JESUS IS THE Α & Ω
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2 Peter 2
One of the most successful rackets in the world today is that of selling “fake art.” Even some of the finest galleries and private collections have been invaded by paintings that are clever counterfeits of the great masters. (Wiersbe, 2:938)
The nation Israel was constantly being led astray by false prophets. Elijah had to contend with the prophets of Baal, but they promoted a pagan religion. It was the Jewish false prophets who did the most damage, for they claimed to speak for Jehovah God. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel exposed this counterfeit ministry, but the people followed the pseudo-prophets just the same. Why? Because the religion of the false prophets was easy, comfortable, and popular. (Wiersbe, 2:938)
2:1-3
Christian teachers have the right to financial support (cf. 1Co 9:1-14; Gal 6:6; 1Ti 5:17-18), but their motivation in the ministry should not be mercenary. For false teachers, however, religion will be commercialized; they will “exploit” people. With fabricated stories they will fleece the sheep. In the light of the commercialism of religious cults today, Peter’s warning is clear enough. But the popularity and prosperity of the errorists will certainly come to an end. Their judgment and doom have been announced long ago (cf. Ps 1:5-6). “Destruction” (GK 724; cf. v.1) is now personified as “not sleeping.” (Blum, p 1070)
The false prophet was above all a man who led other men further away from God instead of closer to him. … The false prophet takes men in the wrong direction. ¶ These were the characteristics of the false prophets in the ancient days and in Peter’s time; and they are their characteristics still. (Barclay)
Not only was their message false, but their methods were false. Instead of openly declaring what they believed, they came into the church under false colors and gave the impression that they were true to the Christian faith. “They secretly bring in alongside” is the literal translation. They do not throw out the truth immediately; they simply lay their false teachings alongside the truth and give the impression that they believe the fundamentals of the faith. Before long, they remove the true doctrine and leave their false doctrine in its place. (Wiersbe, 2:938)
The false prophet is a covetous creature who regards men as dupes to be exploited for his own ends. (Barclay)
Peter pointed out that the false teachers used “feigned words.” The Greek word is plastos, from which we get our English word plastic. Plastic words! Words that can be twisted to mean anything you want them to mean! The false teachers use our vocabulary, but they do not use our dictionary. They talk about “salvation,” “inspiration,” and the great words of the Christian faith, but they do not mean what we mean. Immature and untaught believers hear these preachers or read their books and think that these men are sound in the faith, but they are not. (Wiersbe, 2:938)
2:4-10a
2:10b-16
The false prophet Balaam counseled Balak, the king of Moab, to invite the Israelites to participate with his people in a feast to honor Moab’s gods (Num. 31:16). The best textual evidence suggests that Peter wrote, “Balaam, the son of Bosor,” Bosor being a play on the Hebrew word basar, flesh. Thus Peter indicated Balaam’s immoral character by calling him the son of flesh.[149, Bauckham, pp. 267-68] The Moabite worship included cultic prostitution (prostitution being a part of the worship of their god; cf. Num. 25:1-3). Balaam is “the classic example of the false teacher who leads people astray for his own personal gain.”[150]1 (Constable)
The false teachers that Peter referred to were likewise trying to get the Christians to participate in idolatry and immoral practices. Forsaking the right way themselves, they urged the faithful to turn away from the narrow path of righteousness back onto the broad way that leads to destruction (cf. Isa. 53:6; Rev. 2:14). Balaam’s motive was greed. He loved the wages of unrighteousness, namely, “the earthly gain to be gotten by ‘unrighteousness’”[151]2 This was also the motive of the false teachers. By advocating unrighteousness the false teachers gained followers and profited personally. (Constable)
“It is sufficient to say to one who believes at all in miracles, that it was no more difficult for God to utter thought through the mouth of the ass in the words of men, than to stop men, as he once did, from talking in a given language and cause them to talk in another.”[153]3 (Constable)
2:17-22
The false teachers appealed to people who were barely escaping from those who live in error. This group probably included new Christians and/or older carnal ones who were still in the process of making a final break with their pagan past.[157, Kelly, p. 345; Hiebert, Second Peter …, p. 126.] (Constable)
“The average person does not know how to listen to and analyze the kind of propaganda that pours out of the mouths and printing presses of the apostates. Many people cannot tell the difference between a religious huckster and a sincere servant of Jesus Christ.” (Wiersbe, 2:458)
Slavery, after all, occurs whenever one is under the control of some influence, not just some other person. (Constable)
“Seneca [the Greek Stoic philosopher] said, ‘To be enslaved to oneself is the heaviest of all servitudes.’”[161, William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter, p. 396] (As quoted in Constable)
“Just as a gifted musician finds freedom and fulfillment putting himself or herself under the discipline of a great artist, or an athlete under the discipline of a great coach, so the believer finds true freedom and fulfillment under the authority of Jesus Christ.” (Wiersbe, 2:454)
Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, all numbered notes that are URL linked are retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and sometimes include other citation information from Constable.
Blum, Edwin A. “2 Peter.” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary—Abridged Edition: New Testament, ed. Kenneth L. Barker and John R. Zohlenberger III, et al., Zondervan, 1994. Sourced from archive.org.
Moo, Douglas. 2 Peter, Jude. “The NIV Application Commentary,” ed. Terry Muck, et al., Zondervan, 1996.
Wuest, Kenneth S. In these last days: II Peter, I, II, III John, and Jude in the Greek New Testament for the English Reader. WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, eighth printing, 1972.
1.1