[Prayer]
Today’s message is from 2 Peter 2:10b-22. This is a continuation of Peter’s warning against false teachers that I’ve been talking about for the last three weeks. And also, I think, this passage can be taken as a warning to false teachers to repent. And we too can examine our own hearts to see if there is any attitude or thinking of the kind that the false teachers have, and if so, get rid of it!
Remember, as always, as we read the passage that we are reading the word of God. I pray that we may fear the Lord, listen to his word and learn from it—that we may tremble before the word of God.
Also, as always, I encourage all of you to read your Bibles every day. “For His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” (2 Pet.~1:3) Read and study the word of God.
Let’s read the passage—2 Peter 2:10b-22 (The HCSB translators started a new paragraph in the middle of verse 10, so that’s where we’ll start). Let’s read the passage:
10bBold, arrogant people! They do not tremble when they blaspheme the glorious ones; 11however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord. 12But these people, like irrational animals—creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed—speak blasphemies about things they don’t understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed, 13suffering harm as the payment for unrighteousness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions as they feast with you, 14having eyes full of adultery and always looking for sin, seducing unstable people, and with hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15By abandoning the straight path, they have gone astray and have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, 16but received a rebuke for his transgression: a speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
17These people are springs without water, mists driven by a whirlwind. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them. 18For uttering bombastic, empty words, they seduce, by fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped from those who live in error. 19They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them. 20For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first. 21For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, “a sow, after washing itself, wallows in the mud.” (2 Peter~2:1-22)
Did you notice how strongly Peter speaks against the false teachers? We would say that he is railing against them—and even, to use the Greek word, blaspheming them. But this is the word of God and this is the Holy Spirit speaking through Peter. It’s God’s view of the false teachers (and I’ll say more about this in just a little bit).
You remember that in last week’s passage, chapter 2:1-10a (which happens to come just before this week’s passage) the apostle Peter talked about Noah and Lot and the fact that God knows how to rescue godly people while keeping the unrighteous for the day of judgment. (Also, remember that the unrighteous that Peter is speaking about are not the ones who are sincerely trying to teach the truth but are mistaken about some things (and God will correct them as necessary), but the ones who don’t care whether or not their teaching is right or wrong, only that they can make money.)
I’m going to back up just a little bit to part way through verse 9 (from last week’s passage) and then read verses 10 and 11—you can follow along in your Bibles: “...then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold, arrogant people! They do not tremble when they blaspheme the glorious ones; however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord.” (2 Pet.~2:9-11)
What is the “authority” that these people that Peter is so strongly condemning—that God is so strongly condemning—despise? Well, they probably despise any and all authority. But I believe the word translated “authority” refers to the governing authorities.
The apostle Paul says in Colossians 1:16, “...by Him (Jesus) everything was created, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” The apostle Paul says in Romans 13:1 and 2, “Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God. So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God's command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves.” And Peter says in 1 Peter 2:13 through 17, “Submit to every human institution because of the Lord, whether to the Emperor as the supreme authority, or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For it is God's will that you, by doing good, silence the ignorance of foolish people. As God's slaves, live as free people, but don't use your freedom as a way to conceal evil. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the Emperor.” (And both Peter and Paul were speaking about the Roman government which established the Roman Empire by force through war—and was far from being perfect and righteous. And our governments today are far from being perfect and righteous. They are all corrupt—some very corrupt, other just somewhat corrupt—but all corrupt. Yet we are told by God to submit to them. So examine your heart. What is your attitude toward the governing authorities? Do you despise authority? Part of the nature of the people that Peter is condemning—really, that he is saying that God condemns—is that they despise authority.)
In verse 10b Peter also says that these people are bold and arrogant and don’t tremble when they blaspheme the “glorious ones”. Who are the “glorious ones”? Quick answer: I don’t know. The translators and the commentators don’t seem to know either. Some say that they are some form of angel or supernatural being. The Greek doesn’t say “glorious ones” it just says “glorious”. So at least one translation says they blaspheme the glorious. Many say “dignities” or “dignitaries”, referring to people, human beings, who are in authority. In any case, Peter is saying that it doesn’t bother the people he is talking about at all to insult those whom God has put in authority—those whom even angels are not willing to bring a slanderous charge against. These people have no fear of God. Let’s examine our own hearts.
Lets look at verses 12 and 13a: “But these people, like irrational animals—creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed—speak blasphemies about things they don’t understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed, suffering harm as the payment for unrighteousness.” This is really strong language—really strong. You know, Jesus taught us to really be careful about what we say about people—how we speak of them. Jesus says that anyone who says to another, “You moron!” will be subject to hellfire. (Matt. 5:22) That’s serious. And I confess that I have said that people are idiots (especially those who are in the government). The government—that’s really serious. And, according to what I learned in school way back when—years ago, “idiot” is two steps below “moron” on the IQ scale. (“Imbecile” is in between “idiot” and “moron”. These words used to be technical terms referring to a measure of intelligence. Now they are only used as insults. “Idiot” is the strongest.) Let’s examine our own mouths and our own hearts. (Mooma will remind me of this.)
Let’s look at verses 13b and 14: “They are blots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions as they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and always looking for sin, seducing unstable people, and with hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!” More strong language! And this is not Peter insulting these people because of his anger with them as we might. He is speaking the truth about them as led by the Holy Spirit of God! Let’s examine our heart to see if we have anything of their attitude. (And I’m not saying that we are in the same category with them, but that we must be careful that we don’t have the same evil thinking that they do.)
Let’s look at verses 15 and 16: “By abandoning the straight path, they have gone astray and have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but received a rebuke for his transgression: a speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.”
Let me tell you about Balaam son of Bosor (he’s son of Beor in the Old Testament). You can read about him in Numbers 22, 23 and 24. I’m going to try and give a synopsis.
This was back when the Israelites were traveling from Egypt to the land of Canaan the Lord was giving to them. The Israelites had just defeated the Amorites. The Moabites became terrified when they saw what the Israelites had done to the Amorites. Balak, the Moabite king consulted with the elders of Midian and sent a message along with a fee to Balaam to come and curse the Israelites. Balaam lived far away from Canaan, but he was known as a prophet. Balak said to Balaam in the message that he wanted to be able to defeat the Israelites. He said, “I know that those you bless are blessed and those you curse are cursed.”
When the messengers came to Balaam and he received the message, he told them to stay overnight and he would see what the Lord had to say. (Balaam really was a prophet of the Lord.) The Lord told Balaam, “You are not to go with them. You are not to curse this people. They are blessed.” Balaam told the messengers to go back home because the Lord had refused to let him go with them.
Balak sent more messengers of higher rank to Balaam. They told Balaam that Balak would give him great honor and do whatever he asked if he would come back with them. (They evidently thought that it was Balaam’s decision whether or not to curse the Isralites, not the Lord’s.) Here’s how Balaam answered: “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go against the command of the Lord my God to do anything small or great. Please stay here overnight as the others did, so that I may find out what else the Lord has to tell me.” The Lord told Balaam to go with them, so Balaam did. But it says that God was angry.
As Balaam was going, his donkey turned off the path. Balaam beat her to get her back on the path. But when they came to a narrow place between two walls, the donkey squeezed over to one side and squished Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he hit her again. Then she crouched down under Balaam and he became furious and beat her with a stick. That’s when the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth and she spoke to Balaam: “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?”
Balaam told the donkey... You know, it doesn’t seem to say that Balaam was at all surprised that the donkey spoke to him. I think it was because he was so angry that it didn’t occur to him to think about it. Anyway, Balaam told the donkey, “You made me look like a fool. If I had a sword in my hand I’d kill you now.”
But the donkey said, “Am I not the donkey you've ridden all your life until today? Have I ever treated you this way before?”
Balaam said, “No.”
And that’s when the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes to see what the donkey had seen right along, the Angel of the Lord standing with a drawn sword! Balaam knelt and bowed down with his face to the ground. The Angel of the Lord rebuked Balaam for beating the donkey and told him that he was opposing him because he was doing evil in his sight and that if it wasn’t for the donkey, he would have killed him but let her live. Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that You were standing in the path to confront me. And now, if it is evil in Your sight, I will go back.”
The Angel of the Lord told Balaam to go on with the men but to only say what he told him to say. And that’s what Balaam did.
When Balaam arrived, Balak asked him why he didn’t come right away. He said, “Am I really not able to reward you?” Balaam told him that he was only able to say what the Lord put in his mouth to say. And then he blessed Israel four times. Here’s a sample of just part of one of the blessings: “How beautiful are your tents, Jacob, your dwellings, Israel. They stretch out like river valleys, like gardens beside a stream, like aloes the Lord has planted, like cedars beside the water. Water will flow from his buckets, and his seed will be by abundant water.” (Num. 24:5-7a)
Balak became furious with Balaam. He said, “I called you to curse my enemies, but all you have done is to bless them. Go home. I said I would reward you richly, but the Lord has denied you a reward.”
Balaam reminded Balak that he had told the messengers that even if Balak were to give him his whole house full of silver and gold he would not be able to go against the Lord’s command to do anything good or bad of his own will—that he would only say what the Lord gave him to say. And he gave Balak this final warning: “Now I am going back to my people, but first, let me warn you what these people will do to your people in the future.” And he gave this prophecy (this is just part of it):
I see him, but not now; I perceive him, but not near. A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will smash the forehead of Moab and strike down all the Shethites. Edom will become a possession; Seir will become a possession of its enemies, but Israel will be triumphant. One who comes from Jacob will rule; he will destroy the city's survivors.” (Num. 24:17, 18)
Then Balaam went home.
What did this man do wrong? Why was the Lord angry? He told the messengers from the beginning to go home. He told them that he could only do what the Lord gave him to do. When the second set of messengers came, he told them that even if Balak were to give him his whole house full of silver and gold, he couldn’t do anything against the Lord’s command.
When the Lord told Balaam to go with the messengers, he went. When the Angel of the Lord rebuked him, he offered to go back. When the Angel of the Lord told him not to go back, but to only say what he was given to say, that’s exactly what he did. When Balaam told Balak he would only say what the Lord gave him to say, he even sounded a lot like Jesus: “I can do nothing on My own...I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John~5:30) And John 8:28: “...I do nothing on My own. But just as the Father taught Me, I say these things.” (John~8:28) What did Balaam do wrong?
Well if you look just a little ahead to Numbers 25 (right after it says that Balaam went home), you will find out that the Israelite men began to have sex with the Moabite women. (You remember that Balak was the king of the Moabites. These were the Moabite women.) The Moabite women had invited the Israelites to come and sacrifice to their gods. They ate with Moabites and bowed down and worshipped their gods. And the Lord’s anger burned against them. The Lord ordered Moses to execute the Israelite leaders. Moses told Israel’s judges to kill all those who had aligned themselves with Baal of Peor.
Now if you look ahead further to Numbers 31 you will see that the Lord told Moses to go to war with the Midianites and execute vengeance. (You remember that the Midianites were also involved with the deal to get Balaam to curse Israel.) The Israelites went to war and killed all the men (including Balaam, who had apparently come back), but let the women live.
Now listen to this. This is from Numbers 31:13-16: “Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them (the army after they had defeated the Midianites) outside the camp. But Moses became furious with the officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, who were returning from the military campaign. ‘Have you let every female live?’ he asked them. ‘Yet they are the ones who, at Balaam's advice, incited the Israelites to unfaithfulness against the Lord in the Peor incident, so that the plague came against the Lord’s community.’”
The Lord would not curse his chosen people so that Balaam could get rich, so Balaam figured out a way to get the Lord to curse them—just get them to worship the pagan gods. (Nevertheless, I have to say, both the Midianites and the Moabites are now gone. But Israel still remains after over 3400 years. Balaam’s plan failed and he was killed. And the apostle Peter, 1400 years after Balaam lived, spoke about Balaam. He spoke about “the prophet’s madness”.)
But here’s the bottom line. Listen to this. Are you listening? It is really, really true that “man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7) (They’ve even written a song about it.)
So let’s examine ourselves. Let’s examine our hearts. What are our motives for doing anything? What are our motives for obeying God? Are our motives to get financial gain—or even to get healing—or really, any other benefit for this world and age. Or, are our motives just to be pleasing to God. Balaam did everything the Lord told him to do, but the Lord was angry with him. He also did some things the Lord didn’t tell him to do and he got killed. His heart wasn’t right with the Lord.
Jesus did everything God the Father told him to do, also. God the Father said of him, “This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him. Listen to Him!” (Matt. 17:5) Jesus got killed, too. He didn’t want to go to the cross. But he went because that was his Father’s will. He went to save us from hell. And we go through a certain ritual every Sunday to remind us of that fact.
You know, the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy that there are some people who imagine that godliness is a way to financial gain. Listen to what he says:
3If anyone teaches other doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness, 4he is conceited, understanding nothing, but having a sick interest in disputes and arguments over words. From these come envy, quarreling, slanders, evil suspicions, 5and constant disagreement among men whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain. 6But godliness with contentment is a great gain.
7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.
9But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
11Now you, man of God, run from these things; but pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. 12Fight the good fight for the faith; take hold of eternal life, to which you were called and have made a good confession before many witnesses. (1Timothy~6:3-12)
Those who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain are depraved and deprived of the truth. Those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. The “gospel of health and wealth” is really destructive! But godliness with contentment is a great gain.
So examine your motives. Is your motive to hear Jesus say (maybe even very soon), “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!” (Matt.~25:21 –NIV) Or is part of your motive to get God to do something you want to happen but he may not be willing to do. (And, I do believe that he is more willing to hear the prayers of those who are obedient. But I think we all have mixed motives. I’m speaking for myself, anyway. I confess that I have mixed motives. Nevertheless, when we see Jesus, we will be like him. Everyone who has this hope purifies himself just as he is pure. (1 John 2:2, 3)
Now let’s look at the rest of the passage—verses 17 through 22:
17These people are springs without water, mists driven by a whirlwind. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them. 18For uttering bombastic, empty words, they seduce, by fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped from those who live in error. 19They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them. 20For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first. 21For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, “a sow, after washing itself, wallows in the mud.” (2 Peter~2:17-22)
More strong language: “Springs without water.” People go to them hoping to have their thirst quenched. They get nothing. Instead, those who have just barely escaped from those living in error are seduced back to slavery to sin. They are seduced back to the way that leads to hell. Their last state is worse than the first.
Why does Peter speak so strongly about the condemnation that is awaiting these false teachers? It’s because they are leading people away from the only way that leads to salvation and eternal life. They are leading people away from Jesus. Jesus is the way. Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John~14:6) We must come to God through Jesus. There is absolutely no other way.
[Prayer]