The Warden Who Tried to Execute Every Single Person Who Ever Existed and Who Will Ever Live For All Eternity
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I received this. I hope that some of you can help me out with this because it’s caused me great turmoil and distress over the last few days. It appears to be a letter of some kind.:
“To the inmates on death row,
The warden is not slack concerning his duty as some count slackness, but he’s righteous toward you, not willing that any should escape, but that all should be executed.”
I must admit; this note has me a bit uneasy. There is no question that it says that “The warden is… not willing that any should escape, but that all should be executed.” What are we going to do, people? Clearly this means every single person on the face of the earth is going to be executed by this warden! I’m not sure what to do. I read this, and I just get hysterical at what is clearly laid out as his plan of what is going to happen. If you could all pray for me, I’d greatly appreciate it.
…now, what if I were to come to you with this concern? What would you tell me? Would you agree with me that this letter clearly lays forth the fact that this warden is coming to execute my family, friend, and me?! Or would you look at it and say, “Lane, I believe you’re taking things out of context and acting upon them. Clearly the letter is addressed to a certain people. The warden even takes the initiative to say ‘you’ before he says ‘not willing that any should escape, but that all should be executed.’ You’ve taken the letter out of context and are using it in a way that is different than what the letter is meant to convey. It’s obviously talking about a select group of people, namely the ‘inmates on death row’ whom the letter is addressed to.”
I would agree with your advice…
…I would submit to you that the verse 2Peter 3:9 is abused by many people in the self same manner. Let’s look at it:
In 2Peter 1:1, we read: “Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:” (2Pe 1:1) To whom? Oh, the letter is “to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:” So does that mean that it’s to unbelievers, too? Well, not according to Peter. 2Peter 3:9 (of the same letter) reads: “The Lord is not slow concerning his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2Pe 3:9)
Here we have the word “you” just like in our letter from the warden hypothetical. So let’s look back to that hypothetical letter. Would you have advised me as the wise person did who told me that I was taking something out of context and reacting upon it, or would you have congratulated me for being earnest and honest with the text and the intention the author wished to convey to me? Let’s now place the letter from the warden and the verses from 2Peter side by side:
“To the inmates on death row,The warden is not slack concerning his duty as some count slackness, but he’s righteous toward you, not willing that any should escape, but that all should be executed.”
“To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, (2Peter 1:1b)
The Lord is not slow concerning his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2Peter 3:9)”
What differences between the two do you see? Is there any? If not, and you would have advised me that I was acting foolhardily in the first hypothetical, why would you not hold that it is likewise foolish to take the verses in 2Peter in the self same way? If consistency matters to you, this should trouble you greatly indeed. If you hold that after all this 2Peter 3:9 is still meant to be taken in the way many do declaring that “God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (meaning every single person who has ever lived and who will ever live), then you better be phoning me now seeking to console me for the imminent danger which is coming… that is if you care about being consistent, anyway.
I’ll leave you now with three videos to help you deal with this subject of 2Peter 3:9 and the various erroneous ways in which it’s taken out of context and interpreted. If you take verses out of context in the Bible, hey, you can even make it even say that we’re supposed to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9) It’s something to think about. Ponder your ways. If you can’t account for your interpretation without leaving words out of Scripture and taking it out of context, it might be time to let your interpretation conform to the Bible instead of the Bible conforming itself to you.
Filed Under: Reformata Blogs
