The Lord permitted false prophets in order to test the
Israelites. Although God always knew the disposition of their
hearts, the testing allowed the people to see themselves in the
same light. It also allowed them to exercise their faith
1st Corinthians 10:13 -- There hath no temptation taken you
but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not
suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with
the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to
bear it.
*By resisting the temptaiton to follow false gods, they would
strenthen their faith and increase their love for God.
Deuteronomy 13:3 -- Thou shalt not hearken unto the words
of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God
proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all
your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 13:4 -- Ye shall walk after the LORD your God,
and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and
ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
13:5 -- And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be
put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the
LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and
redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of
the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So
shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
Deuteronomy 13:6 -- If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or
thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy
friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying,
Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou,
nor thy fathers;
Deuteronomy 13:7 -- Namely, of the gods of the people which
are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from
the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the
earth;
Deuteronomy 13:8 -- Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor
hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt
thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
Deuteronomy 13:9 -- But thou shalt surely kill him; thine
hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards
the hand of all the people.
Deuteronomy 13:10 -- And thou shalt stone him with stones,
that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the
LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from
the house of bondage.
Deuteronomy 13:11 -- And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and
shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among
you.
* Each of these relationships stresses intimacy. However ,
because of the seriousness of the sin, there could be no security
or tolerance for such a person, reguardless of the relationship.
Such sin was to be reported and punished with execution by
stoning. The most tragic nature of this sin would be that the
trusted friend would have to be the one to expose the
sin,
and his hand would throw the first stone. To those who
witnessed such a death, the memory of the pain to both parties
would not soon fade. Hopefully, the event would serve as a
deterrent to others who would consider idolotry.
Leviticus 24:14 -- Bring forth him that hath cursed without
the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his
head, and let all the congregation stone him. The people were
strongly warned not to yeild to , listen to, show pity to, or
shield an enticer for a false religion.
The false teachers are pictured as lacking the ability to
distinguish right from wrong Because Paul used such a strong term
(Gk. kauseriazo"seared") the focus was probably on a more radical
act of perversion-- perhaps the time when the individuals
consciously turned from the truth of God's Word and made
themselves vulnerable to the decieving spirits behind the false
doctrine
1st Timothy 4:2 -- Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their
conscience seared with a hot iron;
Concience: Right or Wrong ?
Conscience is a universal , innate, God-given capacity to
distinguish between right and wrong Romans 2:14 -- For when the
Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things
contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto
themselves:
Romans 2:15 -- Which shew the work of the law written in
their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their
thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
It has two functions, to urge an individual to do what is
percieved to be right; and subsequently to commend or condemn,
depending on whether the individual did what was percieved as
right.
A person who has a "good" and "pure" conscience consistently
and genuinely acts in conformity with an inner set of godly
standards 2nd Corinthians 1:12 -- For our rejoicing is this, the
testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly
sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we
have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to
you-ward.
1st Timothy 1:5 -- Now the end of the commandment is charity
out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith
unfeigned:
Conscience can be distorted, however. While this inner set
of standards will be accurate if it is based on biblical truth,
the conscience will be unreliable if faulty standards have been
consistently presented to it as being true. The old saying, "Let
your conscience be your guide, "will only be true if the
individual's conscience has been infused with godly
principals.
Thus, Christian parents have the important respnsibility of
communicating accurate standards of right and wrong to their
children.
Conscience can also be disabled. For example, it can become
insensitive and calloused if the person consistently acts
contrary to its standards Ephesians 4:19 -- Who being past
feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work
all uncleanness with greediness. Even more seriously, the
conscience can become "seared" and of no value through
deliberately choosing
to believe the lies of deceiving spirits rather than God's
truth 1st Timothy 4:1 -- Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that
in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed
to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 1st Timothy 4:2 --
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a
hot iron;
1st Timothy 4:3 -- Forbidding to marry, and commanding to
abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with
thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 1st
Timothy 4:4 -- For every creature of God is good, and nothing to
be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 1st Timothy 4:5
-- For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
1st Timothy 4:6 -- If thou put the brethren in remembrance of
these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ,
nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine,
whereunto thou hast attained. 1st Timothy 4:7 -- But refuse
profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto
godliness. 1st Timothy 4:8 -- For bodily exercise profiteth
little:
but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of
the life that now is, and of that which is to come.1st Timothy
4:9 -- This is a faithful saying and worthy of all
acceptation.
2nd Peter 1:20 -- Knowing this first, that no prophecy of
the scripture is of any private interpretation. 2nd Peter 1:21
-- For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but
holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost.
In this part of Peters letter, he is likely replying to the
charges made by false teachers about the reliability of the
Christian message. To their suggestion that the apostales were
concocting myths about, Jesus, Peter countered that his is an
eyewitness verivication of the power and glory of Jesus (vv
16-17) 2nd Peter 1:16 -- For we have not followed cunningly
devised fables,
when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.2nd Peter 1:17
-- For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when
there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Peter argued that the transfiguration of Jesus was the
fullfilment of OT prophecy. And lest the false teachers suggest
regecting Peter's authority by questioning its divine origin,
implying that the prophets simply produced their own fantacies,
Peter strongly reasserted that the OT was written by men who were
moved by the Holy Spirit to speak God's words. The Holy Spirit
"moved" (Gk phero, lit. "carried along" ) the writers of Holy
Scripture to record the words of the Bible.
Peter discribed the characteristics of false teachers
First, false teachers make empty promises (v 17) 2nd Peter 2:17
-- These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a
tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. //
Peter described them as "wells without water" and "clouds carried
by a tempest" -- rain clouds that promise to end an agonizing
drought but are driven away by sharp gusts of wind. False
teachers raise expectations but dash them in the end.
The second hallmark of false teachers is moral laxity (v 18)
2nd Peter 2:18 -- For when they speak great swelling words of
vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much
wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in
error. // 2nd Peter // These teachers maintained that what
Christians did
with their bodies was of no consequence. Paul had to face a
similar heresy in his letter to the Corinthians (1Cor 6:19) 1st
Corinthians 6:19 -- What? know ye not that your body is the
temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God,
and ye are not your own?// False teachers promise "liberty" but
in reality their ways keep people in bondage to sin 2:19 --
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants
of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he
brought in bondage.
Peter feared that the false teachers might take advantage
of ignorang, unstable people by distorting the teachings of Paul
so that God's truth was turned into a lie. For example, some
teachers reasoned that since Paul taught, justification by faith,
Christians could do whatever they liked. The argued that the more
an individual sinned, the more God had the opportunity to
demonstate His grace Romans 3:5 -- But if our unrighteousness
commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God
unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)
Romans 3:6 -- God forbid: for then how shall God judge the
world? Romans 3:7 -- For if the truth of God hath more abounded
through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a
sinner? Romans 3:8 -- And not rather, (as we be slanderously
reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that
good may come? whose damnation is just. Romans 3:9 -- What then?
are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before
proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;Romans
3:11 -- There is none that understandeth, there is none that
seeketh after God.
Romans 3:12 -- They are all gone out of the way, they are
together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no,
not one. Romans 3:13 -- Their throat is an open sepulchre; with
their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under
their lips:Romans 3:14 -- Whose mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness: Romans 3:16 -- Destruction and misery are in their
ways:
The final day of judgement will not result in annihilation of the present order but rather a complete renewal of that order. What will be annihilated is sin: thus the new creation will be the dwelling place of righteousness, a truely blisful home for the children of God. This promise gives the Christian hope and encouragement to remain steadfast in righteousness until the day of the Lord.
************** We need to put on the Armor Of God and we
need to be in prayer and in the Word ...praying and getting to
know Gods word and asking for discernment against the false
teachings going on around us !! ****************