• Context matters: 2 Peter 3 is often misunderstood as a prophecy of the physical world's end. But Peter was writing to a first-century audience about a judgment that was imminent in their time.
  
  

• 2 Peter 3:10-12 (NASB) says the heavens would pass away and the elements be destroyed by fire. This was not global destruction, but symbolic language describing the end of the Jewish system and the temple in AD 70.
  
  

• The Day of the Lord in Scripture refers to specific judgments on nations, especially Israel:
  
  

  • Isaiah 13:6-9 speaks of judgment on Babylon.
    
    

  • Zephaniah 1:14-18 refers to judgment on Jerusalem and Judah.
    
    

  • Peter uses the same language to warn about coming judgment on Israel.
    
    

• Babylon = Jerusalem: 1 Peter 5:13 mentions the church in "Babylon" sending greetings. This is not literal Babylon or Rome, but symbolic Jerusalem, which had rejected Christ. Revelation 17-18 also uses Babylon symbolically for Jerusalem.
  
  

• Imminent judgment: Peter's letter was written before AD 70. He warned his readers of coming destruction in their generation, just as Jesus did in Matthew 24:34, "This generation will not pass away until all these things take place."
  
  

• Peter's audience: He was writing to churches in Asia Minor. The judgment he warned of was the destruction of Jerusalem and the old covenant system, not a future apocalypse.
  
  

Conclusion: 2 Peter 3 is not about the end of the world. It is about the judgment and destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. The "Babylon" Peter refers to is symbolic of Jerusalem, confirming this Preterist understanding.