What is the meaning of 2 Peter 3:6? Through which “Through” points to the very means God employed—His spoken word and the waters He had already set in place (2 Peter 3:5). • God’s word issued the decree (Genesis 6:13; Psalm 33:9). • Water, once held in boundaries (Job 38:8-11), became the instrument of judgment. • The same “word” that formed creation now unleashed destruction, underscoring that God’s word is both creative and corrective (Hebrews 11:3; Isaiah 55:10-11). The world Peter uses “world” not to describe a corner of the Middle East but the whole created order of people, animals, and earth’s surface. • Genesis 7:19-23 records every mountain under heaven covered and “every creature that had the breath of life” wiped out. • Jesus treated it as global history (Luke 17:26-27), affirming its reach and reality. • The apostle anchors later warnings of universal fire-judgment (2 Peter 3:10) in this earlier, universal water-judgment. Of that time A distinct, pre-Flood era existed from Adam to Noah (Genesis 5). • Humanity had advanced in population and culture (Genesis 4:20-22) yet spiraled into violence and corruption (Genesis 6:5, 11-12). • Noah preached righteousness to that generation (2 Peter 2:5), giving them opportunity to repent. • By marking “that time,” Peter reminds us each age is accountable for its response to God’s revelation (Acts 17:30-31). Perished “Perished” conveys total, catastrophic loss of life, not mere hardship. • Genesis 7:21-23—“Every living thing… was wiped out.” • Only eight souls survived (1 Peter 3:20), demonstrating both judgment and mercy. • The finality of the word underscores God’s intolerance of unrepentant evil (Romans 2:5). In the flood The mechanism was a real, historical deluge. • Waters burst from “the fountains of the deep” and poured from heaven (Genesis 7:11-12). • Ark preservation illustrates salvation by grace through obedient faith (Hebrews 11:7). • Jesus linked the Flood to His future return (Matthew 24:38-39), reinforcing its literal, prophetic importance. summary 2 Peter 3:6 reminds us that by the same authoritative word that created, God judged the entire pre-Flood world with a literal, worldwide deluge, sparing only Noah and his family. The verse stands as a sober guarantee that God’s promises of future judgment—and rescue for the faithful—are equally certain today. |
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