2 Peter 3:10

The phrase "day of the Lord" refers to a specific time yet future, as elsewhere in Scripture. This "day" will begin when Antichrist makes a covenant with Israel, and it will conclude with the burning up of the present heavens and earth (Daniel 9:27; 2 Peter 3:12; et al.). Some ancient manuscripts read "the earth and its works will be laid bare [Gr. eurethesetai]." This could mean that the earth and its works will be exposed for what they really are. "Its works" probably refers to all that has been done on earth that has only temporal value (e.g., buildings, etc.). This day will come as a thief in that its beginning will take those unbelievers living on the earth then (after the Rapture) by surprise (Matthew 24:37-39; Matthew 24:43-44; Luke 12:39-40; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; Revelation 3:3; Revelation 16:15). The term "heavens" probably refers to the earth’s atmosphere and the "second heaven" in which the stars and the planets exist, not God’s abode (the "third heaven"). The "elements" (Gr. stoicheia) apparently refer to the material building blocks of physical things (i.e., the atoms, molecules, and larger masses that are foundational to still larger things). Other views are that they are the heavenly bodies or the angelic powers.

After the Flood, God told Noah, "I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (Genesis 8:21-22). He meant that He would not do so with another flood. He went on to say, "All flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth" (Genesis 9:11 b; cf. 2 Peter 3:15). Peter’s announcement of a worldwide judgment by fire does not, therefore, contradict God’s promise in the Noahic Covenant.

When in the "day of the Lord" will this conflagration take place? Some believe it will happen at the beginning of the millennial kingdom. [Note: E.g., George N. H. Peters, The Theocratic Kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 2:504-9.] Of these some believe this destruction will be only a limited renovation of the earth. [Note: E.g., Robert D. Culver, Daniel and the Latter Days, p. 188; and Walter Scott, Exposition of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, p. 418.] It seems more likely however that this holocaust will take place at the end of the Millennium and will result in the destruction of the universe as we know it (Revelation 21:1; cf. Matthew 5:18; Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 16:17; Luke 21:33). [Note: For answers to the arguments of Peters and Culver, see R. Larry Overstreet, "A Study of 2 Peter 3:10-13," Bibliotheca Sacra 137:548 (October-December 1980):358-68.]

"Peter clearly opposes those Christians who insisted that Christ had to return within a certain short period of time after his resurrection. But he by no means opposes the idea of imminence itself." [Note: Moo, p. 189.]

"Only the book of Revelation in the New Testament speaks so directly about the cosmic effects of the day of the Lord." [Note: Carson and Moo, p. 666.]