Here it will be observed the punishment of "high ones on high" ("the powers in the

heavens" that are to be shaken," Matt. 24: 29) is connected with judgment falling upon

the earth. In Isa. 34: 11 we meet tohu and bohu again in a context of judgment, "the

line of confusion and the stones of emptiness." This judgment is likewise connected with

judgment in the heavens. Verse 4 says:--

Allusion to the tokens of judgment that followed Adam's sin is found in verse 13 in

the words, "thorns, nettles, and brambles." Burning pitch and brimstone indicate Sodom

and Gomorrha as further types. Verse 4 already referred to makes us think of II Pet. 3:

and Rev. 6: 14. In II Pet. 3: 10 we are told that "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

again in verse 12, "the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved." This third chapter from

verse 3 to verse 13 is entirely occupied with lessons drawn from the heavens and the

earth, past, present, and future. These verses correspond in the structure of the epistle to

chapter 2: 1-22. In chapter 2: the flood in the days of Noah, and the destruction of

Gomorrha in the days of Lot, are instanced as examples of future judgment. A still

earlier judgment is referred to in the third chapter. Verse 4 takes us back to "the

beginning of the creation"--clearly Gen. 1: 1; verses 5 and 6 speak of this beginning

under the terms:--

The then world refers to the complete order of things connected with the heavens and

earth of verse 5. It is evident that the world that then was refers to the order of things

pertaining to the first heavens and earth, because the parallel to the world that then was is

the heavens and earth which are now, which came into being in Genesis 1: and 2: The

types of both are found in II Pet. 2:, as already mentioned. The flood of the days of

Noah did not destroy the heavens and the earth, neither did the fire in the days of Lot, but

they both set forth in type the judgment and time of the end. It is evident that a close

parallel is instituted between the judgment on the first heavens and earth, and that on the

second. The one by the word of God is destroyed by water; the other is to be destroyed

by fire. The darkness which was upon the face of the deep (the waters whereby the then

world perished) is another token of judgment. II Pet. 2: 4 and Jude 6 speak of darkness

in connection with the judgment of the angels that sinned. Darkness was one of the

plagues of Egypt, even as it will be in the days to come upon a greater Pharaoh

(Exod. 10: 21, 22 and Joel 2: 2, 3). What we learn from the Scripture leads us to see that

into the creation of the beginning sin entered, and in its train came confusion, vanity, and

darkness. Man was as then uncreated. Angels and spirit beings there were, and angels

sinned and fell.  The tempter of Eve was already a fallen one before Adam's

transgression. There is a deeply important lesson to be learned by considering how little

is told us in this part of Scripture (indeed in any part of Scripture) regarding the primal

creation and primal sin. It is possible that the six days' creation is very much more

limited in scope than that of Gen. 1: 1, yet it is set out in detail.