Isa., and in Pind., it is an abstract substantive: in Hom., it is , matters within the power and personal employment of the speakers. And so in the numerous other examples in Palm and Rost. Whereas the …, a future thing, no matter of human practice, does not appear with equal propriety to be in this sense an object of . 2. We have the other and cognate meaning of transitive, to hasten, urge on: which I agree with De Wette in adopting, and in understanding as he does, They hasten it by perfecting, in repentance and holiness, the work of the Gospel, and thus diminishing the need of the 2Pe 3:9, to which the delay of that day is owing. Huthers objection to this is not difficult to answer. It is true, that the delay or hastening of that day is not mans matter, but Gods: but it is not uncommon in Scripture to attribute to us those divine acts, or abstinences from acting, which are really and in their depth, Gods own. Thus we read, that He could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief, Mat 13:58 compared with Mar 6:5-6; thus repeatedly of mans striving with, hindering, quenching, Gods Holy Spirit) the advent ( elsewhere commonly used of a person, and most usually of the presence or advent of the Lord Himself) of the day of God (= above. De W. compares Clem.-rom. Ephesians 2 ad Cor. 12, p. 345, . See also Tit 2:13), by reason of which ( , scil. ; or, but not so well, , on account of, for the sake of, which) the heavens being on fire (the pres. part. gives the reason of the fut. verb following) shall be dissolved, and the heavenly bodies being scorched up are to be melted (, the pres. of destiny: see above on , 2Pe 3:11. De Wette thinks the meaning is not to be literally pressed, as if the were a solid mass which would actually liquefy: but why not? The same liquefaction has actually taken place in the crust of the earth wherever the central fires have acted on it. All our igneous rocks have been in a liquid state: why should not that day, in its purifying process, produce a similar effect on the earth again, and on her cognate planets, if they are to be included?
In this recapitulation, the Apostle mentions that part only of the destruction of that day which concerns the heavens: arguing majori. The similarity to Isa 34:4 can hardly escape notice, . See also Mic 1:4).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Pe 3:12. , the coming) This depends upon looking for and hastening, taken together: when ye offer prayers for His speedy coming. He who eagerly desires anything, urges forward the matter itself, if he is able, to a speedy accomplishment. is used with an Accusative, Septuagint; Est 5:5; Isa 16:5. The participle includes the statement of the cause, as in 2Pe 3:14.- , of God) The expression, the day of God, is of rare occurrence. For diei Dei (the day of God), the Latin translator, or a very early copyist, wrote diei Domini[23] (the day of the Lord), probably for the sake of a more easy pronunciation. This reading was adopted in some Greek manuscripts, which everywhere follow the Latin readings. On the other hand, one Latin manuscript at Lovain has in the margin diei Dei. God grants to men many thousand days: one, and that the last, is the great day of God Himself.- , on account of which) viz. coming. An instance of the figure Chiasmus, consisting of four parts: what manner of persons-looking for-on account of which-but new heavens. The first part is deduced from the third, and the second from the fourth.- ) In other places, applies rather to a dry body, to a moist one.
[23] AB Vulg., in some MSS. have . But C and Amiat. MS. (the oldest) of Vulg. have .-E.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Looking: 1Co 1:7, Tit 2:13, Jud 1:21
hasting unto the coming: or, hasting the coming, 2Pe 3:10, 1Co 1:8, Phi 1:6
the heavens: 2Pe 3:10, Psa 50:3, Isa 34:4, Rev 6:13, Rev 6:14
melt: 2Pe 3:10, Isa 2:1-22, Isa 64:1-12, Mic 1:4
Reciprocal: Exo 19:15 – Be ready Psa 96:13 – he cometh Psa 102:13 – the set Isa 16:5 – hasting Isa 25:9 – Lo Mat 25:1 – went Mar 13:24 – General Luk 12:40 – General 1Co 4:5 – until 1Co 5:5 – the day 2Co 5:8 – and willing Phi 3:20 – we look 1Th 1:10 – wait 2Th 3:5 – and into Heb 9:28 – them 2Pe 3:11 – all these Rev 22:20 – Amen
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
HASTING THE DAY
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
2Pe 3:12
What must we do to hasten the day of God?
I. Pray for it.What is the promise, ought always to be, emphatically, the prayer of the dispensation. What, then (can any doubt?), what is the promise, and therefore what must be the prayer of the present day? When we pray for any promise, what the prayer means, is, that we pray it to come quickly. Is the Second Advent an exception? Nay, has not our Lord encouraged us, when He has given us His words, that ourselves may have the echofor all prayer, if rightly looked at, is the echo of Gods wordSurely I come quickly! And remember, whenever you use the Lords prayer, though this is not all, yet it is the climax of what you pray when you say, Thy kingdom come. Come into my heart by faith; come into all hearts by grace; but, above all, come over the whole world in glory. When we pray that means May Gods kingdom come soon! We need not pray that it may come at all. The very last prayer that God ever taught us in the Bible was for this very thingunquestionably it points to the Second AdventThe Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And then immediately after, as the basis and the answer, Surely I come quickly. Well, therefore, does the Church, in the most solemn of her services, teach us, over every opening grave, to say, Accomplish the number of Thine elect, and hasten Thy kingdom.
II. Let the Church live in love and union, in order (I speak it reverently) that a united Church may attract her Lord to come. We can never forget that, in His own last prayer, He linked together, inseparably, the unity and the glory of His peopleour onenesswith His return.
III. Make great efforts for the evangelisation of the world.There are three things which have to be done before our Lord (we speak it humanly) can come. The knowledge of Him must be co-extensive with the habitable globethe appointed sheaves of the gospel harvest must be gathered inand the Jews must be brought back to their own land, and to Him. The first is already well-nigh accomplished; the second is altogether in the bosom of God; the third we must promote. At this moment are not the Jews the great impediment in the way of the grand consummation? Only let the prophecies concerning the Jews be fulfilled, and how very little would stand in the way of the immediate appearing of our Lord! What an enforcing here there is to that, Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
IV. Cultivate personal holiness.As for every other reason, so for thisthat every one, who really loves God, and serves God, and is like God, as far as in Him lies, is making that preparation, by which the Church is to be ready for her Lordjust as a bride is adorned for her husband. Will He come until His Bride has put on her jewels? And when she is decked, and when she is meet indeed, can He stay away?
It seems to be the law of all that is great, that its movement at first is slow, and grows rapid at the last. We have seen it with the mercies and with the judgments of Godwill it not be so with that grandest event, which goes to make the climax of our worlds history?
Illustration
From the Bibles that have marginal readings, it will appear that these words admit of a different constructionLooking for and hasting the coming of the day of God. I do not consider that either rendering is more accurate than the other; but I believe that the safe and right mode, in all such cases, where the meaning on the side is not quite the same with the meaning given in the text, is to conclude that the original so contains both, that you would only arrive at the whole meaning of God, in the passage, by taking them together. When indeed, as here, the thing spoken of is the meeting of two persons, it is no matter whether I hasten to Him or whether I cause Him to hasten to mein either case the meeting is, equally, expedited. So that, practically, it comes to the samewhether we hasten to Christ or cause Christ to hasten to us. But, as I understand the intention of God in the place, His will and command is this: that we should do bothHasting unto, and ourselves hastening, the coming of the day of God.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
2Pe 3:12. Hasting means “to desire earnestly” for the coming of the day of God. And this notwithstanding the day will bring the dissolving of this earth on which we have lived and enjoyed the blessings of God. But this seeming contradiction in our attitude will be explained in the next verse.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Pe 3:12. looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God. This is the only instance of the day being designated the day of God. The looking for is expressed by the term which is rendered wait for in Luk 1:21; Luk 8:40, Act 10:24, expect in Act 3:5, be in expectation in Luk 3:15, etc. Following the Vulgate and the older English Versions, the A. V. gives hasting unto. This is certainly wrong. The question is, which of two interpretations is to be substituted, whether the simple hastening (or hasting, as the A. V. puts it in the margin), or earnestly desiring (as the R. V. gives it in the text). The Classics may be said to present instances of both meanings. But it is rather the idea of busying oneself earnestly about a thing than that of merely expecting it that the Classical usage illustrates, and that sense suits objects which are present rather than things which are yet prospective. The other meaning, hastening, or urging on, is well sustained, and has the special advantage of agreeing in a remarkable way with the appeal made by Peter (which otherwise is of an entirely exceptional kind) in his discourse in Solomons PorchRepent ye, therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send the Christ who hath been appointed for you, even Jesus; whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, etc. (Act 3:19-21). The idea, therefore, is that of accelerating the advent of that decisive day through our holy lives and our labours for the advancement of the Gospel, causing that day to come the more quickly, as Archbishop Trench explains it (On the A. V., p. 131), by helping to fulfil those conditions without which it cannot comethat day being no day inexorably fixed, but one the arrival of which it is free to the Church to help and hasten on by faith and by prayer, and through a more rapid accomplishing of the number of the elect. That this idea, though seldom expressed in the N. T., was not unfamiliar to Jews, is proved by the occurrence of such rabbinical sayings as this: If thou keepest this precept, thou hastenest the day of Messiah. But it is enshrined, indeed, in the second petition of the Lords PrayerThy kingdom come.
by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements burning with intense heat are melted. The wherein of the A. V. is entirely wrong. The which may refer either to the Coming or to the day; and the meaning is that this event of the Coming, or this day of God, will occasion the change or catastrophe which is reaffirmed here. The one thing will inevitably cause the other. The idea is something like that in Rev 20:11. The tense changes from the future, shall be dissolved, into the present, are melted; the effect of which is to give yet greater force to the assertion of the certainty of this destiny. This last verb is one which denotes melting in the most literal sensethe melting, e.g., of snow, of metals, of salt in water, etc. Some stumble at the application of this to the elements. Others point to the fact that the record of the rocks bears witness to a process of liquefaction by fire to which the material of the existing earth has been subjected, and ask why the present system may not undergo a like process of fiery renovation at the great day. The use to be made of the passage, however, must be a very guarded one, so far as theorizings about the nature of the end are concerned. Peter is speaking in terms of the lofty prophetic imagery of the O. T. Compare such passages as Mic 1:4, Mal 4:1, and above all, Isa 34:4. Classical literature has anticipations of a similar kind. Cicero, e.g., says that it will happen, nevertheless, one day that all this world shall be burnt up with fire (Acad. Quest. iii. 37).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Having exhorted persons by holiness to prepare for Christ’s coming to judgment in the foregoing vcerse, he now directs them to expect and look for it, to desire and long after it, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, that joyful day of our perfect deliverance and salvation, when the lower heavens and earth shall be dissolved, and the elements melt with fervent heat.
Learn hence, That there is, or ought to be in all believers, a vehement desire after, and a fervent longing for, the coming and appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. O Christian! long intensely for Christ’s company, for know assuredly he longs for thine.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 12
Hasting unto the coming, &c.; anticipating it with interest, and making active preparation for it.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
3:12 Looking for and {e} hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
(e) He requires patience from us, yet such patience as is not slothful.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Greek participle translated "hastening" or "speeding" (speudontes) sometimes means, "desiring earnestly" (RSV margin). [Note: A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, s.v. "speudo."] If Peter meant that here, the sense would be that believers not only look for the day of God but also desire earnestly to see it (cf. 2Pe 3:8-10; Mat 24:42; Mat 25:13). [Note: Lenski, p. 348; Barbieri, p. 122.] The AV has "hastening unto" implying that Peter meant believers are rapidly approaching the day of God. Yet "unto" needs supplying; it is not in the text. Most of the translators and commentators, however, took speudontes in its usual sense of hastening. They assumed that Peter was thinking that believers can hasten the day of God by their prayers (cf. Mat 6:10) and their preaching (cf. Mat 24:14; Act 3:19-20). [Note: Bigg, p. 298; Green, p. 140; Barclay, pp. 410-11; Kelly, p. 367; Blum, p. 287; Sidebottom, p. 123-24.] Believers affect God’s timetable by our witnessing and our praying as we bring people to Christ (cf. Jos 10:12-14; 2Ki 20:1-6; et al.). [Note: Cf. Constable, pp. 101-6.]
"Clearly this idea of hastening the End is the corollary of the explanation (2Pe 3:9) that God defers the Parousia because he desires Christians to repent. Their repentance and holy living may therefore, from the human standpoint, hasten its coming. This does not detract from God’s sovereignty in determining the time of the End . . ., but means only that his sovereign determination graciously takes human affairs into account." [Note: Bauckham, p. 325.]
The "day of God" may be a reference to the time yet future in which God will be all in all (1Co 15:28). [Note: Gerald B. Stanton, Kept from the Hour, p. 73; et al.] This will follow the creation of the new heavens and new earth (Rev 21:1). On the other hand this phrase may be another way of describing the day of the Lord. [Note: Fanning, p. 470.] The "day of God" in Rev 16:14 refers to the time of the battle of Armageddon, which will be at the end of the Tribulation. Consequently I lean toward taking the day of God as another way of referring to the day of the Lord. The antecedent of "on account of which" (NASB) is the day of God. God will burn up the present heavens and earth because of that day (i.e., because the day of the Lord has reached its end).