10 ¶ But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in
the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they,
selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. 11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and
might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. 12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to
be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and
shall utterly perish in their own corruption; 13 And shall receive the reward of
unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots
they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while
they feast with you; 14 Having eyes full
of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart
they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: 15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are
gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages
of unrighteousness; 16 But was rebuked
for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of
the prophet. 17 These are wells without
water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is
reserved for ever. 18 For when they
speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the
flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who
live in error. 19 While they promise
them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man
is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions
of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they
are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them
than the beginning. 21 For it had been
better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they
have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 22 But it is happened unto them according to the
true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was
washed to her wallowing in the mire.
Peter said that God knows how to reserve the just and the
unjust for punishment in the last section but here he goes on to say
particularly, and this is still in the context of false teachers, those who
walk in immorality and despise God’s authority over them. They are presumptuous
and self-willed and have no problem cursing things that they neither know nor
understand. I am reminded of preachers who call out Satan during a sermon,
defying him to do anything because that preacher, “pleads the blood,” as if to
challenge this spiritual being by the preacher’s own spiritual superiority.
Peter goes on to say that angels didn’t even do that.
Zechariah 3:1 ¶ And he shewed me Joshua the high priest
standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to
resist him. 2 And the LORD said unto
Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem
rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
And in a scene which we are told about only in the short
book of Jude in the New Testament;
Jude 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending
with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him
a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
We must always remember, as the book of Job taught us, that
Satan and God are not in a war over our souls but that Satan is under God’s
authority and can only do what God allows because God is sovereign and has
absolute authority and power over all reality, all that is, and all events that
transpire.
This is, again, borne out in the error that many priests and
preachers make that Jesus paid a ransom to Satan for our souls, giving him much
more power and authority in the spiritual world than he actually has. The
ransom is paid to God.
Exodus 30:12 When thou takest the sum of the children of
Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul
unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them,
when thou numberest them.
1Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6
Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Notice that Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and
men. He is not the mediator between God and Satan.
From the context it appears that Peter is condemning
particularly false teachers who have created a cult centered around their own
wicked lusts as we can see by many cult leaders’ immoral behavior and the sexual abuse that
some conservative preachers have been accused of.
Many of these men operating in a more conventional church
setting have literally obliterated the faith of young people they’ve abused.
There are several internet sites for so-called survivors of the Independent
Baptist churches which they call a cult. There are even pastors who, as
fathers, abused their own children, thereby betraying their role as a child’s
father and their pastor. Jesus warned
that this was a very egregious sin against God. In the context of the following
He tells His disciples, and this is still under the Law given to Moses, that it
would be better to mutilate yourself than to do what many pastors and teachers
who called themselves Independent Fundamental Baptists have done. It is
important to read the context rather than taking these individual verses out of
context to make them apply to what you feel strong about, if it is something other
than what God meant.
Matthew 18:1 ¶ At the same time came the disciples unto
Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2
And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of
them, 3 And said, Verily I say unto you,
Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever
therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in
the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoso shall
receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. 6 But whoso shall offend one of
these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone
were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 ¶
Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that
offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! 8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend
thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter
into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast
into everlasting fire. 9 And if thine
eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to
enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell
fire. 10 Take heed that ye despise not
one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do
always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. 11 For the Son of man is come to save that which
was lost. 12 How think ye? if a man have
an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety
and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
13 And if so be that he find it, verily
I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine
which went not astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father
which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
These false teachers know nothing of what they are talking
about. They can quote the Bible, even memorize large parts of it, and even win
souls in the fundamentalist way of telling other people how wicked THEY are to
get them to feel guilt and shame. They will go on and on about Jesus’ suffering
on the cross and downplay the resurrection to create a sense of self-loathing
and self-hate, manipulating people into many tears for, “what they have done to
the Savior,” and tell them that repenting of your sins is fundamental to
getting saved, which is not even Biblical.
[The Bible says that repentance, which means changing your
mind about something, occurs when you turn from what you believe is justifying
you and toward God.
Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the
doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
See the self-justification of the religious elites; our
modern-day fundamentalists and religious liberals in these verses;
Matthew 3:7 ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who
hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for
repentance: 9 And think not to say within
yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able
of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Believing the gospel IS repenting. By saying that to repent
means to turn from your sin only calls God a sinner.
Psalm 135:14 For the LORD will judge his people, and he
will repent himself concerning his servants.]
They’ll twist verses to make their points and ignore verses
that challenge them. They, like Satan, want control over you, and they want to
be exalted. In fact, these narcissists love to be admired and appreciated.
That’s what they live for.
The sexual content of these verses is clear in the mention
of Balaam who devised a way to harm the Israelites whom God would not let him
curse.
Numbers 31:7 ¶ And they warred against the Midianites, as
the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males. 8 And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the
rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and
Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the
sword. 9 And the children of Israel took
all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of
all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. 10 And they burnt all their cities wherein they
dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire. 11 And they took all the spoil, and all the
prey, both of men and of beasts. 12 And
they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar
the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp
at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho.
13 ¶
And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the
congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp. 14 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the
host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came
from the battle. 15 And Moses said unto
them, Have ye saved all the women alive? 16
Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of
Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there
was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because
thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast
a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto
idols, and to commit fornication.
This is important as it is mentioned numerous times in the
Bible other than in 2Peter and Revelation and Numbers in such books as Joshua,
Nehemiah, Micah, and Jude. The use of the office of the
preacher/prophet/pastor/teacher for lascivious and unclean purposes to make the
people of God to sin, especially preying on the innocent, deserves a special
place in Hell. To twist and use God’s words for gain and self-aggrandizement no
less.
It would have been better for these unregenerate, unsaved
abusers and manipulators to have never known about Christ and the Bible rather
than to have knowledge of it and use it for their exploitive and selfish,
wicked purposes.
In verse 22 a dog and a sow represent false male and false
female teachers. Context determines meaning. While the word dog can represent the animal (1Kings 22:38),
the Jewish view of non-Jews or Gentiles (Matthew 15:26-27), and male temple prostitutes
(Deuteronomy 23:18) it also represents false religionists, false teachers, and
supposed ministers of the gospel who pervert the truth.
Starting with the obvious cross-reference for 22 from which
Peter starts and then adds a parallel about swine;
Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool
returneth to his folly.
Then, the purveyors and followers of false religion in the
Psalm that Jesus began quoting from the cross.
Psalms 22:16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of
the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet…20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling
from the power of the dog.
To false teachers that Paul included in his play on words
likening those of the physical circumcision
to be mutilators, or of the concision
while he represents those of the spiritual circumcision in Colossians 2:11.
Philippians 3:2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers,
beware of the concision. 3 For we are
the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus,
and have no confidence in the flesh.
These false teachers will not have a place in the heavenly
city, New Jerusalem, in eternity.
Revelation 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and
whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a
lie.
Notice in the following Jesus says not to give that which is holy or cast ye your pearls, which are converts
(Matthew 13:45,46), to be destroyed by these people. So, be concerned about where
those people who you think you led to the Lord wind up. Read 2Corinthians
11:13-15.
Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,
neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their
feet, and turn again and rend you.
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