In the previous blog, we saw that God knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to punish the unrighteous until the day of judgment, especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Verse 10b and following continues describing the unrighteous:
“Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord” (2 Pet 2:10b-11).
The unrighteous put the “glorious ones” (the true believers) through trials and tribulations and, acting as if they are equal with God, accuse them when even angels who are more qualified and more powerful do not pronounce blasphemous judgment against believers before the Lord.
Peter is saying that the unrighteous do not realize the pickle they are in as they accuse and entice obedient believers. He continues describing the unrighteous:
“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, 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, while they feast with you” (2 Pet 2:12-13).
Peter is warning us that danger lurks around us right in the middle of seemingly innocent gatherings with “friends.” He is helping us identify and beware when we observe any of these traits:
“They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness” (2 Pet 2:14-16; Numbers 22-24).
Most of us have been among folks like these. Sometimes we can sense the hidden evil, and unfortunately sometimes we cannot. Peter wants us to understand how important it is to avoid them:
“These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 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. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved” (2 Pet 2:17-19).
This is a chilling description of the fruits of disunity from God, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Escaping from this type of enslavement is tough:
“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. 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. 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’” (2 Pet 2:20-22; Prov 26:11).
Take a moment today and read Proverbs 26.
To have escaped the defilements of the world through faith in Christ, only to become entangled in them again is the definition of a fool. Pray today that you are a fool for Christ (1 Corinthians 4:10), not the fool of Proverbs. It seems that many of our elected leaders are closer to this definition of a fool, doesn’t it?
This is no less than disunity from the Lord that leads to a dead end!