Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
In the last days scoffers will arise who follow their own desires and ridicule the promise of Christ's coming and those who look for His near return. Their central claim is that all things have continued unchanged since creation and since the fathers died, so the promised coming will not take place. Their mockery grows out of lives out of harmony with God's law, fear of Christ as judge, and love of pleasure and gain, and they set aside the nearness of the advent by misusing the truth that no one knows the day or hour, by crying peace and safety, and by teaching a future age of world conversion and prosperity before He comes. These scoffers are found not only among the openly ungodly but among ministers, professed believers, and false guides, just as in Noah's and Enoch's time the multitudes derided solemn warning, continued in corrupt passions, and refused to repent and enter the ark. The apparent delay is God's longsuffering giving time to repent, yet the day of the Lord will come suddenly with destruction of the earth by fire as the Flood prefigures, so His followers are to refuse willful ignorance, hold firmly to Bible truth, discern the signs that the advent is near, and take refuge in Christ.
Scoffers and Their Scoffing
The last days will bring scoffers who walk after their own lusts and mock the promise of Christ's coming and those who look for His near return. Their coming is foretold as certain, to be known first of all as the characteristic mark of the closing time.
Their characteristic word is, Where is the promise of His coming, for all things continue unchanged since creation, since the fathers and ancestors died, and since the beginning. On that ground they insist the promised coming will not occur and that nothing has changed to suggest it will.
They argue from nature's steady order that warnings of judgment are impossible and cannot happen because such an event would conflict with nature's laws. In this they treat nature as beyond God's power to direct, as men did before the Flood, and so make His warnings seem empty. Yet they do so willfully ignorant that God made the world by His word, destroyed the world of that time by the Flood, and by the same word keeps the present heavens and earth reserved for judgment by fire. The Lord of nature who made and controls it can use it to carry out His purpose, and prophecy is not to be explained so as to empty its warning of force.
Their scoffing springs from moral decline and worldly desire. Their lives do not harmonize with God's law, so they deny its authority and question the Lawgiver's coming to punish the disobedient. They do not want Christ to come as judge because they fear their lives would not withstand His scrutiny. They use unbelief as license for ungodly desires, living as lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God in rioting and godless pleasure, asleep in carnal security, presumptuous in pleasure-loving, and carrying on money-making without principle while students seek knowledge of everything but the Bible.
They set aside the nearness of the Advent by misusing the truth that no one knows its day or hour, turning it into a reason to reject warnings that His coming is near. Some profess to accept the Second Advent yet object to a definite time for Christ's return. They cry peace and safety and no cause for alarm, teaching that the whole world is to be converted and righteousness to reign for a thousand years before Christ shall come, and that tomorrow shall be as today only much more abundant. In heart they say, My Lord delayeth His coming. They mock those seeking safety, deny that danger exists, laugh at warnings, and call those who try to arouse them fanatics, enthusiasts, and not levelheaded.
The scoffers are not only the openly ungodly and the worldly-wise. They include many who occupy pulpits, ministers and religious people, and unfaithful religious leaders who join in mocking the doctrine of the Second Advent and promise a converted world and peace. They include professing believers who deny faith by actions, learned professed Christians who twist Scripture, unconverted leaders and false guides connected with God's work who have outgrown advent faith, people clinging to false ideas and deceptive teachings that trouble the church, and even self-sufficient ones among God's own people who reject counsel, follow human judgment, and work against plain commands.
Prophecy Fulfilled and Foreshadowed
The setting of a definite time for Christ's return drew the opposition that fulfills the prediction of scoffers in the last days, with ridicule falling both on those expecting the Lord and on the doctrine of the Second Advent itself. Some professed to accept the Second Advent while objecting to its timing, but their deeper reason was unwillingness for Christ to come as judge, fearing their lives would not withstand His scrutiny. After the expected dates of 1843 and 1844 passed, scoffers mocked boldly and spoke harshly against those still waiting, and some who had joined the believers only from fear left them and joined the scoffers.
Such scoffers were met in those who ridiculed the expectation of the Lord's return and the near coming of the Son of man, arguing that all things continue unchanged since the forefathers died. Even ministers and religious people joined others in mocking the doctrine of the Second Advent. Ministers dismissed belief in the soon coming as a new and strange belief their church could not accept, without asking for reasons or proving error from the Bible. Opposition to studying the prophecies and rejection of Scripture foster this skepticism, and that unbelief is then used as license to follow ungodly desires.
The prediction also foretells the wickedness that would prevail in the last days, and the present state of the world with its abominations and crimes fulfills it, calling true Christians to live in humility and prayer with Bible truth alone as worth living for, undiminished by pleasing sophistry of human wisdom. Its fulfillment is seen even among God's own people, in those become self-sufficient who have rejected counsel, been left to follow human judgment, and work against plain commands, whose words and works are evidence that the last days have come and a sign of the times to be discerned. Seeing that fulfillment calls for reading the Bible as never before, with more earnest study and determination to believe and teach the living Word.
Noah's time and Enoch's time foreshadow the last days, for as the antediluvians refused to enter the ark so the last generation rejects warning, in a rejection like that of the first angel's message, and when warnings are despised the Spirit may cease to impress conviction on the heart. Only eight souls believed Noah's one-hundred-and-twenty-year warning of coming destruction, while transgressors now are likewise warned to repent and return to allegiance yet the majority reject the warning. Many heard Noah's warning without truly repenting, and during probation failed the test, joined in mocking Noah, and continued in polygamy and corrupt passions. As Noah's contemporaries mocked him, so people in the last days ridicule solemn warnings, with philosophers and men of science arguing the world cannot be destroyed by fire because it would conflict with nature's laws, yet He who made and controls nature can use it to carry out His purpose, so prophecy must not be emptied of force. Like people in Noah's day they assume life will continue as always while eating, drinking, and gaining wealth consume their attention, failing to recognize approaching judgment. The Flood prefigures the final judgment by fire kept in store by the same word that created the world and destroyed the world of that time, a judgment willfully ignored by those claiming all things continue unchanged since creation; the apparent delay is longsuffering giving time to repent, yet the day of the Lord will still come suddenly with the earth and its works destroyed, and many who reject the present call to repentance and refuge in Christ will perish as Noah's generation did.
Coming Judgment and Response
What looks like delay is not failure or slackness but longsuffering that gives time to repent, yet the day of the Lord will still come suddenly as a thief and the earth and its works will be destroyed by fire. The Flood prefigures that final judgment, for as Noah's generation rejected warning and perished so many will reject the present call to repentance and to take refuge in Jesus Christ. Those who become presumptuous are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, living in rioting and godless pleasure and asleep in carnal security while putting the Lord's coming far off and laughing at warnings. When money-making is carried on without principle and students are fully engaged in obtaining knowledge of everything but the Bible, determined to go deeper into pleasure-loving, they will be taken unawares.
Despising warnings brings the danger that the Spirit will cease to impress conviction on the heart. Those who refuse the light of truth and oppose it separate themselves from God as Satan and the angels who sinned did, and even learned professing Christians twist Scripture to their own destruction. Those who hear but reject truth will be overcome by moral unbelief and will fail to remain firm to the end of probation, and at the judgment they will recognize that God is truthful and that accepting the evidence and obeying the condition given would have brought life and salvation. The unfaithful come under the condemnation of the evil servant with whom the Lord has a controversy, smiting fellow servants for the same reason Cain killed Abel, because the faithful insist on worshiping God as He directed and will not come to their terms, and eating and drinking with the drunken. They are drunken but not with wine and stagger but not with strong drink, for reason is controlled so they know not at what they stumble.
The verse warns Christ's followers about the world's condition in the last days and gives counsel to be heeded, calling believers to know and follow God's word rather than become willingly ignorant. Bible truth alone is worth living for, and God and His glory are not to be diminished by any pleasing sophistry of human wisdom, a fulfillment seen in present abominations and crimes that should lead true Christians to lives of humility and prayer. Through diligent study believers gain comfort and clearer understanding, reading the Bible as never before with more earnest study and determination to believe and teach the living Word. As the end approaches many professing believers will deny faith by actions, but a remnant will recognize the signs of the times and endure. Its warning applies when wickedness is increasing and the world despises prophecy and those calling to repentance, including false ideas and deceptive teachings that trouble the church and attacks by professed watchmen, conditions that must be faced today.
Not knowing the exact day or hour does not mean remaining ignorant of nearness, for clearly presented signs show the advent is near. Scoffers misuse the statement that no one knows the day or hour to ridicule those expecting Christ's return and to dismiss warnings that His coming is near. Prophecy must not be interpreted in a way that empties its warning of force, for the Lord of nature who made and controls it can use it to carry out His purpose even when philosophers and men of science argue that destruction by fire conflicts with nature's laws.
In the last days scoffers will arise who follow their own desires and ridicule the promise of Christ's coming and those who look for His near return. Their central claim is that all things have continued unchanged since creation and since the fathers died, so the promised coming will not take place. Their mockery grows out of lives out of harmony with God's law, fear of Christ as judge, and love of pleasure and gain, and they set aside the nearness of the advent by misusing the truth that no one knows the day or hour, by crying peace and safety, and by teaching a future age of world conversion and prosperity before He comes. These scoffers are found not only among the openly ungodly but among ministers, professed believers, and false guides, just as in Noah's and Enoch's time the multitudes derided solemn warning, continued in corrupt passions, and refused to repent and enter the ark. The apparent delay is God's longsuffering giving time to repent, yet the day of the Lord will come suddenly with destruction of the earth by fire as the Flood prefigures, so His followers are to refuse willful ignorance, hold firmly to Bible truth, discern the signs that the advent is near, and take refuge in Christ.
Scoffers and Their Scoffing
The last days will bring scoffers who walk after their own lusts and mock the promise of Christ's coming and those who look for His near return. Their coming is foretold as certain, to be known first of all as the characteristic mark of the closing time.
Their characteristic word is, Where is the promise of His coming, for all things continue unchanged since creation, since the fathers and ancestors died, and since the beginning. On that ground they insist the promised coming will not occur and that nothing has changed to suggest it will.
They argue from nature's steady order that warnings of judgment are impossible and cannot happen because such an event would conflict with nature's laws. In this they treat nature as beyond God's power to direct, as men did before the Flood, and so make His warnings seem empty. Yet they do so willfully ignorant that God made the world by His word, destroyed the world of that time by the Flood, and by the same word keeps the present heavens and earth reserved for judgment by fire. The Lord of nature who made and controls it can use it to carry out His purpose, and prophecy is not to be explained so as to empty its warning of force.
Their scoffing springs from moral decline and worldly desire. Their lives do not harmonize with God's law, so they deny its authority and question the Lawgiver's coming to punish the disobedient. They do not want Christ to come as judge because they fear their lives would not withstand His scrutiny. They use unbelief as license for ungodly desires, living as lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God in rioting and godless pleasure, asleep in carnal security, presumptuous in pleasure-loving, and carrying on money-making without principle while students seek knowledge of everything but the Bible.
They set aside the nearness of the Advent by misusing the truth that no one knows its day or hour, turning it into a reason to reject warnings that His coming is near. Some profess to accept the Second Advent yet object to a definite time for Christ's return. They cry peace and safety and no cause for alarm, teaching that the whole world is to be converted and righteousness to reign for a thousand years before Christ shall come, and that tomorrow shall be as today only much more abundant. In heart they say, My Lord delayeth His coming. They mock those seeking safety, deny that danger exists, laugh at warnings, and call those who try to arouse them fanatics, enthusiasts, and not levelheaded.
The scoffers are not only the openly ungodly and the worldly-wise. They include many who occupy pulpits, ministers and religious people, and unfaithful religious leaders who join in mocking the doctrine of the Second Advent and promise a converted world and peace. They include professing believers who deny faith by actions, learned professed Christians who twist Scripture, unconverted leaders and false guides connected with God's work who have outgrown advent faith, people clinging to false ideas and deceptive teachings that trouble the church, and even self-sufficient ones among God's own people who reject counsel, follow human judgment, and work against plain commands.
Prophecy Fulfilled and Foreshadowed
The setting of a definite time for Christ's return drew the opposition that fulfills the prediction of scoffers in the last days, with ridicule falling both on those expecting the Lord and on the doctrine of the Second Advent itself. Some professed to accept the Second Advent while objecting to its timing, but their deeper reason was unwillingness for Christ to come as judge, fearing their lives would not withstand His scrutiny. After the expected dates of 1843 and 1844 passed, scoffers mocked boldly and spoke harshly against those still waiting, and some who had joined the believers only from fear left them and joined the scoffers.
Such scoffers were met in those who ridiculed the expectation of the Lord's return and the near coming of the Son of man, arguing that all things continue unchanged since the forefathers died. Even ministers and religious people joined others in mocking the doctrine of the Second Advent. Ministers dismissed belief in the soon coming as a new and strange belief their church could not accept, without asking for reasons or proving error from the Bible. Opposition to studying the prophecies and rejection of Scripture foster this skepticism, and that unbelief is then used as license to follow ungodly desires.
The prediction also foretells the wickedness that would prevail in the last days, and the present state of the world with its abominations and crimes fulfills it, calling true Christians to live in humility and prayer with Bible truth alone as worth living for, undiminished by pleasing sophistry of human wisdom. Its fulfillment is seen even among God's own people, in those become self-sufficient who have rejected counsel, been left to follow human judgment, and work against plain commands, whose words and works are evidence that the last days have come and a sign of the times to be discerned. Seeing that fulfillment calls for reading the Bible as never before, with more earnest study and determination to believe and teach the living Word.
Noah's time and Enoch's time foreshadow the last days, for as the antediluvians refused to enter the ark so the last generation rejects warning, in a rejection like that of the first angel's message, and when warnings are despised the Spirit may cease to impress conviction on the heart. Only eight souls believed Noah's one-hundred-and-twenty-year warning of coming destruction, while transgressors now are likewise warned to repent and return to allegiance yet the majority reject the warning. Many heard Noah's warning without truly repenting, and during probation failed the test, joined in mocking Noah, and continued in polygamy and corrupt passions. As Noah's contemporaries mocked him, so people in the last days ridicule solemn warnings, with philosophers and men of science arguing the world cannot be destroyed by fire because it would conflict with nature's laws, yet He who made and controls nature can use it to carry out His purpose, so prophecy must not be emptied of force. Like people in Noah's day they assume life will continue as always while eating, drinking, and gaining wealth consume their attention, failing to recognize approaching judgment. The Flood prefigures the final judgment by fire kept in store by the same word that created the world and destroyed the world of that time, a judgment willfully ignored by those claiming all things continue unchanged since creation; the apparent delay is longsuffering giving time to repent, yet the day of the Lord will still come suddenly with the earth and its works destroyed, and many who reject the present call to repentance and refuge in Christ will perish as Noah's generation did.
Coming Judgment and Response
What looks like delay is not failure or slackness but longsuffering that gives time to repent, yet the day of the Lord will still come suddenly as a thief and the earth and its works will be destroyed by fire. The Flood prefigures that final judgment, for as Noah's generation rejected warning and perished so many will reject the present call to repentance and to take refuge in Jesus Christ. Those who become presumptuous are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, living in rioting and godless pleasure and asleep in carnal security while putting the Lord's coming far off and laughing at warnings. When money-making is carried on without principle and students are fully engaged in obtaining knowledge of everything but the Bible, determined to go deeper into pleasure-loving, they will be taken unawares.
Despising warnings brings the danger that the Spirit will cease to impress conviction on the heart. Those who refuse the light of truth and oppose it separate themselves from God as Satan and the angels who sinned did, and even learned professing Christians twist Scripture to their own destruction. Those who hear but reject truth will be overcome by moral unbelief and will fail to remain firm to the end of probation, and at the judgment they will recognize that God is truthful and that accepting the evidence and obeying the condition given would have brought life and salvation. The unfaithful come under the condemnation of the evil servant with whom the Lord has a controversy, smiting fellow servants for the same reason Cain killed Abel, because the faithful insist on worshiping God as He directed and will not come to their terms, and eating and drinking with the drunken. They are drunken but not with wine and stagger but not with strong drink, for reason is controlled so they know not at what they stumble.
The verse warns Christ's followers about the world's condition in the last days and gives counsel to be heeded, calling believers to know and follow God's word rather than become willingly ignorant. Bible truth alone is worth living for, and God and His glory are not to be diminished by any pleasing sophistry of human wisdom, a fulfillment seen in present abominations and crimes that should lead true Christians to lives of humility and prayer. Through diligent study believers gain comfort and clearer understanding, reading the Bible as never before with more earnest study and determination to believe and teach the living Word. As the end approaches many professing believers will deny faith by actions, but a remnant will recognize the signs of the times and endure. Its warning applies when wickedness is increasing and the world despises prophecy and those calling to repentance, including false ideas and deceptive teachings that trouble the church and attacks by professed watchmen, conditions that must be faced today.
Not knowing the exact day or hour does not mean remaining ignorant of nearness, for clearly presented signs show the advent is near. Scoffers misuse the statement that no one knows the day or hour to ridicule those expecting Christ's return and to dismiss warnings that His coming is near. Prophecy must not be interpreted in a way that empties its warning of force, for the Lord of nature who made and controls it can use it to carry out His purpose even when philosophers and men of science argue that destruction by fire conflicts with nature's laws.