The final destruction of the world by fire is an idea also found elsewhere in Scripture (Isaiah 66:16; Micah 1:4; Nahum 1:6; Zephaniah 1:18; Malachi 3:2; Acts 2:19; 2 Thessalonians 1:7–8).1 It is not so clear if Peter has in mind the purification of the world by fire or the complete destruction and creation of a new one.2 Certainly 2 Peter 3:12 (and 2 Peter 3:10) suggests complete destruction; however, other passages in the New Testament make the future of creation look more like a renewal or purification (Matthew 19:28; Romans 8:18–23; Revelation 21:5). Since Peter draws a close connection between the past judgment by the flood and the future judgment by fire (2 Peter 3:5–7), this suggests that Peter has a dramatic and drastic change in view—not complete destruction but radical renewal. The emphasis is thus on a significant discontinuity between the new heavens and the old—the renewal of creation and not its abolition.3
12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!