Well, well, well, who’s that a-callin’?
Well, well, well, hold my hand;
Well, well, well, night is a-fallin’;
Spirit is a-movin’ all over this land.
God told Noah, build him an ark, Build it out of hickory bark.
Rain started fallin’, waters start to climb,
God said, “A fire, not a flood next time.”
Well, well, well, who’s that a-callin’?
Well, well, well, hold my hand;
Well, well, well, night is a-fallin’;
Spirit is a-movin’ all over this land.
The Lord said, “Fire comin’ Judgment Day;
All mankind’s gonna pass away.”
Brothers and sisters, don’t you know,
You’re gonna reap just what you sow?
World’s not waiting for the Lord’s command
Building a fire that’ll sweep the land
Thunder out of heaven, coming Gabriel’s call
And the sea’s gonna boil and the sky’s gonna fall.
(Old time spiritual performed by the Seekers, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Duffy.)
No, I don’t think it’s going to happen like that! Nevertheless, these old time spirituals often contained some useful message to alert people to Biblical truths – in this case the fires of Judgment Day.
We shall need to turn our attention to the second of Peter’s letters, chapter three. I have taken the translation from the Interlinear N.T.
“In the last days there will come mockers, mocking according to their own desires, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming, for from the day the fathers fell asleep all things continue from the beginning of creation?’ For they are wilfully ignorant of the fact that the heavens were of old, and the earth by water and through water being held together by the word of God, whereby the then world being inundated by water perished.”
Has there been a day and age like the present where universally we are being forced to accept the evolutionists’ claims? How many people are willing to state their belief in a literal global flood in Noah’s day? Even Christians, who read the Gospels, are denying the truth of our Lord’s words, when He said, “As it was in Noah’s day . . .” Sogreat is the pressure being put on believers to renounce their beliefs in Biblical history, that we must surely be living in “the last days.” And is it not patently obvious that men like Richard Dawkins employ mockery as their chief weapon against the faith of Christians? Let us read on.
“But the present heavens and earth by the same word are being stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”
What is meant by this fiery judgment? When we listen to the song, with the words “God said a fire not a flood next time”, what do we envisage? “All mankind’s gonna pass away”? Some commentators have promoted the idea of literal fire, corresponding to literal water, and have therefore written lurid tales of thermo-nuclear holocausts that will engulf large portions of the world. But this doesn’t fit the bill. It contradicts other statements made about the time of judgment.
“Beloved, let not this one thing be concealed from you, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow of His promise as some deem slowness, but is longsuffering towards you, not purposing that any should perish, but that all men should come to repentance.”
If God’s stated purpose is for universal repentance, then it cannot be equated with universal destruction by fire. God’s promise to Noah was that the waters would never again engulf the earth unto destruction. If the “fire next time” is a way of getting round His promise, and doing it by some other means, then we are up against a capricious and wholly unreliable God. But this is not so. God’s judgments by fire must be understood in another way. It is not in the heart of God to destroy that which He has made, but rather to bring it all to a satisfactory, and satisfying conclusion.
“But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. . . .”
The Day of the Lord is an expression used on numerous occasions in the O.T., and inseparably bound up with times of God’s judgment. But each “day of the Lord” in past times, when judgment has fallen, has been a mild and temperate version of the judgment prophetically promised at the time of the Lord’s return.
The words used here, “as a thief in the night” are always found in connection with our Lord’s return, for which we are enjoined to wait and watch, always to be ready, as with the five wise virgins. Our theme of the Holy City cannot be disconnected from this, for we find in Rev.16:15, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and guards his garments, lest he walk naked, and his shame is revealed.”
“. . . in which the heavens will pass away with a rushing sound, and the elements, burning, will be dissolved, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.”
Words such as these appear on the surface to refer to a cosmic catastrophe from which no living thing can survive. But compare this verse with Hebrews 12:26-27. “Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word ‘Yet once more’ signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things that cannot be shaken may remain. . . . For our God is a consuming fire.”
To build upon a rock is a certain way of ensuring one’s property against storm damage. To construct buildings that will withstand earthquakes is a sensible and realistic operation for regions of seismic activity. If man uses his wisdom to construct property in such a fashion, then the parallel in the spiritual walk is just as urgent and necessary. Hence the word about watching and waiting. When the great shaking comes, such people will be able to stand. If the shaking is painful and intense, using the figure of fire, which is of all injuries to man the most painful, then how much more should we be prepared for this time of trial?
“Seeing therefore that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and piety, awaiting and hastening the coming of the Day of God, on account of which the heavens, being set on fire, will be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?”
If a great cosmic holocaust is literally forecast, then how can one have any sense of joy about its arrival? But Peter enjoins his readers not only to wait for the Lord’s Day, but also to hasten its coming by holy conduct ! ! The next verse contains the answer.
“But we await the new heavens and new earth according to His promise, in which righteousness dwells.”
The New Heavens and New Earth are synonymous with the start of God’s Millennial Kingdom, as stated in chapter one. The Holy City, the Bride of the Lamb, is the instrument by which the fiery refining process will occur. When the Bride is complete, the Lord will suddenly intervene in the affairs of mankind, as a thief in the night, and the majority of mankind will be taken by surprise. Our Lord’s words will come to pass, when He said,“There is nothing hidden that shall not be uncovered, nothing hidden that shall not be made known.” It will be a time of major embarrassment. No wonder we read about people wanting to run to the caves in the mountains to hide from the wrath of the Lamb.
And so, we ask again, are we to take the fire literally? To conclude, let us see Zechariah 13:9 “I will put the third part in the fire, to refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’, and they will say ‘The Lord is my God.'” There is no way in which we can imagine literal fire at work here. Our God is a consuming fire. But what does He consume? All that is not worthy, all that is unclean, abominable, filthy, and of the Devil. What does He refine? All that shows promise. Shall we be content with wood, hay and stubble? It may serve a purpose in the here and now, but it will never withstand the fires of God’s judgment. Our stated goal is to gather gold, silver, and precious stones, which will withstand the fire, and remain to God’s glory, and our pleasure for eternity. The last line of the song spells out the truth –
Brothers and sisters, don’t you know,
You’re gonna reap just what you sow?
