To Be One in Christ: We Have Treasure in the Jars of Clay -- the Series of Explanation and Analysis of Scripture (18) - 2
The Explanation and Analysis of the Verses in Chapter 2 of 2 PETER
It is edited and compiled under the guidance of Holy Spirit. All thanks, praises and glories be to God!
(2) Regarding the false teachers and their destruction (2:1-22)
This chapter talks about the appearance, teachings, dangers and ending of the false teachers in details, as one of the main content of this letter. It also cites the historical facts as the object lesson; and the teachings are the same important to both the ministry and the believers. Several important characteristics of the conducts of the false teachers are talked about especially in this chapter, such as money, adultery, ungodliness and all kinds of corrupt desires of the sinful nature and so on; all of them are the temptations that could trap the ministry and the believers easily.
There are a lot of content in this chapter that are similar to the book of Judas. It is because they are inspired by the same Holy Spirit. These repeated teachings and truth need us to pay special attention.
A. The warnings of the appearance of the false teachers (2:1-3)
a. The appearance of the false teachers (2:1upper)
2 PETERS 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
(NOTES)
“there were also false prophets”: refer to the false prophets in the times of the Old Testament among the Israelites. After Moses led the Israelites out of the Egypt and before they entered Canaan, Moses warned the Israelites that if there are false prophets among them, even if they can practice a miraculous sign or wonder and claim to have the revelations from God, but lure them to be away from the God and not to serve the only LORD, they should not listen to them (Deu 13:1-3). Afterward, there are false prophets who appeared repeatedly among the Israelites in the times of the Kings. For example, Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah to go with him against Ramoth Gilead; he brought together many false prophets to inquire of, but put the real prophet Micaiah in prison (2Ch 18). There were also false prophets among the Jews in the times of Jehoiakim king of Judah (Jer 23:23-32); there are also false prophets in the times of King Zedekiah, who are prophesying lies in God’s name (Jer 29:8-9).
“just as there will be false teachers among you”:
refer to the false teachers who appear in the church. How there were false prophets among the Israelites, so there will be false teachers among the believers. How the false prophets in the past predicted lies in God’s name according to their own wills, so the false teachers misinterpret God’s words at own wills. The Israelites in the Old Testament are the earthly chosen people of God; the Christians in the New Testament are the heavenly people of God. Both of them met with the same enemy -- the devil. These false prophets and false teachers produce all kinds of confusions on the belief, the morality and the personnel matters. Therefore, according to the teachings of the apostles, we have known clearly that it is not surprising that the church in the last days will meet with all kinds of heresies. Furthermore, those heresies that are most difficult to distinguish take place in the category of the church.
“They will secretly introduce destructive heresies”:
Here “secretly” and “no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation” in (2Pe 1:20) are in contrast to each other. This shows that the main reason that there are all kinds of heresies and mistakes in the church, is that they interpret the Bible according to their own wills, but not the truth. To “secretly introduce” indicates that one does not learn the truth in the Bible honestly and completely, but only from one’s own opinions and views. The “destructive heresies”: those that do not introduce the believers into Christ, do not exhort the people in Christ to be away from the sins and evils , and are not in accordance to the Bible are the heresies. Especially note that those arguments that let people remain in sins, not encourage people to confess sins and repent, and not encourage the people in Christ to make effort to live a holy life, are all destructive. The false teachers lead the believers only according to their own opinions and make people follow their own opinions, but not the truth in the Bible, so that to let people trapped in the wrong path, remain in sins at ease, and go to the destruction without being aware.
In a word, the false teachers are not in the way of being against the truth completely, and seem to walk on the way of truth, but actually pretend to be spiritual, use all kinds of people’s opinions to confuse the truth, and make the church lose the testimonies.
b. The belief of the false teachers (2:1latter)
“even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them”:
“even” shows that to confess that Christ is the LORD who redeems us is the most basic belief, and the minimum condition to be the Christian. On the contrary, if one does not confess the LORD who redeems him, he “even” does not have the minimum condition. The work of redemption by Christ is the most basic belief that the believers should hold. Whoever rejects the most basic belief can not be counted as a Christian at all, regardless of his knowledge of the Bible.
c. the ways of the false teachers (2:2-3)
2 PETERS 2:2-3 Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
(NOTES)
a. shameful ways:
It is also translated as “pernicious ways” (K.J.V.) or “immoral ways and lascivious doings”. These false teachers not only are immoral, but also make many people follow them to do the immoral things. Since they even do not confess their LORD, how could they make so many people to follow them? It is because they have their skills and ways to entice people; that is to mislead others into the immorality.
Sins and evils have the character of automatic propagation. Those who are immoral themselves will advocate others to do immoral things; those who sin will like to see others to commit the same sin as themselves. They want more people to stand on their side, so that to “comfort” their conscience a little bit and act more boldly according to their selfish desires. It is because if only few people commit this sin, this sin will stick out and is not easy to be forgiven; however, if there are many people commit this sin, this sin will become common; even it is a big sin originally, it will become common.
As to the leaders of the church, if they love the world themselves, they will give out the talks that will make it convenient for the believers to love the world, so that people will follow them. This is indeed the crisis of the church nowadays.
On the other hand, how come those who follow the false teachers get confused? The reason is not more than the followings:
a. Not only they give foothold to the devil in their mind, but also they even like a principle that can cover them to love the world and live according to the sinful nature. Or they do not have the spirit to distinguish the knowledge of the truth (1Co 12:10), while the false teachers often use the godly appearance and some means to win people over.
b. They will not put up with sound doctrine, and have itching ears. These principles of the false teachers give what they desire for; saying unorthodoxy things, or covering the sins and evils, living according to the selfish desires, or stirring up the believers to desire for the vanity and seek to do others down, as a result, the believers will follow them (2Ti 4:3).
c. Although they have the spirit to distinguish, they do not have the strong will. They are not earnest to the truth, and they compromise and tolerate to let these false teachers have position in the truth; and they are not willing to fight for the truth (Gal 2:5; 1Ti 6:12).
Here, the “shameful ways” might also refer to the sins and evils in their belief. They know the truth clearly, but they are not willing to believe it, and do not lead others into the right path. The falling in the faith and going astray from the truth, will result in the falling on their conducts and moralities. While the falling of them, will make many who follow them or those who mistake them as the examples to lose heart and fall, or retreat on the faith and let oneself be slack on the morality. As a result, they will “bring the way of truth into disrepute” .
“bring the way of truth into disrepute”:
This sentence tells the reason why the devil will rise so many false teachers and false brothers in the church (Gal 2:4). The false truth entices the believers to tumble through all kinds of cunning schemes. Its purpose is to make others misunderstand the truth, slander the truth and refuse the truth.
The Christians must not lose heart because of seeing the corruption of others’ conducts, such that lose the testimonies that they should have. In the spiritual war, the enemy will certainly try to defeat us by all kinds of cunning schemes, such as deceiving, fooling, attacking, surrounding, giving out smoke, and hiring spies and so on. We must know clearly all kinds of plots of the enemy, and not lose heart, not be discouraged, and hold the truth fearlessly and courageously to overcome. Nowadays, many Christians seem to think the devil is an enemy fighting according to rules, and seem to think that the two parties in the war on the opposite position will only shoot in turn according to the sequence respectively, and no other plots can be used. Where will such a war with rules be? We must see through the plots of the devil and make good use of the weapon of truth in order to overcome.
B. greedy ways:
“In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. ”:
It is obvious that these false teachers have impure purpose to work in the church; they are greedy for the money or other worldly benefit.
The apostle Paul used to testify to the elders in the church in Ephesus: “I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing.” (Act 20:33); and to the Thessalonian church: “You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed--God is our witness. ” (1Th 2:5); also to the Corinthian believers: “Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. ” (2Co 7:2). These words sufficiently show the noble character of the faithful servants of God, who are clean on everything and are not greedy, do not take the advantage of others, do not use their position of the ministry and pastors as the excuse to hope for preferential treatment. However, those false teachers are the opposite; they have no good intentions in all their activities, but seek for something else and exploit the believers with stories they have made up.
“In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. ” :
This indicates that they do not preach honestly and make up lies, or even misinterpret the Bible deliberately to cater to the people’s favors. And in their covetousness (lust, greed) they will exploit the believers with false (cunning) arguments (A.M.P.).
“exploit”:
They make merchandise of the believers, measure all the spiritual things with commercial sight, and turn all kinds of false love and false warm hearts into the commercial means. However, although these people might deceive some immature believers in the church and get some temporary profit, they can not escape the righteous eternal punishment of God.
d. The ending of the false teachers (2:1latter-3)
“and their destruction has not been sleeping”:
This is saying that God made the judgment on their sins from the very beginning; to act like this, they won’t be able to escape the judgment of God by lucky. Although they can pretend to be very spiritual in front of people, they can not cover up before God who searches minds and hearts.
In a word, these verses in the Bible exhort the believers to distinguish carefully the false teachers and brothers in the church. They should also live in front of God honestly, and should not be hypocritical, so that not to be trapped in the mistake of the false teachers. To counterfeit and sin on the truth of God, one will receive more severe judgment. “Their destruction has not been sleeping”.
The above message is also a warning to those who advocate the youth to preach for the honors in this world, the status and the material pleasures. If one goes to preach without the calling and election of God, even never has the experience of being saved but becomes a preacher, it is easy for them to walk on the road of the false teachers and become a “hidden tumor” in the church.
Not only like this, even the faithful servants of God who have the experiences of many years on the work for LORD, should also be watchful, and examine whether they themselves are greedy or not. Otherwise, even if they are not the false teachers, they might fall into the net of the devil unconsciously.
B. To cite the history as the object lessons (2:4-9)
In order to prove the ending of those false teachers can not escape the judgment of God indeed, the apostle cited some examples in the history of the Old Testament as the evidence to show that God treat those who think that godliness is a means to financial gain and preach wrong principles, just as those ungodly unbelievers, and they will be given their deserving punishment.
Note that, although the message here is anticipated that these false teachers will appear, and warns “the believers” in advance. But at the same time, it also gives warnings to those “false teachers” who will appear, so that they will be watchful. Therefore, when the apostle talks about what ending they will have, he especially cited the living examples in history as proof, so that to reinforce his warnings. It is to prove that all those who confuse and go astray from the truth, are “bringing swift destruction on themselves.”
a. the angels who sinned (2:4)
2 PETERS 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;
(NOTES)
From this verse, it is known that some angels who sinned have been putting into gloomy dungeons already. They might be some evil spirits who rebelled (Rev 12:4,7; Mat 25:41). Since the power and wisdom of the angels are higher than the false prophets and false teachers, with bigger super power, however, they can not escape the judgment of God, how much less the false teachers are! On the other hand, the bigger power the sinner has, the more severe the punishment from God will be and the more difficult they could be forgiven.
“but sent them to hell”
The original word of “hell” refers to the name of a person in the Greek fairy tales. Half of this person’s body is in the water; but his mouth is very thirsty. Whenever he bows his head to drink water, the water will fall so that he can not drink it. But when he lifts his head, the water will rise again. Therefore, this person is thirsty forever, but is not able to drink the water though he is in the water all the time. The Greek use this word to represent the hell.
“putting them into gloomy dungeons ”:
The Greek considered the “dungeons” to refer to a place lower than hades. It seems to be a special place to detain the angels who sinned to wait for the judgment.
“putting them into gloomy dungeons ” was put right after “but sent them to hell”. It shows that the “hell” and the dungeons are the places within the same category.
b. The flood at the times of Noah (2:5)
2 PETERS 2:5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;
(NOTES)
In 1Peter (3:20-21), it also cites the incident of the flood (Gen ch.6-8). However, the citation in 1 Peter pays more attention to comforting and encouraging the believers; the citation here pays attention to warning those who go astray and the unbelievers. It shows that how God made the judgment on the people at that age, so will God judge the unbelievers in the current age. How the people at that time were destroyed because of ignoring the warnings, so will the people nowadays be destroyed because of ignoring the salvation (Heb 2:1-4). In the like manner, how Noah did the will of God in that generation of sins and evils, and lived by relying on God: “By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” (Heb 11:7); so are the people nowadays live a godly life according to the will of God in this generation, and God surely takes care of them.
“(Noah) a preacher of righteousness”:
It indicates that when Noah was building the ark and waited for the coming of the flood (Gen 6:5), he also preached for God; and of course, what he preached must be related to the destruction of the world with the flood by God. Since he preached about it, while only the eight members of his own family are saved, it is obvious that the people at that times did not accept and pay attention to his preaching. LORD Jesus said: “For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.” (Mat 24:38-39). The times of Noah is the days of paying attention to eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. Comparing with the times of Noah, the generation nowadays pay even more attention to eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. The people’s minds are filled with all kinds of sinful and evil thoughts and all kinds of ferocious, brutal and treacherous things, and are even worse than the people in the times of Noah. How can the people of this generation not be judged?
In brief, this verse tells us that:
i. God will bring all the deeds into judgment; no one can be spared.
ii. Before the deadline of the judgment of God, there will always be the great chance and tolerate time for people to repent.
iii. God will be willing to forgive and take those who are willing to repent.
iv. God will give proper punishment to those who are not willing to repent according to His righteousness.
c. Sodom and Gomorrah (2:6-9)
2 PETERS 2:6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
(NOTES)
Here, it cites the incident of the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, in order to show the truth that God will judge the ungodly people nowadays. The flood of Noah and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, are both the collective demise; as to the former, God used water to execute the punishment, while as to the latter, the fire was used. These citations are to prove that God will make the judgment in the future in the heaven according to the righteousness, and will absolutely not leave the guilty unpunished because the sinners are too many.
The destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah is as “an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly”. This verse shows that in ancient times, God destroyed the ungodly people at that times with either water or fire; both are the typology of the final judgment on the great day. It is to make people to take these things as object lessons, and firmly believe that the final judgment of God will come at last.
However, the righteous God is also full of love and kindness. When He considers the punishment must be executed, He won’t give the most severe punishment right away; He will always give warnings for many times beforehand, and only till at last He have to execute the most severe punishment.
2 PETERS 2:7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men
(NOTES)
“Lot, a righteous man”: Since Lot is called a righteous man, this shows that he is one with the faith and have the experience of being rescued. Here, he was called as “who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men” . This shows that since he was distressed by the filthy lives of the people of Sodom (Gen 19:1-12), he certainly did not share in their filthy lives. It is apparent that although Lot was a believer living and surrounding by the sinful and evil world; but he did not wallow in the mire and fall into the sins and evils in morality. This kind of distress toward “sins”, and the sad feeling even when see others sin, is the feeling of the life belong to God.
2 PETERS 2:8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)--
(NOTES)
“for that righteous man, living among them ”:
Lot, the righteous man lived among the evil men.
“was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard”:
The life in the righteous man abominates “the lawless deeds”, and his spirit and mind will feel painful when sees the evil deeds.
2 PETERS 2:9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
(NOTES)
“godly men” are those who fear God and keep themselves from sins. “the unrighteous” is “the ungodly” in verse 6.
There is great difference for God to treat these two kinds of people: to keep the ungodly under chastisement until the day of judgment and doom (Act 17:31; Jud 6), and to rescue the godly out of temptations and trials.
The biggest difference between the Christians and the worldly people, is not that they won’t meet with the sufferings, trials or temptations; but when they meet the sufferings, Lord will “rescue” them. We do not know what kind of temptations and trials we will meet, neither do we know how to overcome, but “the Lord knows”. Therefore, as 1 Corinthians told: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. ” (1Co 10:13). “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. ” (Heb 7:25).
C. What a life do the false teachers live (2:10-22)
Actually, the whole chapter here is talking about the life and conducts of the false teachers. However, in the above verses, after talking a little about the conducts and faith of these people, the citations of several historical examples are inserted as a warning explanation. Here, it gets back to the previous topic, and talks about the ungodliness of these false teachers in details repeatedly. It points out that these false teachers will die with those people of the ancient times who deserved to be destroyed, but not belong to those who have faith. Although it is difficult to distinguish them in front of men, the omniscient God knows to set apart who is godly righteous men, and who is ungodly evil men. Just as in the ancient times, God set apart the family of Noah from the people in his times; and set apart Lot from the people of Sodom. Here, it is discussed from 5 points listed below:
a. follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and are lawless (2:10)
2 PETERS 2:10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.
(NOTES)
“the sinful nature ”:
It refers to the corrupt characters of the old life. After the fall of men, all kinds of the desires of the corrupt characters of the old life go over the normal practice. Not only the will of men can not control it; on the contrary, it becomes “the law of sin at work within my members” to control the will of men, and make men to follow their requirements and produce all kinds of sins.
Therefore, here, to “follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature ”, is to be controlled by the sinful nature, and to indulge in all kinds of sinful and evil desires. In chapter 2 of Ephesians, it also mentions about the situation of the believers before they believe in LORD, that they also gratified the cravings of their sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts (Eph 2:3). It is because those who do not have the new life, not only are willing to follow their sinful nature to be stained by all kinds of sins and evils, but also they do not have the power not to follow the selfish desires. The desires of the body of men are originally normal, and are all innocent regardless of eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. However, after sin entered the life of the mankind, since all these desires contain the quality of sins and exceed the normal practice, they need to be controlled, and one should absolutely not “follow” them blindly. However, it is impossible for one who lives in sins to overcome the sinful nature of the body; only those who are redeemed by Christ and are reborn, and have the life and holy Spirit of God dwell in, can overcome the sinful nature through the truth of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Although the Christians are the same as the worldly people that have all kinds of desires, and many of which are normal, we do not need to follow the desires of the body to live. It is because the main purpose for us to live in the world, is not to satisfy the desires of the body, but to satisfy the will of God. We only supply to satisfy the necessary need of the body, but not to satisfy endlessly all kinds of desires of the body. It is because the selfish desire of the body won’t be satisfied to say enough, if without the control, it will become acquisitive without limit.
However, the freewill of the believers must let Christ take the charge of themselves, and live according to the Holy Spirit. If one follows the demands of the sinful nature, indulges in the immoral lust, one will still commit the crime and die in the sins and transgressions.
“despise authority”:
The false teachers not only indulge their sinful nature, but also act despite the laws and like to do lawless deeds. Since they do not obey the truth, they only have the godly appearance; but actually there is no God in their eyes. Even the authority of God they despise (Gal 6:7); they certainly also despise the authority.
b. slander at wills (2:10latter -- 2:11)
2 PETERS 2:10latter -- 2:11 Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.
(NOTES)
They are bold in committing crimes, and doing at wills. They speak and act according to their own favors, ignoring the will and power of God. They won’t be timid because of committing too much crime, and they slander “celestial beings” at wills.
These people slander the celestial beings actually to cover their lawless deeds. All who slander others are covering their own sins through nitpicking others, or boasting about their own strong points. Since these false teachers indulge in lust, bold and self-willed, they certainly live a corrupt life and have immoral deeds, they need to defend their own deeds. Therefore, they have to slander the authority.
To “slander” is the working rule of the devil. The devil is an accuser. The reason to “slander” is often because of the jealousy. Each faithful disciple should reject such behaviors, for this belongs to the deeds of the false teachers.
This verse tells us that the heart of the angels is very good and kind, humble, without bad intentions and angers. Although they abominate sins and devils, they do not treat others by slandering. They won’t slander others by exaggerating others’ errors deliberately, and they won’t judge others (Mat 7:1-5).
“accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord”:
According to the record of the Bible, the life and conducts of the believers are taken care of by the angels secretly (Act 12:15; Psa 34:7). How the evil spirits of the devil spy on the Christians secretly so that to attack and entice them; so are the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation (Heb 1:14), and take care of the children of God secretly.
The angels do not do an exaggerating report in front of God. Their power are much more than the false teachers, but their disposition is gentle and just. They only faithfully explain their deeds to God, and do not sin on the mouth and tongues.
If we compare this book with that of (Jud 1:8-9), it is not difficult to find that what was written in the book of Judas is more detailed and slightly different. In the book of Judas, it said: “But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" ” Here, we notice that what was recorded in the book of Judas are very similar to what are recorded here, but do not completely refer to the same thing. It is because the book of Judas especially mentions the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, while this is not mentioned in this book. Here, the point that the angels do not bring slanderous accusations on the authorities, is applied to show that although the power of the angels are greater than the false teachers, they even dare not to bring slanderous accusations. Thus, the book of Judas talks about the background in more details regarding that “do not bring slanderous accusations” . we should keep our mouth and heart from sinning. (Pro 4:23-24) “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.”.
c. as lowly as the beasts (2:12-14)
2 PETERS 2:12 But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
(NOTES)
“They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.”:
Since the beasts are creatures of instinct and do not understand the things of the mankind, they can only be caught and destroyed. As to these false teachers, although they have some spiritual knowledge, they do not have the spiritual life; they do not have real experience on the spiritual thing; they can only guess the thing of God according to their own wills; while they always consider themselves in the right, but actually have no ability to understand the will of God at all; they can not help the spirituality of the believers, and are useless to the plan and work of the redemption of God; in front of God, they are like those beasts who can contribute nothing to people and only wait for being caught and slaughtered, and the eternal destruction.
The mankind originally have the spirit of God and are set to be above all things by God. However, after the fall of Adam, the spirits of men are separated from God, and become more and more unfamiliar about God. As a result, they are like the beasts without the spirit, and they show all kinds of their evil and brutal sins, which have no difference with the beasts. In fact, nowadays, taking away the hypocritical politeness and the outer clothing of civilization, the original face will be exposed to be savage, ferocious, ruthless, lascivious, and filthy, and a face is even uglier than the beasts without the spirit. Although these false teachers cover themselves with the spiritual knowledge and the outward godliness, their life is not really reborn and saved, and there is no difference between them and the falling sinners.
“But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. ”:
Since the false teachers do not have the spiritual life, they certainly can not be compared with the true servants of God on the spiritual experience and pursuits. As a result, they cannot obtain the respect and love from the believers on the spirituality, then they will slander those faithful servants of LORD, or using the worldly or the sinful means to win the believers over, so that to cause all kinds of disputations in the church. In fact, what they blaspheme they do not know, for they never experience or understand it.
“they too will perish”:
According to the judgment of God, since these people are not the true shepherds, they can only undermine others’ work; they are also greedy, have other conspires, think that godliness is a means to financial gain, and make profit for oneself by undermining others’ work. They will be judged by God and will perish. However, these words not only refer to the future, but also refer to this life. Those who often do harm to others will hurt themselves at last, and be self-perished. Many people who slander others often will outsmart themselves, and expose their own treacherousness and the wicked intention in mind; and turn out to do harm to themselves. God is in charge of the fate and act of men in the invisible; although the final judgment has not come to this life yet, He will set the time for judgment, to show His marvelous wisdom, and let the evil doers taste their own evil fruit.
2 PETERS 2:13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
(NOTES)
“They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. ”:
Since what they do are unrighteous, the reward they receive are the unrighteousness. The evildoers will receive the retribution for evildoings. Even though they might escape the retribution in this life, their spirit will receive the judgment and punishment forever. The false teachers often do a lot of wrongdoings so that to get the unrighteous reward, and their satisfaction is to obtain the profit before eyes and the material benefit. In fact, they only plant the unrighteous seed for themselves and they will harvest the unrighteous fruit at last.
“Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. ”:
Since they are controlled by the sinful nature, they certainly like the carouse to satisfy the flesh.
Note that “broad daylight” shows that the carouse is the carouse in the time of work. The daytime is the time to work (Joh 9:4), but they use it to carouse. It is obvious that these people idle away their time, and prefer the carouse to the work. “the pleasure” often refers to the pleasures of flesh. For example, in 1 Timothy, “But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. ” (1Ti 5:6) In James, the author also rebukes the rich people who lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. While these false teachers also only like these things.
“while they feast with you”:
In (Jud 1:12), it is “love feasts”, which is the feast to remember LORD. While these false teachers have associated with the believers; they are accepted by the Church and take “the supper of LORD”, and together break the bread to remember LORD.
“reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. ”:
That is, they are pleased that their hypocritical pretending can deceive the eyes of the believers, and they feel complacent that their godly appearance successfully cover their true motives.
2 PETERS 2:14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed--an accursed brood!
(NOTES)
“With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; ”:
Not only they like the pleasure of the carouse, and are hypocritical and treacherous, but also they are full of adultery, which are shown in their conducts unconsciously. “With eyes full of adultery”, this shows that they like to look at the lascivious and obscene things; their eyes take it as the pleasure in the lascivious and obscene things. They have no intention to resist the temptation of the sins an devils, and they do not want to free themselves from the sinful desires that entangle. Therefore, they never stop sinning. Although the false godliness in their outward appearance might deceive the eyes of people, their inner lust to sin will not stop showing at last.
“they seduce the unstable; ”:
It is apparent that not only they themselves sin, but also they seduce others to sin together with them. “the unstable” refer to those who have weak spirit or newly believe in LORD. Since they are relatively weak, they are easy to be tempted. However, after they are tempted, they will affect the whole church, and trap the church in the situation of the unstable.
Those sinners if do not want to repent, will like to seduce others to walk on the same way with them. They will make up all kinds of excuses to cover their own sins, and agitate those who are immature in the faith and truth to follow them, so that their action of a few people become an action of a large group. In this way, their mistakes or the hypocritical arguments will form a power of influence in the church and have the shelters.
“they are experts in greed”:
This shows that they are not greedy occasionally, but are greedy all the time, and obtain the benefit they do not deserve through the lawless means. They are used to doing this. All those who gain their benefit through crooked methods and efforts, will do it again and again once they start it; and will form a greedy habit at last. The Christians must keep themselves away from the greed, in case to be trapped in the sins of greed. Otherwise, although they are not the false teachers, they are walking toward the road of the false teachers.
d. Follow Balaam (2:15-16)
2 PETERS 2:15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
(NOTES)
“They have left the straight way and wandered off ”:
“left ” here might not indicate that they used to walk on the straight way; it also might indicate that although they know the straight way, they did not walk on it and left the straight way that they know.
“wandered off”:
It shows that both those false teachers and Balaam walked on the wrong way. The reason that the way of Balaam is wrong is because it is:
i. the unrighteous way:
His unrighteousness is obvious. Not only because it did not please God that he went to curse the Israelites, but also because to do harm to the third party for the sake of the bribe is the deeds of a base person who bury the conscience and covet the small profit regardless of the morality and justice.
ii. the way of vanity
King of Moab promised Balaam the money and also a great honor and glory. It is obvious that Balaam desired for the vanity that he wanted to be specially fond of and trust unduly by king Balak. If the Christians desired for the vanity in this life, it will also be easy for them to wander off. Why after knowing the straight way, did these false teachers leave the straight way and wander off? It is because they desire for the vanity; therefore, they follow the track of Balaam.
iii. the way to betray God
Since God wanted to bless the Israelites, while Balaam went to curse them. It is obvious that the road that he walked on is the way to betray God. Although Balaam said in his mouth that he will do it according to the commands of God completely, his deeds are detestable to God. On one hand, he detested what God loves and loved what God detests; on the other hand, he claimed that he will obey the will of God on everything. He is worthy of being the “ancestor” of the false teachers. Nowadays, there are also many Christians in the prayers in church claim that how they are willing to obey God, how regret they are for the past failures and even make the resolution with tears. However. When their spiritual shepherd leads them to practice the truth that they heard, they will stand on the side of the sinful nature to be against the truth of God, even vent their anger on the servants of God, and hold hostility against the servants of LORD such that to cause more disputes in the church.
iv. the way of degeneracy
Although Balaam had the spiritual knowledge, he did not do according to what he knew. On the contrary, he took these knowledge as “a means to financial gain”; he coveted profit on the spiritual things. As a result, he degenerated to the extent that God let the donkey rebuke him. Note that since God sent the angels to block his way, why did not let the angel rebuke him, but let the donkey to open the mouth? According to the following words -- “But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey”, the one who spoke with a man's voice to rebuke him is a donkey without speech. It is obvious that God deliberately did this to him to put him to shame. It is because the way he walked made him lose the noble character of a man and became a beast inferior to the donkey, so that he was rebuked by a donkey. If the Christians sin and fall, they should know that they lose the noble status of the children of God and wallow in degeneration. If they do not turn around right away, they will bring contempt upon themselves like Balaam.
v. the obstinate way
Although God let the donkey open the mouth to rebuke Balaam, using such a supernatural method to let him know his way is wrong, Balaam didn’t really know his mistake or know that what he did can not go beyond God. Although what he said showed that how obedient he was to God, what he did prove that he actually wanted to be against God, and broke through the restriction of God. He tried for four times, but could not speak what he wanted to curse. Why is it as many as four times? Why is it not once only? This “four times” shows that his original mind was to curse the Israelites to exchange the reward of king of Moab. Also each time before he uttered the oracle, he indeed wanted to curse the Israelites; he even changed the way of “sorcery” again and again (Num 24:1), and hoped to say the curse. After the failure in the oracles for four times, Balaam then offered advice to Balak to seduce the Israelites to indulge in sexual immorality and worship the idols, and finally made the Israelites fall into their own sins to provoke the anger of God. It is obvious how obstinate his mind is? He did not be alert and awakened though God restrained his mouth repeatedly and changed the curse he wanted to say into the blessings; he won’t stop until he obtained the money and honors from the king of Moab!
The example of Balaam told us that: when one’s mind was covered by sins, he will lose the judgment on the right and wrong, and only wanted to achieve the goal of sin, regardless of the results; that is really blinded by lust for gain, the Christians must not ignore the lesson on it!
vi. the way to destruction
From (Num 31:8) and (Jos 13:22), it is known about the miserable ending of Balaam. Although he obtained the money and honor that he sought, he could not enjoy them, but go to destruction with them. Just as what is said in verse 13 above: “They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. ” Balaam did get the wages of unrighteousness, which not only included the money and honor given to him by Balak, but also included the death of his life and the destruction of all his wealth altogether.
Here, it says that: these false teachers “follow the way of Balaam”; that is, they have the characteristic of loving money and selfish desires like Balaam. Although their outward appearance can pretend to be as godliness as Balaam, their minds are controlled completely by the money and the selfish desires.
2 PETERS 2:16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey--a beast without speech--who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
(NOTES)
“spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness. ”:
Only here, the Bible called Balaam indirectly as the prophet -- when it is talking about that God used a donkey to stop Balaam with a man’s voice, the word of “prophet” is used. Whether was Balaam the real prophet (the prophet of God) or not? According to the topics discussed above, Balaam is taken as a living example of the miserable ending, so that to teach the believers to distinguish what kind of persons are the false teachers or the real servants of God. It is obvious that Balaam is a false prophet, but not a real prophet; although he had the knowledge of God, he did not really obey and belong to God.
According to (Jos 13:22): “Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them.” It clearly and directly calls Balaam as “the soothsayer”. If according to the behaviors of Balaam, he is actually a soothsayer; but because he had some knowledge, and are good at pretending to be godly, also he uttered the prophets (Num 23-24), therefore, he was also a false prophet. When he started to curse the Israelites for Balak, his way of offering the sacrifice was absolutely different from the way of the Israelites to offer the sacrifice. And Moses in (Num 24:1) said that the offering of Balaam was to “resort to the sorcery”. Thus, it is known that “the soothsayer” is the real status of Balaam. Although before he gave the oracles unconsciously in (Num ch.23 -24), he was absolutely not a prophet. The reason that he had the title of “prophet” is actually because of the oracles in (Num ch.23 -24). Since he used to give the oracles, that made people have an idea that he is a prophet. Actually he is only a false prophet originally from soothsayer. He was worthy of being called the old ancestor of the false prophets and false teachers; the way that he walked is what the later generations follow.
The example of Balaam points out to us that God can use anyone He wants to use, including those who are not worthy from our point of view. However, it does not represent the spiritual achievement of those who are used by God. Balaam proclaimed the oracle is one thing; whether he belonged to God, and was holy and godly or not is another thing. Therefore, we should not look at others through their working performance; also, we should not consider ourselves successful by our achievements on the work. We should take the ending of the false teachers as the object lesson, and do not do evils:
“"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” (Mat 7:21-23)
e. empty and boastful words (2:17-19)
2 PETERS 2:17 These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.
(NOTES)
“These men are springs without water and mists”:
This shows that they appear better than they really are. Since they do not have the proper usage, they will do harm instead. The biggest usage of a spring is to supply water to others; a spring without water is a pitfall. Since these people have the appearance of the spring, but without water to quench the thirst of others, then they can only stumble others. They have the spiritual knowledge and take the position of the teachers in the church. Who would have thought that they are “springs without water ”. Their eyes are full of adultery and seduce those whose mind are not solid, also made up the reasons to sin, and twist the truth so that to accommodate their greedy deeds.
If there is no water in the spring, it will not only become the trap of others, but also will kill others with their poisonous gas. All kinds of the hypocrisies of the false teachers, and the positions that they occupied and their opinions in the church, are like the poisonous spring, and will make the spirituality of the believers trap in the places of “death”.
“mists driven by a storm”:
The mists will block the vision of people, and make people unable to see the directions and get lost. These people not only can not help others to see the way of the truth, but also they are the mists on the way of the truth, and make others be blurred and confused. The mists are light and weightless. Since it is not like the rain can irrigate the field, but it will block the sun shine to the ground. These false teachers are just like the “mists”, which is worthless and weightless. Their existence is “momentary ” and is only limited to this world that their eyes can see, and only before the eyes of men “appears for a little while and then vanishes” (Jam 4:14).
They are not only the “mists”, but also the mists driven by a storm. The mists are originally easy to disappear, without the coagulation strength. The mists by a storm are more easier to be blown off. It shows that they will past soon and disappear completely. Although what they did on earth is only to confuse others’ recognition on the truth and block the light of the truth. However, they even won’t keep on doing the evils for long. Their work will disclose soon and their life will disappear in this visible generation. They appear falsely better than they really are without the real contributions, and they can not be kept in front of God at all.
“Blackest darkness is reserved for them.”:
It indicates that they will go into the “blackest darkness ” at last and go into the everlasting destruction. It is because they are the son of darkness originally. Although they seem to do wrongdoings at wills, follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature, and indulge in the pleasures, However, what is reserved for them is the “blackest darkness”. The judgment of God and the eternal punishment are waiting for them.
2 PETERS 2:18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.
(NOTES)
“For they mouth empty, boastful words ”:
They have the characteristic of the devil, and like to boast themselves and lie (Dan 7:8; Rev13:5). While since these false teachers are good at say boastful words. All of this is actually prepare for the coming antichrist, and shows that the ending of this age is near day by day. The conducts of the false teachers are only the display of the part of the antichrist. Although they know a lot of truth, it can not cover their character of liking exalting themselves. It is because the work of the devil is to let the inner corruption of men to display as much as possible.
“by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. ”:
This verse can be as the notes of verse 14 above, and these show how the false teachers seduce “the unstable”. And “the unstable” in verse 14 are those newly believers. Their knowledge on the truth and spiritual life are relatively weak, and are very easy to be deceived by their false godliness.
Here, “the lustful desires” and the “sinful human nature” include all kinds of corruptions of the sinful nature, such as the sexual immorality and so on, just as all kinds of sins and evils listed in (Gal 5:19-21). In a word, all these things are what the believers are easy to be tempted. The false teachers will make up theories on these things to let the believers to sin boldly.
2 PETERS 2:19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
(NOTES)
This verse shows more clearly that these false teachers themselves are in the bondage of sins and evils, and they do not know the true meaning of “freedom”. They might attack those who truly love LORD and live a godly and holy life, and make efforts to obey in Christ the heavenly laws as the heresy of obeying the laws and relying on the deeds. While they themselves are the “slaves of depravity”, how can they promise others the freedom? It is obvious that the freedom that they promise to people, is the freedom to do one’s own will, the freedom to sin, and the freedom to escape the regulations of the truth.
LORD Jesus used to said to the Jews: “the truth will set you free” (Joh 8:32) They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" (Joh 8:33) Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ” (Joh 8:34-36)
It is apparent that LORD Jesus points out the freedom that those Jews thought is not the real freedom, for they are still the servants in sins. The false teachers are even inferior to those Jews. Since they never tasted the goodness of the true freedom, and they misunderstood the essence of the true freedom by their own smartness, then it is easy for them to change the grace into the chance to indulge in the sinful nature and selfish desires. The Galatians warns the believers that: “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love. ” (Gal 5:13) It is obvious that the false teachers are the blind to lead the way, and they do not know what they themselves are saying; what is even more pity is that they do not know that they are blind.
f. go astray from the truth deliberately (2:20-22)
2 PETERS 2:20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.
(NOTES)
“knowing”:
They have quite amount of knowledge of LORD Christ, just as Balaam had quite amount of the knowledge. However, these knowledge do not show that they have already received and lived the life of Christ.
“If they have escaped the corruption of the world”:
It is temporary that they have escaped the corruption, the sins and evils. In the following sentence: “are again entangled in it and overcome”; it is obvious that their keeping away from the corruption is momentary, but not really being away. These false teachers used to be away from the corruption for a while through knowing LORD Jesus Christ. However, this situation did not last long. These false teachers are not those who do not understand the truth completely; they used to be moved by the truth. However, because of the sins and evils buried in mind, they did not let Christ be in charge completely, do not arm themselves with the attitude of suffering to live according to the Holy Spirit, and did not make every effort to be holy and be one in Christ. As a result, many precious truth and teachings in the Bible and the rebuke and reminder of the Holy Spirit are ignored, and submerged by the sinful nature and the lust desires.
“are again entangled in it and overcome”:
This situation is like what LORD Jesus said that the evil spirits left the body of a man, then they came back to go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first (Mat 12:43-45; Luk 11:24-26). Also, they are like those people mentioned in chapter 6 of the Hebrews. Although they know the truth and are enlightened once before, they left the truth that they know. It is because their situation later is worse than that before they know the truth. Therefore, not only they did not receive the grace from the knowledge of the truth, instead, they make use of these knowledge to seek “financial gain” and seduce the weak believers.
“they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.”:
To sin deliberately is more severe than to sin ignorantly, and will receive more severe judgment.
2 PETERS 2:21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.
(NOTES)
“have known the way of righteousness”:
They have known the truth of God and the way of the righteousness; they know the words and teachings of God.
“than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them”:
Having known the words, will, law, commands of God, but if one does not do it, he sins deliberately (Heb 6:4-8). To sin deliberately is worse than to do unpremeditated sin. The punishment is more severe.
2 PETERS 2:22 Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."
(NOTES)
Here, it compares the dog and pig to those false teachers. This shows without any doubt that these false teachers are lifeless. The dog and pig are the livestock despised by the Jews, and are regarded as the unclean, and symbolize the unbelieving ones who go to the destruction (Mat 7:6; 15:26; Php 3:2; Rev 22:15).
“A dog returns to its vomit”:
The reason that the dog vomits is not because it really determines to throw it away, or considers it filthy, but is an accidental act. Therefore, it forgets when it returns, and eats what it vomited.
"A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." :
The reason that the pig is washed is not because it really loves the cleanness; but it is temporary and passive to be cleaned by men. They did not receive and live a life that love cleanness. They are only cleaned outwardly; however, their depositions do not change. Therefore, they will go back to the mud. It is obvious that these false teachers do not really love the righteousness and goodness of God, do not really know sins, confess sins, and keep themselves away from sins. They only have the knowledge of the truth of “Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ”, and were once away from the filth of the sins and evils. However, after a while, they will be bounded by the sins and evils again. Their situation is worse than that without knowing the truth.
The main characters of the deeds of the false teachers talked about in this chapter are: they have relatively rich spiritual knowledge, but they do not have the life. This is all the reasons that the false teachers can confuse the believers. If they do not have the knowledge of truth at all, they can not confuse the believers; if they have both the knowledge and the life, they won’t become the false teachers. However, it is just because there is no life in them; their depositions still belong to the devil, live according to the sinful nature, be controlled by the “corruptions”, while their outward has the spiritual appearance, and they even stand on the position of “teachers”. As a result, they become the false teachers!
Reference:
1. Zhongdao Chen: “The Lectures on the Bible Studying of the Letters in New Testament”.
