Revelation 4

Revelation 4:1

The Way of Balaam

2 Peter 2:7. The same God Who brings judgment on the ungodly, is the God who delivers the righteous. If you know the history of Lot as it is described in Genesis, then you must be rubbing your eyes to make sure that you’re not mistaken about what is said of Lot here, that he was “righteous”. It is even said three times.

He was everything but a Noah, who preached righteousness. The righteousness of Lot had not become visible, it was not reflected, neither in his words and nor in his deeds. Still he was a righteous man, inwardly. Therefore we had to be informed by the Scripture itself, for else we would have never known. Of course it does not do credit to Lot. It also will do you no credit if no one knows that you are a believer or if other believers have to put a question mark on your faith because they do not see anything of it.

2 Peter 2:8. That Lot indeed was a believer, appears from the fact that he was truly suffering by what he saw around him. He saw immoral people living in lawlessness. He dwelled in their midst and came into contact with them day by day. He heard their dirty talking, he saw their filthy behavior and that all cut through his soul. He was filled with disgust by what he saw and heard. In that respect he is an example for Christians who are saying that it doesn’t affect them when they for instance watch sexually oriented scenes in a movie. Does it also cut through your soul when you see the immoral signs on the billboards along the road or when you hear filthy speech around you?

2 Peter 2:9. The examples that Peter has mentioned make clear that the Lord knows how to distinguish between “the godly” and “the unrighteous”. That appears from His dealings with them. His dealings with Godly people appears from their deliverance. His dealings with unrighteous people appears from the judgment that He brings on them.

He knows the temptations that people are facing, who have respect for Him. These temptations are tests of faith: outer circumstances in which believers may find themselves, through which their faith is tested. The Lord knows how to deliver His own from it. He is able to change the circumstances or to help them through these circumstances, or even, like the case of Lot, to take away the believer out of those circumstances.

The unrighteous are reserved for judgment. None of the unrighteous will escape judgment. No one can run away from God. For those who do not want to bow before God, black darkness has been reserved (2 Peter 2:17). This forms a great contrast with the believers who are reserved for the inheritance, while the inheritance is reserved for them (1 Peter 1:4-5).

2 Peter 2:10. After the examples that have demonstrated the inescapability of God’s judgment, Peter continues to expose the false teachers. Among them there is a category that operates more depraved than the false teachers already do in general. It is a category of men who surrender themselves to the filthy lusts of their flesh and who, in limitless arrogance, treat all authority given by God with contempt. Those people especially will be struck by God’s judgment.

Today it is about ‘Christian’ teachers who, in order to satisfy their own dirty lusts, teach that you are allowed to have sex with whoever you want. In order to succeed they know how to manipulate the truth of God’s Word in such a way that they convince others of their freedom and that they can live out their lusts in that way.

They have the audacity to defy any authority that makes them feel constrained. They are that arrogant and proud that they feel no hindrances to blaspheme and reject God’s authority. Blaspheming is falsely accusing and deliberately evil speaking of something or someone, in order to make the other despicable. An example of that you find in the feminist theology that rejects and disempowers God’s order of creation and refuses to speak about God as Father.

2 Peter 2:11. In their recklessness and arrogance these kind of people go that far, that they exalt themselves above the mightiest angels. Angels who in power and holiness go far beyond these void and through and through depraved people (Psalms 103:20; 2 Kings 19:35), do not dare what these people dare to (Jude 1:9; Zechariah 3:2). Their big words and blasphemy are proven to be completely reprehensible by the conduct of these powers who are many times greater.

2 Peter 2:12. The people who are guilty of that, are unbelievers who arrogantly call themselves Christians. They behave “like unreasoning animals” and therefore they are classified in line with them. Balaam is even classified below the animals, for he is lectured by an animal (2 Peter 2:16).

As less able as natural unreasoning animals, false teachers are able to ponder on these things with insight. They simply do not understand what they are talking about, even though they use such learned words. Just as unreasoning animals are born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, false teachers are caught and destroyed. They are acting after their evil nature and receive the result of their actions.

They are not created for destruction as if they were destined to, but they will be destroyed in their own destruction. They bring themselves under destruction. In that way a person, who practices a sexually free way of living, may be infected by AIDS and in this way receive the wages that goes hand in hand with his life in unrighteousness.

2 Peter 2:13. They exercise their activities for wages and this is the way that God will repay them. By that I do not mean that all people who for instance have AIDS, have received this disease as wages for their life in unrighteousness. A person can also contract this disease by an inaccurate action of others. I heard about someone who was infected by a transfusion of contaminated blood. A person can also contract a disease while nursing someone with an infectious disease.

“A pleasure to revel in the daytime”, when normal people are working, is the highlight of pleasure for them. Instead of being generous they are greedy and gluttonous. And consider thereby that Peter does not talk about their behavior in the world, but in the midst of the Christian company. They carouse “with you”. They succeeded in taking their place in the midst of Christians to mingle with them. There they take part in eating and drinking in a way that reveals where their life consists of.

Exactly because of this kind of people, separation is needed. If we allow them to act their way freely, they will ‘blemish and spot’ the Christian community. “Blemishes and spots” are no adornment, but taint what is beautiful and clean. That’s why they must be removed as soon they become visible.

2 Peter 2:14. While they are feasting, their eyes go restlessly to and fro to lustfully look at beautiful women as much as they can (cf. Job 31:1). In their mind they commit adultery (Matthew 5:28). They have no restraints on their consumption and no restraints on their sexual lusts. People who cannot control themselves when it comes to eating and drinking often also not able to control themselves in other areas either. They are constantly sinning, without any moment of pausing.

They seek how they can entice “unstable souls”, people who are not firmly rooted in the Scripture (cf. Colossians 2:7), to profit from them. This behavior comes forth from “a heart trained in greed”. They have developed a sense by which they know exactly who to make prey to their greedy desires.

Peter succinctly calls them “accursed children”, or better, children of curse. They come from a curse and are a curse for all who come into contact with them. Their end is in accordance to that, for the Lord Jesus will send them to the eternal fire as accursed ones (Matthew 25:41).

2 Peter 2:15. False teachers have known the right way (cf. 1 Samuel 12:20-24; Hosea 14:9), that is the way of obedience to God and His Word, but have abandoned it. Then they also distort the right ways of the Lord (Acts 13:10). After the error of Balaam (Jude 1:11) and the doctrine of Balaam (Revelation 2:14) they will end up on the way of Balaam and will follow his way.

By speaking about “the way of Balaam” Peter sets Balaam as the example of going a way that makes religion a merchandise. You find his history in Numbers 22-24. There it appears that he presented himself as a prophet of God, while he was planning to curse God’s people because he was offered a lot of money to do so. That is considered by God as ”wages of unrighteousness”. It is wages that is earned by doing evil works.

2 Peter 2:16. In a special way God hindered the foolishness of the prophet to curse His people. He gave the “mute donkey” that Balaam rode on, the ability to speak “with a voice of a man”. The donkey rebuked Balaam for his own transgression. He struck the donkey three times, while the donkey only carried him and protected him against calamity (Numbers 22:22-33). He proved by that that he was blind to the warnings and persistently continued his own way. By letting the donkey speak to him, God made clear how foolish the prophet was. Subsequently, God allowed Balaam to continue his way, while He forced him to bless His people.

Also today God has His methods to speak to false teachers and He often does that in a way that makes stubborn, money-hungry false teachers despicable. It would be a good thing if they want to listen for their own well-being, otherwise they will partake of the fate of Balaam (Numbers 31:8).

Now read 2 Peter 2:7-16 again.

Reflection: Which characteristics of false teachers are given in these verses?

Revelation 4:2

To Turn From the Known Way

2 Peter 2:17. False teachers are like “springs without water”. They promise refreshment to people who need it, but instead they give bitterness. It is no living water that comes from the spring that they pretend to be, but death. That is in direct contrast to the well of living water which is the Lord Jesus. He gives water that in each that receives it, becomes a well of water with which they can refresh others (John 4:14; John 7:38-39). From that well false teachers have never drunk, for they refuse to believe in Him Who is the well. They can be compared with broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13).

These people are also to be compared with ”mists driven by a storm”. When someone is shrouded in clouds he does not know where he is and he also is in no way able to show someone else the way. Clouds can in no way offer any guidance and orientation. Their use of language is foggy, their statements are floaty, the tone is soothing. They appeal only to the emotion.

They are mercilessly and restlessly being driven by elusive forces (cf. James 3:4). You can be kept from being tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine if you heed the teaching of the gifts that are given by the Lord to His church (Ephesians 4:14-15).

The clouds in which the false teachers are shrouded and in which they shroud others who listen to their doctrines, will transfer in complete “black darkness”. They have shrouded themselves and others in the clouds, the black darkness is reserved for them by God. That is where they will end up too, because God will bring them there.

It is the place where all light is absent. “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). In the black darkness even the smallest trace of God’s presence is missing. There is nothing worse for a person than when God has abandoned him and has totally delivered him to what he has chosen.

2 Peter 2:18. False teachers talk a lot but their talk means nothing. It is a load of hot air: arrogant, hollow and without content. Countless people let themselves be fooled by them and trust and build on those empty words. Their speech is full of words that activate the “fleshly desires”. Their false doctrine intrigues people because it gives them the nice feeling that they can satisfy their sexual lusts in a lawless way and that they can also limitlessly surrender themselves to all kinds of evil.

Their words gain entrance in those who are still seeking the true meaning of life, because they did not find it in the company of wanderers to which they first belonged. In their search they also listen to these false teachers. Because they themselves have no handhold at all on the truth of God’s Word and are also naïve in their personal examination of it, they are caught by the greedy hands of these wicked people.

2 Peter 2:19. The bait that the false teachers hold out to unstable souls, is the promise of “freedom”. Freedom in every view is the highest goal to independent man. People also think that in the church of God there should be freedom. We should not be slaves of traditions. You must be able to give substance to life with God in your own way. It is no one’s business in what way you do that. You do not acknowledge authority, you determine for yourself whatever you want. That message is swallowed like sweet cake. There is no requirement to take responsibility. It is all about pleasure, about my pleasure, of course.

But people who are preaching this are “slaves of corruption” themselves (John 8:34; Romans 6:16). They are “overcome” by the devil and “enslaved” by him. They let themselves be used by him, but they are blind to the fact that they are nothing more than his accomplices. In their loud proclamation of freedom, they do not realize that as slaves of the devil they are his mouthpiece.

However, you enslaved by God (Romans 6:12-14) because God has overcome you by His love. That has brought you into true freedom. True freedom means that you are under the obedience of God with thereby the new nature that wants nothing more than being obedient to Him. As long as a person is not under the control of the Lord Jesus, he is not free, for the Lord Jesus alone can indeed make free (John 8:36).

2 Peter 2:20. It is about those who first have been going the way of the Christian, but became apostate. They first confessed to be Christians, but they turned back to the outward uncleanness of the world, “the defilements of the world”, from which they, by becoming a Christian, escaped (2 Peter 1:4). It is evident that with the people at issue here, everything has been only outward appearance. Their knowledge turns out to be nothing but an external, intellectual, knowledge only.

People may come to the conclusion, that of all the world religions, Christendom has the best credentials. It is a religion of tolerance and loving care and freedom. That may be appealing and win a person to be a supporter of it. There is nothing of conviction of sin and repentance of it; there is no mention of any necessity of conversion to God and of salvation by the blood of Christ at all. Inwardly nothing has changed.

What has attracted them in Christendom, is experienced only in a selfish sense: others must tolerate me, others must make sure that I lack of nothing, I am free to do what I like to do. They confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, but not in the way the Bible instructs us. Their confession that He is Lord, is just a lip confession (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46). Their confession that He is Savior, is nothing more than the confession that He is a ‘Whole-Maker’ – that meaning also is in the word ‘Savior’ – of situations they do not know how to deal with.

As soon as such people come into contact with false teachers, they seem to be highly susceptible to the nonsense that these people rave about. The false idea that they have of the Lord Jesus, is a perfectly prepared basis for receiving more corrupt ideas about Him. Once they are dragged along on the trail of the false teachers, they are irresistibly drawn to “the defilements of the world” in which they were previously imprisoned and become “entangled” in them again. Once they got entangled they cannot resist anymore and are “overcome” by it. The world completely has caught hold of them again. Their situation then becomes worse than when they converted outwardly (cf. Matthew 12:45).

2 Peter 2:21. The greater the privileges a man has, the greater his responsibility is to live up to them. Therefore a person who has known the will of God and didn’t do it will receive many lashes (Luke 12:47-48). It just seems like it is only dangerous to know much of God’s Word and that it is safer to pretend that you know nothing of it. Such a perception, however, does not testify any love for the Lord Jesus and the Word of God.

Peter is saying this with a view to those who complacently present themselves as Christians who know everything and where everyone can get satisfaction concerning the teaching about the truth. Of course you have to pay for it. Such people are more responsible than people who were not raised with the Bible. They have no regard for “the holy commandment” of the Lord, that is the word of the Lord to be holy (1 Peter 1:16). They were just outwardly holy, without possessing the holy nature as a result of conversion and faith.

2 Peter 2:22. He who has been familiar with the meaning of Christendom and has even joined that company for a while, but yet again chooses the defilements of the world, is like a dog and a sow. Peter uses a proverb or a metaphor with two pictures that are both a truthful expression of what happens if a person has confessed the Christian faith and then returns to the world.

The first picture is that of a dog. A dog is an unclean animal that, without any emotion, gluttonously and shamelessly fills its stomach with whatever it finds or gets to eat (Isaiah 56:11). A dog knows no measure. When it has eaten too much, it vomits it out. When it gets hungry again, it eats its own vomit. This picture is applied to people who first said goodbye to the world and, by the influence of false teachers, return there. They did not find inward satisfaction in the world and abandoned it. Now they still go back to it. This proves that they inwardly have not really changed. The dog remained a dog.

They not only inwardly returned to the world, the vomit. It is also to be seen in their life. Outwardly they are like the sow that returns to wallowing in the mire. You may wash a sow and make him smell nice, but as soon as it gets the chance to wallow itself in the mire, it will do that. It feels at home in the mire. That is the big difference with a sheep, a picture of the believer. A sheep may fall into the mire, but it doesn’t feel at home there and wants to get out of it again.

Now read 2 Peter 2:17-22 again.

Reflection: What kind of people is this portion dealing with?

Revelation 4:3

To Turn From the Known Way

2 Peter 2:17. False teachers are like “springs without water”. They promise refreshment to people who need it, but instead they give bitterness. It is no living water that comes from the spring that they pretend to be, but death. That is in direct contrast to the well of living water which is the Lord Jesus. He gives water that in each that receives it, becomes a well of water with which they can refresh others (John 4:14; John 7:38-39). From that well false teachers have never drunk, for they refuse to believe in Him Who is the well. They can be compared with broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13).

These people are also to be compared with ”mists driven by a storm”. When someone is shrouded in clouds he does not know where he is and he also is in no way able to show someone else the way. Clouds can in no way offer any guidance and orientation. Their use of language is foggy, their statements are floaty, the tone is soothing. They appeal only to the emotion.

They are mercilessly and restlessly being driven by elusive forces (cf. James 3:4). You can be kept from being tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine if you heed the teaching of the gifts that are given by the Lord to His church (Ephesians 4:14-15).

The clouds in which the false teachers are shrouded and in which they shroud others who listen to their doctrines, will transfer in complete “black darkness”. They have shrouded themselves and others in the clouds, the black darkness is reserved for them by God. That is where they will end up too, because God will bring them there.

It is the place where all light is absent. “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). In the black darkness even the smallest trace of God’s presence is missing. There is nothing worse for a person than when God has abandoned him and has totally delivered him to what he has chosen.

2 Peter 2:18. False teachers talk a lot but their talk means nothing. It is a load of hot air: arrogant, hollow and without content. Countless people let themselves be fooled by them and trust and build on those empty words. Their speech is full of words that activate the “fleshly desires”. Their false doctrine intrigues people because it gives them the nice feeling that they can satisfy their sexual lusts in a lawless way and that they can also limitlessly surrender themselves to all kinds of evil.

Their words gain entrance in those who are still seeking the true meaning of life, because they did not find it in the company of wanderers to which they first belonged. In their search they also listen to these false teachers. Because they themselves have no handhold at all on the truth of God’s Word and are also naïve in their personal examination of it, they are caught by the greedy hands of these wicked people.

2 Peter 2:19. The bait that the false teachers hold out to unstable souls, is the promise of “freedom”. Freedom in every view is the highest goal to independent man. People also think that in the church of God there should be freedom. We should not be slaves of traditions. You must be able to give substance to life with God in your own way. It is no one’s business in what way you do that. You do not acknowledge authority, you determine for yourself whatever you want. That message is swallowed like sweet cake. There is no requirement to take responsibility. It is all about pleasure, about my pleasure, of course.

But people who are preaching this are “slaves of corruption” themselves (John 8:34; Romans 6:16). They are “overcome” by the devil and “enslaved” by him. They let themselves be used by him, but they are blind to the fact that they are nothing more than his accomplices. In their loud proclamation of freedom, they do not realize that as slaves of the devil they are his mouthpiece.

However, you enslaved by God (Romans 6:12-14) because God has overcome you by His love. That has brought you into true freedom. True freedom means that you are under the obedience of God with thereby the new nature that wants nothing more than being obedient to Him. As long as a person is not under the control of the Lord Jesus, he is not free, for the Lord Jesus alone can indeed make free (John 8:36).

2 Peter 2:20. It is about those who first have been going the way of the Christian, but became apostate. They first confessed to be Christians, but they turned back to the outward uncleanness of the world, “the defilements of the world”, from which they, by becoming a Christian, escaped (2 Peter 1:4). It is evident that with the people at issue here, everything has been only outward appearance. Their knowledge turns out to be nothing but an external, intellectual, knowledge only.

People may come to the conclusion, that of all the world religions, Christendom has the best credentials. It is a religion of tolerance and loving care and freedom. That may be appealing and win a person to be a supporter of it. There is nothing of conviction of sin and repentance of it; there is no mention of any necessity of conversion to God and of salvation by the blood of Christ at all. Inwardly nothing has changed.

What has attracted them in Christendom, is experienced only in a selfish sense: others must tolerate me, others must make sure that I lack of nothing, I am free to do what I like to do. They confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, but not in the way the Bible instructs us. Their confession that He is Lord, is just a lip confession (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46). Their confession that He is Savior, is nothing more than the confession that He is a ‘Whole-Maker’ – that meaning also is in the word ‘Savior’ – of situations they do not know how to deal with.

As soon as such people come into contact with false teachers, they seem to be highly susceptible to the nonsense that these people rave about. The false idea that they have of the Lord Jesus, is a perfectly prepared basis for receiving more corrupt ideas about Him. Once they are dragged along on the trail of the false teachers, they are irresistibly drawn to “the defilements of the world” in which they were previously imprisoned and become “entangled” in them again. Once they got entangled they cannot resist anymore and are “overcome” by it. The world completely has caught hold of them again. Their situation then becomes worse than when they converted outwardly (cf. Matthew 12:45).

2 Peter 2:21. The greater the privileges a man has, the greater his responsibility is to live up to them. Therefore a person who has known the will of God and didn’t do it will receive many lashes (Luke 12:47-48). It just seems like it is only dangerous to know much of God’s Word and that it is safer to pretend that you know nothing of it. Such a perception, however, does not testify any love for the Lord Jesus and the Word of God.

Peter is saying this with a view to those who complacently present themselves as Christians who know everything and where everyone can get satisfaction concerning the teaching about the truth. Of course you have to pay for it. Such people are more responsible than people who were not raised with the Bible. They have no regard for “the holy commandment” of the Lord, that is the word of the Lord to be holy (1 Peter 1:16). They were just outwardly holy, without possessing the holy nature as a result of conversion and faith.

2 Peter 2:22. He who has been familiar with the meaning of Christendom and has even joined that company for a while, but yet again chooses the defilements of the world, is like a dog and a sow. Peter uses a proverb or a metaphor with two pictures that are both a truthful expression of what happens if a person has confessed the Christian faith and then returns to the world.

The first picture is that of a dog. A dog is an unclean animal that, without any emotion, gluttonously and shamelessly fills its stomach with whatever it finds or gets to eat (Isaiah 56:11). A dog knows no measure. When it has eaten too much, it vomits it out. When it gets hungry again, it eats its own vomit. This picture is applied to people who first said goodbye to the world and, by the influence of false teachers, return there. They did not find inward satisfaction in the world and abandoned it. Now they still go back to it. This proves that they inwardly have not really changed. The dog remained a dog.

They not only inwardly returned to the world, the vomit. It is also to be seen in their life. Outwardly they are like the sow that returns to wallowing in the mire. You may wash a sow and make him smell nice, but as soon as it gets the chance to wallow itself in the mire, it will do that. It feels at home in the mire. That is the big difference with a sheep, a picture of the believer. A sheep may fall into the mire, but it doesn’t feel at home there and wants to get out of it again.

Now read 2 Peter 2:17-22 again.

Reflection: What kind of people is this portion dealing with?

Revelation 4:4

To Turn From the Known Way

2 Peter 2:17. False teachers are like “springs without water”. They promise refreshment to people who need it, but instead they give bitterness. It is no living water that comes from the spring that they pretend to be, but death. That is in direct contrast to the well of living water which is the Lord Jesus. He gives water that in each that receives it, becomes a well of water with which they can refresh others (John 4:14; John 7:38-39). From that well false teachers have never drunk, for they refuse to believe in Him Who is the well. They can be compared with broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13).

These people are also to be compared with ”mists driven by a storm”. When someone is shrouded in clouds he does not know where he is and he also is in no way able to show someone else the way. Clouds can in no way offer any guidance and orientation. Their use of language is foggy, their statements are floaty, the tone is soothing. They appeal only to the emotion.

They are mercilessly and restlessly being driven by elusive forces (cf. James 3:4). You can be kept from being tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine if you heed the teaching of the gifts that are given by the Lord to His church (Ephesians 4:14-15).

The clouds in which the false teachers are shrouded and in which they shroud others who listen to their doctrines, will transfer in complete “black darkness”. They have shrouded themselves and others in the clouds, the black darkness is reserved for them by God. That is where they will end up too, because God will bring them there.

It is the place where all light is absent. “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). In the black darkness even the smallest trace of God’s presence is missing. There is nothing worse for a person than when God has abandoned him and has totally delivered him to what he has chosen.

2 Peter 2:18. False teachers talk a lot but their talk means nothing. It is a load of hot air: arrogant, hollow and without content. Countless people let themselves be fooled by them and trust and build on those empty words. Their speech is full of words that activate the “fleshly desires”. Their false doctrine intrigues people because it gives them the nice feeling that they can satisfy their sexual lusts in a lawless way and that they can also limitlessly surrender themselves to all kinds of evil.

Their words gain entrance in those who are still seeking the true meaning of life, because they did not find it in the company of wanderers to which they first belonged. In their search they also listen to these false teachers. Because they themselves have no handhold at all on the truth of God’s Word and are also naïve in their personal examination of it, they are caught by the greedy hands of these wicked people.

2 Peter 2:19. The bait that the false teachers hold out to unstable souls, is the promise of “freedom”. Freedom in every view is the highest goal to independent man. People also think that in the church of God there should be freedom. We should not be slaves of traditions. You must be able to give substance to life with God in your own way. It is no one’s business in what way you do that. You do not acknowledge authority, you determine for yourself whatever you want. That message is swallowed like sweet cake. There is no requirement to take responsibility. It is all about pleasure, about my pleasure, of course.

But people who are preaching this are “slaves of corruption” themselves (John 8:34; Romans 6:16). They are “overcome” by the devil and “enslaved” by him. They let themselves be used by him, but they are blind to the fact that they are nothing more than his accomplices. In their loud proclamation of freedom, they do not realize that as slaves of the devil they are his mouthpiece.

However, you enslaved by God (Romans 6:12-14) because God has overcome you by His love. That has brought you into true freedom. True freedom means that you are under the obedience of God with thereby the new nature that wants nothing more than being obedient to Him. As long as a person is not under the control of the Lord Jesus, he is not free, for the Lord Jesus alone can indeed make free (John 8:36).

2 Peter 2:20. It is about those who first have been going the way of the Christian, but became apostate. They first confessed to be Christians, but they turned back to the outward uncleanness of the world, “the defilements of the world”, from which they, by becoming a Christian, escaped (2 Peter 1:4). It is evident that with the people at issue here, everything has been only outward appearance. Their knowledge turns out to be nothing but an external, intellectual, knowledge only.

People may come to the conclusion, that of all the world religions, Christendom has the best credentials. It is a religion of tolerance and loving care and freedom. That may be appealing and win a person to be a supporter of it. There is nothing of conviction of sin and repentance of it; there is no mention of any necessity of conversion to God and of salvation by the blood of Christ at all. Inwardly nothing has changed.

What has attracted them in Christendom, is experienced only in a selfish sense: others must tolerate me, others must make sure that I lack of nothing, I am free to do what I like to do. They confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, but not in the way the Bible instructs us. Their confession that He is Lord, is just a lip confession (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46). Their confession that He is Savior, is nothing more than the confession that He is a ‘Whole-Maker’ – that meaning also is in the word ‘Savior’ – of situations they do not know how to deal with.

As soon as such people come into contact with false teachers, they seem to be highly susceptible to the nonsense that these people rave about. The false idea that they have of the Lord Jesus, is a perfectly prepared basis for receiving more corrupt ideas about Him. Once they are dragged along on the trail of the false teachers, they are irresistibly drawn to “the defilements of the world” in which they were previously imprisoned and become “entangled” in them again. Once they got entangled they cannot resist anymore and are “overcome” by it. The world completely has caught hold of them again. Their situation then becomes worse than when they converted outwardly (cf. Matthew 12:45).

2 Peter 2:21. The greater the privileges a man has, the greater his responsibility is to live up to them. Therefore a person who has known the will of God and didn’t do it will receive many lashes (Luke 12:47-48). It just seems like it is only dangerous to know much of God’s Word and that it is safer to pretend that you know nothing of it. Such a perception, however, does not testify any love for the Lord Jesus and the Word of God.

Peter is saying this with a view to those who complacently present themselves as Christians who know everything and where everyone can get satisfaction concerning the teaching about the truth. Of course you have to pay for it. Such people are more responsible than people who were not raised with the Bible. They have no regard for “the holy commandment” of the Lord, that is the word of the Lord to be holy (1 Peter 1:16). They were just outwardly holy, without possessing the holy nature as a result of conversion and faith.

2 Peter 2:22. He who has been familiar with the meaning of Christendom and has even joined that company for a while, but yet again chooses the defilements of the world, is like a dog and a sow. Peter uses a proverb or a metaphor with two pictures that are both a truthful expression of what happens if a person has confessed the Christian faith and then returns to the world.

The first picture is that of a dog. A dog is an unclean animal that, without any emotion, gluttonously and shamelessly fills its stomach with whatever it finds or gets to eat (Isaiah 56:11). A dog knows no measure. When it has eaten too much, it vomits it out. When it gets hungry again, it eats its own vomit. This picture is applied to people who first said goodbye to the world and, by the influence of false teachers, return there. They did not find inward satisfaction in the world and abandoned it. Now they still go back to it. This proves that they inwardly have not really changed. The dog remained a dog.

They not only inwardly returned to the world, the vomit. It is also to be seen in their life. Outwardly they are like the sow that returns to wallowing in the mire. You may wash a sow and make him smell nice, but as soon as it gets the chance to wallow itself in the mire, it will do that. It feels at home in the mire. That is the big difference with a sheep, a picture of the believer. A sheep may fall into the mire, but it doesn’t feel at home there and wants to get out of it again.

Now read 2 Peter 2:17-22 again.

Reflection: What kind of people is this portion dealing with?

Revelation 4:5

To Turn From the Known Way

2 Peter 2:17. False teachers are like “springs without water”. They promise refreshment to people who need it, but instead they give bitterness. It is no living water that comes from the spring that they pretend to be, but death. That is in direct contrast to the well of living water which is the Lord Jesus. He gives water that in each that receives it, becomes a well of water with which they can refresh others (John 4:14; John 7:38-39). From that well false teachers have never drunk, for they refuse to believe in Him Who is the well. They can be compared with broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13).

These people are also to be compared with ”mists driven by a storm”. When someone is shrouded in clouds he does not know where he is and he also is in no way able to show someone else the way. Clouds can in no way offer any guidance and orientation. Their use of language is foggy, their statements are floaty, the tone is soothing. They appeal only to the emotion.

They are mercilessly and restlessly being driven by elusive forces (cf. James 3:4). You can be kept from being tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine if you heed the teaching of the gifts that are given by the Lord to His church (Ephesians 4:14-15).

The clouds in which the false teachers are shrouded and in which they shroud others who listen to their doctrines, will transfer in complete “black darkness”. They have shrouded themselves and others in the clouds, the black darkness is reserved for them by God. That is where they will end up too, because God will bring them there.

It is the place where all light is absent. “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). In the black darkness even the smallest trace of God’s presence is missing. There is nothing worse for a person than when God has abandoned him and has totally delivered him to what he has chosen.

2 Peter 2:18. False teachers talk a lot but their talk means nothing. It is a load of hot air: arrogant, hollow and without content. Countless people let themselves be fooled by them and trust and build on those empty words. Their speech is full of words that activate the “fleshly desires”. Their false doctrine intrigues people because it gives them the nice feeling that they can satisfy their sexual lusts in a lawless way and that they can also limitlessly surrender themselves to all kinds of evil.

Their words gain entrance in those who are still seeking the true meaning of life, because they did not find it in the company of wanderers to which they first belonged. In their search they also listen to these false teachers. Because they themselves have no handhold at all on the truth of God’s Word and are also naïve in their personal examination of it, they are caught by the greedy hands of these wicked people.

2 Peter 2:19. The bait that the false teachers hold out to unstable souls, is the promise of “freedom”. Freedom in every view is the highest goal to independent man. People also think that in the church of God there should be freedom. We should not be slaves of traditions. You must be able to give substance to life with God in your own way. It is no one’s business in what way you do that. You do not acknowledge authority, you determine for yourself whatever you want. That message is swallowed like sweet cake. There is no requirement to take responsibility. It is all about pleasure, about my pleasure, of course.

But people who are preaching this are “slaves of corruption” themselves (John 8:34; Romans 6:16). They are “overcome” by the devil and “enslaved” by him. They let themselves be used by him, but they are blind to the fact that they are nothing more than his accomplices. In their loud proclamation of freedom, they do not realize that as slaves of the devil they are his mouthpiece.

However, you enslaved by God (Romans 6:12-14) because God has overcome you by His love. That has brought you into true freedom. True freedom means that you are under the obedience of God with thereby the new nature that wants nothing more than being obedient to Him. As long as a person is not under the control of the Lord Jesus, he is not free, for the Lord Jesus alone can indeed make free (John 8:36).

2 Peter 2:20. It is about those who first have been going the way of the Christian, but became apostate. They first confessed to be Christians, but they turned back to the outward uncleanness of the world, “the defilements of the world”, from which they, by becoming a Christian, escaped (2 Peter 1:4). It is evident that with the people at issue here, everything has been only outward appearance. Their knowledge turns out to be nothing but an external, intellectual, knowledge only.

People may come to the conclusion, that of all the world religions, Christendom has the best credentials. It is a religion of tolerance and loving care and freedom. That may be appealing and win a person to be a supporter of it. There is nothing of conviction of sin and repentance of it; there is no mention of any necessity of conversion to God and of salvation by the blood of Christ at all. Inwardly nothing has changed.

What has attracted them in Christendom, is experienced only in a selfish sense: others must tolerate me, others must make sure that I lack of nothing, I am free to do what I like to do. They confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, but not in the way the Bible instructs us. Their confession that He is Lord, is just a lip confession (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46). Their confession that He is Savior, is nothing more than the confession that He is a ‘Whole-Maker’ – that meaning also is in the word ‘Savior’ – of situations they do not know how to deal with.

As soon as such people come into contact with false teachers, they seem to be highly susceptible to the nonsense that these people rave about. The false idea that they have of the Lord Jesus, is a perfectly prepared basis for receiving more corrupt ideas about Him. Once they are dragged along on the trail of the false teachers, they are irresistibly drawn to “the defilements of the world” in which they were previously imprisoned and become “entangled” in them again. Once they got entangled they cannot resist anymore and are “overcome” by it. The world completely has caught hold of them again. Their situation then becomes worse than when they converted outwardly (cf. Matthew 12:45).

2 Peter 2:21. The greater the privileges a man has, the greater his responsibility is to live up to them. Therefore a person who has known the will of God and didn’t do it will receive many lashes (Luke 12:47-48). It just seems like it is only dangerous to know much of God’s Word and that it is safer to pretend that you know nothing of it. Such a perception, however, does not testify any love for the Lord Jesus and the Word of God.

Peter is saying this with a view to those who complacently present themselves as Christians who know everything and where everyone can get satisfaction concerning the teaching about the truth. Of course you have to pay for it. Such people are more responsible than people who were not raised with the Bible. They have no regard for “the holy commandment” of the Lord, that is the word of the Lord to be holy (1 Peter 1:16). They were just outwardly holy, without possessing the holy nature as a result of conversion and faith.

2 Peter 2:22. He who has been familiar with the meaning of Christendom and has even joined that company for a while, but yet again chooses the defilements of the world, is like a dog and a sow. Peter uses a proverb or a metaphor with two pictures that are both a truthful expression of what happens if a person has confessed the Christian faith and then returns to the world.

The first picture is that of a dog. A dog is an unclean animal that, without any emotion, gluttonously and shamelessly fills its stomach with whatever it finds or gets to eat (Isaiah 56:11). A dog knows no measure. When it has eaten too much, it vomits it out. When it gets hungry again, it eats its own vomit. This picture is applied to people who first said goodbye to the world and, by the influence of false teachers, return there. They did not find inward satisfaction in the world and abandoned it. Now they still go back to it. This proves that they inwardly have not really changed. The dog remained a dog.

They not only inwardly returned to the world, the vomit. It is also to be seen in their life. Outwardly they are like the sow that returns to wallowing in the mire. You may wash a sow and make him smell nice, but as soon as it gets the chance to wallow itself in the mire, it will do that. It feels at home in the mire. That is the big difference with a sheep, a picture of the believer. A sheep may fall into the mire, but it doesn’t feel at home there and wants to get out of it again.

Now read 2 Peter 2:17-22 again.

Reflection: What kind of people is this portion dealing with?

Revelation 4:6

To Turn From the Known Way

2 Peter 2:17. False teachers are like “springs without water”. They promise refreshment to people who need it, but instead they give bitterness. It is no living water that comes from the spring that they pretend to be, but death. That is in direct contrast to the well of living water which is the Lord Jesus. He gives water that in each that receives it, becomes a well of water with which they can refresh others (John 4:14; John 7:38-39). From that well false teachers have never drunk, for they refuse to believe in Him Who is the well. They can be compared with broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13).

These people are also to be compared with ”mists driven by a storm”. When someone is shrouded in clouds he does not know where he is and he also is in no way able to show someone else the way. Clouds can in no way offer any guidance and orientation. Their use of language is foggy, their statements are floaty, the tone is soothing. They appeal only to the emotion.

They are mercilessly and restlessly being driven by elusive forces (cf. James 3:4). You can be kept from being tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine if you heed the teaching of the gifts that are given by the Lord to His church (Ephesians 4:14-15).

The clouds in which the false teachers are shrouded and in which they shroud others who listen to their doctrines, will transfer in complete “black darkness”. They have shrouded themselves and others in the clouds, the black darkness is reserved for them by God. That is where they will end up too, because God will bring them there.

It is the place where all light is absent. “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). In the black darkness even the smallest trace of God’s presence is missing. There is nothing worse for a person than when God has abandoned him and has totally delivered him to what he has chosen.

2 Peter 2:18. False teachers talk a lot but their talk means nothing. It is a load of hot air: arrogant, hollow and without content. Countless people let themselves be fooled by them and trust and build on those empty words. Their speech is full of words that activate the “fleshly desires”. Their false doctrine intrigues people because it gives them the nice feeling that they can satisfy their sexual lusts in a lawless way and that they can also limitlessly surrender themselves to all kinds of evil.

Their words gain entrance in those who are still seeking the true meaning of life, because they did not find it in the company of wanderers to which they first belonged. In their search they also listen to these false teachers. Because they themselves have no handhold at all on the truth of God’s Word and are also naïve in their personal examination of it, they are caught by the greedy hands of these wicked people.

2 Peter 2:19. The bait that the false teachers hold out to unstable souls, is the promise of “freedom”. Freedom in every view is the highest goal to independent man. People also think that in the church of God there should be freedom. We should not be slaves of traditions. You must be able to give substance to life with God in your own way. It is no one’s business in what way you do that. You do not acknowledge authority, you determine for yourself whatever you want. That message is swallowed like sweet cake. There is no requirement to take responsibility. It is all about pleasure, about my pleasure, of course.

But people who are preaching this are “slaves of corruption” themselves (John 8:34; Romans 6:16). They are “overcome” by the devil and “enslaved” by him. They let themselves be used by him, but they are blind to the fact that they are nothing more than his accomplices. In their loud proclamation of freedom, they do not realize that as slaves of the devil they are his mouthpiece.

However, you enslaved by God (Romans 6:12-14) because God has overcome you by His love. That has brought you into true freedom. True freedom means that you are under the obedience of God with thereby the new nature that wants nothing more than being obedient to Him. As long as a person is not under the control of the Lord Jesus, he is not free, for the Lord Jesus alone can indeed make free (John 8:36).

2 Peter 2:20. It is about those who first have been going the way of the Christian, but became apostate. They first confessed to be Christians, but they turned back to the outward uncleanness of the world, “the defilements of the world”, from which they, by becoming a Christian, escaped (2 Peter 1:4). It is evident that with the people at issue here, everything has been only outward appearance. Their knowledge turns out to be nothing but an external, intellectual, knowledge only.

People may come to the conclusion, that of all the world religions, Christendom has the best credentials. It is a religion of tolerance and loving care and freedom. That may be appealing and win a person to be a supporter of it. There is nothing of conviction of sin and repentance of it; there is no mention of any necessity of conversion to God and of salvation by the blood of Christ at all. Inwardly nothing has changed.

What has attracted them in Christendom, is experienced only in a selfish sense: others must tolerate me, others must make sure that I lack of nothing, I am free to do what I like to do. They confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, but not in the way the Bible instructs us. Their confession that He is Lord, is just a lip confession (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46). Their confession that He is Savior, is nothing more than the confession that He is a ‘Whole-Maker’ – that meaning also is in the word ‘Savior’ – of situations they do not know how to deal with.

As soon as such people come into contact with false teachers, they seem to be highly susceptible to the nonsense that these people rave about. The false idea that they have of the Lord Jesus, is a perfectly prepared basis for receiving more corrupt ideas about Him. Once they are dragged along on the trail of the false teachers, they are irresistibly drawn to “the defilements of the world” in which they were previously imprisoned and become “entangled” in them again. Once they got entangled they cannot resist anymore and are “overcome” by it. The world completely has caught hold of them again. Their situation then becomes worse than when they converted outwardly (cf. Matthew 12:45).

2 Peter 2:21. The greater the privileges a man has, the greater his responsibility is to live up to them. Therefore a person who has known the will of God and didn’t do it will receive many lashes (Luke 12:47-48). It just seems like it is only dangerous to know much of God’s Word and that it is safer to pretend that you know nothing of it. Such a perception, however, does not testify any love for the Lord Jesus and the Word of God.

Peter is saying this with a view to those who complacently present themselves as Christians who know everything and where everyone can get satisfaction concerning the teaching about the truth. Of course you have to pay for it. Such people are more responsible than people who were not raised with the Bible. They have no regard for “the holy commandment” of the Lord, that is the word of the Lord to be holy (1 Peter 1:16). They were just outwardly holy, without possessing the holy nature as a result of conversion and faith.

2 Peter 2:22. He who has been familiar with the meaning of Christendom and has even joined that company for a while, but yet again chooses the defilements of the world, is like a dog and a sow. Peter uses a proverb or a metaphor with two pictures that are both a truthful expression of what happens if a person has confessed the Christian faith and then returns to the world.

The first picture is that of a dog. A dog is an unclean animal that, without any emotion, gluttonously and shamelessly fills its stomach with whatever it finds or gets to eat (Isaiah 56:11). A dog knows no measure. When it has eaten too much, it vomits it out. When it gets hungry again, it eats its own vomit. This picture is applied to people who first said goodbye to the world and, by the influence of false teachers, return there. They did not find inward satisfaction in the world and abandoned it. Now they still go back to it. This proves that they inwardly have not really changed. The dog remained a dog.

They not only inwardly returned to the world, the vomit. It is also to be seen in their life. Outwardly they are like the sow that returns to wallowing in the mire. You may wash a sow and make him smell nice, but as soon as it gets the chance to wallow itself in the mire, it will do that. It feels at home in the mire. That is the big difference with a sheep, a picture of the believer. A sheep may fall into the mire, but it doesn’t feel at home there and wants to get out of it again.

Now read 2 Peter 2:17-22 again.

Reflection: What kind of people is this portion dealing with?

Revelation 4:7

To Turn From the Known Way

2 Peter 2:17. False teachers are like “springs without water”. They promise refreshment to people who need it, but instead they give bitterness. It is no living water that comes from the spring that they pretend to be, but death. That is in direct contrast to the well of living water which is the Lord Jesus. He gives water that in each that receives it, becomes a well of water with which they can refresh others (John 4:14; John 7:38-39). From that well false teachers have never drunk, for they refuse to believe in Him Who is the well. They can be compared with broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13).

These people are also to be compared with ”mists driven by a storm”. When someone is shrouded in clouds he does not know where he is and he also is in no way able to show someone else the way. Clouds can in no way offer any guidance and orientation. Their use of language is foggy, their statements are floaty, the tone is soothing. They appeal only to the emotion.

They are mercilessly and restlessly being driven by elusive forces (cf. James 3:4). You can be kept from being tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine if you heed the teaching of the gifts that are given by the Lord to His church (Ephesians 4:14-15).

The clouds in which the false teachers are shrouded and in which they shroud others who listen to their doctrines, will transfer in complete “black darkness”. They have shrouded themselves and others in the clouds, the black darkness is reserved for them by God. That is where they will end up too, because God will bring them there.

It is the place where all light is absent. “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). In the black darkness even the smallest trace of God’s presence is missing. There is nothing worse for a person than when God has abandoned him and has totally delivered him to what he has chosen.

2 Peter 2:18. False teachers talk a lot but their talk means nothing. It is a load of hot air: arrogant, hollow and without content. Countless people let themselves be fooled by them and trust and build on those empty words. Their speech is full of words that activate the “fleshly desires”. Their false doctrine intrigues people because it gives them the nice feeling that they can satisfy their sexual lusts in a lawless way and that they can also limitlessly surrender themselves to all kinds of evil.

Their words gain entrance in those who are still seeking the true meaning of life, because they did not find it in the company of wanderers to which they first belonged. In their search they also listen to these false teachers. Because they themselves have no handhold at all on the truth of God’s Word and are also naïve in their personal examination of it, they are caught by the greedy hands of these wicked people.

2 Peter 2:19. The bait that the false teachers hold out to unstable souls, is the promise of “freedom”. Freedom in every view is the highest goal to independent man. People also think that in the church of God there should be freedom. We should not be slaves of traditions. You must be able to give substance to life with God in your own way. It is no one’s business in what way you do that. You do not acknowledge authority, you determine for yourself whatever you want. That message is swallowed like sweet cake. There is no requirement to take responsibility. It is all about pleasure, about my pleasure, of course.

But people who are preaching this are “slaves of corruption” themselves (John 8:34; Romans 6:16). They are “overcome” by the devil and “enslaved” by him. They let themselves be used by him, but they are blind to the fact that they are nothing more than his accomplices. In their loud proclamation of freedom, they do not realize that as slaves of the devil they are his mouthpiece.

However, you enslaved by God (Romans 6:12-14) because God has overcome you by His love. That has brought you into true freedom. True freedom means that you are under the obedience of God with thereby the new nature that wants nothing more than being obedient to Him. As long as a person is not under the control of the Lord Jesus, he is not free, for the Lord Jesus alone can indeed make free (John 8:36).

2 Peter 2:20. It is about those who first have been going the way of the Christian, but became apostate. They first confessed to be Christians, but they turned back to the outward uncleanness of the world, “the defilements of the world”, from which they, by becoming a Christian, escaped (2 Peter 1:4). It is evident that with the people at issue here, everything has been only outward appearance. Their knowledge turns out to be nothing but an external, intellectual, knowledge only.

People may come to the conclusion, that of all the world religions, Christendom has the best credentials. It is a religion of tolerance and loving care and freedom. That may be appealing and win a person to be a supporter of it. There is nothing of conviction of sin and repentance of it; there is no mention of any necessity of conversion to God and of salvation by the blood of Christ at all. Inwardly nothing has changed.

What has attracted them in Christendom, is experienced only in a selfish sense: others must tolerate me, others must make sure that I lack of nothing, I am free to do what I like to do. They confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, but not in the way the Bible instructs us. Their confession that He is Lord, is just a lip confession (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46). Their confession that He is Savior, is nothing more than the confession that He is a ‘Whole-Maker’ – that meaning also is in the word ‘Savior’ – of situations they do not know how to deal with.

As soon as such people come into contact with false teachers, they seem to be highly susceptible to the nonsense that these people rave about. The false idea that they have of the Lord Jesus, is a perfectly prepared basis for receiving more corrupt ideas about Him. Once they are dragged along on the trail of the false teachers, they are irresistibly drawn to “the defilements of the world” in which they were previously imprisoned and become “entangled” in them again. Once they got entangled they cannot resist anymore and are “overcome” by it. The world completely has caught hold of them again. Their situation then becomes worse than when they converted outwardly (cf. Matthew 12:45).

2 Peter 2:21. The greater the privileges a man has, the greater his responsibility is to live up to them. Therefore a person who has known the will of God and didn’t do it will receive many lashes (Luke 12:47-48). It just seems like it is only dangerous to know much of God’s Word and that it is safer to pretend that you know nothing of it. Such a perception, however, does not testify any love for the Lord Jesus and the Word of God.

Peter is saying this with a view to those who complacently present themselves as Christians who know everything and where everyone can get satisfaction concerning the teaching about the truth. Of course you have to pay for it. Such people are more responsible than people who were not raised with the Bible. They have no regard for “the holy commandment” of the Lord, that is the word of the Lord to be holy (1 Peter 1:16). They were just outwardly holy, without possessing the holy nature as a result of conversion and faith.

2 Peter 2:22. He who has been familiar with the meaning of Christendom and has even joined that company for a while, but yet again chooses the defilements of the world, is like a dog and a sow. Peter uses a proverb or a metaphor with two pictures that are both a truthful expression of what happens if a person has confessed the Christian faith and then returns to the world.

The first picture is that of a dog. A dog is an unclean animal that, without any emotion, gluttonously and shamelessly fills its stomach with whatever it finds or gets to eat (Isaiah 56:11). A dog knows no measure. When it has eaten too much, it vomits it out. When it gets hungry again, it eats its own vomit. This picture is applied to people who first said goodbye to the world and, by the influence of false teachers, return there. They did not find inward satisfaction in the world and abandoned it. Now they still go back to it. This proves that they inwardly have not really changed. The dog remained a dog.

They not only inwardly returned to the world, the vomit. It is also to be seen in their life. Outwardly they are like the sow that returns to wallowing in the mire. You may wash a sow and make him smell nice, but as soon as it gets the chance to wallow itself in the mire, it will do that. It feels at home in the mire. That is the big difference with a sheep, a picture of the believer. A sheep may fall into the mire, but it doesn’t feel at home there and wants to get out of it again.

Now read 2 Peter 2:17-22 again.

Reflection: What kind of people is this portion dealing with?

Revelation 4:9

Scoffers Get an Answer

2 Peter 3:1. After the false and corrupted teachings of wicked people in chapter 2, in this chapter Peter rebukes unbelief that denies the return of the Lord. That denial is based on the opinion that in the visible creation everything remains as it was as from the beginning. In saying this he addresses the true believers and clarifies to them what the meaning of true prophecy is. It is necessary to emphasize that because unbelief manifests itself all the more strongly and scoffs the faith. Therefore he points out again the importance of the written Word (2 Peter 1:20).

He wrote both of his letters to remind you that a “sincere mind” is the necessary condition to understand God’s Word and to apply that to your life. A sincere mind appears from the attitude which you adopt toward the Scripture. Do you unconditionally agree to it when the Scripture speaks, or do you have objections to it? Without a full subjection of yourself to the Scripture you will not learn to know the truth and you will drown in speculations of people who think to know better than God.

2 Peter 3:2. You are to test everything that comes to you by the Scripture. That’s what Peter is referring you to. That alone will give your heart steadfastness. He does not refer to new apostles or elders. Still less he refers to the church as if the church would be able to teach anything and exert authority. He refers to the Word of God that comes to you in the writings both of the Old Testament and of the New Testament. For the content of the Old Testament he reminds us of “the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets”. For the content of the New Testament he reminds us of “the commandment of the Lord and Savior [spoken] by your apostles”.

The holy prophets of former times have spoken on behalf of God to get the people back to the obedience of the law and to warn them for God’s punishment if they persevere in their disobedience. Their message fully opposes that of the false teachers of the previous chapter. The commandment, which comes from the Lord and Savior, expresses the will of the Lord that comes to you by the apostles (cf. Matthew 28:19c). All of that you find in the written Word of God. The big question is: how do you stand toward the authority of the inspired Word. The answer to that question determines whether you are able to resist the opponents of truth or be overcome by them.

2 Peter 3:3. It seems that Peter, when he comes back to the theme of true prophecy, is immediately aware of the great resistance of the enemies of God and His Christ. The proclamation of the truth and holding on to God’s Word always stir up resistance. Opponents do not reveal themselves as long as the lie is preached. But as soon as the light of the truth comes shining through, they will appear and let themselves be heard. And mind you that these are no incidents. With the words “knowing this first” Peter emphasizes that you need to seriously consider that such people will manifest themselves more and more “in the last days”.

It must be an extra proof to you that the end of all things is near (1 Peter 4:7). As soon as you speak about the coming of Christ to execute judgment, they point their finger at their forehead and declare you crazy. They will not listen to you and will ridicule you with their mockery. They express themselves like that because they follow after their own lusts. They want to live on like that. The thought of a coming Christ as a ‘joy killer’ does not fit in there.

2 Peter 3:4. To support the validity of their assertion, they point to what they see as the always unchanging course of events “since the fathers fell asleep”. By speaking about ‘the fathers’ you see that you have to do with people who consider themselves as God’s people. Applied to our times, it is about people who find themselves in professing Christianity. It is precisely the Christian theologians who mock with what faith embraces. They know the statements concerning the coming of the Lord, but they ridicule it. They ask where is His coming, which after all is announced so long ago.

However, it is not an honest, but a mocking question. They do not believe in it because they are modernists. It does not fit to their perception of the laws of nature. Scientifically, it is absolutely not possible that a dead person becomes alive, goes to heaven and then comes back. They indeed speak about “the beginning of creation”, but it is still the question if they also mean to say that God has created the earth in six days. By that they can just as much mean that God has let the universe exist through evolution. The foolishness of men who refuse to bow their knees to God’s Word, knows no limits.

2 Peter 3:5. Peter exposes the hidden cause of this ignorance. There is malevolence involved in this. These people are not willing to be familiar with God’s actions. It is a guilty, deliberate ignorance. They are, as it were, seeking a visible proof with their eyes closed. Foolish as they are, they deliberately distort the truth of how creation began. In their foolishness they try to explain the origin of life by the development of things. Ultimately, a little bit of common sense must lead to the conclusion that creation has been created by Someone outside and not by itself. Nevertheless, man seeks an explanation for the existence of the universe with the exclusion of God.

To the faith it is simple. Creation has come into being by an action of God and indeed by His Word (Hebrews 11:3). He has spoken and it was done, “for He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalms 33:9a). His Word is His power. By reading Genesis 1 you see that the earth was called by God to appear and then it exists in the midst of the waters.

2 Peter 3:6. The same Word of power that created the worlds, called the water to appear to destroy the earth. Those same waters that surrounded the earth, came again over it through the flood. Also then there were mockers. Noah could say all he wanted and warn of the coming flood as an expression of God’s wrath, but also then the people waved away his words. They simply did not believe in the possibility of an intervention of God in judgment and they mocked Noah because of his words. They did that “until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:27). That was the end of their laughter. This is also what will happen to those who mockingly respond to the warning that another judgment is coming. Christ will come to judge the world.

2 Peter 3:7. Peter even goes further and refers to the definite judgment. He points at the destruction of heaven and earth and the perdition of ungodly men. The former world was flooded by water, the present world will be destroyed by fire. For this definite judgment “the present heavens and the earth … are being reserved”.

The doom of the world is not worked by man, although men and their behavior form the cause. The world is preserved by the same mighty Word of God as by which He has created the worlds. He is reserving everything for the day of judgment. When unrighteousness has reached its peak He will execute judgment. Nothing and no one can prevent that.

2 Peter 3:8. The day of the judgment comes after the day of the Lord, i.e. the whole period that includes His appearance for judgment and His government during the millennial kingdom of peace. The time for that has not come yet and sometimes it seems that the mockers are right. Then remember that the aspect of ‘time’ does not mean to God what it means to you and me. God surely takes our perception of time into account. He knows the duration of a day.

Therefore, for instance, He cuts short the days of the great tribulation that His own will have to suffer (Matthew 24:22). But to God time doesn’t exist. With Him one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. “Do not let this one [fact] escape your notice”, Peter says. If you consider that, it will give you courage to persevere. Look at how God has worked through the ages. He sees the end from the beginning and He works toward it.

2 Peter 3:9. The first argument, that it has always been like this and that therefore the promise of His coming cannot be true, has been refuted by referring to the flood. The second argument, that it already had been going on for so long, also has been refuted by referring to the ‘timeless’ God. But that is still one part of the response. The judgment is not only delayed because time does not count for God, but also because He is longsuffering. It is absolutely no “slowness”, as some mockingly claim. Mockers have no idea that God for their sake has not sent the Lord Jesus yet.

People mock the love of God, while precisely that love restrains Him from judging them. Look at yourself. I do not know how old you are and for how long you have known the Lord Jesus. But assuming that you’ve known the Lord Jesus for three years already, just consider carefully where you would have been if the Lord Jesus had come four years ago. Aren’t you overwhelmed by the patience of God? He did not want you to perish, but that you would come to repentance. That same patience is what He is showing again and again toward people who would perish if the Lord would come now.

Now read 2 Peter 3:1-9 again.

Reflection: What all appeals to you in these verses?

Revelation 4:10

Scoffers Get an Answer

2 Peter 3:1. After the false and corrupted teachings of wicked people in chapter 2, in this chapter Peter rebukes unbelief that denies the return of the Lord. That denial is based on the opinion that in the visible creation everything remains as it was as from the beginning. In saying this he addresses the true believers and clarifies to them what the meaning of true prophecy is. It is necessary to emphasize that because unbelief manifests itself all the more strongly and scoffs the faith. Therefore he points out again the importance of the written Word (2 Peter 1:20).

He wrote both of his letters to remind you that a “sincere mind” is the necessary condition to understand God’s Word and to apply that to your life. A sincere mind appears from the attitude which you adopt toward the Scripture. Do you unconditionally agree to it when the Scripture speaks, or do you have objections to it? Without a full subjection of yourself to the Scripture you will not learn to know the truth and you will drown in speculations of people who think to know better than God.

2 Peter 3:2. You are to test everything that comes to you by the Scripture. That’s what Peter is referring you to. That alone will give your heart steadfastness. He does not refer to new apostles or elders. Still less he refers to the church as if the church would be able to teach anything and exert authority. He refers to the Word of God that comes to you in the writings both of the Old Testament and of the New Testament. For the content of the Old Testament he reminds us of “the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets”. For the content of the New Testament he reminds us of “the commandment of the Lord and Savior [spoken] by your apostles”.

The holy prophets of former times have spoken on behalf of God to get the people back to the obedience of the law and to warn them for God’s punishment if they persevere in their disobedience. Their message fully opposes that of the false teachers of the previous chapter. The commandment, which comes from the Lord and Savior, expresses the will of the Lord that comes to you by the apostles (cf. Matthew 28:19c). All of that you find in the written Word of God. The big question is: how do you stand toward the authority of the inspired Word. The answer to that question determines whether you are able to resist the opponents of truth or be overcome by them.

2 Peter 3:3. It seems that Peter, when he comes back to the theme of true prophecy, is immediately aware of the great resistance of the enemies of God and His Christ. The proclamation of the truth and holding on to God’s Word always stir up resistance. Opponents do not reveal themselves as long as the lie is preached. But as soon as the light of the truth comes shining through, they will appear and let themselves be heard. And mind you that these are no incidents. With the words “knowing this first” Peter emphasizes that you need to seriously consider that such people will manifest themselves more and more “in the last days”.

It must be an extra proof to you that the end of all things is near (1 Peter 4:7). As soon as you speak about the coming of Christ to execute judgment, they point their finger at their forehead and declare you crazy. They will not listen to you and will ridicule you with their mockery. They express themselves like that because they follow after their own lusts. They want to live on like that. The thought of a coming Christ as a ‘joy killer’ does not fit in there.

2 Peter 3:4. To support the validity of their assertion, they point to what they see as the always unchanging course of events “since the fathers fell asleep”. By speaking about ‘the fathers’ you see that you have to do with people who consider themselves as God’s people. Applied to our times, it is about people who find themselves in professing Christianity. It is precisely the Christian theologians who mock with what faith embraces. They know the statements concerning the coming of the Lord, but they ridicule it. They ask where is His coming, which after all is announced so long ago.

However, it is not an honest, but a mocking question. They do not believe in it because they are modernists. It does not fit to their perception of the laws of nature. Scientifically, it is absolutely not possible that a dead person becomes alive, goes to heaven and then comes back. They indeed speak about “the beginning of creation”, but it is still the question if they also mean to say that God has created the earth in six days. By that they can just as much mean that God has let the universe exist through evolution. The foolishness of men who refuse to bow their knees to God’s Word, knows no limits.

2 Peter 3:5. Peter exposes the hidden cause of this ignorance. There is malevolence involved in this. These people are not willing to be familiar with God’s actions. It is a guilty, deliberate ignorance. They are, as it were, seeking a visible proof with their eyes closed. Foolish as they are, they deliberately distort the truth of how creation began. In their foolishness they try to explain the origin of life by the development of things. Ultimately, a little bit of common sense must lead to the conclusion that creation has been created by Someone outside and not by itself. Nevertheless, man seeks an explanation for the existence of the universe with the exclusion of God.

To the faith it is simple. Creation has come into being by an action of God and indeed by His Word (Hebrews 11:3). He has spoken and it was done, “for He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalms 33:9a). His Word is His power. By reading Genesis 1 you see that the earth was called by God to appear and then it exists in the midst of the waters.

2 Peter 3:6. The same Word of power that created the worlds, called the water to appear to destroy the earth. Those same waters that surrounded the earth, came again over it through the flood. Also then there were mockers. Noah could say all he wanted and warn of the coming flood as an expression of God’s wrath, but also then the people waved away his words. They simply did not believe in the possibility of an intervention of God in judgment and they mocked Noah because of his words. They did that “until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:27). That was the end of their laughter. This is also what will happen to those who mockingly respond to the warning that another judgment is coming. Christ will come to judge the world.

2 Peter 3:7. Peter even goes further and refers to the definite judgment. He points at the destruction of heaven and earth and the perdition of ungodly men. The former world was flooded by water, the present world will be destroyed by fire. For this definite judgment “the present heavens and the earth … are being reserved”.

The doom of the world is not worked by man, although men and their behavior form the cause. The world is preserved by the same mighty Word of God as by which He has created the worlds. He is reserving everything for the day of judgment. When unrighteousness has reached its peak He will execute judgment. Nothing and no one can prevent that.

2 Peter 3:8. The day of the judgment comes after the day of the Lord, i.e. the whole period that includes His appearance for judgment and His government during the millennial kingdom of peace. The time for that has not come yet and sometimes it seems that the mockers are right. Then remember that the aspect of ‘time’ does not mean to God what it means to you and me. God surely takes our perception of time into account. He knows the duration of a day.

Therefore, for instance, He cuts short the days of the great tribulation that His own will have to suffer (Matthew 24:22). But to God time doesn’t exist. With Him one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. “Do not let this one [fact] escape your notice”, Peter says. If you consider that, it will give you courage to persevere. Look at how God has worked through the ages. He sees the end from the beginning and He works toward it.

2 Peter 3:9. The first argument, that it has always been like this and that therefore the promise of His coming cannot be true, has been refuted by referring to the flood. The second argument, that it already had been going on for so long, also has been refuted by referring to the ‘timeless’ God. But that is still one part of the response. The judgment is not only delayed because time does not count for God, but also because He is longsuffering. It is absolutely no “slowness”, as some mockingly claim. Mockers have no idea that God for their sake has not sent the Lord Jesus yet.

People mock the love of God, while precisely that love restrains Him from judging them. Look at yourself. I do not know how old you are and for how long you have known the Lord Jesus. But assuming that you’ve known the Lord Jesus for three years already, just consider carefully where you would have been if the Lord Jesus had come four years ago. Aren’t you overwhelmed by the patience of God? He did not want you to perish, but that you would come to repentance. That same patience is what He is showing again and again toward people who would perish if the Lord would come now.

Now read 2 Peter 3:1-9 again.

Reflection: What all appeals to you in these verses?

Revelation 4:11

Scoffers Get an Answer

2 Peter 3:1. After the false and corrupted teachings of wicked people in chapter 2, in this chapter Peter rebukes unbelief that denies the return of the Lord. That denial is based on the opinion that in the visible creation everything remains as it was as from the beginning. In saying this he addresses the true believers and clarifies to them what the meaning of true prophecy is. It is necessary to emphasize that because unbelief manifests itself all the more strongly and scoffs the faith. Therefore he points out again the importance of the written Word (2 Peter 1:20).

He wrote both of his letters to remind you that a “sincere mind” is the necessary condition to understand God’s Word and to apply that to your life. A sincere mind appears from the attitude which you adopt toward the Scripture. Do you unconditionally agree to it when the Scripture speaks, or do you have objections to it? Without a full subjection of yourself to the Scripture you will not learn to know the truth and you will drown in speculations of people who think to know better than God.

2 Peter 3:2. You are to test everything that comes to you by the Scripture. That’s what Peter is referring you to. That alone will give your heart steadfastness. He does not refer to new apostles or elders. Still less he refers to the church as if the church would be able to teach anything and exert authority. He refers to the Word of God that comes to you in the writings both of the Old Testament and of the New Testament. For the content of the Old Testament he reminds us of “the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets”. For the content of the New Testament he reminds us of “the commandment of the Lord and Savior [spoken] by your apostles”.

The holy prophets of former times have spoken on behalf of God to get the people back to the obedience of the law and to warn them for God’s punishment if they persevere in their disobedience. Their message fully opposes that of the false teachers of the previous chapter. The commandment, which comes from the Lord and Savior, expresses the will of the Lord that comes to you by the apostles (cf. Matthew 28:19c). All of that you find in the written Word of God. The big question is: how do you stand toward the authority of the inspired Word. The answer to that question determines whether you are able to resist the opponents of truth or be overcome by them.

2 Peter 3:3. It seems that Peter, when he comes back to the theme of true prophecy, is immediately aware of the great resistance of the enemies of God and His Christ. The proclamation of the truth and holding on to God’s Word always stir up resistance. Opponents do not reveal themselves as long as the lie is preached. But as soon as the light of the truth comes shining through, they will appear and let themselves be heard. And mind you that these are no incidents. With the words “knowing this first” Peter emphasizes that you need to seriously consider that such people will manifest themselves more and more “in the last days”.

It must be an extra proof to you that the end of all things is near (1 Peter 4:7). As soon as you speak about the coming of Christ to execute judgment, they point their finger at their forehead and declare you crazy. They will not listen to you and will ridicule you with their mockery. They express themselves like that because they follow after their own lusts. They want to live on like that. The thought of a coming Christ as a ‘joy killer’ does not fit in there.

2 Peter 3:4. To support the validity of their assertion, they point to what they see as the always unchanging course of events “since the fathers fell asleep”. By speaking about ‘the fathers’ you see that you have to do with people who consider themselves as God’s people. Applied to our times, it is about people who find themselves in professing Christianity. It is precisely the Christian theologians who mock with what faith embraces. They know the statements concerning the coming of the Lord, but they ridicule it. They ask where is His coming, which after all is announced so long ago.

However, it is not an honest, but a mocking question. They do not believe in it because they are modernists. It does not fit to their perception of the laws of nature. Scientifically, it is absolutely not possible that a dead person becomes alive, goes to heaven and then comes back. They indeed speak about “the beginning of creation”, but it is still the question if they also mean to say that God has created the earth in six days. By that they can just as much mean that God has let the universe exist through evolution. The foolishness of men who refuse to bow their knees to God’s Word, knows no limits.

2 Peter 3:5. Peter exposes the hidden cause of this ignorance. There is malevolence involved in this. These people are not willing to be familiar with God’s actions. It is a guilty, deliberate ignorance. They are, as it were, seeking a visible proof with their eyes closed. Foolish as they are, they deliberately distort the truth of how creation began. In their foolishness they try to explain the origin of life by the development of things. Ultimately, a little bit of common sense must lead to the conclusion that creation has been created by Someone outside and not by itself. Nevertheless, man seeks an explanation for the existence of the universe with the exclusion of God.

To the faith it is simple. Creation has come into being by an action of God and indeed by His Word (Hebrews 11:3). He has spoken and it was done, “for He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalms 33:9a). His Word is His power. By reading Genesis 1 you see that the earth was called by God to appear and then it exists in the midst of the waters.

2 Peter 3:6. The same Word of power that created the worlds, called the water to appear to destroy the earth. Those same waters that surrounded the earth, came again over it through the flood. Also then there were mockers. Noah could say all he wanted and warn of the coming flood as an expression of God’s wrath, but also then the people waved away his words. They simply did not believe in the possibility of an intervention of God in judgment and they mocked Noah because of his words. They did that “until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:27). That was the end of their laughter. This is also what will happen to those who mockingly respond to the warning that another judgment is coming. Christ will come to judge the world.

2 Peter 3:7. Peter even goes further and refers to the definite judgment. He points at the destruction of heaven and earth and the perdition of ungodly men. The former world was flooded by water, the present world will be destroyed by fire. For this definite judgment “the present heavens and the earth … are being reserved”.

The doom of the world is not worked by man, although men and their behavior form the cause. The world is preserved by the same mighty Word of God as by which He has created the worlds. He is reserving everything for the day of judgment. When unrighteousness has reached its peak He will execute judgment. Nothing and no one can prevent that.

2 Peter 3:8. The day of the judgment comes after the day of the Lord, i.e. the whole period that includes His appearance for judgment and His government during the millennial kingdom of peace. The time for that has not come yet and sometimes it seems that the mockers are right. Then remember that the aspect of ‘time’ does not mean to God what it means to you and me. God surely takes our perception of time into account. He knows the duration of a day.

Therefore, for instance, He cuts short the days of the great tribulation that His own will have to suffer (Matthew 24:22). But to God time doesn’t exist. With Him one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. “Do not let this one [fact] escape your notice”, Peter says. If you consider that, it will give you courage to persevere. Look at how God has worked through the ages. He sees the end from the beginning and He works toward it.

2 Peter 3:9. The first argument, that it has always been like this and that therefore the promise of His coming cannot be true, has been refuted by referring to the flood. The second argument, that it already had been going on for so long, also has been refuted by referring to the ‘timeless’ God. But that is still one part of the response. The judgment is not only delayed because time does not count for God, but also because He is longsuffering. It is absolutely no “slowness”, as some mockingly claim. Mockers have no idea that God for their sake has not sent the Lord Jesus yet.

People mock the love of God, while precisely that love restrains Him from judging them. Look at yourself. I do not know how old you are and for how long you have known the Lord Jesus. But assuming that you’ve known the Lord Jesus for three years already, just consider carefully where you would have been if the Lord Jesus had come four years ago. Aren’t you overwhelmed by the patience of God? He did not want you to perish, but that you would come to repentance. That same patience is what He is showing again and again toward people who would perish if the Lord would come now.

Now read 2 Peter 3:1-9 again.

Reflection: What all appeals to you in these verses?