2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
Yesterday, we looked at the beginning of Peter’s conversation about false teachers. In today’s passage, 2 PET 2: 4-10, he gives examples of how God has dealt with godless people in the past and demonstrates how God rescues good people subjected to false doctrine. Now, let me cite today’s passage. “God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell, where they are kept chained in darkness, waiting for the Day of Judgment. God did not spare the ancient world, but brought the flood on the world of godless people; the only ones He saved were Noah, who preached righteousness, and seven other people. God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying them with fire, and make them an example of what will happen to the godless. He rescued Lot, a good man, who was distressed by the immoral conduct of lawless people. That good man lived among them, and day after day he suffered agony as he saw and heart their evil actions. And so the Lord knows how to rescue Godly people from their trials and how to keep the wicked under punishment for the Day of Judgment, especially those who follow their filthy bodily lusts and despise God’s authority.”
RO 3: 25-26 reveals to us why God must take action against those who make a lifestyle out of sinning. “God offered Him [Christ], so that by His death He should become the means by which people’s sins are forgiven through their faith in Him. God did this in order to demonstrate that He is righteous. In the past He was patient and overlooked people’s sins; but in the present time He deals with their sins, in order to demonstrate His righteousness. In this way God shows that He Himself is righteous and that He puts right everyone who believes in Jesus.” Some people simply back God right up against a wall! I strongly believe that God takes no pleasure in having to deal with habitual unrighteousness or punish it. That came across to me in the story of the flood. GN 6: 5-7, “When the Lord saw how wicked everyone on earth was and how evil their thoughts were all the time, he was sorry that He had ever made them and put them on the earth. He said, ‘I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and the birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them.’ “ We know Noah and his family were exceptions to that, and because of their obedience to God’s directives, they were allowed to survive. The sadness that I sense in God lingers in His decision in GN 9: 11-13 to make the Noahtic covenant. “With these words I make My covenant with you: I promise that never again will all living beings be destroyed by a flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth. As a sign of this everlasting covenant which I am making with you and with all living beings, I am putting My bow in the clouds. It will be a sign of My covenant with the world.”
The story of what happened with Sodom and Gomorrah couldn’t have given God any pleasure either. The Lord made it plain in LV 18: 22-23 how He feels about homosexuality and sodomy (sexual relations with animals). “No man is to have sexual relations with another man; God hates that. No man or woman is to have sexual relations with an animal; that perversion makes you ritually unclean.” The same disgust for these practices including lesbianism is expressed in RO 1: 26-27. The sinfulness of Sodom is described in GN 19: 4-5. We know the fate of these two cities where such evil was practiced from GN 19: 23-25. “The sun was rising when Lot reached Zoar. Suddenly the Lord rained burning sulfur on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them and the whole valley, along with all the people there and everything that grew on the land.” How could God have taken any pleasure in the failure of the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah? JUDE 7, “Remember Sodom and Gomorrah, and the nearby towns whose people acted as those angels did and indulged in sexual immorality and perversion: they suffer the punishment of eternal fire as a plain warning to all.”
The story of Satan being cast out of heaven is given to us in IS 14: 11-15. “You [Satan] used to be honored with the music of harps, but now here you are in the world of the dead. You lie on a bed of maggots and are covered with a blanket of worms. King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead.” Along with Lucifer “one third of the angel host of heaven” suffered the same punishment [REV 12: 4]. Imagine God’s disappointment that his chief angel, Lucifer, in charge of worship would bring himself to a fate like this!
Through all of this, God chose to rescue Noah and his family and Lot. He has rescued others too. With all my heart, I believe that any person who holds firmly to his faith and who finds himself amidst evil will be rescued by our Abba Who loves us. We can take comfort in knowing that God is aware of the spiritual warfare in which we must take part. He knows that we live in a world where forbidden practices are considered acceptable, where we are flooded with smut, lies, gratuitous sex, greed, and excessive violence in the media, and where corporate goals for increased profit often lead to a mean-spirited work place. He wants us to know that He has equipped us to do this warfare and come out victors when we demonstrate courage of faith and live “in Christ.” I hope you feel as empowered and blessed by that as I do. Remember the encouragement in these two citations: RO 8: 28 and RO 8: 38-39. Read them and meditate upon them.
PRAYER: O Lord, You directed Peter to give us important examples of when and to whom You exact punishment and when and whom you rescue. These are valuable lessons to us, so that we will work hard to take the steps necessary to achieve discernment that can only come through the Holy Spirit. What we must do isn’t always easy for us, but You acted on the love You have for us when You inspired Peter and others to encourage us in our faith. You made the reasons clear why You must act to punish those who are evil, and You made it equally clear that You will rescue us when we demonstrate courage of faith in face of temptation and other forms of evil that challenge us. You have prepared us for the spiritual warfare we encounter and root for us to be victorious in it. The greatest gift of Your grace given to us is the death of Christ on the cross followed by the indwelling of Your Spirit. Your greatest desire is to have Your teaching written on our hearts, so that You can be our God and we can be Your people. We dedicate our lives to that end and humbly offer you thanks, honor, glory, worship, trust, obedience, loyalty, and praise forever. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will continue looking at Peter’s discussion of false teachers with the description of them that he begins in 2 PET 2: 10b-13. The next day, we will look at the rest of it found in 2 PET 2: 14-16. You might want to read this entire passage to see the flow of it. In the meanwhile be encouraged about God’s love for you in this time of spiritual warfare. My husband, Peter, and I also send you our love.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn