LETTERS THAT BURN
2nd Peter Series
Part 4
“Faith’s Contentions”
Last time in the first 8 verses of 2 Peter 2 we saw Peter pointing out God’s judgment of three different entities—the angels that sinned, the generation of Noah, and the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. His message is that if God didn’t spare them, neither will he spare any peoples or generation that continues in sin without repentance.
Next, 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! Peter continues:
2:12 “But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption,”
The apostates, says Peter, will be destroyed. They are compared to “natural, brute beasts.” This means they are driven purely by natural instincts, like animals. “Brute” suggests they are “without reason.”
Having traded divine revelation for human reasoning, these apostates end up abandoning common sense and logic for sheer nonsense. Their lack of all decency is shown in how they “speak evil of things they don’t even understand.”
They “speak evil of dignitaries,”—the very angels of God and even God Himself. They are utterly ignorant of the fact that the unseen world exists, and mock those who believe that it does.
They also mock the idea of Satan, demons, and the existence of evil, all of which hold our world, and them, in bitter bondage.
And as predicted, we now live in a last days world of foolish mockers that rail against the authority of God, God’s Son Jesus Christ, and those who love Him. Their day is coming!
Peter assure us, “They will utterly perish in their own corruption.” Death is the great equalizer and humbler of men. And these mockers will die in their sins!
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Peter goes on to describe the lifestyle that often accompanies apostasy:
2:13 “and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you,”
For the apostate, life is one big party. They have no concern about the normal constraints of time and duty. They “carouse in the daytime.”
Furthermore, they are “spots” and “blemishes” at your feasts. Most Bible scholars believe the “feasts” Peter refers to here were the Christian’s love feasts where they gathered for fellowship. These brazen apostates cared nothing for the Christians in their hearts. They ate with them, all the while inwardly mocking them.
Peter calls them “spots” which is from a word meaning “a stain.” And “blemishes” points to the shame, moral disgrace, and licentiousness of the false teachers.
The word “carousing” (“carousing in their own deceptions”) means “to live in luxury.” These false teachers were doing quite well financially from their teaching.
Finally, Peter says they were “carousing in their own deceptions,” which means “to cheat” or “to give a wrong impression.” They were fakes and phonies when in the presence of Christians, who knew how to talk the talk but never intended to walk the walk.
Peter says they are, in reality, enslaved to sin:
2:14 “having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.”
Not only are they slaves to the flesh, they happily abandon themselves to the lust of the flesh and at the same time “entice unstable souls.”
The word “entice” has the idea of catching something by means of bait. They use the bait of smooth words and false promises to allure others into sin.
And look who they target—“unstable souls.” Those not firmly rooted and grounded in the faith. Perhaps new Christians or those on the periphery of the church. Like wolves, they stalked the weak.
And notice what they’re most skilled at: “They have a heart trained in covetous practices.”
They have honed their skills in order to line their pockets with the money of gullible people. They are sophisticated in the art of seducing people in order to empty their wallets.
Peter concludes: They are “cursed children.”
Jesus once said that until He returns, the tares (false Christians) would grow up right alongside the wheat (real Christians). Only at his 2nd coming will everything be exposed for what it is. These apostates often exist right alongside true believers. But they are cursed children who will be exposed at the Lord’s return!
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Next, Peter compares them to a famous OT sell-out:
2:15 “They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;”
Balaam was a real mix of a character. He had some knowledge of the true God, but was also known as a soothsayer (a person who predicts the future by magical means, also known as a fortune teller or diviner).
Balak, the king of Moab, wanted Balaam to curse God’s people as they traveled through his land. Balaam at first spoke only blessing over them. But when he realized he was about to lose the large financial blessing the King of Moab had promised, he sold out.
He told the king, “Look, you can’t conquer God’s people with a curse; but you can ruin them with corruption.” He then advised the king to send the Moabite women among the men of Israel to seduce them sexually and lure them into idolatry. “Then,” said Balaam, “God Himself will judge them” (Num. 25).
This is what is called “the doctrine of Balaam” in Rev. 2:14. It worked, and God’s people fell. This, says Peter, is what the apostates are all about—like Balaam, the money is more important than God!
Peter points out how bound Balaam really was:
2:16 “but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.”
Balaam was so blinded with thoughts of the king’s gold that even when God rebuked him with the voice of his own donkey he could not be stopped! Likewise, no rebuke from God can stop the apostates from their materialistic drive.
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Next, Peter uses powerful metaphors to describe the false teachers:
2:17 “These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”
Like dark clouds that never bring rain, these false teachers may promise many refreshing things to those who listen to them, but they are empty on the inside. Vacuous and hollow. There’s nothing there.
Second, they are “clouds carried by a tempest.” This speaks of something like a tornado or hurricane, a tempest of destruction. They may appear as promising rain clouds do, but they bring stormy ruin instead of rain.
Peter vividly describes their eternal fate as a “mist of darkness,” eternal, endless darkness.
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He next describes the empty words of these false teachers:
2:18 “For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.”
“Great swelling words” perfectly describes what we might call “empty talk, high sounding nonsense.” These false teachers are, as one commentator put it, “intoxicated by the exuberance of their own verbosity.” They love to hear themselves speak, but they are devoid of truth.
Not only are they empty words, they are also alluring words, designed to appeal to the carnal appetites of their hearers. These apostates aim their words to the lower natures of people. Not just lustful things, but materialism as well.
Not only are their words empty and alluring, they are also ruinous to new Christians. Peter says they target people who have just escaped the clutches of the devil. “The ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.”
Their pitch to them is a promise of liberty:
2:19 “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.”
This is the message of most cults—liberty. But the teachers themselves are bound. You can’t give what you don’t have, and these false teachers can’t deliver liberty when they themselves are the “slaves of corruption.”
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Peter now warns new Christians of the consequences of listening to them:
2:20 “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.”
If you have tasted of Jesus and then become ensnared in false teaching, you will wind up in a worse place than before you were saved. This is why false teachers and false teaching are so ruinous. This is why we MUST know our Bibles in order to recognize and flee from it!
Peter closes his warnings with a somber word to these apostates who had heard of the way of righteousness, but rejected it:
2:21-22 “For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”
They are foul within, like a dog returning to its vomit.
And they are filthy without, like “a sow” returning to rolling around in the mud.
In closing, why is it important for us to see these things? Why did Peter spend so much time writing about it?
He loved us enough to tell us the truth about the dangers of false teachers and teaching, and the ruin their message will bring. It matters who you allow to speak into your life!
NEXT TIME: Peter exposes the scoffers