3 It is important for you to understand that in the time immediately before Christ comes back, there will be people who will ridicule the idea of his coming back. Those people will do whatever evil things they wish to do. 4 They will say, "Although it was promised that Christ will come back, ◄nothing has happened that would indicate that he is coming back./what happened to the promise that he is coming back?► [RHQ] We say that because ever since the Christian leaders who lived long ago died [EUP], everything has remained the same. Things are as they always have been since God created the world!" 5 They will say that because they ◄deliberately overlook the fact/have decided to ignore what they know► that God, by commanding long ago that it should be so, caused the heavens to exist, and he caused the earth to appear out of water and to be separate from the water. 6 And God, by commanding that it should be so, later destroyed the world that existed at that time, by causing the earth to be flooded with water {water to flood the earth}. 7 Furthermore, God, commanded that the heavens and the earth that exist now remain until the time when he will judge ◄ungodly people/people whose lives are not pleasing to him►. And at that time he will destroy the heavens and the earth by burning them.