THE HOPE OF ISRAEL - The Preterist Archive

186 The Hope of^Israel:
What Is It?
9) shows that the "Zion" of unfulfilled prophecy is a
spiritual locality; that the "temple" of unfulfilled
prophecy is a "spiritual house," and that the "Israel"
that was to inherit the promise of future glory, is that
"holy nation," which includes all who have been begotten
again unto a living hope by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ and have been redeemed by His precious
blood.
THE PROMISE OF His COMING
Turning now to Peter's second Epistle, we find in
Chapter III a prophecy concerning a class of persons,
designated "scoffers," who should come upon the scene
"in the last days." It is evident, from the attention
paid to them in this Epistle, that those "scoffers"
would constitute a prominent and highly influential
class of persons in the end-times of the gospel era.
What would specially distinguish them is the doctrine
they would hold, the substance of which is the gradual
and uninterrupted progress of human ..civilization
(which is the essence of the modern theory of evolution)
;
and on the basis of which doctrine they would
deride those Bible prophecies that foretell the sudden
and complete destruction of the world, including all the
great works whereof men make their boast, at the
second coming of Christ. The characteristic attitude
of those scoffers of the last days is very plainly revealed
by their derisive question " Where is the prom-
:
ise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep all
things continue as they were from the beginning of the
creation" (v. 4).
It is specially to be noted, for the purpose of the
present inquiry, that the apostle here contemplates the