9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
Prophecy is prevalent in Scriptures. Some things happen because God said they would and some things were given as warnings that will eventually happen if a nation or a person does not change their ways. Many nations including Israel were warned in specific details of things that would happen if they did not repent. When they did not repent those prophecies came true. Another important aspect of prophecy is forth-telling God's word - so the people could respond in repentance, assurance, joy, hope, or whatever.
Often at Christmas time we look at Old Testament prophecies predicting the coming of the Messiah. Jesus was to born in Bethlehem. He was to escape to Egypt. He was to be born of a virgin. He was to be from the tribe of Judah. He was to grow up with powers of healing. He was to be despised and rejected. He was to be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. He was to be killed, pierced, without breaking of any bones. He was to rise again and ascend to heaven. All of these predictions accurately occurred. Hindsight brought about the awareness of how carefully all of history was in the hands of God. He carried out exactly what He had planned. That is also the case with prophecies yet to be fulfilled.
Peter uses this phrase "The Day of the Lord". There are different teachings regarding this. Some teach "the coming of Christ" and "the day of the Lord" are two separate events. Some teach since Peter says it will be like thief in the night - it will be a secret rapture. Others indicate it refers to the final judgment day after the Millennium. Others believe it refers everything related to His coming.
If you read other passages from Paul's letters you will see similar expressions are used interchangeably. In 1 Thessalonians Paul speaks of the coming of the Lord for the righteous and calls it the "day of the Lord" as he discusses the timing of these events. There are different phrases used in the Bible - the day of the Lord, the Day of Christ, the day of Lord Jesus Christ, that day, the last Day, His day, the revelation of Christ, the appearing of Christ, or the coming of Christ. For those who want to distinguish between the Day of Christ and the Day of the Lord, run into trouble with the many passages that use both terms in the same context and calls it the Day of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are four Greek words: “Parousia” which means “coming or arrival”; “Epiphanias”meaning “appearing or shining, being made visible”; “Apokalupto” meaning “disclosed, unveiled, revealed or revelations and “Hemeria” meaning “day".
The context of the passage is the best way to understand their various interpretations. It seems to me, that instead of thinking these are four different events, it refers to four aspects of the same event. We have in the gospels which approach the same events of Christ's first coming with four views - Jesus as king, Jesus as man, Jesus as divine and Jesus as the fulfillment of the coming Messiah.
There are times Paul and other N.T. writers show Christ's certainty and reality in His literal coming thereby using the word “parousia”. There are times when the emphasis of His coming is on His majesty where Jesus is spoken of as King of Kings and Lord of Lords then “apocalypto” is used. There are times when the writer wanted to encourage the hearts of those undergoing persecution to hang in there with perseverance. That visible return of Christ’s bodily presence gives that emphasis with “epiphanias”. The context of each scripture gives the various views of how we should see Jesus coming again, as He fulfills various roles of prophecy. I do not think by this context that we are talking about a 24-hour day, but the event that begins the end of this world and the beginning of the next, prompted by the return of Jesus.
Although there are different teachings on this, for what it is worth, I’ll explain my interpretation this week. Dale
Application: No matter what we believe about the 2nd coming of Christ, let us be prepared.
Prayer: Oh Lord, this, again shows me how much I love Your Word. It is always enlightening. I know that with You a day is like a thousand years, so I view all of this though Your Word and eternity. I look forward to Your coming for Your Church.
