“Those who indulge their fleshly desires and who despise authority” (2 Peter 2:10a) are despising “kuriotes,” which has the root of “kurios,” or “Lord.” This was an official title for Caesar, and would not be far from the mind of the reader if governmental authorities are actually being referenced. They are also said to be “Brazen and insolent” (2:10b). This insolence is demonstrated in that “they are not afraid to insult the glorious ones” (2:10c). Other translations render these “glorious ones” as “dignitaries,” or “those in exalted positions.” If these translations are accurate, then placing these words in the historical setting of the ongoing desire for rebellion against Rome is not terribly far-fetched. To this is added that “even angels, who are much more powerful, do not bring a slanderous judgment against them before the Lord” (2:11). “Them” being the dignitaries. Why does this occur? What is the root of these insults? It is the rejection and denial of Jesus as the Messiah. It is the rejection of the Gospel proclamation that Jesus is Lord and King. Because of this rejection, which leads to a continual desire to find and support a messiah that can fulfill the fleshly desires of the exaltation of national Israel, a great time of destruction will come.
We move on, reading that “these men, like irrational animals---creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed---do not understand whom they are insulting, and consequently in their destruction they will be destroyed” (2:12). Now, having just determined that insults were being cast against dignitaries and those of exalted position, it might be reasonable to think that this refers solely to such individuals. It seems possible, though, that there is a double meaning here, in that while they are insulting authority that, Paul has said has been established by God (with national Israel under the curse of Rome’s oppression as a result of God’s faithfulness to His covenant promises to them), they are truly insulting God Himself, through the rejection of the One that He showed to be the Son of God (King) and Messiah (King) by raising Him from the dead.
Through their insults and their speaking against the governing authorities in such a way as to stir up sedition and rebellion with the goal of a violent clash, the result will be their “suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways” (2:13a). In fact, they make light of the gravity of what it is that they are doing and the destruction to come that they are fostering, “By considering it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight” (2:13b). In this, “they are stains and blemishes, indulging in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you” (2:13c). They are insistent in their proclamation of their destructive heresy, as “they entice unstable people” (2:14b). Here, it can be said that they are enticing those that are not firmly rooted in the faith-granted belief in the Gospel of Jesus. No words are minced, as we read that “They have trained their hearts for greed, these cursed children!” (2:14c). Their desire for revolution and overthrow is rooted in greed, and their end will be the curse of being hanged on a tree, as Rome will apply its punishment of the cross to those that rebel. Indeed, “By forsaking the right path,” that being the path of belief in Jesus and His kingdom model which suffers violence rather than attempting to violently bring in the kingdom of God by force, they are said to “have gone astray” (2:15).
Going further, we find that “These men are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm, for whom the utter depths of darkness have been reserved” (2:17). This seems to speak of death. Why is this said? Because “by speaking high-sounding but empty words they are able to entice, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have just escaped from those who reside in error” (2:18). They particularly focus their attention on new believers. Those new believers, it seems, come from the ranks of Israel, and with their new belief, they are forsaking the way of national revolution. Before these new believers are able to fully comprehend what it means to believe in Jesus’ Gospel, and what is implied by His Kingship, those who deny this attempt to win them back to the old way.
It is said that “Although these false teachers promise such people freedom,” if they will join in the effort to cast off their worldly oppressors, “they themselves are enslaved to immorality” (2:19a). What is this immorality? Perhaps it is the continual rejection of God’s insistence that His covenant people strive to be a light to the Gentile nations (then and now), rather than wanting to condemn them and subjugate them (then and now), while holding on to the notions of exclusivity and provincialism (then and now) that were flatly rejected by Jesus Himself. Ultimately, these deniers and despisers are enslaved to their lust for power, and while they pretend to have a desire to vindicate their God through their actions and gain their freedom accordingly, instead we read “whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved” (2:19b). Those that live by the sword, will die by the sword, and power will have its way with them.
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