2 Peter 3:5

My Notes

What Does 2 Peter 3:5 Mean?

"For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water." Peter addresses scoffers who deny God's coming judgment by mocking the promise of Christ's return. Their argument: everything continues as it always has (v. 4). Peter's response: their ignorance is willful. They deliberately overlook the evidence that God has intervened in history before — specifically in creation and in the flood.

The phrase "willingly are ignorant" (thelontas lanthanei) is pointed — they choose not to know. The evidence for God's past intervention in the world is available, but they've decided not to engage with it. Their skepticism isn't intellectual — it's volitional. They don't want to know because knowing would require them to reckon with judgment.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Where in your life are you choosing not to know something because the truth would require change?
• 2.What's the difference between honest doubt and willful ignorance — and which one characterizes your skepticism?
• 3.Why do people prefer to believe 'everything continues as always' rather than reckon with a God who intervenes?
• 4.What evidence of God's past action are you deliberately overlooking?

Devotional

They choose not to know. Peter identifies the root of mockery: it's not intellectual. It's willful. The scoffers who say "everything continues as it always has" aren't making an honest assessment of the evidence. They're deliberately ignoring evidence that doesn't fit their preferred conclusion.

God created the world by his word. God destroyed the world by flood. Both are historical precedents for divine intervention in the natural order. The scoffers know this — or could know it — but they "willingly are ignorant." They choose the ignorance because the alternative requires them to reckon with a God who acts, who judges, and who will act again.

Willful ignorance is different from honest doubt. Honest doubt says: I'm not sure — show me more evidence. Willful ignorance says: I don't want to know — stop showing me evidence. One is a search for truth. The other is a defense against it.

This pattern extends far beyond ancient scoffers. Every time you avoid a truth because acknowledging it would require change — every time you refuse to look at evidence because the conclusion would be uncomfortable — you're practicing the same willful ignorance Peter describes. It's not that you can't know. It's that you won't. And the choice to remain ignorant doesn't protect you from reality. It just delays your confrontation with it.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture