It
is one thing to know the presence of false teachers and quite another to be
able to recognize them. But what is more important is having recognized them,
what do we do? Peter’s intention was to paint the deplorable characters of the
false teachers clearly so that believers can identify them and shun them and
their teachings.
Verses 10b-11 tell us that they were disrespectful. The
clearly evident egotistical pride made them felt as if they were more powerful
than angels. They showed inappropriate and disrespectful behavior that even
good and powerful angels would not do to the evil angels. In verse 12 Peter
tells us that they would behave like animals and would not reason like decent
human being. They were only accustomed to follow their basal instinct. In so
doing, they would also perish like animals. As trapped animals led by their
eagerness to satisfy their appetite, their self-indulgence would lead them to
their ruin. God would punish them according to their crimes.
Verse 13 points us to the fact that they were blatantly
immoral. They would not even keep their revelry in the cover of darkness but would
brazenly practice their immorality in broad daylight. In ancient time, the
pagans in their worship of false gods would indulge in such practices. Temple
prostitutes were involved in their worship. These left stains on the moral
fiber of the Church and tarnished her good image. While the committed
Christians did not indulge in the revelry, the false teachers did it under the
guise of the Christian community. Since those who practice such things claimed
to be Christians, they were carrying on with this practice and obviously
nonchalant about it. In that sense, they were reveling in their deceptions.
We are told in verses 14-16, that they were also adulterous
and unruly. These false teachers had eyes full of adultery. They would only
think of fornication when encountering the opposite gender and sinned without
measure. Furthermore, they would entice uncommitted people not firmly
established in Christ to join them. They were expert at practicing greed. They
would behave like unruly, undisciplined and self-absorbed children and would even
depart from the right path and had strayed.
In discussing about straying from the right path, Peter
brought in Balaam, the son of Beor to illustrate his point. The story of Balaam
is recorded in the Book of Numbers. The story tells of how this false prophet
counseled Balak, the king of Moab to get the Israelites to come for a feast to
honor Moab’s gods (Numbers 31:16). Balaam led the people astray for personal
gain. Like Balaam, the false teachers sought to lead the people of God astray
to participate in immorality and idolatry. Like Balaam, the rejection of God’s
Word would cause one to be undiscerning, and not able to distinguish between
right and wrong. He was so numbed that finally God had to speak to him through
a donkey.
Furthermore Peter revealed in verse 17 that they were empty
talkers. These false teachers were described as spring devoid of water meaning
they were devoid of truth. They were like empty mists or clouds that were
easily driven and were destined to experience the divine judgement of God. They
would
boast and brag, promising more than they could deliver. Their words were vain and without substance. They mainly made
their appeal to the lustful desire of the fallen nature of man of both young
and new converts. Hence, Peter said that they preyed on those who had only just
escaped from people who live in error. What Peter meant was that their target
was people who were turning away from their pagan idolatry. These false
teachers would promise their followers freedom from judgment, while they were
still slaves to corruption. For that reason, he suggested that they were
enslaved by their evil desires that had gained a mastery over them.
Let’s heed the Word of God and pay greater attention to the
truth. Let us not be attracted by deceivers and drift away from God to share a
destruction prepared for them!
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