Warnings And Promises

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (II Peter 3:3-7) 

          There are stories about a great flood in many cultures. One website gave a number as high as 600 different stories. Not all cultures have creation stories, but many of them do. Some of these stories are pretty wild. I know at least one of the flood tales involves someone throwing rocks over his shoulder, and those rocks turn into people who repopulate the planet. In some of the creation stories, the earth is god dung. Perhaps Carl Sagan wasn't being overly innovative when he claimed we are "star stuff" - effectively the dust of dead stars.  It's a little better than god dung, but not by much. In comparison, the Biblical accounts of both creation and flood are tame, the product of a creative but dignified and just God. 

         Some people in Peter's day who apparently knew about the creation and flood account from the Torah seem to have looked around and announced, "everything is happening the way it's always happened." To a great extent, science does the same thing today. Everything happens very slowly, over extended periods. That doesn't explain why so many cultures have such a story, and interestingly, evidence is being found for a number of catastrophic floods of "biblical proportions."

      In the same way that the ancients scoffed, people today scoff. They reject what does not fit their materialistic worldview, and laugh at the notion that Jesus will return and judge. Don't be surprised when they don't believe you. You were given warning that they wouldn't, just as you have been warned that you will suffer tribulation and just as you have been promised that He will return and judge. None of it should surprise us.