“But 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 the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (II Peter 3:10).

The world was destroyed in the past by global flooding, and the tremendous sedimentary deposits and billions of fossilized animals lie in evidence of this truth. Some unbelieving scientists religiously deny this reality, holding instead to supposed slow deposition of sediments over eons of time and to a fantastic story of trial-and-error generation with concomitant destructions.

The Bible not only tells us about a past devastation, it also predicts a future one. Concern has been expressed about a gradual warming of earth’s surface with negative consequences. While some question this, there is a global warming coming that will be utterly devastating. The “earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up,” and “the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” If the Lord provided an escape for Noah and his family during earth’s first cleansing, is there any hope of escape from this future one?

The answer is yes: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Those in the Ark did not perish during the Flood, and those “in” Christ Jesus will not perish during the final burning. Peter continued a few verses later, “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (II Peter 3:13).

Let us entrust our whole beings to those arms that long ago opened on a cross to receive the burning heat of God’s wrath for human sin. Time still remains, but “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. ” PGH