“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction” (2 Peter 2:1).
God’s Word offers a great deal of insight into many of the spiritual dangers we may encounter. Our text from 2 Peter 2:1 serves as a case in point, for It highlights the deceptive nature of those who present themselves as spiritual leaders, but are not what they seem.
You see, a dynamic or charismatic speaker may sound convincing, but convincing speakers aren’t always sincere or Biblically accurate. Because of this, it’s important to measure such teachings against the Scriptures.
2 Peter chapter two offers a wealth of information that can help us in that effort. The first bit of information is straightforward: “there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you.” Just as false prophets emerged in the Old Testament era, false teachers also arose in the New Testament era and persist to this day.
Much like the New Testament letter of 2 Peter, the Old Testament book of the prophet Jeremiah highlights the characteristics and methods employed by spiritual hucksters. According to Jeremiah 23:16-40, those qualities included…
- Messages that devalued their listeners (Jeremiah 23:16).
- “Prophetic messages” that were conceived in the prophet’s own mind (Jeremiah 23:16).
- Messages that falsely proclaimed peace and safety to those in spiritual danger (Jeremiah 23:17).
- “Prophecies” from those who had not been called by God (Jeremiah 23:21).
- Lying in God’s name (Jeremiah 23:25).
- Deceitfulness (Jeremiah 23:26).
- False teachings that were accepted and propagated by others (Jeremiah 23:27).
- Speaking falsely in God’s name (Jeremiah 23:31).
- Recklessness (Jeremiah 23:32).
- Pronouncements offered no spiritual value and led others into error (Jeremiah 23:32).
- Perversions of God’s Word (Jeremiah 23:36 [see also Deuteronomy 13:1-5, Deuteronomy 18:20-22, and Micah 3:5-11]).
Another indictment is found in the book of the prophet Isaiah…
“But they also have erred through wine, And through intoxicating drink are out of the way; The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, They are swallowed up by wine, They are out of the way through intoxicating drink; They err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and filth; No place is clean” (Isaiah 28:7-8).
Therefore, we should not be content to simply accept those who sound “religious” and quote verses from the Bible. In the words of one commentator, “History, the apostle says, is going to repeat itself. Just as the Mosaic dispensation had its false prophets, you will have your false teachers – those who inculcate false doctrines.” (1)
(1) Bruce Oberst, Letters From Peter. College Press, Joplin, Missouri, Copyright 1962 pg. 159