The culture was coarse, corrupt and full of violence. “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain…The earth was corrupt and full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.”
The same could be said about our culture. We live in a coarse and corrosive culture with pressure on us to be the same with each other – to be violent with each other. But we are to live in harmony – various parts but not unison.
We are to persevere in sympathy and love and not give in to cynicism or disillusionment.
We are not to trade insult for insult. What would that do to our conversations about politics or the shows we watch and listen to?
We are not to be deceptive in our speech. People should not need fact checkers when dealing with us. We should not engage in spin or forwarding information we know to be false or only partially true.
All these things are normal for the world and always will be but not for us. These are the natural characteristics of lives controlled by fear – and those fears infect everything.
2. The early church and the Roman Empire were familiar with the word Peter uses here for “eager” as it is the same word used to describe the violent revolutionary movement known as the Zealots. They were Jewish terrorists who were hyper-religious and patriotic. They opposed the Roman occupation of Israel. Their purpose was to incite people into rebelling against the Roman Empire and expelling it from Palestine by force. They refused to pay tribute to the Romans because it was a violation of the principle that God was the only king of Israel. They also expressed their dislike of Roman rule by violently targeting Romans and Greeks.
What is Peter saying here? If you are going to be a zealot then be a zealot for doing good. In fact, the real revolution is not that of violence but the revolution of kindness. Do you remember the account of Peter and John in Acts healing the crippled beggar at the door to the Temple? Later, Peter does not describe this as a miracle. He calls it an act of kindness. You could say that simple kindness then – and now – is almost a miracle in itself. It still confuses, amazes and creates criticism. We are not expected to do miracles or even great deeds but only acts of kindness in the name of Jesus. But even that simple act lands them in jail for the night. Kindness disrupts things. It unsettles the way things are and threatens people with vested interests.
3. Do not fear what they fear.
Peter is quoting Isaiah 8:12. “Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.”
Every age has a particular set of fears. What are ours?
It can be as simple as what people call FOMO or the Fear of Missing Out. “Missing out? But on what? On what other people are doing. They’re having exciting experiences that you’re not. They attended the hottest concert in town and you didn’t. Their kids have been accepted into Ivy League schools and yours weren’t. And the beat goes on, and on, and on.”
It’s interesting to look at a list of the top ten fears of Americans today. It’s different from the fear of bugs, snakes, heights and public speaking. Here is what they are:
Top Ten Fears
Corruption and Conspiracy of Government Officials
Cyber-terrorism
Corporate Tracking of Personal Information
Terrorist Attacks
Government Tracking of Personal Information
Bio-Warfare
Identity Theft
Economic Collapse
Running of out Money in the Future
Credit Card Fraud
Top three categories
Fear of Government
Fear of Technology
Fear of Disasters
If you want to make movies or write books that sell you focus on a combination of those three fears. The power of manipulating fear is what drives political campaigns, media and financial markets. It’s fundamental and that is why Peter says we are to live in such a way that we are not manipulated in the same way the world is.
Christians were the only ones unafraid of death when two major plagues swept the Roman Empire. The first plague wiped out almost a third of the population of the empire. The Christian Dionysius wrote: “Most of our brother Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty; never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ, and with them departed this life serenely happy; for they were infected by others with the disease, drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors and cheerfully accepting their pains. Many, in nursing and caring for others, transferred their death to themselves and died in their stead…. The best of our brothers lost their lives in this manner, a number of presbyters, deacons, and laymen winning high commendation so that death in this form, the result of great piety and strong faith, seems in every way the equal of martyrdom. Large numbers of pagans, including rulers, priests and physicians, having no hope or anchor for their souls, fled to get away from the plague. They left their sick behind, alone, without care or the basic necessities of life. The Christians, as a whole, tended to remain and care for their loved ones, and for each other. In many cases the love of God in them stretched far enough to also enter the houses of the pagans and care for their sick as well.”
The Christians did not fear death or dying and that changed the course of history. If resurrection is true then there is a life after death and if that is true then what we do in this life matters. There will be judgment and we will be accountable. Many in the Roman Empire and even many Jews had no belief in life after death. There was only this life and no more. There was nothing miraculous or supernatural. There was nothing worth dying for.
What do you do with people who are not afraid of death? They are not suicidal but they have resolved the issue of dying for something. They have accepted the consequences. These people are dangerous.
4. Always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in you.
Always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in you…and why you live in peace.
Not encyclopedic knowledge. Howard Hendricks says seminary graduates are prepared to answer every question no one will ever ask.
It’s a response to a legitimate question. Likely, the one asking is the one who has caused the suffering. That is why the answer is to be gentle and respectful. Be ready to tell threatening unbelievers why you live in peace and with hope. Not to intimidate them. Not winning a debate. It’s not a new form of boxing. We’ll put up our intellectual against yours. Christopher Hitchens and Christian apologists. It became a predictable show.
Almost always in Peter and the letters of Paul, the answer to the outside world is not academic or arguments but the witness of a good life and good deeds – not a crusade to be won. The question is why do you have hope in the face of fear – not give me proof for the existence of God.
5. Did Christ preach in Hell?
Where did he go? What are the options and what do they mean?
Hell – the place of eternal punishment and separation from God. There is no hell until the day of judgement and then it is irrevocable.
Hades – the place of the dead. He really was dead and under the control of death. He was not alive in any way. He was not pretending to be dead.
Tartarus – the prison for fallen angels and demons. This is most likely what Peter is writing about. 2 Peter 2:4: “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to tartarus, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgement;”
What did he do?
He preached. The word here is kerussein and not euvangelesein. The word used means to make an announcement but not to share the good news or preach the gospel. It means he announced the victory over sin and death.
To whom did he preach and announce the victory?
Old Testament righteous? No, the text limits the audience to a few who disobeyed in an extraordinary way.
Sinners from all of prior history? No, if he preached to all then the text would not limit it to a few.
Fallen angels? Yes, those spirits in prison for disobedience. Those who were celebrating his death. He announced triumph to those who thought his suffering was their victory. The same who are mentioned in Genesis 6:1-4. The fallen angels who are the sources of the great corruption and violence that infected the whole world. They are not bad people but spirits beyond redemption.
Human beings are never referred to as spirits in Scripture. You have a spirit but you are not a spirit. Spirits are angels or demons.
Conclusion: Christ did not go to the dead to offer a second chance but to announce victory to the powers and authorities of evil. He did not descend into Hell to preach the gospel of repentance. He went to the prison headquarters of evil to share the bad news of his victory over death.
6. Peter has a special fondness for the image of Noah and sees us as having the same circumstances in many ways with the world around us. It is a world that is coarse and corrupt and controlled by fear.
Our work in this world is the same as his: to be the “preacher of righteousness” in the same way. (2 Peter 2:5). “While it did serve to rescue Noah and his family…it’s main purpose was to serve as a sermon. It was the spirit of Christ preaching through Noah.”
How did he preach righteousness? By building the ark. His obedience was his sermon. He was building the first symbol of the church – God’s provision of hope. That was the answer to the despair of a culture living in fear and violence. In the same way, we are Noah in this generation with a seemingly foolish assignment – to suffer for doing good, to have hope and not give in to the wickedness that surrounds us. What overcomes evil? The very thing evil sees as weakness – the ability to suffer. The ability to build hope in the midst of corruption and violence. The ability to obey and to endure. How do we answer an ignorant world? Good deeds and perseverance. By continuing to build.
That was Peter’s message to the little community of persecuted and suffering believers – just keep building in spite of ridicule, opposition and discouragement. The church is the only hope in a corrupted and violent world controlled by fear.