Daily Devotions
2 Peter
"Shortly I must put off my tent"
Text: 2 Peter 1:14
FACING DEATH
There were times when Peter struggled with thoughts of death. In a sudden storm that threatened to capsize the boat Peter and his fellow-disciples were in, they cried out in terror to the Lord Jesus who was resting at the stern of the boat (Matthew 8:23-27).
When the Lord Jesus forewarned His disciples about His death, Peter took Him aside and actually rebuked Him (Matthew 16:22-28). Thoughts of the death of the Lord Jesus had brought both fear and sorrow to the heart!
In this text, Peter spoke calmly of his own decease. He was no longer in the grip of the fear of death.
“Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent,
to stir you up by reminding you,
knowing that shortly I must put off my tent,
just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.”
2 Peter 1:13-14
1. “Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you”
a) “I think it is right”
i) Peter was not being melodramatic.
ii) He believed that he was doing the right thing.
iii) The disciple was doing what he had learned from his Master.
iv) He was right in speaking about death… his own death.
b) “As long as I am in this tent”
i) Peter saw his body only as a “tent”.
ii) The tent housed his soul/ spirit.
iii) The tent was temporary.
c) “To stir you up by reminding you”
i) To stir up is “to cause someone to rise up”.
ii) Were there some who were complacent?
Peter hoped to stir them up.
iii) Speaking of death:
This might stir up some, so that they would not take life for granted.
iv) The heart needs to be stirred up from time to time.
d) “By reminding you”
i) Peter’s approach was to remind his readers.
ii) There were many great truths that should have stirred up the soul.
iii) But sometimes, the soul may be slumbering and needs to be stirred up.
2. “Knowing that shortly I must put off my tent”
a) “Knowing”
i) Peter was not guessing.
ii) He had come to know and had accepted this as a reality.
b) “Shortly I must put off my tent”
i) The word “shortly” means “soon”.
ii) His death was imminent.
iii) But death was now described simply as “putting off (a) tent”.
iv) Tents are made to give shelter and protection.
v) Tents can wear out.
vi) Tents can also be destroyed.
3. “Just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me”
a) It was the Lord Jesus Himself who had informed him.
b) The word “showed” means “revealed”.
i) Death is something that would happen to everyone.
ii) It should not be feared.
c) Peter accepted this revelation from the Lord and prepared himself for it.