2 Peter 2:10b-22 ESCAPE THE DEFILEMENTS OF THE WORLD
In this world, usually we are given warnings ahead of time of impending dangers in order to save our lives. For example, when you are planning to travel but there is a weather alert of a tornado or powerful thunderstorm coming, you avoid those areas. [Pic 1] Even when we take medicine, we have to read the warning signs carefully otherwise the medicine may have an adverse effect on our bodies rather than heal us. When Maria and I visited Kyiv, Ukraine last year, we had to heed the warnings of the air sirens and go to the basement, otherwise, a missile could harm or kill us. In fact, a rocket exploded 150m from our house and caused damages. [Pic 2] Thankfully, we were not in Kyiv at that time. But we will be going back to Kyiv in 3 weeks to bless a wedding, so please pray for us. In the same way, Apostle Peter had been warning the early believers and us of the dangers of false teachers and their unbiblical teachings. Peter’s warnings are very serious and very graphic because the effects of not heeding them are not just physical harm, but the eternal destruction of souls. Peter shows the eternal destiny of false teachers and those who would follow them. Let’s listen carefully to Peter’s warnings so that we can identify and escape from the unbiblical teaching of false teachers in our times.
ESCAPE THE DEFILEMENTS OF THE WORLD
2 Peter 2:10b-22
Key Verse: 20a:
“For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Look at verses 10b-11. “…who follow the corrupt sinful nature and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord.” At the beginning of verse 10, we learned that these false teachers, “follow the corrupt sinful nature and despise authority.” They were very bold in many ways as in their sinful ways and lying without any shame. They boast about their accomplishments and encourage others to follow them. They despised the spiritual authority of the Apostles, who were given power and authority of the early church by Jesus himself and who taught the true gospel. However, these false teachers did not accept their spiritual authority, but wanted their own human teachings to be with par or even above the teachings of the Apostles. So, they taught their lies with boldness and willful rebellion against God’s truth. Once, Hitler said that for a lie to be effective it must be a big lie and keep repeating it. Eventually, people will start believing you. [Pic 3] They were so arrogant that they even spoke against angelic beings.
In this chapter, we see that Peter had written about angels several times. Actually, in the New American Standard version verse 10 reads, “They do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties.” We learn that the angels of the Lord, even though they are beautiful and powerful creations, are not so bold as to rebuke fallen angels like the devil. They humbly obey God’s commands and leave the rebuking of fallen angels and the devil to the Lord. Though these false teachers who are less than angels talk and act as if they are the highest authority and their words are unquestionable. The Bible warns us about such wicked people. Jude verses 8-10 reads, “Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you.’ 10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.” From these verses we learn that even though the archangel Michael is powerful and commander of God’s army of angels, did not presume that he was qualified to rebuke the devil. He only relied on the Lord to rebuke the devil. Yet, the false teachers are so presumptuous to think that they could have the spiritual power to rebuke spiritual forces with their own authority.
As believers, we do not fear the devil and know that we are freed from his grip on us because we live under God’s grace and protection. But we should not be so presumptuous and proud like the seven sons of Sceva who thought they were spiritually strong enough to contend with the devil and his minions. Instead, they got a rude awakening. Acts 19:13-16, “Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ‘I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.’ 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?’ 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” Though these brothers sounded very spiritual, even invoking the name of Jesus like magicians, “abra cadabra”, they were uncovered by the evil spirits as false teachers. The Bible teaches very clearly that the devil is like a hungry lion roaming around to find easy prey. What puny person can fight and defeat a ferocious and powerful lion? Only a fool or irrational person would put himself in harm’s way.
Look at verses 12-13a. “But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing.” In his diatribe against false teachers, Peter calls them “irrational animals, creatures of instinct to be caught and destroyed.” Just in case we have any animal lovers here, Peter is not talking about killing our pet dogs and cats. He is talking more about wild animals or vermin that do not contribute to mankind but rather cause harm by spreading diseases, destroying and eating up their crops. They are like big Chicago rats. I don’t know if anybody likes Chicago rats here? But when I walk down the alleys at night, I am always keeping my eyes out for those rats because they might jump out behind the garbage cans. And I have seen many already do that. The US is now threatened by an invasion of feral wild pigs known as “super-pigs” [Pic 4] who are eating up crops, causing billions of dollars of losses for farmers, and they are very fertile. Unless they are captured or killed, they will ruin more crops and cause people to suffer food shortages. They remind us of what the false teachers Peter was writing about were like. They caused extensive spiritual and permanent damages to those who followed them. They also spread their false teachings like deadly viruses to many others. They are not the kind of people you want company for your family and children. But they even get worse.
Look at verses 13b-14. “They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,[f] while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery,[g] insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!” The false teachers were not only bold in their words but in their actions as well. Usually, people revel when it is dark, which makes it more difficult for people to see what they are doing. But the false teachers didn’t even wait until dark, but reveled and partied in the daytime. Then they would invite themselves to the Christian love feasts, eating fellowship, and eat with them as if they were innocent and done nothing wrong. It was their clever way of enticing and recruiting “unsteady souls” to follow them. Here “unsteady souls” are those who may be young spiritually, not necessarily in age, and have not fully put their trust and faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord. So, they became easy targets for the false teachers, who had trained themselves in greed and other wicked ways to deceive others. As some of you may have heard, Maria was scammed a few days ago online. It was to take a survey from Costco her favorite store and get a free gift. In order to get the gift, she had to pay for shipping and she gave her credit cards information. When she did, she soon found out that they were using her credit information to charge more items. Be careful because there are many professional greedy and clever people looking to get you. Peter, who had been called by Jesus to shepherd God’s flock, was so angry with these false teachers who would bring harm to the flock of God called them “accursed children!” This means that they were the children of the devil, not the children of God. Farmers who want to protect their flocks from wolves do not use cute poodles like “Yukee” to fend them off, but strong and powerful dogs like Kangal dogs. [Pic 5] Remember also boy David, when he was shepherding his father’s sheep had to kill a bear and a lion in order to protect them, otherwise they will eat all the sheep. I saw some sad news on social media of Timothy Treadwell and his girlfriend who lived in Alaska. Timothy had been a recovering heroin addict and thought he could find peace living in Alaska making friends with grizzly bears. At first it seemed harmless and the bears left them alone. But one day he and his girlfriend got too close and the grizzly bear killed and ate them both. [h] Don’t try to make friends with wild animals. If Christians tolerate such wicked and evil false teachers, who are like wild animals, then they will flourish. We need to always defend God’s truth. Next, Peter gives an example of a false teacher.
Look at verses 15-16. “Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.” When we review who this character is in Numbers 22, we find that Balaam had been called as one of prophets of his time. He was blessed with this great calling from God. But very much like Judas-Iscariot received the calling and privilege to be one of Jesus’ Twelve disciples, he abused his calling for personal gain from his wrongdoing. Though Balaam was a prophet of God, the king of Moab knew that he could be persuaded with money to call curses on the nation of Israel. As we can see not all prophets were the same because Balaam was a prophet for hire. He was like these false teachers because they were greedy and most concerned about the money. Balaam’s motto was, “Show me the money!” So, when the king of Moab promised him bags of money, Balaam went to curse the people of Israel, but instead of curses, only words of blessings came out of his mouth because God did not allow him to curse them. But there was another reason why Peter used Balaam as an example of a false teacher because he was rebuked by an irrational animal, his personal donkey. God was angry with Balaam and sent an angel to kill him. But when the donkey saw the angel, she tried to avoid him going in another direction. Balaam was angry with his donkey and started beating her with a stick. The donkey began to hee-haw not only because of the angel but because she was being beaten by her master mercilessly. God translated the donkey’s hee-hawing so that Balaam could understand her. Numbers 22:30 reads, “And the donkey said to Balaam, ‘Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?’ And he said, ‘No.’” Balaam was rebuked by an irrational animal because of his irrational behavior. He had gone mad and forgot the purpose of God’s calling upon his life because of his greed and love of money. He could not be a blessing to God’s people but only a curse.
Look at verses 17-19. “These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves[i] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.” As in the example of Balaam, the false teachers were not at all a blessing for God’s people. They looked hopeful with their outward religiosity, but inwardly they were as useless as a waterless spring. In that dry and arid land, it was difficult to find precious water. So, when the desert-dwellers saw a possible spring or rain clouds they had hope to get some much-needed water. But when they reached the waterless spring or saw the rain clouds disappear their hopes were dashed to pieces. False teachers make money saying good sounding promises of God’s blessing upon the people, but they only saying their made up lies to entice people to follow them. As Peter and the Bible teaches, utter darkness and hell await such people. As we can see in this chapter and in the history of false teachers, sexual immorality is always related with false teaching and greedy desires. For example, in the Old Testament false teachers enticed people to come to their temple where temple prostitutes were waiting for them. Even some temples had male prostitutes as well because they wanted to increase their membership. Today the Mormon church is one of the riches organizations in the world. It was founded by a false teacher Joseph Smith who not only had one wife but up to 40 wives. [j] In recent history, José Luis de Jesús Miranda was the leader of the cult, “Growing in Grace” in Miami, Florida. [Pic 6] Among the lies he taught was that he was Jesus who came back. He also taught that there was no hell, no sin, and no devil. Like other false teachers, he taught big lies about himself, taught false doctrines, greedy for money, and sexual encounters with women in the so-called church. But the thing is that many people believed him, adored him, and even worshiped him.[k] False teachers promise freedom and enlightenment for their followers but they themselves are slaves to their own sinful passions. They only lead their followers to hell with them like the blind leading the blind. Even though they had the knowledge of salvation at their disposal they chose the way of defilements.
Look at verse 20. “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.” Here Peter is saying that the false teachers had the knowledge of salvation in Jesus, which could have saved them from the defilements of the world, but they chose to reject the truth. It was like Balaam who was receiving the visions from God, but he chose to disobey God’s will and was ready to curse the people of God. There are false teachers today who spew out lies while holding the holy Bible in their hands. The knowledge of salvation is literally in the grasp of their hands but they chose to reject it in order to follow their greed and immoral desires. In history, there were many men and women who had knowledge of salvation at their grasp but chose to let it go. For example, did you know that both Charles Darwin and Stalin when they were younger studied in Christian academies? Darwin in an Anglican college and Stalin in a seminary. They probably heard about Jesus and the way of salvation. Certainly! But they turned away from the truth and began to follow lies of evolution and communism. Stalin caused the death of millions of his own people because of his communistic beliefs. Evolution replaced God as the Creator of the universe and millions of people follow it as truth even though it is still considered as a theory and proven by our scientific knowledge of DNA and genetics to be an impossibility. For one species cannot change to another species because it is not in their genetic make-up. Even Darwin admitted there was no evidence of this on record. Peter said that those who had the knowledge of salvation but did not accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior are worse than if they had never heard it.
Look at verse 21. “For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.” As Peter had mentioned, Balaam had been a prophet of God, but used his position only for self-gain. Peter, also in his righteous indignation, wrote that false teachers and false prophets deserved to be captured and destroyed like wild animals. In a sense, this is what happened to Balaam during Israel’s war with the Midianites. Joshua 13:22 reads, “In addition to those slain in battle, the Israelites had put to the sword Balaam son of Beor, who practiced divination.” Here the writer identified Balaam not as a prophet but one “who practiced divination,” which was a sin before God. There are some people who cleaned up their act, both those who appear to be Christians and non-Christians as well. They gave up their vices like drugs or alcohol or wild living. Perhaps they wanted to look more presentable to get a better job or find a possible spouse candidate or just got tired of that way of life. Like many hippies who later became yuppies. But without having a personal relationship with Jesus it is mere outward cleansing, but not internal washing by the blood of Jesus. It is very similar to how the Pharisees worked hard humanly to give an outward appearance of holiness and religiosity, but Jesus said inwardly they were full of dead man’s bones. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gave an example of a person who had done his best to clean himself up until a dirty demon lost interest and left for a while. But the demon came back to visit him and knew that he had not been changed by the blood of Jesus, for there was no inner dwelling of the Holy Spirit in him. Matthew 12:43-45 reads, “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” The person became worse than before because he was not truly change in his inner character. It is the same as with Judas who had followed Jesus as a disciple for three years. He heard everything the other disciples heard and saw everything the other disciples saw. But he had no true inward repentance because of his love of money. It was his love of money that compelled him to betray Jesus to the religious leaders for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus had said of him that it was better for him not to have been born than to have known Jesus and turned away from him. Hebrew 4:4-6 reads, “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.” Man cannot change his sinful nature on his own, as a dog or pig cannot change its nature.
Look at verse 22. “What the true proverb says has happened to them: ‘The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.’” Dogs can be cute but they do have some bad habits and one of them is returning to its own vomit and eating it. In Bible study, Ben did some research and said that to dogs food vomited seems to smell and taste better after having being digested. I have seen this happen with our dogs in Ukraine. Even though it is disgusting they do so because it is in their nature. In other words, they cannot help themselves. It is like a sow, after getting a good bath, will eventually return to play in the mud. You can make a pig look cute and dressed up like a pet. But eventually, it will go back to the mud because it is in its nature. Peter is concluding here that false teachers are like animals only living by their instincts and sinful nature. A false teacher and fake healing ministry once publicly declared that he had repented because he was not doing God’s work through the prosperity gospel. He had used his ministry to garner much attention and much money to himself numbering in the millions of dollars. It seems to have been a genuine repentance outwardly. But soon after that he continued his show and again began to ask his viewers to send in monetary donations. He could not really change himself and went back to his old way of life because it is in his nature like a dog going back to its vomit. [l]
In this passage, we learned many warnings from Peter. As believers, we need to heed his warning and also be thankful every day for God’s grace of receiving the saving knowledge in our Lord Jesus Christ. The last verse 22, reminded me of the Parable of the Lost Son. He wanted to live freely and he spent his inheritance on gambling and wild living with prostitutes. But in the end, he was only eating the pods that the pigs were eating. He had digressed from the son of a honorable and loving father to a pig wallowing in the mud. It was not until the knowledge of salvation came to his soul, repented, and returned to his father did he come back to his right mind. Before meeting Jesus personally, I also felt as dirty as a dog. Once, because of my uncontrollable sins I rebuked myself in the mirror saying, “You are a dirty dog.” I didn’t even know that there were verses in the Bible describing sinners like dirty dogs, but that is what I felt like in my soul. But I thank God for his grace to call me out of my life of sin in 1983, when I was a UIC freshmen. I was sitting in the UIC cafeteria with Rhoel when a missionary came to say hi to Rhoel and invited me to Bible study. Through Bible study I met Jesus personally and accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. I cannot say my Christian life was perfect after that because I still struggled with my sinful nature. However, by remaining in Jesus, abiding in Him, and with the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit, God helped me to have many victories in my life of faith both humanly and spiritually. May God also help us to remember His grace everyday so that with this saving knowledge we can be saved from the defilements of the world. Amen.
Footnotes
f. 2 Peter 2:13Some manuscripts love feast
g. 2 Peter 2:14Or eyes full of an adulteress
h. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Treadwell
i. 2 Peter 2:19For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos
j. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30009324
k. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Luis_de_Jes%C3%BAs
l. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbK5Z9PDUjA
Questions:
ESCAPE THE DEFILEMENTS OF THE WORLD
2 Peter 2:10b-22
Key Verse: 20a:
“For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
1. Read verses 10b-11. What outward characteristics can we see in false teachers? What makes false teachers so bold and willful? Why should believers not mess around with evil spirits and the devil? (Jude 8-9; Acts 19:13-16)
2. Read verses 12-14. Why does Peter call these false teachers as irrational animals? How are animals not rational? What does it mean that they carouse in broad daylight? What does it mean they are full of adultery and greed?
3. Read verses 15-16. What is the bad example of Balaam, the son of Beor, mentioned here? Who was the more rational one in this example? (Numbers 22:28-30) Though Balaam was greedy, why was he among the “prophets”?
4. Read verses 17-19. Why are false teachers like springs without water? How do they entice people to follow their false teachings? How does their false teachings of freedom lead them and others to slavery?
5. Read verse 20-21. Do you think that these verses mean the false teachers had been saved but lost their salvation or they were never saved in the first place? (Hebrews 6:4-6) How can we escape the corruption of these false teaches? Why was it better for them not to have known the way of righteousness?
6. Read verse 22. Why does a dog return to its vomit and sow back to the mud? How do these examples show the characteristics of false teachers? How can we be like a dog or sow if we didn’t have God’s grace upon our lives? If it is part of God’s peoples’ duty to expose false teachers, how should we go about it?
“…Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,[f] while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery,[g] insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves[h] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”
Footnotes
f. 2 Peter 2:13 Some manuscripts love feasts
g. 2 Peter 2:14 Or eyes full of an adulteress
h. 2 Peter 2:19 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
