the Flood in the days of Noah. This they could have known, and with its neglect they

could be charged. Lanthano, the word translated `ignorant' in II Pet. 3: 5 A.V. occurs

again in verse 8 "Be not ignorant of this one thing". This fact must not be ignored by

ourselves, as it is evident that such a recurrence indicates a structural feature, and is of

consequence to true interpretation. The word lanthano seems to demand an English

equivalent that lies somewhere between the `ignorance' of the A.V. and the `forgetting'

of the R.V., and Moffatt seems to have chosen wisely here, for he renders the word in

both passages `ignore'. Ignorance of any fact modifies the culpability of a person;

forgetfulness, while serious, nevertheless modifies the guilt of an act, but to `wilfully

ignore' leaves no such margin of excuse, and that is the thought here. Without making

too great a diversion by dealing with the structure of II Pet. 3: 1-13 as a whole, it will

be sufficient for our present purpose to confine ourselves to verses 4-9.

A | 4. The Promise. Where is this promised Advent?

False argument derived from misconception as to time.

B | 5-7. They willfully ignore. |

a | Heavens of old and Earth  \

b | The Word

\  Water

c | The World

/

d | Perished

/

a | Present Heaven and Earth

\

b | Same Word

\  Fire

c | Ungodly Men

/

d | Destruction

/

B | 8. Do you not ignore. The argument concerning relative time.

A | 9. The Promise. The apparent "slowness" of the Lord

must not be misconstrued as "slackness".

The day of the Lord will come.

God does not hold men accountable where knowledge is unattainable. Knowledge

concerning things that happened during the primal creation of Gen. 1: 1 could not be

`ignored' by anyone, because no details are given in the revealed Word. These men,

however, could, and evidently did, willfully ignore the testimony of Gen. 1: 3-8, and so

were without excuse.

The reference to `the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished'

must either refer to the chaos of Gen. 1: 2 and must exclude the Flood in the days of

Noah, or it must refer to the Flood and exclude Gen. 1: 2; it cannot refer to both. We

have positive evidence that Peter makes reference to the Deluge of Noah's day as part of

his teaching and while this does nor prove anything so far as II Pet. 3: 6 is concerned, it

is a weight in the scale. We must continue our study of the terms used by Peter.

"The heavens were of old." Do these words refer to the primal creation of Gen. 1: 1?

Or do they refer to the creation of the world Adam and his race? Ekpalai occurs in but

one other passage in the N.T. namely in II Pet. 2: 3: