“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.”
Up until this verse, Peter has been writing to his readers about the seeming delay in Jesus’ second coming. He warns them that scoffers are going to come, saying that nothing has changed, and that Jesus is not coming back. He warns of the upcoming judgment and destruction of the ungodly. Then he reminds them of the verse from Psalms about a day with the Lord being like one thousand years, and one thousand years like one day. God is not delaying his promise but is giving people a chance to repent.
But here in verse 10, Peter gets right to the point. He writes “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief…” He takes this imagery straight from Jesus, who used it in his parable of the Masters Return. “Be ready for service and have your lamps lit. You are to be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once. Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them. If he comes in the middle of the night, or even near dawn, and finds them alert, blessed are those servants. But know this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Luke 12:35-40). Paul uses the analogy of the thief in 1 Thessalonians. Paul writes, “About the times and the seasons: Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night” (5:1-2). Jesus has John write to the church at Sardis, “Write to the angel of the church in Sardis: Thus says the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. Be alert and strengthen what remains, which is about to die, for I have not found your works complete before my God. Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you” (Revelation 3:1-3). John Barry puts it this way. “When the Lord does come, it will be both surprising and catastrophic: like a thief.”
Peter begins this verse with the phrase “the day of the Lord” to refer to the second coming of Christ. This phrase is used in several other places in the New Testament. An example of this is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2. “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him: We ask you, brothers and sisters, not to be easily upset or troubled, either by a prophecy or by a message or by a letter supposedly from us, alleging that the day of the Lord has come.”
The phrase can be found in the Old Testament as well. Gotquestions.org says this. “The Old Testament passages dealing with the day of the Lord often convey a sense of imminence, nearness, and expectation… this is because the Old Testament passages referring to the day of the Lord often speak of both a near and a far fulfillment, as does much of Old Testament prophecy.” Let’s look at some examples. Amos 5:18-20 says, “Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! What will the day of the Lord be for you? It will be darkness and not light. It will be like a man who flees from a lion only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against the wall only to have a snake bite him. Won’t the day of the Lord be darkness rather than light, even gloom without any brightness in it?” Amos is addressing the people of Israel and their observance of festivals. But it is also a prophecy of the future day of the Lord when Christ comes back to judge the world. Another example is found in Isaiah 13:6-9. “Wail! For the day of the Lord is near. It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore everyone’s hands will become weak, and every man will lose heart. They will be horrified; pain and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look at each other, their faces flushed with fear. Look, the day of the Lord is coming—cruel, with fury and burning anger—to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its sinners.” This is first talking about the warfare of Isaiah’s time. But it also fits with the end time battles described in Revelation. The notes in my Apologetics Study Bible (CSB) state, “Isaiah presented a picture of “the day of the Lord” that is coming for the destruction of sinners (v.9). Although the context was the warfare of Isaiah’s time, the prophet described it in cosmic word-pictures: darkness of the sun and stars (v. 10), and the shaking of the earth (v. 13). Equally extreme, in typically prophetic rhetoric, is the description of the cruelty to be inflicted upon men, women and children (vv. 15-16) … To describe these pitiless acts, even in the name of the Lord, is not to claim that he approves of them. The prophet merely predicted what sinful people will do to each other.”
Peter moves on to say this. “…on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.” I thought it would be interesting to look up this verse in other translations. The first part was the same in each version I checked. But in three different translations, there are three different endings. Here they are:
NIV- “The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.”
NASB- “…in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”
ESV- “…and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”
While the verses are a little different, I think seeing the way that the translators chose to translate from the original language gives a fuller picture of what the author was trying to convey. This will not work if you are using a paraphrase, because then the editors are not translating from the original languages, but instead putting it in easier to understand language.
Isaiah 24 is a chapter that describes the judging of the earth. It is one of those passages with both near and far fulfillment. The near fulfillment was in the imminent attack on Jerusalem. The far fulfillment is when Jesus comes back. “The earth is completely devastated; the earth is split open; the earth is violently shaken.” (24:19). Another place in Isaiah that describes what Peter is writing about is in 34:4. “All the stars in the sky will dissolve. The sky will roll up like a scroll, and its stars will all wither as leaves wither on the vine, and foliage on the fig tree.” And Micah foretells the coming judgment on Israel. But the far fulfillment is the second coming of Christ. “The mountains will melt beneath him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax near a fire, like water cascading down a mountainside” (1:4).
The only question I have is on Peter’s meaning of the last phrase. Is he saying that everything on earth is going to be burned up? We know that it is because in Revelation 21:1, John writes, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” Or is he saying that the earth will burn up and only our works will remain? Paul writes this in first Corinthians 3: 10-15. “According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one is to be careful how he builds on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ.If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw,each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward.If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved—but only as through fire.”
What are you building? I’m going to leave you with this thought from David Guzik. “It is a sobering thought: many, many people who believe they are serving God, but are doing it in an unworthy manner or with unworthy “materials” will come to find in eternity that they have, in reality, done nothing for the Lord. Some will be saved, but with a life that was wasted, and receive no crown to give Jesus, for his glory (as in Revelation 4:10-11). He himself will be saved, yet so as through the fire shows that some will be saved, but barely saved, and saved with everything gone.”
Grace be with you!
Abundant Joy 