No, Peter was generalizing. Yes, the Lord is going to return like a thief and yes this earth is going to be destroyed with all of the elements melting in fervent heat, but not in that immediate sequential order. As I said and as scripture makes clear, after the Lord returns to the earth to end the age, we have scriptures that show that the millennial period must take place following that. It is not until after the millennial period that the earth passes away and the new heavens and new earth are created. By claiming that this present heaven and earth are destroyed when the Lord returns to end the age, you get rid of His thousand year reign.
It is the after the millennial kingdom and great white throne judgment when the new heaven and new earth are created. It is not until after the millennial kingdom and during the great white throne judgment that death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire. In support of this, death is still in operation during the millennial kingdom, for those whom Satan deceives, Gog and Magog, are killed after they surround the camp of God's people, the city that He loves (Israel).
Regarding the above, Paul was speaking about the gathering of the church being changed into their immoral and glorified bodies and being caught up.
Scripture does not teach that when Jesus returns to the earth to end the age that is the end. There will be the great tribulation saints who will have made it through the entire seven years alive and will be those who will repopulate the earth during the millennial kingdom. The millennial kingdom is not the eternal state. Those who enter into the millennial kingdom will be in their mortal bodies and will repopulate the earth. Consider the following regarding the Lord's return to end the age and to establish His millennial kingdom:
"He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore." {Isa.2:4)
When has the above ever taken place? The answer is, never! And that because this is what is going to happen when the Lord returns to end the age and establish His millennial kingdom. It will be a time of peace of the likes of which the world has never experienced. It will be a time when longevity will be like it was prior to the flood:
"Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed."
It will be a time when the lion will eat straw like the Ox and there will be no ferocity between prey and predator animals. A young child will stick his hand in a vipers nest or play near a Cobra's den and not be hurt at all:
"The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling
a together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."
That is not according to scripture. There is a group in Rev.7:1-8 which is not the church, but are the 144,000 who will acknowledge Christ as their Messiah who will be here during the first 3 1/2 years of that seven year period. Then there will also be a group of Gentile believers who will have become believers after the church has been gathered and during the time of God's wrath, which are referred as the great tribulation saints, which are also not the church. As I said, you will never find this group referred to as "the church." The very fact that the elder is asking John who those are in white robes and where they came from, would demonstrate that they are not the church, which John just got done writing letters to. Regarding this, John didn't know who they were, ergo, not the church.
If you can receive it, Rev.4:1-2 is a prophetic allusion of the gathered and called up.
I'm not a fan of anyone except of God and His word. Men can lead you astray by their teaches. I prefer to stick with the word of God. The chronological order remains the same:
* The appearing of the Lord to gather the church
* The seven years of God's wrath (seals, trumpets and bowls)
* The Lord's return to the earth to end the age and the church with Him
* The thousand year reign of Christ (millennial kingdom)
* The great white throne judgment (death is thrown into the lake of fire)
* New heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem (the eternal state)