2 Peter - Verse-by-Verse Biblical Exegesis

teachers will be condemned to punishment by God. All the negative pathos and images
the audience has regarding false prophets will, by association, be brought to bear against
the false teachers. (D. Watson) God will by no means spare the guilty; if men will pollute
God’s earth and their own bodies by sin and uncleanness, the heavy wrath of God must
sooner or later sweep them into utter ruin. But even that frightful catastrophe showed
how precious the souls of the righteous are in the sight of God. Had there been ten such
in that wicked city, he would have spared it for the ten’s sake. How little the rulers of the
earth think that the course of this world is ordered for the sake of the faithful; that
empires are saved from ruin, and wars averted, for the salvation of the few chosen souls!
Two angels were sent to save the one righteous man in the cities of the plain; they laid
hold upon his hand while he lingered, and brought him out with wife and daughters
almost against his will. (B. Caffin)
They exploit people sexually and financially. This is characteristic of the “health and
wealth” gospel, whose teachers emphasize the idea that God wants people to enjoy life
and get rich. Their followers give large amounts of money to religious hucksters who
promise God’s material blessings for doing so. Those in this false form of Christianity
have an insatiable appetite for gratification and luxurious living, having discovered that
some religious people will follow anyone who seems to offer the good life as a divine
benefit. (W. Baker) The authoritative teachings they would not openly seek to combat;
for that might lead to their being silenced, even in their speedy ejection from the
Christian communities. Their policy would rather be to keep up connection with the
Christian circle, and to bring in a spurious Christianity, having resemblance in form, but
denial in substance. (R. Finlayson) Judgment and destruction are two forces that are at
work and awake to fulfill their mandate in obedience to God. God will not permit these
wicked men to escape their punishment. (S. Kistemaker)
They are like enfranchised slaves turning round upon their liberator, speaking of him
with scorn and derision, treating him with neglect and indifference, if not with hatred and
hostility. (B. Caffin) Peter concentrates on the pride and rebellion of the angels, the
apathy and disobedience of the men of Noah’s day, and the sheer sensuality of the men of
Sodom, presumably because these were all characteristic of the false teachers he was
opposing. (M. Green) God’s justice does not sleep and it is never late. (K. Gangel) They
stand under God’s wrath. He has not overlooked their evil machinations. He will visit
them with punishment. A sovereign and just God will not let wickedness go unpunished.
(R. Mounce) Their destruction is being actively planned. (N. Hillyer) “Destruction,”
which occurs five times in this epistle, does not mean extinction but ruination, not loss of
being but loss of well-being. If they prevailed, these false teachings would mean disaster
for the true Church, as well as for its individual members. (D. Hiebert)
2 Peter 2:3 And (continuative) in the sphere of a frantic
search for happiness (Loc. Sph.; insatiableness, avarice,
convetousness, scar tissue of the soul is becoming their
modus operandi), with fabricated (Dat. Disadv.; molded)
teachings (Instr. Means; false doctrines designed to
intrigue you), they will exploit (evmporeu,omai, FMI3P,