For that example should certainly convince us that, as in that
very case he has not lied, so again he will not lie.

V. 7. _But the heaven which yet is, and the earth, are by his word
sustained, that they be reserved for fire in the day of Judgment and
condemnation of ungodly men._ At that time, when God destroyed the
world by a flood, the water pressed down from above, up from beneath
and from all sides, so that nothing could be seen but water only;
because the earth, as its nature was, must be swallowed up in the
water. But now he has promised, and given the rainbow for a sign in
heaven, that he will no more destroy the world by water. Therefore he
will destroy it and let it perish by fire, so that here it shall be
fire only, as there it was water only. Of which St. Paul, II. Thes.
i., says: "When now the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven,
together with the angels of his power, and with flaming fire," etc.
So I. Cor. iii.: "Every one's work shall be revealed; the day of the
Lord shall make it clear, which shall be revealed with fire." So when
the last day breaks and bursts in on the world, it will in a moment
be fire only; what is in heaven and in earth shall be turned to dust
and ashes, and all things must be changed by fire, as that change
took place by water. This shall be a sign that God will not lie so
long as He has left that for a sign.

V. 8-10. _But of this one thing, beloved, be ye not ignorant; that
one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as
one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men
count slackness, but he is long-suffering toward you, and wills not
that any one should perish, but that all should come to repentance;
but the Day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, in which
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, but the elements
shall be melted with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that
are therein shall be burned up._ With these words St. Peter meets
those of whom he has just spoken, who say: "The Apostles have said
much about the Last Day coming quickly,--and yet so long a time is
past, and still all continues as heretofore." And he has quoted this
passage from Moses, in the lxxxix. Ps., where he says: "A thousand
years are in thine eyes as yesterday, when it is past." This is the
scope of it.

There are two ways of viewing things,--one for God, the other for the
world. So also this present life and that to come,