<p>4:17&nbsp;<i>For the time of judgment begins at the house of God- </i>Another reference to Peter's persuasion that the Lord's return in judgment was imminent, and was even beginning in the form of the Neronian persecution. See on :12. Peter has earlier laboured the point that the believers are the house / temple of God. He is saying that the AD70 judgments upon the temple are about to come- but the &quot;first&quot; or most important thing to God is <i>our</i> judgment, since we are His people and Orthodox Judaism were not.</p><p><i>And if we are judged first- </i>The Greek <i>proton</i> doesn't have to mean 'first' in a chronological sense. And &quot;first begin&quot; in the AV is wrong; for there is no Greek word here corresponding to &quot;begin&quot;. I have just suggested that the emphasis is on the fact that judgment is beginning; not that it begins first with the believers and then with the world. Indeed the Biblical pictures of the time around the Lord's coming would suggest that the world is judged first, and then the believers; with the unworthy being sent back into a world which is then already experiencing judgment. Most importantly, from God's point of view, <i>proton</i>, is the judgment of His people; the punishment of the unbelievers is not something He takes pleasure in nor is unduly eager about.</p><p><i>What shall be the outcome of those that do not obey the gospel of God?- </i>The word for &quot;obey not&quot; is used nearly all 16 times it occurs of those <i>Jews</i> who refused to accept the Gospel. And Peter has used it in this way in 2:7,8. The Jewish temple and the Judaist system associated with it was to be judged, but more important than that, &quot;first&quot;, would be God's judgment of His people- the true house of God.</p>