Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; 11yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. 12But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
13They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. 14With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! 15They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—a beast without speech—who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
Dig Deeper
Robert E. Lee was a rising star as a Colonel in the Army of the Unites States of America in the late 1850’s. He was well respected, had a great reputation, and everyone believed it was just a matter of time before he moved up to the highest levels and ranks of the US Army. Yet, Lee was a Virginian and when Virginia attempted to secede from the Union at the outset of the Civil War, the army felt that they had to move fast. The one thing they knew was that they did not want a talented man like Lee going with Virginia and leading an army, at any level or rank, against the Union army of the United States. So they offered Lee a unprecedented honor. They offered him a generalship, and to be the commander-in-chief of the entire Union army. Lee eventually turned down the honor and decided to side to with his native Virginia, standing in rebellion against the United States. In the eyes of the Northern supporters (granted this analogy would be quite a different one from the Southern point of view), Lee had been given a tremendous opportunity to serve his country but had instead squandered it so as to put his own personal interests first.
There is nothing worse than someone who has been given great opportunity to serve others in an honorable way only to waste it for their own personal choices or desires. In Lee’s case, the situation was not at all clear cut in his mind as to who was right and who was wrong, and to whom he should be loyal. In Peter’s eyes, however, when it comes to the false teachers that he is confronting, the issue was quite clear. They had, at one level or another, the opportunity to serve God and his people in the kingdom of God, but had thrown that all way. They decided, instead to revel in their own arrogance and serve themselves. Rather than serving the people in the kingdom of God, they set about to use them, deceive them, and do a great deal of damage by leading them astray.
Peter launches a direct attack against the character of the false teachers, using harsh and direct language that leaves no question as to where he stands in relation to these men. This stands in stark contrast to the mind set of our culture today which constantly tries to make irrelevant matters of an individual’s character, especially in the world of leadership and politics. Yet, Peter understands something that should be instructive to us. The character of a person matters. We can never know what an individual might do in any given situation in the future despite what they might say, but we do know that character directs actions. If you know a person’s character, you know what kind of actions he or she will take and whether you can trust them or not. Peter knows exactly what sorts of actions these men will take because they are bold and arrogant. They will act recklessly and will not be slowed by any appeal to truth, logic, decency, responsibility, or loyalty to God or His people.
As evidence of their brazen self-centeredness, these men show no respect for celestial beings. At first glance this might not seem like much of argument. Wouldn’t it be better to demonstrate that they don’t show respect for Christ or His people, someone that everyone would agree should not be slandered? Why would Peter pick this as an argument? Because you can often tell the most about someone by the respect they show towards the lowest beings, those that would be least worthy of respect in anyone’s eyes. No beings were more reviled in Peter’s day than the fallen angels who had rebelled against God. Yet, says Peter relying on Jewish traditional sources such as Enoch 1 and The Assumption of Moses, even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful (he doesn’t specify whether they are more powerful than humans or fallen angels or both), do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. We don’t know exactly how they slandered spiritual beings, but it likely had to do with denying that they existed or mocking that their sins might put them at the mercy or in the realm of such entities. So, in their slander of these beings, they were really slandering God as well.
Slandering is never a good thing for true people of God, even against the unrighteous, but these men pushed it one step further by speaking falsehoods in matters they did not understand. They are like beasts, a common biblical symbol for one in opposition or rebellion against God. They don’t understand because they are willfully ignorant of God’s truth and, as Paul says in Romans 1:21, "their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." Whereas in Paul’s example humans exchange the truth of God for beasts, these men have so rejected God and are so self-focused that they have become the beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and taken to slaughter. And like those beasts, their only fate is to perish.
Those who seek after their own interests to the harm of others will reap what they have sowed in the form of their own harm. They are so depraved that their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. This has long been a charge against the evil, as in passages such as Isaiah 5:11 which says, "Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine." They are blots and blemishes, the exact opposite of what Peter calls Christians to be in 3:14, "make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him." They revel in their own pleasures while they went on feasting with the true believers. Christians have always been called to put the interests of others ahead of their own (Phil. 2:4, cf. 1 Pet. 2-3) and they were clearly not doing that. It’s not just that they have reveled in their own pleasures, but they do it while brazenly sitting at the love feast and Lord’s Suppers with other believers, making a mockery of them (cf. 1 Cor. 11:20).
Rather than having eyes that are fixed on Jesus (Heb. 12:2) they have eyes full of adultery, which literally reads, "having eyes full of adulterous women." They are creatures of lust in every area of their lives. Whether it be for women, money, or pleasure, they never stop sinning. They seduce (a word used for bait in hunting) the unstable. Peter has already declared that true believers are people who should be "firmly established in the truth" (2 Pet. 1:12), but they go after those who are unstable precisely because they have failed to ground themselves, or have not yet had sufficient time to ground themselves in the timeless truths of the Christian faith. Knowing biblical truth is not a luxury but a necessary preventative against false teaching. They are not just greedy, charges the venerable apostle, they are experts in greed. Peter’s phrase in the Greek would literally read that they have hearts that have been "trained in greed." His point is that they are devoted and consistent and worked at nurturing their greed for a long time. Peter says that they are an accursed brood, which literally means "sons of curse." It was common biblical language to refer to someone as a son of something that was the primary quality of their character (John 17:12; Eph. 2:3; 1 Thess. 5:5).
As a way of really driving his point home, Peter says that they have left the straight way of the true Christian faith and have wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor. Why the comparison with Balaam? Balaam was a much reviled character in the Old Testament who tried to entice the people of Israel away from God and into immorality (Num. 25:1-9; 31:16; Rev. 2:14). Balaam was a common example as one who put his own personal honor and material gain over the interests of God’s people. He, like the false teachers had an incredible opportunity to serve God and His people, but instead squandered it by putting his own sensual desires first. Balaam was not rooted in the truth to the degree that he had to be rebuked and have his madness in rebelling towards restrained God by a donkey, a beast. These men have demonstrated that they are even worse than Balaam because they, rather than being rebuked by a beast, they have become beasts.
Devotional Thought
Peter wasted no time and minces no words in facing the threat of false teachers to the Christian community. Are you as committed to the truth and to the community of God? Would you be prepared to stand up against false ideas in your community with the same strength and conviction that Peter did?
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