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THE DAY OF THE LORD.
"But the Day of the Lord will come;
it will come, unexpected as a thief. On that day, the heavens will disappear"
"and the elements*
will be dissolved with fire, and
the earth and the works that are upon it" "will be laid
bare."
(From 2 Peter 3:10 NEB &
RSV).
WHAT ARE THE "WORKS" THAT WILL BE "LAID BARE" ?
The elements*
(Greek: στοιχεΐα) earth, water, air and fire were thought by the ancients
to be the foundation of the natural world. They also believed there existed
elemental spirits that presided over these four elements, who lived in and ruled
them. That is why the apostle Paul admonished: "Be on your guard; do not
let your minds be captured by hollow and delusive speculations, based on
traditions of man made teaching
and
centred on the elemental spirits
(στοιχεΐα) of the universe (elementary ideas belonging to this
world) and not on Christ." (Col 2:8 NEB & footnote). The
"works"
that will be "laid bare"
and "burned up"
on the Day of the Lord are the man-made teachings and traditions of the unGodly.
How? By the Spirit "fire" of the Lord's
Judgement, as it is
written: "The heavens and the earth that are now are stored up for
fire and are being reserved to the day of Judgement and of destruction of
the unGodly men." (2 Peter 3:7). "For no man can lay any other foundation than what is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones,
wood materials, hay, stubble, each one's work will become manifest, for
the day will show it up, because it will be revealed by means of fire;
and the fire itself will prove what sort of work each one's is. If anyone's work
that he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward; if anyone's work is
burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved; yet if so,
it will be as through fire." (1 Cor 3:11-15).
HOW WILL THE "ELEMENTS"*
BE "DISSOLVED WITH FIRE"?
To state that "he himself will be
saved; yet if so, it will be as through fire" indicates that
the "fire" is not literal flame, but is a spirit test of
earth's inhabitants. "For see, the Lord is coming in fire, with his
chariots like a whirlwind, to strike home with His furious anger and with the
flaming fire of His reproof. The Lord will judge by fire, with fire He
will test all living men, and many will be slain by
the Lord". (Isaiah 66:15,16 NEB). The teaching
of Peter's second letter is that those who have advance
knowledge of the
"Day of the
Lord" must do their utmost to be found by Him
"spotless
and unblemished and in peace"
and not be led away with law-defying people. (2 Peter 3:10-18 & 1:1,2).
For the new
heavens and new earth that we are awaiting according to His
promise in which righteousness is to dwell,
serves to indicate that this Spirit
"fire" is the means by which
Jehovah will begin the creation of His "new earth".
Peter also
said: "For you know this first, that in the last days there will come
ridiculers with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires and
saying: 'Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our
forefathers fell asleep [in death], all things are continuing exactly as from
creation's beginning." (2 Peter 3:3,4). Those who
do not attain to repentance will be destroyed. Have you attained to repentance?
(2 Peter 3:9).
Do you have "advance knowledge"
for your earthly protection to enter God's new heavens and new earth?
FURTHER EXPLANATION OF 2 PETER 3:10.
For many, the coming of the "Day of the Lord"
will be unexpected as a thief, when He comes to take away the lives of
"law-defying" people from households of those that have proved
disobedient to God during His patience and considered slowness in coming. (2
Peter 3:9,17). Knowledge of the actual "day and hour"
we do not and will not have. But for the "sort of watch"
and "sort of day" when
"one is being taken along"
or "is being let go off"
read Matthew 24:36-43 of the Greek Interlinear Translation, and be
"proving yourselves ready"
in obedience to the Spirit refinements set out on
Pages 777 to 864D of The Opened "Little Scroll".
Because Noah
was a preacher of righteousness and found favour in the eyes of God, physical safety
was provided for him and his family during the destruction of the earth when it
was deluged with water. We also know, by world events, that we are in the
"sort of watch" when the
"thief"
is likely to come. Only acceptable baptisms in The Christ's name correspond to a
place of spiritual safety, but not baptisms in
disobedience for the sake of being dead ones. (1 Peter 3:21. 1 Cor 15:28,29). Noah and his family were
"taken along"
and the rest of mankind was "let
go off":
Abandoned. For the salvation of those
"being taken along" knowledge
is now being made known. (Rev 10:8-11).
The Lord
Jehovah is putting "hooks" in the
"jaws" of satan
and turning him around in open confrontation as to the spirit aspect of mankind
under satan's rule at the end of this system of things. (Ezek 38:1-6)
(Zech 5:1-4).
In the "day" that Gog comes in upon the
"soil of Israel",
Jehovah will speak in the "fire" of His fury and will war against those warring against His Holy City spiritual
"Jerusalem". (Zech 14:12-16). Jehovah furnishes only
the appointed "day" when satan's reign will be destroyed.
(Ezek 38:18-20) (Dan 7:26,27). We are witnessing the
unfolding of events according to the wrath of God upon all that war against
spiritual "Israel". (Rev 17:16-18. See Dan 8:19 &
11:44,45).
30/1/80.
Revised 7/2/08.
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