Get Ready
When you read something or hear something how do you sort out what is true from what is false? Do you seek others’ opinions on the matter? Do you look for background or more detail on the subject? Do you look for a method to test the statement?
The Word
2But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive opinions. They will even deny the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Even so, many will follow their licentious ways, and because of these teachers the way of truth will be maligned.
3 And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation, pronounced against them long ago, has not been idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
4 For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood on a world of the ungodly;
6 and if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction and made them an example of what is coming to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man greatly distressed by the licentiousness of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by their lawless deeds that he saw and heard), 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment 10 —especially those who indulge their flesh in depraved lust, and who despise authority.
Bold and willful, they are not afraid to slander the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not bring against them a slanderous judgment from the Lord. 12 These people, however, are like irrational animals, mere creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed. They slander what they do not understand, and when those creatures are destroyed, they also will be destroyed, 13 suffering the penalty for doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their dissipation while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 They have left the straight road and have gone astray, following the road of Balaam son of Bosor, who loved the wages of doing wrong, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for them the deepest darkness has been reserved. 18 For they speak bombastic nonsense, and with licentious desires of the flesh they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for people are slaves to whatever masters them. 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 overpowered, 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 that was passed on to them. 22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb,
“The dog turns back to its own vomit,”
and,
“The sow is washed only to wallow in the mud.” NRSV
Get into the Word
1. What group does Peter warn about? What will these folks do? What will happen to them? How will this affect the Christians? What does Peter say about the end result?
2. Who does he compare these folks with? What happened to them? Who does Peter mention next? What happened to these people? Who is the next “lawless” group? Who is the exception in this case? What happened to this person? How does this show God’s judgment of people’s actions?
3. How does Peter describe the false prophets? How are they different than angels? What other traits and behaviors does he mention. What example does he introduce?
4. What is the last description of “these people”? What descriptions does Peter use here? Why are their actions so destructive? To whom? What have they given up or lost? What metaphors does he use to conclude? (See Notes)
Get Personal
How are you dealing with all the “false” teachers and teachings that face us every day? How does God help you to see what is false and negative and destructive? How does he help you focus on living the truth that Christ’s death and resurrection offers the ability and strength to live the new life?
Notes . . .
2:1. The people – the Israelites of the Old Testament period [check Deut 13:1-3, 1 Kings 13:18, Jeremiah 5:31].
Secretly – the false teachers will present themselves as followers of Christ, [check Matt 24:4, Mark 13:22, Acts 20:29].
Bought – Jesus’ death on the cross was the “payment” or ransom that frees the believer from sin and reunites her or him with Christ.
2:2. Licentious ways – many of the false teachings said that knowledge was more important than practice, so it did not matter how a person behaved, and sexual immorality was often (as now) the common example of “shameful” behavior.
2:3. Greed . . . exploit – the false teachers commercialized the faith. Paul calls them “peddlers,” [2 Cor 2:17].
2:4. Angels when they sinned – probably the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1-4, prior to the Great Flood.
Hell – here the Greek word refers to a “prison holding place.”
2:5. Saved Noah – God’s first judgment on the world [Genesis 6, also check 1 Peter 3:20].2:6. Sodom and Gomorrah – two evil cities in ancient Israel that God destroyed by fire, [check Genesis 18:6-19:28].
2:7. Lot – Abraham’s brother who lived in Sodom, but God saved him after Abraham debated with the Lord, [the story is at Genesis 18:23-33].
2:9. Knows how to rescue – the examples of Noah and Lot demonstrate Gods ability and willingness to rescue those who call on him. The history of Israel bears this out as the prophets repeatedly call on the people to repent and turn to the Lord, [check the up’s and down’s of the people in Judges].
2:12. These people are like . . . – Peter drives his point home with a lengthy description of the false teachers’ immoral behaviors.
2:15. Balaam – another example from Jewish history, Balaam was a false prophet hired by an evil king to prophesy against Israel, but he was called out by his donkey [Numbers 22:28].
2:17. Waterless springs – the false prophets’ promises are completely empty.
Just escaped – new Christians who have recently renounced depravity.
2:18. Slaves to whatever masters them – the primary false promise was that peoples’ behavior did not matter to God (entice people with licentious desires of the flesh), but Christians make their faith visible to others (and to themselves) through their behavior.
2:22. The dog . . . in the mud” – Peter uses Proverbs 26:11 and a then-common Jewish expression, [check Matthew 7:6]. In Peter’s time dogs were considered one of the worst animals, on the same level as pigs and jackals.
Memory Verse
[False teachers] promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for people are slaves to whatever masters them, [2 Peter 2:19]
Next Lesson
The promise of the Lord’s coming – 2 Peter 3