A.      In the previous lesson, we noticed Peter’s explanation of prophecy in which he wrote, “No prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2Pet. 1:21).

B.      In our current lesson, we are made aware of the fact that some men who speak by their own will falsely claim to speak for God.   The truth about these false teachers is revealed in 2Peter 2.

II.      DANGER OF FALSE TEACHERS

A.      False teachers arise today just as false prophets arose in the old days (2:1).

                                                             1.      In the same days in which the prophetic Scriptures were written, false prophets also claimed to speak for God and misled people.

a.       Consider the example of the four hundred prophets of Ahab in 1Kings 22:1-40.

i.         The four hundred prophets told Ahab that God would deliver Ramoth-gilead into his hands, but Micaiah prophesied of Israel’s defeat.

ii.        In the end, Micaiah’s prophecy was proved to be true, and Ahab perished in the battle.

b.       Also consider the example of Hananiah in Jeremiah 28.

i.         Hananiah prophesied of the swift deliverance of Judah from Babylonian oppression.  This message was false, for Judah spent seventy years in captivity.

ii.        Jeremiah rebuked Hananiah, saying, “The LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie” (v. 15).  Hananiah was then condemned to die, and he did in the same year that he made his false prophecy.

                                                             2.      Similarly, false teachers in the present “secretly introduce destructive heresies.”

a.       False teachers often use the method of mingling heresies with the truth and thus covertly infecting their hearers with their false doctrines.

b.       These false doctrines are destructive both to the false teachers and those who believe them, for these teachings lead them away from the truth of God.

c.        There are several ways false teachers denied “the Master who bought them.”

i.         Some denied that Christ was Deity (as many do today).

ii.        Some denied that Christ came in the flesh (early Gnostics; see 2John 7).

iii.      It is interesting that Peter would be writing of those who deny Jesus when it was He who denied Jesus three times (Matt. 26:69-75).

B.      The work of these false teachers affects Christians and causes a false perception of Christianity (2:2-3a).

                                                             1.      Notice the effect of false teachers upon those who believe them.

a.       “Many will follow their sensuality” – Peter gives an extensive explanation of the sensual nature of these particular false teachers in 2:12-19.  Many people are seduced and destroyed by such fleshly allures, especially when they are in the name of religion.

b.       “In their greed they will exploit you with false words” – Greed and exploitation were the motivations of these false teachers, so those who were taken in by them were used and defrauded for monetary gain.

                                                             2.      Also notice the incorrect perception of Christians created by such false teachers.

a.       “Because of them the way of the truth will be maligned” – Unbelievers would perceive that the sensual ways of these false teachers were the ways of all Christians, and thus all of Christianity would be maligned as a practice of evil.

b.       Even today, cults, televangelists, and permissive denominationalists are the sources of false accusations and ridicule against Christianity.

III.   RESCUE OF THE GODLY, PUNISHMENT OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS

A.      We are assured by God that false teachers will be severely punished (2:3b).

                                                             1.      In verses 3b-9, Peter elaborates upon his earlier statement that false teachers bring “swift destruction upon themselves” (2Pet. 2:1).

                                                             2.      Peter says that “their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

a.       Lies, deceit, and false teaching was condemned by God long ago, and the punishment for these is as certain as if it has already begun.

b.       These words passively counsel Christians to be patient and to wait for God’s judgment.

B.      A series of examples is presented by Peter to demonstrate that God not only punishes the wicked but also rescues the godly (2:4-9).

                                                             1.      Because God punished sinful angels, we know that He will punish the false teachers.

a.       The details of these angels’ sins are unknown, although many have speculated.  All that can be known to us is stated in verse 4, which is that they sinned and were cast into hell (the word tartarus, a place of torment for the wicked dead from Greek mythology) and pits of darkness reserved for judgment.

b.       If God so punished the sinful angels, then He will likewise punish sinful men.

                                                             2.      Because God punished the sinful people of Noah’s time, we know that He will punish the sinful people of our time.

a.       The men of the antediluvian world were exceedingly wicked, and so God determined to blot them out from the face of the earth (Gen. 6:5-7).

b.       If sinful men provoked God’s wrath in Noah’s time, then men who commit the same sins will likewise provoke His wrath today.

                                                             3.      Because God preserved Noah and his family from destruction, we know that He will preserve the righteous when He punishes the false teachers.

a.       Despite the overwhelming, global flood, God provided a way for Noah and his family to be preserved.

b.       Notice that Noah is called a “preacher of righteousness” (v. 5).  It was likely through Noah that Christ in the Spirit preached to the disobedient people according to 1Peter 3:18-20.

c.        If God could preserve Noah in the midst of a destructive global flood, then certainly He can preserve the righteous today when He executes His wrath against sinners.

                                                             4.      Because God destroyed the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, we know He will destroy wicked false teachers.

a.       The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was exceedingly grave (Gen. 18:20), and so God destroyed the cities from the earth (Gen. 19:1-29).

b.       If God did not spare these wicked cities, then He will not spare the wicked men of today.

                                                             5.      Because God rescued righteous Lot, we know that He will rescue the righteous when He destroys the false teachers.

a.       Like Noah in the flood, Lot and his family were rescued by God from the overwhelming destruction around them.

b.       Notice that Lot, who lived in Sodom, was “oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men” (v. 7) and “tormented day after day with their lawless deeds” (v. 8).  (Does the wickedness in the world bother you day after day?)

c.        If God rescued righteous Lot from the destruction of Sodom, then we know that He will rescue the righteous today from the destruction of the world.

                                                             6.      The message of these examples is stated in verse 9: “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.”

a.       “Temptation” in this instance is used in the sense of trial.  God knows how to rescue the righteous from their trials.

b.       Notice that God keeps “the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.”

i.         This suggests that the unrighteous dead have entered punishment already just as rich man was in torment in Hades in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).

ii.        Those in torment await the final judgment not because their fate is uncertain but because it is matter of declaring God’s righteous judgment.

IV.    CONCLUSION

A.      God will indeed punish false teachers, for they are worthy of His wrath as will be demonstrated in remainder of this chapter.

B.      In our next lesson, we will consider 2Peter 2:10-22 – “False Prophets, Part 2.”