"THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER"

The Doom Of False Teachers (2:4-9)

INTRODUCTION
  1. In warning that "false teachers" will arise, leading many to follow their destructive ways, Peter also spoke of their coming judgment...
    1. "...bring on themselves swift destruction" - 2Pe 2:1
    2. "for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber." - 2Pe 2:3
  2. To illustrate that the "false teachers" face certain condemnation, Peter gives three examples of the righteous judgment of God in the past...
    1. The angels who sinned - 2Pe 2:4
    2. The ancient world - 2Pe 2:5
    3. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah - 2Pe 2:6-9
  3. In this lesson...
    1. We will briefly review what is known about these three "case histories" of divine judgment
    2. And offer hope by noticing Peter's observations concerning the righteous who found themselves in the midst of these judgments

[Let's begin, then, by reviewing the first "case history"...]

  1. THE ANGELS WHO SINNED (4)
    1. VERY LITTLE IS ACTUALLY SAID ABOUT THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE ANGELS' SIN...
      1. Jude makes reference to it in his epistle - Jude 6
        1. Somehow, some angels "did not keep their proper domain"
        2. They "left their own habitation"
      2. A common interpretation is that this refers to what is found in Gen 6:1-4
        1. Where "sons of God" is taken to refer to angels (as used in Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7)
        2. In support of this interpretation (cf. Expositor's Bible Commentary)...
          1. It was common in Jewish literature (Enoch 6:2; 1 QapGen col. 2)
          2. The three examples (angels, Flood, and cities of the plain) all come one after another in the early chapters of Genesis
        3. In rebuttal (cf. New Testament Commentary, Kistemaker)...
          1. The angels are spiritual beings without physical bodies and are incapable of procreation
          2. Jesus taught that at the resurrection, people, like the angels in heaven "neither marry nor be given in marriage" - Mt 22:30
        4. But then again, it might be asked...
          1. If angels could take on bodies to eat, why not to procreate? - cf. Gen 18:1-8
          2. These are angels who "left their proper domain", could not what Jesus said be true only of angels who are not rebellious?
      3. Another view is that the sin of angels is something that took place before The Fall...
        1. As vividly portrayed in John Milton's "Paradise Lost"
        2. The scriptural evidence is very vague, dependent upon passages that may be taken out of context
    2. WHAT IS VERY CLEAR ARE THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE ANGELS' JUDGMENT!
      1. God did not spare them, "but cast them down to hell"
        1. The word for "hell" is tartaroo {tar-tar-o'-o}
        2. "Tartarus, thought of by the Greeks as a subterranean place lower than Hades where divine punishment was meted out, was so regarded in Jewish apocalyptic as well" (BAG, p. 813)
        3. Peter may have simply chosen to use this well-known concept to convey the point that the angels are in a place of torment
      2. God "delivered them to chains of darkness"
        1. The NIV says "gloomy dungeons", which is a possible translation
        2. Jude describes it as "everlasting chains under darkness" - Jude 6
      3. There they remain, "reserved for judgment"
        1. As Jude puts it: "for the judgment of the great Day" - Jude 6
        2. Similar to the description of Jesus in Lk 16:19-31, where the wicked rich man was in torment awaiting the judgment at the Last Day

        [Peter's argument here is "from the greater to the lesser": If God did not spare angels who beheld His glory when they sinned, He will certainly punish false teachers who purposely lead His people astray!

        And now, our next "case history"...]

  2. THE ANCIENT WORLD (5)
    1. GOD USED THE FLOOD TO JUDGE THE UNGODLY...
      1. The "ancient world" is that antediluvian world described in Gen 6:5-7, 11-12
        1. In which "the wickedness of man was great in the earth"
        2. Where "every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually"
        3. And where the earth was "corrupt before God" and "filled with violence"
        4. Which so grieved God that He found it necessary to destroy both man and beast
      2. Again, Peter's argument is "from the greater to the lesser"
        1. If God destroyed the whole world because of their ungodliness...
        2. ...will he not destroy these false teachers who "deny the Lord who bought them"?
    2. BUT GOD SPARED NOAH...
      1. The same flood that was used to destroy the world was used to spare Noah! - cf. 1Pe 3:20
      2. Here is where we begin to find comfort for those who find themselves surrounded by the ungodly...
        1. God took notice of Noah - cf. Gen 6:8; 7:1
        2. Noah was one who walked with God, even in the midst of a perverse generation
        3. He was a "preacher of righteousness", both in deed and word
      3. So while God was bringing judgment upon the ungodly...
        1. He did not lose sight of the godly!
        2. He provided for their deliverance from the judgment that came!

        [In this way we are encouraged to remain faithful in two ways: not only will God bring doom upon the "false teachers", but He will preserve those who remain faithful.

        This two-fold assurance is continued as we consider the final "case history"...]

  3. THE CITIES OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH (6-9)
    1. GOD TURNED THEM INTO ASHES...
      1. This judgment is described vividly in Gen 19:24-28
      2. Why this terrible judgment?
        1. Jude says it was because they had "given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh" - Jude 7
        2. The LORD said it was "because their sin is very grievous" - Gen 18:20
        3. We see a sample of it in Gen 19:4-11
      3. Both Peter and Jude make the point that Sodom and Gomorrah are an "example"
        1. An example "to those who afterward would live ungodly" - 2Pe 2:6
        2. An example of those "suffering the vengeance of eternal fire" - Jude 7
    2. BUT GOD DELIVERED RIGHTEOUS LOT...
      1. Here is another example of how God does not lose sight of His faithful when He brings judgment upon the ungodly
      2. Lot was delivered because...
        1. He was "righteous", an adjective used three times by Peter:
          1. "righteous Lot" - 2Pe 2:7
          2. "that righteous man" - 2Pe 2:8
          3. "his righteous soul" - 2Pe 2:8
        2. He "was oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked"
        3. His soul was "tormented...from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds"
      3. Like Noah, Lot had been "righteous before Me in this generation" - cf. Gen 7:1
    3. THIS LEADS PETER TO SUMMARIZE THIS SECTION IN VERSE 9...
      1. "The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations"
        1. As shown in the example of Noah and Lot
        2. This should encourage us to remain faithful to the Lord
      2. "...and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment"
        1. As illustrated in the three cases we have considered
        2. Note that the unjust are reserved "under punishment" for the day of judgment
          1. This suggests that the wicked are tormented during the "intermediate state" between death and the resurrection
          2. As illustrated in the story of the rich man and Lazarus - cf. Lk 16:19-31
        3. Should this not warn those who may be tempted to follow after "false teachers"?
CONCLUSION
  1. Peter is not through with his warnings about "false teachers"...
    1. Having described their "destructiveness" - 2Pe 2:1-3
    2. And confirming their "doom" - 2Pe 2:4-9 ...he has more to say about their "depravity" and their "deceptions" in the rest of this chapter
  2. But what can we conclude from this section of scripture?
    1. The judgment and destruction of "false teachers" does not "slumber"; God's judgments in the past guarantee that there is "the day of judgment" in the future!
    2. Those who remain faithful to the Lord will be spared like Noah and Lot were!
  3. So when we find ourselves...
    1. "oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked"
    2. "tormented...from day to day by seeing and hearing lawless deeds" ...look to the Lord for His judgment and deliverance! "Our Father in heaven...deliver us from the evil one"! - cf. Mt 6:9-13