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"For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?"
It is interesting to me that 1 Peter 4:17 receives so little attention in the on-going debate about eschatology. For instance, Aune in his large work "prophecy in Early Christianity" does not even mention this text; likewise Vincent's Word Studies. Even Beiderwolf's famous "Second Coming bible" which claims to examine "The complete text of every scripture passage concerned with the second coming of Christ" does not even list the verse. When they do discuss the verse many commentators completely ignore the chronological statement regarding the imminence of the judgment.While discussions concerning eschatology very often center on the Petrine epistles, particularly 2 Peter 3, or even 1 Peter 1:3-13; 4:5-7, verse 17 is seldom given serious exegetical attention. Yet we would suggest that 1 Peter 4:17 is vitally important to eschatological study. It is our purpose to demonstrate that significance in this short article.
It cannot be denied that Peter believed and taught that he and his readers were standing at a critical juncture in history. The exact nature of that crisis is what is so vital. Did Peter believe, as most modern critics aver, that history was about to end? Or did Peter believe that eschatology was Covenantal and not Historical? In other words, was Peter anticipating the end of the Old Covenant world of Israel, at the fall of Jerusalem, and the full establishment of the New Covenant World of Jesus, or was he in fact anticipating the "end of time"? Let us examine the text and context to see if we can determine the answer to that question?
Full article:The Time Has Come! | eschatology.org