November 1
“They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage,” 2 Peter 2:15-19.
The false teachers of whom the apostle Peter is writing are compared to ancient Balaam, the son of Beor, of whom Moses wrote in the Book of Numbers, chapter 22, verses 5-25. Balaam lived about 1,450 years before the birth of Jesus. False teachers are the same today as they were in every previous generation. What else can you expect? False teachers are religious liars who are in the service of the devil, who is the father of lies. The only time that you would see any improvement on the part of a false teacher is if he would repent of his sins and turn to the truth of God’s Word.
What happened in Balaam’s day? Balak, the king of Moab, asked Balaam to come and pronounce a curse upon the children of Israel, because Balak feared that they would conquer Moab. Balaam was inclined to curse the children of Israel for the huge bribe that Balak offered him. However, the Lord did not allow it to be done. He rebuked Balaam for his sin through a donkey that spoke with a man’s voice. The angel of the Lord appeared and prevented the donkey from proceeding on the way with Balaam to curse the children of Israel. Like Balaam, false teachers would rather accept bribes than tell the truth of God’s Word and will.
False teachers are “dried up” – they are wells without water. They have no refreshing, spiritual drink to offer troubled sinners. They are like useless clouds of fog driven about by the storms of sin. Since false teachers do not search the enlightening Word of God, they and their followers will end up in the “blackness of darkness forever,” which is everlasting separation from God.
Indeed, false teachers “speak great swelling words of emptiness”! They speak a lot of nice-sounding nonsense, words which are spiritually empty. They have nothing to offer for the sake of anyone’s salvation. They do not have the courage to call sin, “Sin!” and they do not have the love for souls to speak a message of forgiveness. They seek to gain followers by luring them to live in the sins of the flesh, “through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness.” They will especially seek to mislead the new converts to Christianity and try to convince them that they have given up their freedom and joy to do as they please. “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.” They are slaves to false teachings, and they try to enslave others.
With the clear Word of God, we must expose false teachers of every kind. The power to expose them is in the Word of God. The Law of God convicts people of their sins. The Gospel is the message of grace and forgiveness for all sinners, which was gained for all through the suffering and death of Jesus on Calvary’s cross. He who died on the cross also rose from the grave and conquered death and the devil. It is the message of God’s love and comfort for troubled sinners. By faith in the Lord Jesus as God’s Son and our Savior, we have the spiritual armor to resist false teachers.
“The Church shall never perish!
Her dear Lord, to defend,
To guide, sustain, and cherish,
Is with her to the end.
Tho’ there be those that hate her,
False sons within her pale;
Against both foe and traitor,
She ever shall prevail.” Amen.