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2 Pet. 2
How does Peter describe the false teachers? What will happen to them? How can you discern true from false teachers? Any clues in this text? I like how Peter directly relates what God revealed through the Old Testament to his current-day situation. He is not the only New Testament writer to do this, of course. Every time I see it, though, it reinforces to me the truth that recorded Scripture before Christ is a representation of what now is and is to come after Christ. It served as a promise of hope for those who lived before the Promise was born. And it serves as confirmation of the Promise now that He has come.
The Bible is complex in many ways and often difficult to understand. But the more I read it, the more I see that it is a complex layering of a few basic, simple truths. These truths are revealed to us over and over in many different ways. Think of the many different parables Jesus told describing the Kingdom of Heaven. They were all different ways of depicting the same truth. So it is with the rest of the Bible.
In this portion of Peter’s second letter, he is pointing out a couple of these simple truths. One is that there will always be people bent on distorting God’s truth to their own advantage. Such people are slaves to their sinful human nature and seem to work overtime to lead others to destruction with them. Peter says they, “[love] the wages of wickedness.” (2 Pet. 2:15b). The other truth Peter points out, however, is where the way of such misguided leaders ends. Using several Old Testament references, Peter reassures us, “the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the Day of Judgment.” (2 Pet. 2:9b).
Is. 29-30
Compare 29:13 with Matthew 15:8-9. How does Jesus apply this passage to His contemporaries? How does it apply to us? What is Israel’s sin that elicits God’s woe (v. 1-5)? Where are you guilty of the same sin? What does it mean to be obedient to God’s law? Far too often, we miss the point. We give God compliance; He wants compassion. We give Him rote service; He wants devotion. He does not desire empty words; He desires our whole heart. Everything in the law God gave His people was to show them how to love Him and love others. But they missed the point. Instead, they turned God’s instruction into a list of human rules that shifted the focus off of God and caused undue hardship to those it was meant to help. Instead of honoring God, the law became the self-serving god of Israel’s leaders.
So obedience to God’s law is not about a list of do’s and don’ts. It is, however, about what we do and why we do it. “’Woe to the obstinate children,’ declares the LORD, ‘to those who carry out plans that are not mine…’” (Is. 30:1a). To obey God is to seek Him, to put our trust wholly in Him, and to follow Him in His way. It is to desire Him above and before all else. This shouldn’t be hard because God is so good. “Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;… How gracious He will be when you cry for help! As soon as He hears, He will answer you.” ((s. 30:18a, 19b). The God of all that is good LONGS to give me grace – mind blown! How can my heart not respond in grateful devotion to that truth?
Ps. 109
This was David’s prayer for help with his enemies. How do you pray for your enemies? Compare this prayer with Jesus’ teaching in Luke 6:27-36. Wow. David certainly wasn’t asking mercy for his enemies! Neither was he taking vengeance into his own hands. Instead, he trusted both himself and his enemies to God. I think there is something more here, though.
I have come to see the Psalms as prophecies of Jesus. It seems a reasonable perspective, given the large number of obvious prophecies in the Psalms and the fact that the entire Bible is Jesus’ story. Certainly it takes no great stretch to see Jesus as the object of this Psalm. “They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship.” (Ps. 109:5) is one of many fitting examples. However, as Jesus hung on the cross He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34a). That was clearly a prayer for mercy rather than the vengeance sought here.
I think, though, there is a difference between those who defy God in ignorance and those who have made their choice. The Psalm starts by mentioning multiple accusers but then switches to a long discourse against a single enemy. Perhaps this enemy is the Accuser himself, and his children are those who have made their choice to reject God, making their alliance with him. Upon these there will be no mercy, because they have rejected it. But because Jesus subjected Himself to His enemy, we can now stand with David and say, “With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise Him. For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save their lives from those who would condemn them.” (Ps. 109:30-31).