Commentaries RELATED SOURCES Rees, Paul S Triumphant in Trouble, Studies in Peter Robertson, A T Word Pictures in the New Testament Thomas, W H Griffith The Apostle Peter Wuest, Kenneth S In These Last Days Merrill C Tenney in Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, p 643, gives this reason: “The relative silence of the early Church may be explained by the brevity of the epistle, which could have made it more susceptible to being overlooked or lost.” Some of the earliest manuscripts read only the name “Simeon.” But this is a reference to the same person (Cf Acts 15:14.) Paul was executed by Nero in A.D 67, probably the same year peter wrote this second epistle From Merrill F Unger, Unger’s Bible Handbook, p 809 Today’s English Version interprets 3:56 in this way: “Long ago God spoke, and the heavens and earth were created.” Cf Charles F Pfei er and Everett F Harrison, eds., The Wycli e Bible Commentary, p 1461 The “day of judgment” is also called the “day of the Lord” (3:10) and “day of God” (3:12) This is not a 24-hour day, but an extended period of time, the dawn of which will be Christ’s coming to rapture the church 23Epistles of John and Jude John: Fellowship with God and His Children John: Truth and the Christian John: Spiritual Health and Prosperity Jude: Keeping Oneself in the Love of God About a half century after Christ ascended to heaven, the Spirit moved one man, John the Elder, to write the last ve New Testament books (a gospel, three epistles, Revelation) The other twenty-two had been written and distributed from about A.D 45 to the years just prior to the fall of Jerusalem (A.D 70) John’s experience as the writer of New Testament books was unique Besides his dramatic experience in old age of visions on the Island of Patmos (when he authored the book of Revelation), the apostle had the blessed privilege of meditating long on the wonderful truths of Jesus’ life He recorded his re ections under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in a gospel record and in the three epistles of 1, 2, and John We have already studied his gospel Now we turn our attention to his three letters This will be followed by a survey of Jude, a short letter that appears immediately after John’s letters in the New Testament canon I PREPARATION FOR STUDY Think back over all the books of the New Testament that had been written up to the writing of John’s letters and Revelation Had any major areas of doctrine been overlooked? If not, what might have been God’s reasons for adding new books to His collection of Scripture? ... experience as the writer of New Testament books was unique Besides his dramatic experience in old age of visions on the Island of Patmos (when he authored the book of Revelation), the apostle had the blessed... privilege of meditating long on the wonderful truths of Jesus’ life He recorded his re ections under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in a gospel record and in the three epistles of 1, 2, and... followed by a survey of Jude, a short letter that appears immediately after John’s letters in the New Testament canon I PREPARATION FOR STUDY Think back over all the books of the New Testament that