The Mysterious Letter
The Mysterious Letter
The Mysterious Letter
or
GOD'S CREATIVE WRITING
And respect the long-suffering of our Lord for salvation,
just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you
according to the wisdom given to him.
2 Peter 3:15
God's way of speaking vs human scholarship
Why do we choose the above verse today? It is intended to show the way God explains the details to us, unlike the scholars who often enough follow human reasoning. They sound coherent, but sometimes they lead us to a dead end or completely in the wrong direction. If we torpedo their reasoning, their integrity remains untouched.
James, a half-brother of the Lord, he was the most respected brother in Jerusalem, a Jew par excellence, openly and frankly admits: "We all often err." Why could he say this so frankly and freely? For a long time, he didn't believe in Jesus either, that's a fact. In addition, as a devout Jew, he perhaps interpreted the writings of the Tanakh (OT) through the lens of rabbinism. This changed when the Lord revealed himself to him after his resurrection. James' relationship with Jesus took on a new and unique quality that only a Jew can have. His understanding of the Scriptures was also miraculously guided by the Holy Spirit, who, as reported in Acts 15, led him onto the right track of Old Testament prophecy.
By the way, it is not our own abilities and skills that enable us to recognize and point out the right tracks, it is a gift from our Lord to us. In our daily Bible study, it is He who guides our hearts and minds. He laid an important foundation when we were allowed to discover the invisible structure of the Bible, making it possible to systematically examine and understand even difficult passages of Scripture and hopefully explain them in an understandable way. Further aids are the translated meanings of the names of landscapes and cities, of people and other things.
With this script we would also like to honor the brilliant artist and writer, our Lord Jesus Christ. And out of love for our brothers and sisters, we would like to share our treasures with them, so that they too may be amazed by our God and Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
The mysterious letter
But now to 2 Peter 3:15. After we discovered which letter of Paul James is talking about, we did some research on the Internet. We wanted to know what scholars think about this verse and what they have written about it. We hoped that someone had come to the same conclusion. At this point we have to inform the reader that none of the candidates reached the class target, with the exception of Roger Liebi. He has come up with a solution that seems so plausible that it would take much better arguments to top his. One thing is clear, there can only be one solution.
We come to the quotes from the scholars or the transcript of Roger Liebi's lecture, first from the original and then, if necessary, in English translation. At the end of each quotation we provide a link to the source.
Henri Rossier
Ici l’apôtre exprime la même communion de pensées sur ce sujet avec le «bien-aimé frère Paul». Ce dernier avait écrit aux Hébreux, à ces mêmes croyants, selon la sagesse qui lui était donnée et ses écrits en général contenaient des choses difficiles à comprendre, tordues par les ignorants et les mal affermis, à leur propre destruction, comme ils le faisaient avec les autres Ecritures.
Here the apostle expresses the same communion of thoughts on this subject with the "beloved brother Paul". The latter had written to the Hebrews, to these same believers, according to the wisdom given to him, and his writings in general contained things difficult to understand, twisted by the ignorant and unstable, to their own destruction, as they did with other Scriptures.
Leslie M. Grant
V.15 adds that we should take into account the fact that the longsuffering of our Lord is not a matter for growing weary, or of discouragement but it is salvation. Since God has an eternal, vital, perfect salvation in mind, the intervening time should be that of vibrant joy and anticipation. This of course touches the dispensational teachings of Paul's writings, and Peter refers to this, and the wisdom given to Paul from God. V.15 likely refers directly to the book of Hebrews.
V.16 adds that in all of Paul's epistle the same line of truth is followed, that is, that God's counsels are calm, deliberate, all things ordered by Divine wisdom, all to take place as He has purposed, while He Himself shows marvelous longsuffering with men. If some of these things are hard to be understood, Peter does not for that reason dismiss them, nor does he excuse, those who are ignorant and unstable for the way in which they wrest these and other Scriptures, that is, twisting their meaning to suit them-selves. Such men are tragically inviting their own destruction. Observe that Peter fully approves Paul's epistles as Scripture.
As Peter opened his first epistle (1 Peter 1: 12) it appears as if he referred to Paul's labours amongst these dispersed Jews. Now at the close of the second Epistle he specifically names him and not only "all his epistles" in a general way but also some special writing or epistle which he had addressed to them, according to the wisdom given him from on high. So evidently Paul wrote to the Hebrews. It may of course have been a writing not intended for preservation as part of the Scriptures, and hence not extant today. It is much more likely to be that wonderful Epistle to the Hebrews that we possess for our soul's rejoicing. In that Epistle he does indeed "speak of these things." See particularly Hebrews 12: 25-29. He speaks of them in his other epistles too.
Paulus schrieb «nach der ihm gegebenen Weisheit» einen Brief an die Israeliten in der Zerstreuung. Darin haben wir wohl einen Beweis, dass der Apostel Paulus den Hebräerbrief geschrieben hat. Also nicht Menschenweisheit, nicht eigener Verstand hat Paulus geleitet, nein, seine Weisheit war ein Gnadengeschenk, von oben her, vom Himmel ihm gegeben. Für die im Judentum groß gewordenen Christen war die himmlische Stellung der Gläubigen und die völlige Beseitigung des jüdischen Kultus schwer zu verstehen. Ihr traditionsgebundenes Verharren im Althergebrachten machte sie in Bezug auf das Evangelium unwissend und in der Wahrheit unbefestigt. Sich vom Worte Gottes nicht belehren und strafen zu lassen bedingt das eigene Verderben. Für alle, die das Evangelium zurückweisen, bietet die Heilige Schrift an keiner einzigen Stelle irgendwelche Grundlage zu einer späteren Möglichkeit der Errettung. Das Vaterhaus, die ewige Herrlichkeit bleibt ihnen verschlossen, ihr Ende ist hoffnungsloses Verderben.
Paul wrote a letter to the Israelites in the dispersion "according to the wisdom given to him". In this we have proof that the apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Hebrews. So it was not human wisdom, not his own intellect that guided Paul, no, his wisdom was a gift of grace, given to him from above, from heaven. For Christians who had grown up in Judaism, the heavenly position of believers and the complete abolition of Jewish worship was difficult to understand. Their tradition-bound adherence to the old made them ignorant of the gospel and ungrounded in the truth. Not allowing oneself to be taught and punished by the Word of God leads to one's own destruction. For all those who reject the gospel, the Holy Scriptures do not offer any basis for a later possibility of salvation. The Father's house, eternal glory, remains closed to them; their end is hopeless ruin.
Dr. Roger Liebi (Transkription)
Vers 15: und erachtet die Langmut unseres Herrn für Errettung, so wie auch unser geliebter Bruder Paulus nach der ihm gegebenen Weisheit euch geschrieben hat. Also Gott wartet und darum ist der Herr noch nicht gekommen. Warum wartet er? Weil er langmütig ist, er möchte das noch so viele zum Glauben kommen. Und davon hat Paulus geschrieben, Ihnen, diesen Hebräern und zwar im Hebräerbrief sagt er immer wieder: Heute, wenn ihr seine Stimme hört, verhärtet eure Herzen nicht. Heute, wenn ihr seine Stimme hört, verhärtet eure Herzen nicht. Heute … wiederholt, wiederholt. Ist genau das Thema, die Langmut Gottes, die die Chance ist für die Hebräer, die sich zwar zum Messias bekannt haben, aber die waren nur erleuchtet und nicht wiedergeboren.
Transcription
Verse 15: and consider the long-suffering of our Lord to be salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him. So God is waiting and therefore the Lord has not yet come. Why is he waiting? Because he is long-suffering, he wants so many more to come to faith. And Paul wrote about this to them, these Hebrews, and in the letter to the Hebrews he says again and again: "Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Today ... repeat, repeat. This is exactly the theme, the long-suffering of God, which is the opportunity for the Hebrews, who professed the Messiah, but they were only enlightened and not born again.
We summarize:
Henri Rossier writes: "This one (Paul) had written to the Hebrews, to the same believers, according to the wisdom given to him". Rossier does not provide the reader with any arguments for the correctness of his statement, but assumes from the outset that this is the case. Leslie M. Grant is a little more cautious when he writes: "Probably refers directly to the book of Hebrews." He does not know, but at least he informs the reader that he does not know for sure. Frank Binford Hole comments as follows: "It is much more likely that it is the miraculous Epistle to the Hebrews". F.B. Hole speculates with enthusiastic features. Before that, he weighs up whether it is a letter that is no longer.
We come to Reiner Müller-Kersting, the most full-bodied of our selection of scholars. He writes: "Paul wrote a letter to the Israelites in the dispersion "according to the wisdom given to him". In this we certainly have proof that the apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Hebrews." F.B. Hole provides two unsubstantiated statements in one sentence and then he calls it a proof and the reader is supposed to swallow that?
We do not know whether the scholars provided a reason sooner or later, so we must assume that everyone without exception, including Roger Liebi, was distracted by the phrase in the first letter of Peter, chapter 1:1: "to the strangers from the dispersion". We conclude that the scholars have paid so much attention to the word dispersion - diaspora in Greek - that they have given diaspora a straitjacket called a technical term, which is about to get a little tight for them.
In our script "Crumb Picker", we proved that Peter's two letters are not, as Müller-Kersting "proved", a circular letter to the "Israelites in the dispersion", or, as Roger Liebi puts it, "to the Hebrews", but to the Christians living in the dispersion and who, as the whole world knows, live scattered over the whole earth. This is what the Holy Spirit wanted to say when he had the five landscapes written down and then also in an order that virtually paints the picture of the globe before our eyes. We put pieces of the puzzle together:
- Sea;
- Land of Galli / Gallus;
- Land of the good horses;
- Orient: all countries of the East;
- violent onslaught, violent agitation.
Now the sea figuratively stands for the nations and includes the islands in particular, such as Great Britain, Australia, Japan, Madagascar and many more. The land of Gallus probably stands for Europe and the land of good horses for the American continent, especially the USA. The Orient, literally: rising of the light (sun), points, seen from Israel, to all landscapes east of the Jordan, including not only Iraq and Iran, but also countries such as India and China. In all four areas, "Christians live in dispersion".
As we have just shown, the first four names together describe the entire globe and the fifth name describes what will happen in the end times. Now the number 4 stands metaphorically for the four corners of the earth, whose four winds are held by four angels. Still! We can already see today what the violent agitation against the "Christians in the dispersion" will look like in the near future. The fact that the believers after the Rapture will also be called Christians is indicated by the apostle Peter's use of the term "Christian". He, the apostle of the circumcision, refers to the Jews and Greeks who have believed in Jesus Christ as Christians. This also indicates that the Holy Spirit is still on earth and dwells in the believers.
The previously drawn picture of the earth's orbit forces the scholars to wear their straitjacket of "technical terms", but it does them no harm, and besides, it is too tight anyway, because: Watch out! It's about to get even tighter. We recommend taking it off as soon as possible, in the meantime we take a short break and sing happily from the song: Lord, your word is all-powerful, verse 1:
Lord your word is all-powerful,
marvelous and manifold,
otherwise there is no light,
make strange teaching a reproach,
your truth, your grace
guide us on the right path.
True faith, true love
has the reason: It is written.
https://www.evangeliums.net/lieder/lied_herr_dein_wort_ist_allgewaltig.html
Sufficiently paused or another verse? Well, let's continue from where we left off, with the "Christians in the worldwide dispersion". We're now going on a treasure hunt, but we need the mysterious letter that Peter mentioned so casually. As inveterate treasure hunters, our readers know that the decisive clue is always, well, almost always, right under your nose, so we will read the message again slowly and aloud. 1 Peter 3:15:
And respect the long-suffering of our Lord for salvation,
just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote
to you according to the wisdom given to him.
I've got it! Someone shouts and reads: "Or do you despise the riches (treasure) of his kindness and patience and long-suffering, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? Where does it say that? Asks another. The answer follows promptly from the back rows: In the letter to the Romans! And then you hear another voice reading out: But if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, has endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. And that he might make known the riches of his glory in the vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory? And where does it say that? Also in the letter to the Romans.
The hidden reference in 2 Peter 3:15 is the word patience. God has shown patience for thousands of years and still does, but, like Peter, the apostle Paul also says in Romans 9 that judgment will come. At some point, even the last thread of patience will break and then a wrath that the world has not yet seen will be poured out on the Jew first and also on the Greek.
We all feel how the winds are against us. We see it with deep shock in the United States. For the first time in the land of good horses, the predators have taken over the country. Was it not precisely in the USA that the Jews were tamed in a subtle way by the American culture of openness and tolerance? This can still be seen in the figures today, because in no other country on earth have so many Jews come to believe in Jesus as in America. Why? Because they met people who were similar in character to Philip. But suddenly and completely unprepared, a storm of violence and agitation arose against them, the likes of which we thought unthinkable for the USA before October 7, 2023.
Let the events of October 7, 2023 be a warning to us, because, as already mentioned, the storm of agitation is also coming for Christians. Didn't Paul also prophesy this in his letter to the Romans? Let's take a look: "But to those who are contentious (listen, listen, the unaddressed horses) and disobedient to the truth, but obedient to 'unrighteousness': wrath and anger, tribulation and anguish for every soul that does evil, both of the Jew first and of the Greek."
How many were obedient to unrighteousness during the corona crisis? Our question is not an accusation, we have posed it for reflection, especially to those who to this day do not want to admit that the whole spook is only based on deception. The number of deaths of those who obeyed state pressure and underwent the "therapy" more or less voluntarily is in eight digits. This time, Mr. Asbuk has already brought a certain new virus called X up to temperature for the next round.
Résumé
Human conclusions can provide plausible explanations of the kind that cannot be contradicted for a long time; only when better solutions are presented can the old become obsolete. Dr. Roger Liebi's solution shows that you have the right key word "long-suffering" in your hand, even apply it thematically to the relevant passages in the text, and still arrive at the wrong solution. The case we are looking at today is an example of how we should not follow our own reasoning, but follow in God's footsteps. God's word is uniquely knitted and therefore the solutions are also special. They are not based on human thought processes, but on God's creative writing:
My thoughts are not your thoughts
and my ways are not your ways,
says the Lord.
Berlin, April 14, 2024
© Copyright H. Randy Rohrer
P.S.: We recommend the TOR browser because it makes surfing safer and the DuckDuckGo.com search engine because it actually shows more and better search hits.