How does 2 Peter 3:12 connect with Revelation's depiction of end times? Setting the Scene: Peter’s Words in Focus “as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.” (2 Peter 3:12) Shared Images of Cosmic Unraveling • 2 Peter 3:10-12 – heavens pass away, elements dissolve in fire. • Revelation 6:14 – “The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up.” • Revelation 20:11 – earth and heaven flee from God’s face. • Revelation 16:8 – bowl judgment scorches with fire, previewing total conflagration. Peter and John describe the same, literal, fiery dismantling of the present cosmos that clears the stage for final judgment and renewal. The “Day of God” and Revelation’s Climax • 2 Peter 3:12 calls it “the day of God.” • Revelation 19-20 details that day: Christ’s visible return (19:11-16), defeat of His enemies (19:19-21), and the Great White Throne judgment (20:11-15). Both writers present one climactic day, not multiple unrelated events. Hastening His Coming: Our Part Highlighted by Revelation Peter links holy living to “hastening” the day. Revelation fills in the practical outworking: – Evangelistic witness (Revelation 7:9-14; 14:6-7). – Patient endurance and obedience (Revelation 14:12). – Prayerful longing: “Yes, I am coming soon… Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20). Faithful believers hasten the day by living and praying in step with God’s purposes. From Old Creation to New: Perfect Agreement • 2 Peter 3:13 – “we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth.” • Revelation 21:1 – “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away.” Same promise, same outcome: the present order is replaced by a righteous, renewed cosmos. Living Now in Light of Then – Expectancy: “Behold, I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:12) pairs with Peter’s call to “look forward.” – Purity: Since judgment by fire is certain, “what kind of people ought you to be?” (2 Peter 3:11). Revelation echoes: “Blessed are the ones washing their robes” (22:14). – Hope: Destruction is not the last word; resurrection life and a righteous kingdom await all who overcome (Revelation 21:7). In sum, 2 Peter 3:12 and Revelation paint the same literal end-time picture: a fiery dissolution of the present heavens and earth, Christ’s decisive return and judgment, and the birth of a new heaven and new earth. Peter calls us to hasten that day; Revelation shows what that day looks like and how believers live until it arrives. |
    |