Shabbat Shalom, everyone. Could you please turn with me to 2 Peter chapter 3 in this ministry meeting today? I discovered that there is a lot of food in this chapter, and we will take a portion of 2 Peter chapter 3. So, we are reading this Shabbat meeting, 2 Peter chapter 3 and verses 1 to 10. And the subject is "The coming scoffers in the last days and the day of the Lord." And I am reading: "This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of his coming?

For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. "For this they willingly are ignorant of that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men. But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering, to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up." And I'm stopping here with verse 10, and we will leave the remaining of the chapter for the next ministry meeting. The subject, of course, of these verses that we read in 2 Peter chapter 3, is really the coming scoffers in the last days, who will scoff at the Word of God and mock at God's people, and they will be the ones that will not believe any longer in the promises that God had given to his own people in the written Word of God, both in the Tanakh, the Old Testament, and in the Brit HaKadasha, in the New Testament, that we have just read this ministry meeting.

Now, these 10 verses are very important before the apostle Peter, Shimon Petros, giving them this final encouragement to those believers concerning the change that ought to affect the lives of every believer in Yeshua the Messiah, because of the fact that we know what is ahead of us in the coming days. And so in these 10 verses, beloved brothers and sisters, we have this rise of the scoffers in the last days. And Shimon Petros, by sharing this letter with these Jewish brethren of first century to whom he wrote, he is really telling them three things in these 10 verses. Number one, in verses 1 to 4, he is sharing with those brethren what are the sayings of those mockers who are going to rise up in the last days.

Secondly, in verses 5 to 7, he is also emphasizing of the faithfulness of the Word of God. And thirdly, in these last verses 8, 9 and 10, he is sharing with them about the long sufferings of God towards mankind. If there is anything that touches our hearts and our conscience is the long sufferings of God towards us. How patient he is with mankind and how he is willing to wait and wait to see more and more individuals turning their hearts to the Lord and becoming part of the church of the assembly of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. So, first of all, in verses 1, 2, 3, and 4, the sayings of the mockers about God's promise.

He began, of course, in verse 1, and he says, Listen, first of all, look at the touching note that Shimon Petros had in the beginning of this chapter. This second epistle. In other words, we have already covered the first epistle which he wrote about 60 A.D. Now, six years or so, 66 A.D., he is writing this second epistle to those Hebrew brethren. And he is saying to them now, brothers and sisters, this is the second letter that I am writing to you. And then notice he said in verse 1, he called them beloved. Agapetos, in the Greek, in Hebrew, is ahuvim, those that are loved by the apostle Shimon Petros.

He is calling them, if you will notice, brothers and sisters, in this third chapter, four times beloved. Those that are loved unconditionally by God. He mentioned it in verse 1. He is mentioning it again in verse 8. He is calling them as well, but beloved. He is mentioning this again in verse 14. Wherefore, beloved. And he is mentioning this again in verse 17. Ye therefore, beloved. I have loved you, but more than just that. You are loved of God. The ones that God loves so much. He is calling them four times. In this third chapter of 2 Peter, he actually mentioned it the fifth time here. When he is talking about the apostle Paul, Shaul in verse 15.

In the middle where he says, even as our beloved brother Paul. He is using that name beloved again in verse 15 in relationship to the apostle Paul, to Shaul. Peter must have been such a godly man. And a very tender-hearted man. And he loved the brothers and sisters so much. Because God had raised him to be a minister of the gospel to those earlier circumcision that he loved so much. And Paul was also raised by the Lord Jesus to minister to the nations of the world. And he loved them as well. And you can see these two men, how they have been writing out of concern for the people of God.

So what does he do here in verse 1? He wants them to be stirred and to be remembering what they have already learned. You know, there is one thing that Peter does again and again in those two epistles. He has always used the word remember. He said that many times already in chapter 1 verse 12, chapter 1 verse 13, chapter 1 verse 15. Why to remember? Why to remember? Because we are quickly inclined to forget. We have learned many things in the past. We have it in our heads. We have it in our mind. And we don't sink it always down to our hearts and conscience. And that's why he's stirring them up.

And he says, listen, remember. It was King Solomon who said many years ago in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 12. Remember thy Creator in the day of thy youth. You know why? Because sooner or later, you're going to grow up. And you're going to become an older individual. And you're going to be weakened. You're not going to be able to do what you used to do before. And remember him when you are young because it will help you in your life later on. Don't forget your God, the one who has loved you so much. Peter said, brothers and sisters, I'm stirring up your pure mind by way of reminding you the things which you have already learned.

And you have heard this in the past from others, now from me, through the Word of God. And remember, because here he's writing to those Jewish believers who were scattered abroad. They had a whole history in their past. They knew the history of their forefathers. They knew the history of the law that God had given to our nation, Israel. The Torah, the Nevi'im, the Ketuvim, the law, the prophets, the writing. They have known all this. They have heard the Word of God already from the past. And so now he's telling them, I'm stirring your pure mind by way of reminding you. And to stir, that means that he's kind of touching their hearts and their conscience, awakening them to remember the things that they have already learned.

And why he's doing that? Because, listen, in the next few verses, he's going to speak about those scoffers. Because just like then, also today, people come and tell us certain things about God and God's Word, rejecting the Word of God, denying the truth of the Messiahship of Yeshua, denying the Word of God. And what happens is that it influences us to say, well, to be laxed and to say, well, we do not need to be serious about the things of the Lord. And that's why Peter is stirring them up. And look what he's saying to them in verse 2 now. Peter is pointing these brethren to God's words through the prophets and through the apostles.

He's saying to them in verse 2, that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before, number one, by the holy prophets, and number two, and of the commandments of the apostles of our Lord and Savior. Notice he is now placing before them the complete canon of the Word of God. First of all, the prophets. And the prophets really takes us to the Tanakh, the Old Testament. The Torah, Moses was a prophet. Abraham was a prophet. And then he's taking them the Torah, the Nevi'im, the whole prophets, Isaiah, all the way to Malachi. And then the writings, even David, who wrote many of the Psalms, he was a prophet among our nation of Israel.

And so he says, listen, you remember what God said to our forefathers, number one, the prophets, but not only the prophets. Because immediately he's saying to them the commandments of us, the apostles of our Lord and Savior. And the apostles here is speaking about himself, Shimon Petrus, Paul, Shaul, and all these early apostles whom the Lord sent them to become a messenger, a shlichim, we say in Hebrew, messengers of the gospel, to share with the world concerning the things of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. Now, some things, for example, that the prophets and apostles spoke about in the context here is the second coming of the Lord.

You know, many of the Hebrew writers, Old Testament, as well as the Old Testament, wrote about the second coming. Look at us, you and I live in the year 2013. Since the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, was here, we can say there are nearly 2,000 years have passed by. Since the Messiah came, he was born and lived and died and rose again, nearly 2,000 years have passed by. And one might say, well, look at this, how long time is it since the Messiah was here on earth, and time passes by, and will he really come again? Will the promises that we have had in the scripture will truly come to pass?

Well, the apostle Shimon Petrus is saying to them, listen, brethren, you know, you have to be mindful of the words which were spoken to us by the holy prophets. And again, because they were Jewish believers, they knew the prophets. They knew what the writers have written in the past concerning the second coming of the Messiah. In fact, one of the verses that we can point out here concerning the promises of the coming of the Messiah is the very chapter that we have just read in the second psalm. The second psalm was written to us by David, and David was speaking prophetically about the coming of the Messiah.

He says, why do the heathen rage? And the people imagine vain things. The king of the earth set themselves and the rulers to counsel together against Jehovah and against his Mashiach, his anointed. And they said, let us break their bends asunder and cast away their cords from us. And here, listen to the voice of God, the father who said to them, he that sit us in heaven shall laugh at them. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and he will wax them in his sore displeasure. And he said, yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion, of Zion.

As far as God the father is concerned, he said, I have set already my king. This is speaking about the Messiah, Yeshua, upon my holy hill of Zion. Zion is the city of Jerusalem. As far as God's concerned, beloved brothers and sisters, God had promised that the Messiah will return and establish the Messianic kingdom. And those promises was given to us by our fathers, by the prophets. And David was one of those prophets that have spoken concerning the second coming of the Messiah. The holy prophets that spoke by the word of the Lord concerning the second coming of the Messiah. There are many verses that I can read from the Tanakh, from the Old Testament.

But perhaps I should at least read one or two verses from the prophets themselves concerning the coming of the Messiah. If you turn with me for a moment to the book of Isaiah, and I want you to notice what Isaiah has said concerning the second coming of the Messiah. In chapter 2, he's saying in verse 1, the word of Isaiah, the son of Amotz, that he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Verse 2. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all the nations shall flow unto it.

And many people shall go and say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, of Jacob. And he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his path. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. This is speaking about the returning of the Messiah in the second coming, when he is seeing here as the one that established the Messianic kingdom. And the nations of the world will gather, and they will come to the city of Jerusalem. And they're going to say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.

Many verses that we can look from the Tanakh, from the Old Testament, concerning the promises that have been given to us by the prophets of the second coming of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. Other verses we can read, and I'm not going to read them right now. But listen, beloved brothers and sisters, not only that the Old Testament prophets have written concerning the second coming, but what about the apostles themselves? Because he says here in verse 2, the commandments of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. Not only that the Hebrew prophets of old have spoken in the olden time before the coming of the Messiah, but also the apostles, including Paul and Peter and other apostles who wrote concerning the second coming of the Messiah.

Let me just point to you just one or two verses. If you turn back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, listen to these verses in verse 1. But the time and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourself know perfectly that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. For when they shall say shalom, peace and safety, then sudden destruction will come upon them as travail upon a woman with a child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. You are children of God. You know the fact that the Messiah will come in his second coming, and the Lord will not come as a thief here.

That day will come to us because we know the promises that have been given to us through the prophets of old, but also through the apostles themselves, the shlichim that the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, have sent into this world. Many other verses that I can give you: 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, verses 6 to 10, Revelation chapter 6 to 19. There are many, many verses that speak about the coming of the Messiah in his second coming, especially Revelation chapter 19, when he is coming with the heavenly company, the church, to rule and to reign over this world and to judge this world in righteousness. Now he is saying to them, "Listen, brethren, remember what you have heard already through the prophets, and what you have heard already through the apostles of our Lord and of our Savior." And then he is moving on in this first part of this chapter.

He is saying, "Listen, here is why I told you, and I challenge you, and I stir you up to remember." Here is the reason. The reason is because there will be a rising of mockers in the last days. And look, it says here in verse 3, "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts." Verse 4, "And they say, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." Now, I want you to notice here, first of all, he says in verse 3, "First of all, or knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days." Now, wait a minute, Peter, what do you mean in the last day, you and I might say to Shimon Petrus?

Because when he wrote this letter to these Jewish brethren, we are talking about 66 AD or so, approximately, sometime there. We are now in about 2013, we are talking nearly 2000 years since Peter wrote this letter. So, in other words, if Peter was writing already then to those early Hebrew Christians about the coming of the scoffers, some 2000 years ago, what do you think you and I, today, should think about and should understand? If then he was anticipating the coming of the mockers, you and I, already by now, have those mockers and scoffers exist today in the professing church of the living God throughout the world. There are those who are mocking and scoffing the people of God and the promises of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah.

The Messiah, you know, when Jude wrote, which is about the same time that Peter wrote, the mockers already came. Because he said in verse 18 of Jude, how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves sensual, having not the spirit. By the time that Jude, Judah wrote, those mockers already have arrived. And they were already in the midst of the professing church of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. Now, those mockers, those scoffers, as he called them here, they were walking after their own lusts. In other words, they were really not intended to follow the Lord, to stand on the promises of God.

What they really wanted to do, in a sense, is to divert the people of God from following the things that are written in the book, in the Tanakh and in the Brit HaChadasha, in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. They were actually mocking at the things of the Lord and what God had given to us in the word of God. And those scoffers, those mockers, as he called them here in these verses, they will come in the last days. And brothers and sisters, I don't have to tell you that just turn on the radio, television, internet, whatever you want. You just look at this, how many people are today mocking at God's word, mocking at Yeshua, the Messiah, scoffing at the written word of God and at the promises that have been given to God's people, whether it is to Israel or whether it is to the assembly, to the body of Messiah.

They are mocking at Yeshua. They are mocking at Yeshua. You are telling me that the Bible is really the word of God? How can you say that this is an old book? It is not useful anymore. Oh, a long time ago, maybe it was something, you know. But today, we are living in the modern era. We have computers. We have cars. We have airplanes. We have internet. What do we need? This book that you have here in your hand, this is an old fashion. We are modern. You see, we got the truth. We know what is going on. They are so eloquent. They know so many things.

They can get to the moon. But they don't accept the written word of God. And so, Peter is warning those beloved brethren about those scoffers who would rise up in these last days. And by the way, this last days expression, both Shimon Petros and Shaul Paul wrote about those last days. I want you to go back with me to 1 Timothy chapter 4 for a moment. You'll see how Paul and Shimon Petros, they had the mind of the Lord. Both of them were speaking about what will happen in the last days. 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 1. Now the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrine of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with hot iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from each which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

Notice that in 2 Timothy chapter 3 in verse 1. Again, Paul is writing. He says, "This know also that in the last days, perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fears, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, notice the word high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. From such turn away, Paul said to younger Timothy." And Peter says the very same things. "In the last days," he says, "Scoffers will come walking after their own lusts." And what are they going to say?

They say, as it's written here in verse 4, "Where is the promise of his coming?" "Look at this," they say, "For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." You see what they say? "Ah, you know, you religious people who believe in the Bible," he says, "Look at this! Where is the promise of his coming?" "Look, since the fathers fell asleep." Now, here is another reason why we understand that there are lots of Hebraism here. There's a lot of Jewish mannerism and lingo and language. This expression "fathers," to our Jewish people, the word "father" speak to us something of our forefathers, of the Avraham, Yitzhak, Yaakov, and Yahshua, Joshua, and all the fathers of our nation, Israel.

"Since the fathers fell asleep," they are saying, "All things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." "Where is He coming?" "He hasn't come." "Look at this." In other words, they justify themselves to continue on in their own lifestyle, rejection of the person of the Lord and the work of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, by saying, "This is not possible that God's promise will come to pass," because look at this, so many years have passed by. "Our fathers have already have slept," meaning that they die. Of course, the fathers have a reference here to sleeping, meaning that they were believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which will be resurrected in the coming days to be with the Messiah in the future kingdom.

But since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning. Now, we know very well, brothers and sisters, that you and I are not different in many ways because things do not seem to be happening immediately. We kind of get lax. We say, "You know what? After all, life is going on. We don't need to be stirred up to follow the Lord. We don't need so much to be urgent about sharing the Gospel. We don't need so much to be urgent about to minister to the people of God." Because, you know, time is passing by, nothing really happened, and things are just carrying on as it was in the past.

We are not different in many ways unless the Lord speaks to our hearts and awaken up as Peter is seeking to do it to his own brethren to whom he wrote. Because he knew that they needed to be stirred in their pure mind to remember what God said in his word. Through the Hebrew prophets to the early apostles, he spoke with them concerning the second coming of the Messiah. Now, I want you to see a few things here about the second coming of the Messiah that are mentioned in the Old Testament once again. because he is saying, "Where is the promise of his coming?" You know, God promised that he is going to come back and restore Israel and establish a messianic kingdom.

One of the verses that I really enjoyed reading was in the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 30, in verse 3, I read it in the Hebrew text, and it's really encouraging to see that already then, before even Israel entered into the promised land, he knew what's going to happen to the nation of Israel, how they will be disobeying him and they will be scattered among the nations of the world. And listen to what he said to them. Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 1, "It shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee," this is Israel, "the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee, that thou shall call them to mind among the nations whither the Lord thy God has driven thee, and shall return unto the Lord thy God, and shall obey his voice according to all that I commend thee this day, thou and thy children, and with all thine heart and with all thy soul." And then look at verse 3, "Then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and he," the word "he" should be there, "he will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God have scattered thee." And notice this word here, the Hebrew here, "Vayashav Adonai Elohecha et shvutecha," "And he will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God have scattered thee." In other words, the very same God who had scattered Israel, He is the very same God who will come back and will restore Israel in the second coming of the Messiah Yeshua, He is going to return and establish here these future promises that He had given to the people of God.

Well, in the New Testament, the same thought that we have here concerning the second coming of the Messiah, and I am reading now in Acts chapter 1, I want to mention this verse again. You remember after Jesus had been taken to heaven? It says in Acts chapter 1 and verse 9, "When He had spoken these things," this is Yeshua, "They beheld as He, Yeshua, was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly towards heaven, as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which said unto them, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye here gazing up into heaven?

This same Yeshua, Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner, as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Notice the promise here. "This same Yeshua, which has been taken from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner, as ye have seen Him go into heaven." This is verse 11 of Acts chapter 1. "The same Yeshua, that was rejected by men, died on the cross on a tree, was buried and rose, and now has been ascended into glory." He's going to come again. And notice he says in the same manner, that has a reference to the way that He's going to come, in a supernatural way.

He was carried up to heaven, Acts chapter 1, He will come in the same manner, Revelation chapter 19, from heaven He's going to come down into this earth, as He's going to deal with this world in the coming day. And so, beautifully, the verses that we have before us, of the promises in the Word of God. John, he says, "Beloved," 1 John 3 verse 2, "Now we are the sons of God, and He does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." He's going to appear, He's going to come, even though the scoffers would say, as Peter said here in verse 4, "Where is the promise of His coming?

For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue, as they were from the beginning of the creation." Now, indeed, it is very true that time is passing by, and the return of the Lord seemed to be, He hasn't come yet. You know, many, many believers, Christians, Messiah followers, can tell you this. "Oh, I've heard this from my grandfather, that a Messiah, or that Christ is going to come, but He hasn't come. And then I've heard it also from my father, who told me, that soon the Master is coming, He's going to come very soon." He hasn't come, my father passed away. And I'm now getting up in age, and I'm getting to the time where I need to leave this scene.

And I'm telling you, the Messiah is coming. He said it in His Word. And the promise of the second coming of the Lord had been promised again and again, and believers for 2,000 years in the church history, and for many, many years in Israel's history, waiting for the coming of the Messiah in His second coming. And yet, He hasn't come. There is a song that I love singing in one of the hymn books, that says, "Soon will the Master come." Our times of sorrows and trial will pass away. But we choose to sit at the feet of Yeshua, and as learners to be at His feet, to learn from Him and to grow and to follow after Him.

He is coming soon, even though we do not know when He is coming. But soon will the Master come. Those mockers say, where is the promise of His coming? Everything continues on as it was since the beginning of the creation. And so in verses 1-4, Shimon Petros very graciously, out of love to his brethren, is saying to them, "You, stir up your pure mind. Remember what we have in the Word of God. Don't take it for granted. He is coming." Even though those mockers are challenging you by saying, "Where is the promise of His coming?" Well, in the next verses, Shimon Petros continues, but this time he is showing to them the faithfulness of God's Word.

You know, God is so faithful. We are unfaithful many, many times, but God is faithful to His Word. Heaven and earth will pass away, but His Word remains the same. So now in verses 5, 6 and 7, he is pointing out three things he tells us in these verses. First of all, he is telling that those scoffers are willingly ignorant of the Word of God. Now the word for ignorant, it simply means they are misinformed. They are willingly or willfully, this is what we call self-will, they are willfully ignorant of the Word of God. Look at this. It says in verse 5, "For this they willingly are ignorant of that by the Word of God, the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water." Just let's pause here for a moment.

You know, they are self-willed, and they are not only natural blind, but they are willful blind. In other words, they really say, "I don't believe what the Word of God is saying." Willfully. It is not merely that somebody tricked them and somebody deceived them, but they are willingly ignorant that by the Word of God, the Word of God. Now this is very important. That means when God spoke and gave a word by the Word of God, the heavens and the earth of all are standing out of the water and in the water. What he has a reference here is to the earlier part of creation.

And I made the point to go back to Genesis, the fact that there is a triunity in the Godhead, and God says, "Let us make men in our own image." And use the word "us" quite a few times. But one of the things that I took a note in Genesis chapter 1 in connection with verse 5 here, that in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1 it does say, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." This is the first verse of the Bible. In Hebrew we say, "Bereshit bara Elohim et ha-shamayim ve-et ha-aretz." "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." He created everything. And if you notice in this chapter 1, how many times we have the word "and God said." Do you notice that?

Verse 3, "And God said, let there be light." Verse 6, "And God said, let there be firmament in the midst of the waters." And verse 9, "And God said, let the waters under the heavens gather together into one place." Verse 11, "And God said, let the earth bring forth grass." Verse 14, "And God said, let there be light in the firmament." Verse 20, "And God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly." Verse 24, "And God said, let the earth bring forth the living creatures after their kind." Verse 26, "And God said, let us make men in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the

fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping things that creepeth upon the earth." "And you notice this is so beautiful to hear." "And God said, it's the word of the Lord." "He spoke the world into existence." "God's word." "That means that he simply said a word, and the word have come into existence." "It was the psalmist who said in Psalm 33 and verses 8 and 9, look, listen to what he said." "Let all the earth fear the Lord." "Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him." "For he spake, and it was done." "He commended, and it stood fast." "The word of the

Lord." "This is the word of the Lord." "A time when one of our brothers would read the text from the Bible here from the front." "And at the end he would say, this is the word of God, the word of the Lord." "And you know, it's so precious, beloved brothers and sisters, to read publicly the text of the word of the Lord." "Because it is the word of God." "You know, in the synagogue, in the Bet HaKnesset, when you come every Shabbat meeting, the word of the Lord is being read publicly in the synagogue." "And everyone will listen to what the written word of God is saying." "And Peter is saying about these scoffers in

verse 5." "They are willingly ignorant that by the word of the Lord, the word of God, the heavens of all and the earth of all were standing." "You know, the very fact that we have the heavens where it is right now and the earth where you and I standing upon today and living here." "It is because God spoke and it became." "God spoke a word and he created all that is around us." "It is the word of God." "What God says come to pass." "When God spoke, the creation came to be." "When God spoke, Adam was created." "He created Adam from the ground, from the Adamah." "He created a man and he formed him for

his pleasure." "And here those mockers, they mock at the word of God." "That's what they are saying." "That what God says in his word is not true." "And they don't accept the word of God." "And that's why he's calling them willingly ignorant." "That's what he's calling them." "And again, I want to say ignorant here in the context means they are willingly misinformed." "And you know, when it comes to speaking the creation into being, you and I who believe that Yeshua is the Messiah understand that the Creator who created the world and caused it to come into being is none else but the Lord Jesus the Messiah." "He is the one that created all things." "Many

verses can be brought into the picture here, but I must read at least one." "One of those verses that I love reading is John chapter 1." "John tells us about the Creator God who is the person of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah." "It says in verse 1 of John 1," "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." "And then notice in verse 2," "The same was in the beginning with God." "Verset 3," "All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made which was made." "And that Word became flesh." "In verse 14," "And the Word became flesh." "He became a man." "And He dwelt

among us." "And we beheld His glory." "The glory as of the begotten Son of the Father." "Beautiful verse in John chapter 1." "But you see, the Creator God who spoke the world into existence is none else but the person of our Lord Jesus the Messiah." "Paul said it about Him in Colossians chapter 1." "It says about the Lord, He is the image of the invisible God." "The firstborn of every creature, for by Him all things were created." "Can you imagine, brothers and sisters, Yeshua the Messiah, who was rejected, despised, and had been placed on a cross, on a tree." "And had been placed in a tomb." "Rejected by men, who rose again." "He is the

one that created all things." "He created all things that are in heaven, and that are on earth, visible and invisible." "Whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or power." "All things were created by Him and for Him." "Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 and 16." "It's a beautiful thing to see that the person who is really the Creator God is none else but our Lord Yeshua the Messiah." "We can read about Him in Hebrews chapter 1 as well, as the one that all things were made by Him." "So here, in verse 5, they are willingly ignorant, and they are scoffing at the Word of God." "And they are not realizing that the Word of God,

that the earth and the heavens that they are living on right now." "And they enjoy this earth, and they enjoy the heavens, and the stars, the moon, and the sun, they benefit from that." "And yet they are willingly ignorant that this creation was created by the Word of the Lord." "And then in verse 6, He is saying to them, you know, by the same Word, judgment came upon this world in past history." "Look at this, verse 6." "Whereby that word, the world that then was..." "Notice, He is taking us now back to history." "The world before the flood." "That expression, the world that then was, takes us to the world before the flood." "And it

says in verse 6, that by that word, the world that was then, being overflowed with water, perished." "See, those are scoffers who are willingly ignorant that by the same Word of God, the past world was judged by the spoken Word of God." "When God said that He is going to judge the world in Noah's days, He judged that world." "And if you remember, brothers and sisters, these mockers forget the time that we know from biblical history, that the world that lived at that time, carelessly, were judged by God through the flood." "And you remember how God said to Noah, "Noah, make thee an ark." "And He gave him the instruction about how to make the

ark, the Teva, as we call it in Hebrew." "And Noah worked hard, and he built this ark." "And every time he was nailing nails, if you will, into the ark, and bringing another board, and putting it to form that ark, that Teva." "He was preaching a message to the world around them, and he says, "Judgment is going to come." "The world is getting ready for the judgment of God, and I'm preparing an ark, a place of safety." "But the world laughed at him." "They mocked at him, as we have already read previously in the letter that Peter wrote." "They laughed at him, and they mocked him, until the day of judgment came." "And as it

says here in verse 6, that world was overflowed with water, it perished completely." "Perished totally." "Genesis chapter 7, I want to read these verses there in verse 21." "All the flesh died that moved upon the earth, both the fowl, and the cattle, and the beast, and of every creeping thing, that creepeth upon the earth, and every man, all in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

And every living substance was destroyed, which was upon the face of the ground, both men, and cattle, and creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven, and they were destroyed from the earth. And Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark." Here's the judgment of God. They forget that one time God had already judged this world with the water of the flood. "The judgment came, and men have passed away who rejected the word of the Lord." So, he's looking to the past in verse 6, but now in verse 7, he's looking to the present and the future. In verse 7, he's saying, "By the very same word of God, this heaven and earth of today are kept and are reserved unto the judgment of fire that are going to come in the future day." And so, look at this, beloved brothers and sisters.

He says in verse 7, "But the heavens and the earth which are now." Underline the word now. We are living in the now heaven and earth. The past world have gone. Judgment have come. Now, Noah moved into the new world, and he began to multiply with his sons, Shem, Ham, and Yephet. And you and I are right now in this present world in which we are living on since the time that Noah came after the end of the flood. And look what happened. He's saying to them in verse 7, "That this same earth and this same heaven is now kept," notice at the end of verse 7, "in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." Now, it is interesting how the Bible is so accurate.

It does not say that God will judge this world of today with water anymore, because if you remember in Genesis chapter 9, when Noah came out of the ark, God made what we call the Noahic covenant. And that covenant was that he put this bow in the cloud, and the bow would represent the promise of God, that God will never any longer judge and smite the world by water, no longer. And how God was so faithful. And many times when we see the Keshet, the bow, is a token of God's faithfulness to Noah and to us, that he will never any more destroy the world in the same way that he destroyed it in the time of Noah.

But what we learn here, that even though he is faithful to keep his covenant, not to destroy the world with water, this present world, but he is reserving this world, as it says here in verse 7, "He reserved it unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." And so, beloved brothers and sisters, Peter is saying to the brethren, "Listen, the flood was a way in which God had judged the world in the past, but fire will be the manner in which God will judge the world that is existing right now, because of the ungodly men reject what God says in his word concerning the person and the work of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah." Again, many, many verses that can be brought into the surface here, but there is something that I think I need to make sure that I point this out to you today.

Look for a moment into the book of Job. There is a verse or two that I found out in Job about the manner in which man speaks against God until judgment is coming. Look at Job, chapter 21. Job is speaking now in verse 7. He says, "Why do the wicked live? Become old? Yea, are mighty in power. Their seed is established in their sight with them. Their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear. Neither is the rod of God upon them. Their bull gendereth and faileth not. Their cow calves and casteth not her calf. They send forth their little ones like a flock and their children dance.

They take a timbrel and a harp and rejoice in the sound of the organ. They open their days in wealth and in a moment go down to the grave." In other words, everything seems to continue on. And then it says in verse 14, "Therefore they say unto God, depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways." You know, Job asked many, many questions and he had those three friends by the name of Beldad, Tzophar and Eliphaz who came to him and they were dialogued. They were talking with each other. And Job is really saying to them, "You know, look at the way the wicked live.

Everything seems to go very well. Their seed established. Their offsprings before their eyes. They see a lot of fruit. Their houses are safe. They have all kinds of things." And even they say to the Lord, to God, "Go away from us. Depart from us. We desire not the knowledge of thy ways." So the next chapter, Eliphaz answered him. And you notice what Eliphaz is saying to him in verse 16. "Has thou marked the old ways which the wicked men have trodden, which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflowed with the flood?" See, he is looking back to the day of judgment of the flood.

He says, "Look at this. These wicked, they thought they can carry on, but at the end the flood of God's judgment came upon them." Look at verse 17. "Which said unto God, depart from us, and what can the Almighty do unto them? Yet he filled their houses with good things, but the counsel of the wicked is far from me." See what he is really saying. These wicked who reject the Lord and his word. Everything seems to be prosperous with them and they seem to carry on life as if everything is fine. But Eliphaz, reminding Job, Eov, he said at the end, "which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflowed with a flood." God has in the end judged the wicked one with the flood.

And this is exactly what Peter is saying. God ultimately will have to deal with those who reject his word with the coming day of fire in the future day when the wrath of God will come upon this world. These are verses that are tremendous to read and to think about the ways of God. There are other verses that can be read. What we really have, verses 1 to 4, the sayings of the mockers. Verses 5 to 7, the faithfulness of the word of God. He is going to deal with this world. He judged the world, the then world with the flood. He will judge the present world with the judgment of fire.

And that is yet to come in the tribulation period where the judgment of God is going to come. Now let's go back to 2 Peter 3 and let's look at the last three verses that we read here in verses 8, 9, and 10. And here we see why God haven't judged this world already a long time ago. And it's so beautiful. Here we see the long sufferings of God towards us, towards mankind. Peter is saying to them again, he calls them beloved. You notice that? This is the second time in this chapter he is calling them beloved. He says in verse 8, Beloved, do not be ignorant of God's ways and God's time.

But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing. That one day is with the Lord as a thousand years. And a thousand years is as one day. Now what he is really saying here, notice he used the word ignorant. In verse 5, he said about them that they are willingly ignorant. But to the beloved brothers and sisters that he wrote to, and you and I, he says, listen beloved, you don't be like them, willingly ignorant. You be informed. Read your Bible. Read the word of God. Recognize what God said. But understand, he is saying to this ahuvim, to this beloved, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years.

And a thousand years is as one day. In other words, what to you and I seems to be so long, as far as God is concerned. It's short. It's a moment. And what for you and I that we want to have very quick to happen. And one day with the Lord is just like a thousand years long time. In other words, what to you and I seems to be so long, as far as God is concerned. It's short. It's a moment. And what for you and I that we want to have very quick to happen. And one day with the Lord is just like a thousand years long time.

In other words, the important to understand is to wait on the Lord for his timing, for his schedule. Because one day with the Lord is as a thousand years. And a thousand years is as one day. In other words, the Lord's schedule and timing is not the way that you and I would work and plan. There are verses, for example, Isaiah 55, that says, As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways. And my thoughts are higher than your thoughts. God manners and God's schedule and timings are not the way that you and I would look at things. And so he's saying to them, don't be ignorant.

Recognize that God's timing are not the same as your timing. The mistake that people make, and I'm sure we are making that mistake many times. And Shlomo, the king of Israel, said this many years ago when he wrote the book of Kohelet, the book of Ecclesiastics. He says, because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Because God does not judge immediately, then men continuing to do his own evil way and to continue to carry on in his own behavior. That's what Solomon is saying to the people of Israel.

And you and I can really apply this to ourselves. He says, listen, God's timing is not your timing. God's schedule is not your schedule. Secondly, in verse nine, now he's saying that the Lord is not slack concerning his promise. In verse nine, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise. As some men count slackness, but he's long suffering towards us. Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This is a beautiful verse for us to get into our hearts that the Lord is long suffering towards us. You know, brothers and sisters, imagine for a moment that you have come to faith 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 50 years ago.

Imagine if the Lord would have come again before you became a believer. Imagine what would have happened to you and I. If the Messiah would have come to this world again before I became a believer some 35 years ago. Where would I be today? I was a Jewish man, a Jewish man, but lost without hope, without future, without sins forgiven. And so he was long suffering. You know, this is a beautiful expression, bearing with the human race, waiting on the human race and suffering long, seeing the way men behave in this world. God is waiting and suffering long with the behavior of the human race. I remember when I was a young boy and I said this to you before, when my grandfather was taking me to the synagogue in Jerusalem, they used to sing that song in the book of Exodus, chapter 34.

Beautiful song. Beautiful song. All these bearded men were standing there in the synagogue, opening this, what you call the shiron, the song book that they have had. And many of them is text from the Bible. And they were singing the songs of God's long suffering. What Moses had said in Exodus, chapter 34, how Moses was singing to the Lord. And I think it was six, where it says, the Lord passed before him. And he proclaimed the Lord, the Lord, God, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and in truth, keeping mercy for thousands and forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. Look how beautiful. What a song.

The Lord, the Lord, God is merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and in truth. You know, that's the way God is. He's so gracious. He's so long suffering. And he loved mankind and he waiting longer before the judgment was going to come upon the face of this world. That's what Peter is saying. The Lord is long suffering towards mankind. Secondly, notice that in the same verse, verse nine, he is not willing that anyone will perish. Notice this again in verse nine, not willing that any, any should perish. Now, how many people leave this world perished without faith in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah?

And he doesn't want anybody to be perishing, to die without the Messiah, without Christ. Yeshua said in Matthew chapter 11, come unto me, all ye that are labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He's opening his hands to the human race. And he says, come to me, he's inviting the human race because God is not willing that any should perish. That's what Peter is saying to us here in verse nine. He's not willing that anyone would perish. Paul said it in first Timothy chapter two and verse four, very similar. He said, who will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

First Timothy two and verse four, God want everybody to be saved and not lost. And if a person is not saved, he's lost or she's lost. And there is a need of turning our hearts to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, because the only way of salvation is through him. And he's not willing that any should perish. But look at thirdly, what he says in the same verse, verse nine. The third thing is God is waiting for people to repent. Notice it says here, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Now, if there is no repentance, how can one get saved?

Repentance is essential. To repent is to really take side with God against myself. To say, God, I confess my sin and sins before you. I have sinned before you. I need forgiveness. And I accept Yeshua, Jesus, our Lord and our Messiah, as my Lord and my Savior. In our class, we just said, in Romans chapter 10, verses 9 and 10. If thou shall confess with your mouth, Yeshua is Lord, and believe with your heart that God had raised him from the dead, and you shall be saved. In other words, salvation comes out of believing in the Messiah, confessing our sins, and accepting our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah. So, the Lord is long-suffering.

The Lord is not willing that any should perish. The Lord is waiting for mankind to repent. But now, here is the final verse for today. In verse 10, he says, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall mend with a fervent heat. The earth also, and all the works that are therein, shall be burned up. Now, this expression, the day of the Lord, is a Hebraic expression mentioned all the time in the Tanakh, in the Old Testament. In Hebrew, it's called Yom Yehovah, Yom Adonai, the day of Jehovah, the day where God is going to judge this world in righteousness.

And you will look back in the Old Testament, you will find out every time it has a reference to the day of the Lord. It has a reference to the tribulation period. It has a reference to the time of judgment. It has a reference to a fearful time. Many, many verses I have, I'm not going to be able to read them all, but I'm just going to at least give them. Isaiah chapter 2, verses 12 to 18. Isaiah 13, verses 9 to 11. Isaiah 24, verses 19 and 20. Isaiah 34, verses 1 to 4. Specifically, Tsephaniah, chapter 1, verses 14 to 18. And also, in Revelation chapter 8, verses 7 and 10. And also, Matthew, the Lord Himself, talking about the tribulation. A day such as never have been before since the foundation of this world.

Terrible day that will come upon the face of this world. But I'm going to read just one text from the Old Testament. Tsephaniah, chapter 1, verse 14. For the great day of the Lord is near. It is near and is hastening greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord. The mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath. A day of trouble and distress. A day of wasteness and desolation. A day of darkness and gloominess. A day of clouds and of thick darkness. A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fence city and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men.

And they shall walk like blind men. Because they have sinned against the Lord. And their blood shall be poured out as dust. And the flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath. But the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy. And he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land. This is speaking to us of the tribulation period of time. The Sarat Yaakov mentioned in Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse 7. What a terrible time will come. But he is saying to them in verse 10.

This day will come as a thief in the night. A thief comes at night when you don't expect him. But for the believer he is not coming as a thief in the night. Because you and I who are believers in Yeshua the Messiah. And everyone that ever trusted in him. For us he is not coming as a thief in the night. For the believer we are in anticipation. Or ought to be anticipating the coming of the Lord. But for the unbelieving world he is going to come suddenly as a thief in the night. And as it says here. He said at the end of verse 10.

That the heavens shall pass away with great noise. And the elements shall melt with fervent heat. And the earth also. And the works that therein shall be burned up. When you have time. Read the Revelation chapter 8. Especially verses 7, 8, 9, and 10. And you will see how many times the word fire and burning is mentioned there. In connection with the judgment during the tribulation period. That will fall upon the inhabitants of this world. Well, brothers and sisters. Peter, Shimon Petos. Is really stirring up the early believers. And you and I as well. A pure mind. Not to listen to the voice of those mockers. Who say where is the promise of his coming.

But to listen to the prophets. To listen to the apostles. To listen to the word of God. Which never change. And remain true. Because what God said. It is indeed the word of God. Bless us. And help us. To continue following after him. Until his soon return.