SteveF wrote:
Mellontes, I'm not sure I know exactly what you're saying here but i think you may have misunderstood 2 Pet 3:9. Can you explain to me why you think Peter made the statement, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise."? Do you see this statement in the context of the mockers mentioned in vs. 3 and 4 of 2 Pet 3? I do. In fact, I think Peter is making a completely different point than what you're making. I think he's replying to the mockers by saying, the Lord is not slow to come like you say, but rather he's putting it off for mercy's sake. In that context he points out that to God 1000 years is like a day.... so don't base his coming on your man centered time table ("as some men count slackness"). Thus, as Steve7150 pointed out, Peter opens the door for a coming that may be distant.
I guess we have to determine what the promise was and where it originated. I am going to say the promise was regarding His coming. I would also relate it directly to the scoffers from 2 Peter 3:3-4 who questioned the so-called delay of his coming ("Where is the promise of his coming? "). I would also tend to believe that these scoffers were either unbelieving Jews or Jewish Christians who had fallen away based upon the usage of fathers in "
since the fathers fell asleep" (Matthew 23:30, Matthew 23:32, Luke 1:55, Luke 1:72, etc.) This is not something the unbelieving Gentile would even consider.
Peter tells his audience that the Lord is NOT slack concerning His promise. In other words, He will surely keep His word as to what He would do in the time frame He said He would do it. I think Peter offered support for this theme by quoting Psalm 90:4 in regard to His faithfulness.
As to the longsuffering, I believe God had allowed a certain length of time to transpire before He would come. Realizing that Mathew 24:34 is a sore spot for most, I will still say that Jesus promised to return within that first century generation. The duration for repentance had been set. Time was drawing close to the end of that time frame. And if you will allow a parallel,,,remember the Exodus and how God purged out everyone who didn't believe for one generation of 40 years before going into the promised land? Well, we have the same thing here, only this time he is gathering believers to go into the kingdom (the fullness of the kingdom) for a 40-year generation. Because God was seemingly delaying because He was being merciful, the scoffers would criticize God and accuse Him of not keeping His promises. Paul had spoken of all this end time stuff in all of his letters that Peter's audience was privy too. They would be well aware of the end of the age that was to befall there era.
For me, the time had been set. He was not putting it off for mercy sake. He defined a period and everyone was aware of this period (except for futurists )...Hey, relax it is a joke. I couldn't resist
I hope this answers your question.
