Skip to main content

2 Peter 3:10 - A different angle on "the day of the Lord" - Day 141

Hello again my friends,

Listening to a commentary about world events from a Christian worldview by Al Mohler.  He reports that a significant number of "spiritual but not religious" people are turning to spiritual directors to help them get in touch with themselves.  Think about that.  People are willing to pay someone to listen to their fears and help them feel better.  But they don't want to go where they can hear the truth about where they came from, why they are here and where they are going (the gospel) for free.  As you rub shoulders (or socially distanced equivalent) with other people, listen for hints that they may be "spiritual but not religious" and point them to the narrow gate.

Blessings,

Jeff

The day of the Lord will come like a thief.  Just thinking, How exactly does a thief come?

Unexpectedly - no one expects a thief to break in and steal.  We have security systems to make us feel secure, but so do banks and museums.

A thief is generally intentional.   We have all heard about "casing a place".  Observing the defenses, habits, routines of the target.  If somebody leaves their car running at a gas station, a thief may take advantage of this opportunity.  But a "good thief" knows that people will routinely do this and wait patiently for someone to show up.  He is looking for the right time to put a plan into action.

A thief has a goal.  Car thieves look for top of the line cars.  They aren't going to steal a 10 year old sedan.  Jesus said the thieves come to steal, kill and destroy.  

So why does Peter use this picture of someone who is evil to the core to describe "the day of the Lord"?

Despite all the claims to know when the Lord will return, Jesus  clearly states that in his human nature, he does not know when He will return.  This knowledge is reserved for divinity.  If Jesus' human nature doesn't know, I am sure that no human knows.  Let me be clear, undue interest in the timing of the second coming is unhealthy.  Therefore, it will be unexpected, just like a thief.

Preparedness by the homeowner will deter a thief.  The believer's preparedness does not delay the Lord's coming, but Jesus does tell us to be ready, to watch and pray, to lay up treasure in heaven.  The day of the Lord will be unexpected, but that doesn't mean we should be unprepared.

Part of preparedness is not to collect the things that thieves want.  

So I think that the picture is used to make us think about the "what sort of people ought you to be?" question. It doesn't try to equate a thief and the Lord.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revelation 22:3-5 Final and eternal restoration - Day 365

Dear saints in the Lord, Congratulations!  You made it.  We have been through much turmoil in the last year ('20-'21).  But God is faithful to His promises.  I trust that you have been blessed in your reading and have drawn closer to God.   Since we didn't get the blog up and running at the beginning of the challenge, I am going to go back and post entries to cover that first month or so.   Blessings, Jeff Nothing accursed in the city of God, the new Jerusalem.  The presence of sin will be gone.  I am working on memorizing Westminster Shorter Catechism and currently on question 82.  Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God but does daily break them in thought, word and deed. I think our passage today points to the truth of this question.  Do you notice how this answer is not exactly the same as the question. "Any man" bec...
Post a Comment
Read more

Malachi 2:10-12 Here we go again!! Day 363

Good afternoon friends, As we draw to the end of the Old Testament, we see that Judah has rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem, but they are following in the footsteps of faithless fathers and not in the footsteps of Abraham and ultimately God.  The exile was a low point, but now a new low is about to happen.  The prophetic voice has once again become warning and not encouraging. Faithful reading and preaching of the word is all that keeps us from losing our way.  May we be faithful in our generation. Blessings, Jeff I am sure I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating.  The section summary, chapter and verse are not in the original language.  They are all rather modern inventions to help us.  For example, the section title here is "Judah profaned the Covenant".  That is OK as far as it goes, but which Covenant?  So let's take a look. Observations Starts with 3 questions but who is asking the questions and to whom are they addre...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 33:7-9 Thoughts on Davidic covenant - Day 362

Good morning faithful readers, The finish line is in sight!!!  One of the themes of scripture is that God is a covenant keeping God.  There are many between God and man. Adam, Noah, David are examples.  Covenants are more than promises.  They are made between a superior and inferior with conditions for each side and blessing and penalties based on keeping the conditions.  These are covenants of works which fallen man was unable to keep.  Thanks be to God that the Father made a covenant of grace with Christ, the second Adam, which he fully kept. Blessings, Jeff The promise in v8 was made to David when he had planned to build the temple and God promised to build him a house forever. (2 Sam 7:10).  Seems like there are only two possibilities about Manasseh's disobedience.  Either he knew of this covenant that God had made with his 13th great grandfather and chose to disregard it, or he didn't know of it and was unaware of the penalty.  Let's con...
Post a Comment
Read more