A “heresy”(αἵρεσις/g0139) is a teaching about God which is not true. These things harmed people. Perhaps these people believed they were at peace with God when they were not. They needed to believe the right things to be at peace with God.
Scholars disagree about how the false prophets and teachers "denied the master," Jesus. Some scholars think Peter wrote about people who said they believed Jesus. However, they did not obey what Jesus taught. The things they taught were different from what Jesus taught. Other scholars think the false teachers denied Jesus by saying things about him that were not true. Some false teachers denied the gospel.
Scholars disagree about why Peter wrote "quick destruction." Scholars disagree about why Peter wrote "quick". They also disagree about why he wrote "destruction".
Some scholars think Peter used the word “quick”(ταχινός/g5031) to say that some kind of punishment for the false prophets and teachers was going to happen soon. Other scholars think Peter wanted to say that God could judge all people who sin might happen at any moment.
Some scholars think the “destruction” about which Peter spoke was the final judgment of God. This will happen when Jesus returns to earth. Other scholars agree that Peter said the false prophets will be destroyed when God judges them. God will send them to hell when they die. However, these scholars think God will punish them before they die.
Some scholars think that Peter wrote “many” to speak about the false prophets and teachers from verse 1. Other scholars think Peter spoke about “many” people who claimed to be Christians. However, some of those people did not really believe in Jesus.
Peter said people will follow their “sensuality”(ἀσέλγεια/g0766). He was writing about people who did the evil things they wanted to do (see: 1 Peter 4:3).
When Christians did what the false prophets and teachers taught, it caused other people to say bad things about the things Jesus and the apostles taught. When they did this, they spoke against God. They said the things God taught were not true.
False teachers used “deceptive words.” They created stories to so people would reject the gospel. Jesus permitted Christian teachers to make money from teaching and preaching the gospel. They could make money to live, but they should not try to become very rich. Scholars think the false teachers began to “exploit”(ἐμπορεύομαι/g1710) people and tried to become rich by teaching people (see: 1 Timothy 6:3-5).
Peter wrote their “condemnation has not been idle." He wanted people to know that God already decided to punish the false teachers. He wanted people to know that God will punish them soon.
Peter wrote that the destruction of the false teachers "is not asleep." He wanted people to know that God already started to destroy the false teachers. Scholars think that just as God will certainly punish the false teachers, he will also destroy the false teachers.
When Peter wrote about "angels who sinned", he wanted people to think of angels who rebelled against God. Scholars do not know when this happened. Jude wrote about angels who heaven (see: Jude 1:6). These angels are now called demons.
Scholars disagree about why Peter wrote "chains of lower darkness." Some scholars think this was a metaphor. Peter was speaking about the angels who sinned and then were kept in darkness. Other scholars think the darkness itself was like a chain, because the angels could barely move because of the darkness. Those angels will be kept in this darkness until Jeus returns to judge the whole world.
When Peter wrote that God “did not spare the ancient world,” he spoke about the world before the flood when Noah lived (see: Genesis 7:17-24). That is, Peter wanted people to think about how God used the flood to punish the people when Noah lived. He did this to punish them for their sins.
Noah was a “herald”(κῆρυξ/g2783) of righteousness. That is, he preached about righteousness. Scholars think that Noah obeyed God and this made other people think about the righteousness of God. God said that Noah was a righteous man (see: Genesis 7:1).
Peter called Lot a “righteous” man because Lot obeyed God even while Lot lived in Sodom. Sodom and Gomorrah were considered to be cities where people did evil things.
Peter wanted all Christians to know that God will help people who trust him when they are severely challenged. That is, just as God rescued both Noah and Lot, he can also rescue Christians from their trials.
Scholars disagree about why Peter wrote "corrupt desires of the flesh." Some scholars think Peter wanted people to know that there were evil people when Noah and Lot lived. There were also evil people and false teachers when Peter lived. Other scholars think Peter was writing about certain sins the people of Sodom did.
Peter wrote about people who “despise”(καταφρονέω/g2706) authority. He was speaking about people who hated leaders. Some scholars think Peter spoke about leaders who said they believed the things Jesus taught, but they did not obey Jesus. They also did not honor Jesus.
When Peter wrote about people who were “self-willed” he spoke about people who always wanted to do whatever they wanted to do. They did not want to do what other people wanted to do. They did not obey leaders. Instead, they wanted other people to do the things they taught.
Scholars disagree about how people "blasphemed the glorious ones." Some scholars think that Peter spoke about people who say evil things about someone in heaven. Some of these people even deny that these people exist. Fewer scholars think that Peter wrote “blaspheme the glorious ones” to speak about people who spoke evil against leaders in his church whom God has chosen.
When Peter wrote "insulting judgments," he wanted people to know that these angels were strong and powerful, yet they did not judge people. Some scholars think the angels did not judge people in heaven. This is because the angels know that God is the only judge. Others scholars think Peter said the angels in heaven did not judge demons. Other scholars think that angels in heaven did not judge false teachers or religious leaders.
Scholars think Peter called the false teachers and prophets "unreasoning animals." This is a metaphor. He was speaking about these false leaders. Animals live always do the things they want to do. Peter wanted to say that in some way these prophets and teachers only do the things they want to do. That is, they did not try to do the right things.
Scholars disagree about why Peter wrote "reward of their wrongdoing." Peter spoke about the false teachers and prophets. Some scholars think Peter spoke about how God would punish them by sending them to hell. They would be punished for doing evil things and causing other people to sin. Other scholars think Peter spoke about how false teachers and prophets will be treated unjustly because they unjustly treated other people.
Peter wrote about "luxury during the day." This was a common metaphor to speak about people who boldly do wrong things that other people can see. Most people who lived in a wrong way and did the wrong things in the evening. Because it was dark, they believed that no one really saw them doing evil things. However, the false teachers and prophets did evil things during the day. They did not care if anyone saw living in an evil way. This is because they thought they were living in the right way.
Peter called the false teachers and prophets "stains and blemishes." This was a metaphor. He was speaking about the shame they caused themselves and other people. He wanted people to think about how a stain on a garment makes people no longer see it as beautiful. Scholars think that because of the wrong things the false teachers and prophets did, they were like “stains” on the Christian community. That is, they made people think bad things about Christians.
Some scholars think the words, “eyes full of adultery” describes a man who cannot look at a woman without having wrong thoughts about her. That is, he wants nothing but to have sex with her. Other scholars think Peter wanted to say that the false teachers and prophets wanted to be with women so they could have sex with her. Other scholars think the words meant that these men thought every woman was an adulterer.
Peter wrote that the false prophets and teachers "entice unstable souls" to say that they tempted Christians in some way. They taught things that were close to the truth, but were really lies. By lying, they were able to make Christians follow them and to do the wrong things.
When Peter spoke about these false teachers and prophets having “hearts trained in covetousness”, he wanted people to know that everything the false teachers and prophets did was for themselves.
Peter wrote "the way of Balaam" so people would think about the things Balaam did. The story of Balaam in the Old Testament spoke about a man who was greedy. He did all he could to get the people of Israel to live in a wrong way (see: Numbers 31:16). He did this because one of Israel's enemies promised him a large amount of money. In the same way, the false teachers and prophets did the same types of things Balaam did. They tried to get Christians to live in a wrong way. They did this to try to gain a lot of money.
The “gloom of thick darkness” spoke about the blackest kind of darkness. Scholars think God set aside the darkest places in hell for the false teachers and prophets.
The false teachers and prophets spoke with “vain arrogance” in several ways. They spoke loudly. They used, big words. They spoke with great emotion in order to excite people. They spoke about promises that God never made. They could not make these promises happen. So, what they said was in "vain". That is, they had no real value. Also, they thought very highly of themselves. They were arrogant.
The people who tried to "escape from those who live in error" were Christians. Scholars think Peter spoke about people who had just become Christian. That is, God only recently forgave their sins. So, they no longer lived in the wrong way. However, they knew people who were not Christians. These people still lived in sin. They would try to get these people to stop being Christians and to live in the way they used to live. These Christians needed to stop listening to the people they used to know.
When Peter wrote "slaves of corruption", he used a metaphor to speak about how powerful sin can be. People who were slaves were completely owned and controlled by other people. A person who is a slave to “corruption”(φθορά/g5356) is a person who does things that are evil when they are tempted. Their sins control them in some way.
Some scholars think the “corruption” about which Peter spoke is when someone obeys Satan. They do this because they think Satan will reward them. Really, Satan makes them think and do worse and worse things.
Scholars think that when Peter wrote "corruption of the world", he spoke about how people who were not Christians often did evil things. The “corruption” was a result of wanting to sin (see: 2 Peter 1:4).
When Peter wrote that people can "turn away from the holy commandment," he spoke about people who heard true things about God but not to believe them. That is, they believed the lies of the false teachers and prophets instead of the truth about God. Peter used the metaphor of someone turning away from a good thing. This would be like a person refusing a great gift. When he wrote about the “holy commandment,” he was writing about living in the right way.
See: Metaphor; Prophet; Holy (Holiness, Set Apart); Command (Commandment)
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