and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
It seems, however, strange that he says that the world perished through the deluge, when he had before mentioned the heaven and the earth. To this I answer, that the heaven was then also submerged, that is, the region of the air, which stood open between the two waters. For the division or separation, mentioned by Moses, was then confounded.
To quicken and excite us to a serious minding and firm adhering to what God has revealed to us by the prophets and apostles, we are told that there will be scoffers, men who will make a mock of sin, and of salvation from it. God's way of saving sinners by Jesus Christ is what men will scoff at, and that in the last days, under the gospel.
Commenting on 2 Peter 3:3-7
Whereby the world that then was,.... The old world, as it is called in Pe2 2:5; and as the Ethiopic version here renders it; the world before the flood, that had stood from the creation 1656 years: being overflowed with water; by the windows of heaven being opened, and the waters over the earth poured down upon it; and by the fountains of the great...