This week I studied 2 Peter 2 and would like to share with you my thoughts on false teachers, brute beasts and the merchants of Babylon who beguile unstable souls.
2 Peter 2:1-3 speaks of false prophets and false teachers who through covetousness make merchandise of you.
Revelations 18 also uses the word “merchandise”.
Revelations 18
11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
12 The merchandise of gold, and silver… and souls of men.
The “her” mentioned here is Babylon babulon bab-oo-lone which means “confusion” and relates to false religion.
The merchants are false teachers who through Babylon, make merchandise of the souls of men.
2 Peter 2:12 calls these false teachers “natural brute beasts”.
Vs 14 says they are “beguiling unstable souls”.
“Unstable souls” are those not grounded in the foundational teachings of the bible. Such people are like sheep in need of a shepherd (1 Peter 5:2). They are “babes” who require milk (1 Peter 2:2.)
An elder who “Lords over” the flock (1 Peter 5:3) and rules them with force and cruelty (Ezekiel 34:4) takes advantage of “unstable souls”.
Rather than provide them a solid foundation that they may build upon, he keeps them in an “unstable” condition.
Rather than help them to become strong and mature, he keeps them in a weak and needy state, so as to make merchandise of them.
Such leaders think that they own the flock hence they feed themselves upon them (Ez. 34:2&3), meaning they use the flock for their own purposes. These purposes could be financial gain or simply to boost their ego.
Remember they are “brute beasts”. What does Ezekiel 34 say about “beasts”?
2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
2 Peter 2:17 describes these false teachers/brute beasts/merchants of Babylon as “wells without water” and “clouds carried with a tempest”.
Vs 18&19 says that they “speak great swelling words of vanity” and “promise liberty” while they themselves are corrupt.
Jude 1 contains similar language to this
12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
False teachers can look promising on the outside. They can deliver an impressive sounding sermon with “great swelling words” yet empty of any real power.
If you were desperately thirsty and went to a well, how disappointing would it be to find that the well was empty of water?
If you were a farmer in desperate need of rain and saw a cloud, how disappointing would it be to find the cloud empty of rain?
If you were desperately hungry and found a fruit tree, how disappointing would it be to find no fruit on it?
How many “unstable souls” are beguiled by false teachers promising what they do not have?
Jude 1:4 says that they turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness.
False teachers turn grace into a licence to sin, meaning they promote a sin-confess cycle and fail to preach a once and for all deliverance from sin.
2 Peter 2:18&20 says that through “great swelling word” they “allure” those that were “clean escaped” from “error” and the “pollutions of the world”.
Babe’s in Christ, who’ve experienced a genuine repentance can sadly become “entangled” once more (vs 20) because of false teachers who tell them they can’t help but sin and God will simply forgive them over and over again.
Like dogs they return to their vomit, like pigs they return to the pig pen and end up becoming reprobate in their minds (vs 20&22).
2 Peter 2
9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
When the chief shepherd shall appear he will judge those who mistreat and mislead HIS flock (1 Peter 5:3&4).
In conclusion,
2 Peter 2 is a warning, not to be deceived by false teachers but also not to be a false teacher hence we must all examine not only our beliefs but our heart motives.
The role of an elder is to provide a solid foundation for unstable souls. To strengthen the weak and help babes grow into maturity.
Not to lead them into confusion or provide them with any excuse to sin. Not to keep them in a weak, unstable state so as to make merchandise of them.
False teachers turn grace into a licence to sin whilst the true gospel message includes a once and for all deliverance from sin. This is the water missing from their well and the rain missing from their cloud.
Whilst the false teacher promises liberty, his perverted gospel cannot provide it.
God cares for his flock. Judgement is coming upon Babylon and her merchants.
…Come out of her, my people… (Rev. 18:4)
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