will pass away with a rushing noise, and the elements be dissolved with burning heat, and earth and the actions in it will be burnt up. All these, then, being dissolved, what kind of people must you be in holy behavior and godly acts? [The kind who are] waiting for and hastening the [coming] presence of the Day of God (by which the heavens, being on fire, will be dissolved, and the elements will melt with burning heat). And we wait for new heavens and a new earth according to His promise in which righteousness will live. —Keifa Beit (2 Peter) 3:8-13
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s the world around us appears to be spiraling faster and deeper into darkness, there is a feeling that the end of the world is rapidly approaching—that time is winding down, and God must be close to putting a stop to it all. But what if it’s not that simple? What if it’s not just a matter of waiting on God to exact His vengeance, bringing about the inevitable end of an increasingly degenerate world? On the contrary, according to Keifa (Peter), it is not the preponderance of evil that speeds us closer to the Last Days, but the holy behavior and godly actions of the righteous—the followers of Messiah. It has been nearly two thousand years since Yeshua appeared to us, leaving His disciples with an expectation for the End of Days and His soon return. So why are we still here? Why does God delay in bringing His followers to Himself, and endure the fallen creation that rejects His evident existence? Because He is patient toward us, not wanting any to be destroyed, but all to yield to reformation. Despite the world’s corruption and perversion, God is doing all He can to fulfill His promise to His children by demonstrating His extreme, supreme patience. Though He most certainly will destroy and punish those who oppose (or ignore) Him, destruction is not what He
wants. Surely, the Day of the LORD will come without warning as a thief in the night; nevertheless, He is delaying its arrival as long as He can. But the Creator of the universe is not the only One who is waiting. We, the followers of Yeshua, also wait for new heavens and a new earth according to His promise in which righteousness will live. So, on the one hand, God is patiently and faithfully holding back the world’s inevitable end. Yet on the other hand, we who long to be eternally with our Master—free from the evil and unrighteousness of this world—eagerly welcome His coming . . . swiftly and soon. How, then, will this tension be resolved? What is our responsibility as Yeshua’s representatives to a fallen creation? Keifa gives us the decisive answer: [You must] be in holy behavior and godly acts . . . waiting for and hastening the [coming] presence of the Day of God. This simple yet profound truth ought to come as a stinging slap across the face: the manner in which we live our daily lives as disciples of Messiah hastens the Day of the Master’s return! Though we must patiently wait for God to eventually fulfill His promise, amazingly, we mere human beings can also speed or slow the coming of that Day by how we live our everyday lives. God is waiting on us to know whether or not we
will walk according to His Word, the Scriptures; to see if we are the kind of people who will walk daily in holy behavior and godly acts. The Creator of the Universe is waiting on—of all things—you. He is waiting for you and me, the followers of Messiah, to do our part in saving the world. Won’t you help hasten the coming of the Day of God by living according to the perfect standard of Scripture? Won’t you submit your actions, attitudes, and behavior to the holiness and godliness of His Word? Have you truly dedicated your life to serving and proclaiming the Messiah Yeshua alone? Then what are you waiting for? Scripture verses are modified from the Young’s Literal Translation and have been updated for the modern Messianic reader.
Kevin Geoffrey is the principal laborer of Perfect Word Ministries, a Messianic Jewish equipping ministry. Visit Perfect Word online at www.PerfectWordMinistries.org.
NEW! BEARING THE STANDARD Why is the body of Messiah ineffective in the world today? Because we have compromised God’s perfect Word, the Scriptures. Bearing the Standard is Kevin Geoffrey's rallying cry to all of Messiah's disciples, calling us to boldly raise the banner of Scripture as the only sufficient and supreme standard for our lives. See page 16 for order information
Jewish Voice Today
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