“Knowing this first: That scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For this they willfully forget: That by the Word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that existed perished, being flooded with water.” (2 Peter 3: 3-6 NKJV)
In one of Aesop’s famous fables, a shepherd boy tricks his neighboring villagers twice by falsely crying “Wolf!,” leading them to come needlessly to the rescue. When a wolf later does appear and the boy cries for help, his cries fall on skeptical and deaf ears with tragic consequences.
False alarms are not uncommon in our own lives either—be it from mechanical alarm failure, meteorologists’ overreaction, politicians’ fearmongering, medical false alarms, or even our own anxieties. There is always cause for careful scrutiny of man’s words and warnings.
Yet our holy and faithful God “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2), and therefore cannot mislead or manipulate or exploit anyone. All His words, including His promises and His warnings, are “trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:5) While we are more familiar with the numerous New Testament end time, last day, final judgment prophecies (Matthew 25:31-46, John 12:48, 2 Corinthians 5:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, Hebrews 9:27, Revelation 20:11-15), the Old Testament also is filled with warnings of divine judgment on sin, both in now time and end times, especially in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel and Zephaniah.
Yet despite God’s universal alarm system sounding forth loudly and clearly through His Word as well as through Biblical and historical judgments, scoffers abound—both in Peter’s day and in our day.
“Nothing’s changed since the beginning of time,” they say. “Why would things ever change?” They “willfully forget” two obvious truths: this very earth and universe was created by the Word of God, and this same world was once deluged and destroyed by that same Word because of sin. Jesus Himself “connects the dots” between Noah’s flood and His own return on Judgment Day (Luke 17: 26-30). Each “now time” judgment is a sign of and prelude to the one great final Judgment and therefore a call to repentance to every sinner.
When God’s first Eden warnings of judgment upon sin were ignored (Genesis 3), the floodgates of earthly and eternal judgment upon sin were opened. The same Jesus Who rightly cried “wolf” about false prophets (Matthew 7:15) also rightly issued warnings for all to be ready for His return to usher in judgment and eternity (Matthew 24-25).
Yes, our God never “cries wolf” without good reason. “As I live, says the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”(Ezekiel 33:11) “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) God’s intent in all His dealings with mankind is never to harm or destroy the sinner, but to lead him to repentance, to awaken him to his sin and lead him in faith and into the loving arms of his Savior and Good Shepherd.
is a retired pastor and a member of the CLC Board of Doctrine. He lives in St. Paul Park, Minnesota.