2nd Peter Series
LETTERS THAT BURN
Part 14
“False Prophets”
Last time we ended with Peter’s explanation for how we got the Word of God. “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (1:21). Chapter 1 was about Faith’s convictions—or, the deep convictions we have regarding our faith in Jesus Christ, and the confidence we have in God’s Word.
Now as we begin chapter 2 we’re going to explore Faith’s Contentions.” Peter is going to deal with those who are denying the faith, and have also become false teachers and false prophets. He deals first with the doctrine of certain heretics (2:1-3a). Then he tackles their doom (2:3b-9). And finally he exposes the deeds of the heretics (2:10-22).
He begins with their lying message:
2:1 “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be (and are) false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.”
A false prophet is someone who proclaims a lying message he claims to have received from God. God didn’t speak to him or her. It’s made up in their own imagination. Peter builds his case by looking back to the false prophets who plagued God’s people in OT times.
For instance, Jeremiah complained to God about “The prophets who speak falsely…and my people love to have it so” (Jer. 5:31).
Elijah was challenged by 450 false prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:19).
And Isaiah spoke about how God’s backslidden people actually wanted false prophets to tickle their ears: “Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits” (Isa. 30:9-10).
The Apostle Paul prophesied that many last days ‘professing Christians’ would want exactly the same thing:
“For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths.”—2 Tim. 4:3-4 NLT
Peter’s point is that, just as they had false prophets in those times, there will also be “false teachers among you.” Remember, false prophets claim a message from God that isn’t real. On the other hand, false teachers are those who deliberately and knowingly distort or deny the truth of God.
They secretly introduce “destructive heresies,” creeping into the church beneath the radar. They will spout spiritual phrases like “praise the Lord,” and “I love Jesus,” leading naive church folks to believe they are authentic Christians.
But Jesus gave to His followers a litmus test for finding out if they’re real or not:
“You will know them by their fruit,” the fruit of their doctrine, the outcome of their teaching, including how they conduct their own personal lives.
False teachers and prophets abounded in the early church. In 2 Cor., 2 Thes, 2 Tim, and 2 John we find loud warnings mixed with doctrinal clarification to counter false teaching.
There were, for instance, the Gnostics who taught that Jesus had not really come in the flesh.
And there were the Judaizers who taught that you had to mix OT legalism with NT faith in order to be saved. Paul called their message, “another gospel.”
Peter says that these false teachers literally “deny the Lord that bought them.” Whether or not they outright verbally deny Christ, they deny Him in what they teach and how they live.
They forsake the simplicity that is in Christ—salvation by grace through faith, and nothing more.
We are in a time when many false teachers and false doctrines abound. Twisted theology that denies key foundational doctrines of Scripture abound on every hand, littering the landscape of social media, bookshelves, TV shows, movies, and unfortunately, pulpits!
The Person and work of Christ are minimized or altered to fit a false narrative.
Cults have proliferated. There are the Jehovah’s Witnesses who deny the Trinity, hell, the deity of Christ, and His bodily resurrection.
There is Mormonism which teaches the old lie of the devil that “you shall be as gods.”
And even Catholicism teaches many false doctrines, such as exalting the Virgin Mary to the level of Co-Redemptrix, or that a priest can change a wafer into the literal body and blood of the Lord Jesus.
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Next, Peter describes the moral lives of false teachers and prophets:
2:2 “And many will follow their destructive ways; because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.”
Destructive is from a word meaning pernicious, which points to a person who has abandoned all moral restraint and revels in indecent behavior.
Peter says that these shameless apostate teachers will finally endorse as normal the most foul and filthy lifestyles imaginable.
In other words, they will be active players in normalizing perversion. And it’s happening before our very eyes!
Consider—the United Methodist Church, Episcopalian church, and Presbyterian church have all officially forsaken their roots and sanctioned the ordination of homosexuals and marrying same sex couples.
As Paul wrote in Romans 1, “Who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of (celebrate) those who practice them” (1:32).
We’re there, and it’s only going to grow worse until Christ returns to judge the world.
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Next, Peter focuses on the motive of false teachers and prophets:
2:3a “By covetousness they will exploit you with feigned words;”
Covetousness means “a craving to have more.” The idea is that these false teachers are in it for the money.
And feigned words is from the Greek word plastos from which we get the word plastic. It means the words they speak are fabricated or molded, craftily fashioned to deceive people in order to get their money.
Essentially, Peter is describing spiritual con men.
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Then in the second half of verse 3, he addresses the doom of the false teachers and prophets:
2:3b “for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.”
Their judgment is at the door. Though it seems as if their judgment is “slumbering,” it is as certain as the rising of the sun!
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Next, Peter illustrates God’s wrath on unrepentant sin by pointing out 3 separate entities that fell under His judgment, beginning first with certain angels that sinned:
2:4 “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment…”
Sin did not begin on earth with Adam and Eve. It began in heaven with Lucifer and his angels. The Bible says that Satan sought to overthrow God and was cast out of heaven. On the heels of his judgment he carried with him a third of the heavenly host. Rev. 12:4 reveals,
“His (Satan’s) tail drew a third of the stars of heaven (angels) and threw them to the earth.”
Jesus said in Lk. 10:18, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”
When this happened, Lucifer became Satan and the fallen angels demons. Their current sphere of activity is our planet. They actively hold our world in bondage. John writes:
“The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” writes John. (1 John 5:19)
These fallen angels work ceaselessly to hinder God’s purposes on earth, and harbor great hatred for the Jewish people and the Lord’s church. Peter says their final judgment is certain.
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Next, Peter focuses on Noah’s generation:
2:5 “And did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;”
The Bible is clear as to why God brought the Great Flood in Noah’s time. Genesis 6 says, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (6:5).
Mankind had sunk so incredibly low that not once did a good, wholesome, righteous thought ever enter his mind. Every one of his motivations was only evil continually.
Genesis also tells us that “the earth was filled with violent bloodshed” (6:11).
Pandemic violence, rampant immorality, and total apathy toward God and his warnings characterized Noah’s generation.
After giving that generation 120 years to repent, God sent the flood.
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So God judged angels, and God judged the world of Noah’s time. Lastly, Peter points to the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah:
2:6 “and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly;”
From time to time, God will make an example of a person or nation to highlight what he thinks about certain sins. Peter says that God made “an example” of the twin cities. It is His showpiece of what He thinks of Sodomy.
The overthrow of the pornographic and violent culture of Noah’s time, and the perverted culture of Sodom and Gomorrah stand beside each other in Scripture.
It’s worth remembering here that Jesus predicted the generation that saw His return would be like both Noah and Lot’s time.
So we are safe to assume, based on Peter’s words, that the end-times apostasy we now see coming into full flower will be accompanied by the growth of abnormal, vile wickedness throughout the world.
Again, we’re there!
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Next, Peter turns to the subject of Lot, Abraham’s nephew:
2:7-8 “and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)”
Prior to sending His fierce wrath onto Sodom, God made a distinction between the righteous and the wicked. He delivered “righteous Lot” from the fires of judgment. He did the same with Noah, stating “Noah was a just man” (Gen. 6:9).
God delivered Lot because, though he had made a terrible mistake in moving his family into Sodom, he was right with God in his heart of hearts. Even so, he lost his family, fortune, and friends to Sodom!
Peter describes Lot becoming “tormented (vexed)” by the lawless, immoral lifestyles of the Sodomites. He both heard and saw things that tormented his soul.
We can only imagine that the obscenities, blasphemies, anger, and rage of this vile culture were more than a godly soul could endure. He daily witnessed their bold and brazen perversions openly displayed without shame.
Any of this ring a bell?
God finally judged Sodom when sexual perversion was not just an alternative lifestyle, but THE lifestyle. Notice how God calls the homosexual lifestyle “lawless.” It is against natural law, flying in the face of God’s original intent for mankind.
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In light of Lot’s deliverance from Sodom, Peter encourages the saints:
2:9a “then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations…”
As God delivered Lot, he can and will also deliver you!
And God also knows how to deal with unrepentant, wicked men:
2:9b “and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,”
The day of judgment is the Great White Throne judgment revealed in Rev. 20:11-15. It might seem as if the wicked are getting away with their sin against God, but Peter says they are “reserved” for judgment.
It will come as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow!
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Peter next gives some details as to the extent of their lawlessness:
2:10 “and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,”
The wicked in Peter’s crosshairs live unbridled, filthy, immoral lives and “despise authority.” The word “despise” means “to think lightly of something.” They have no respect for God’s authority wherever they encounter it.
They even go so far as to “speak evil of dignitaries.” A “dignitary” denotes the magnificence, excellence, and glory of those to whom praise and honor are due.
This includes not only earthly people holding high positions of authority, but also heavenly beings. The wicked show no respect for God given authority. They rail against dignitaries, both heavenly and earthly.
Our nation is infected and infested with this attitude against authority. It is a key indicator of our drift away from God.
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Peter points out that even angels recognize the principle of honoring dignitaries:
2:11 “whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.”
A stunning example is found in Jude 9:
“Yet Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, when he was arguing with Satan about Moses’ body, did not dare to accuse even Satan, or jeer at him, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
Wicked people have no such wisdom!