05 June 2023
It's a little challenging to understand 2 Peter because the historical context is not all that clear to us now. What seems rather obvious is that Peter believes he's about to die. We believe he was crucified upside down, but that's just a tradition. What is more difficult to ascertain is the particular heresies he condemns in his letter.
Peter opens by celebrating the divine power that liberates us from the flesh. How could we not be diligent to nail down the promises that come with election via Covenant boundaries? Peter wrote this letter so the readers could refer to it after his execution.
Then Peter reminds them of something that he never forgot: the Transfiguration. He also reaffirms that the Scriptures are our anchor in this life.
It's in Chapter 2 that we see the hucksters had shown up even in churches that were already technically illegal. At the same time, he warns the churches not to long for harsh measures against these troublemakers; in God's good time, they would be crushed. If God did not fail to punish the fallen angels, He would all the more pour out His wrath on fallen people. He cites other notable examples of God's wrath.
At this point, he mentions something that suffers from a vast array of wild interpretations. Peter refers to people who are self-willed, foolish enough "blaspheme the glories" (translated literally). Don't get lost in the question of who the "glories" are. The point is the arrogant rebellious nature of the blasphemers; it's obvious they suffer petty envy. They go too far, slandering the powerful (of all types) simply because they are powerful. With all their power, angels do not make false accusations before God.
These are the same kind of people who take advantage of others for fallen fleshly pleasures. They are constantly watching for their next victim. Do you remember Balaam and the onager that spoke to him? All it did was limit his options. When he found he could not curse Israel, he gave Balak a backdoor; he taught Moab how to subvert Israelis so they would leave the boundaries of their covenant and fall under wrath. It turned out the Moabites had a filthy religious practice whereby the women, as an offering to one particular deity, would go out and sell their bodies to any taker and turn over the proceeds to the pagan shrine. Balak declared a day of "offering" so the Moabite women would work the camp of Israel.
The point is the filth and arrogance, the employment of ingenuity and effort simply to get around the limits at all costs in order to sate their own lusts. It's roughly equivalent to psychopathy, but it's a spiritual problem, not a psychological disorder. They promise to set people free, like themselves, recognizing no boundaries at all. But it's just another kind of slavery.
Thus, we come down once again to a Christian Law against something characteristic of Western Civilization: the primacy of the individual. The individual is not the ultimate hero in the Bible. In Scripture, the language of "rights" is from the Devil. This is not a matter of dissolving yourself into the social majority, but we are warned to avoid the arrogant, loud-n-proud social stance. If you ever say, "I have the right to..." then you can bet Satan is behind whatever you are trying to claim for yourself.
In Chapter 3 this is the same kind of people who mock God's promises about the return of His Son on the Day of Judgment. They don't know the Word of God on such things and warrant no answer when they make this argument. The human scale of time is the problem; don't get hung up on that. When God is ready to end it all, there will be no further warning. It will simply come when you least expect it. In no time at all, the Lord will restore the natural world to what it was before the Fall.
Don't be fooled by great human intelligence or any other human talent. When That Day comes, all of that will be wiped away. Thus, Peter reminds us that this life is not precious; it's slated for destruction. Look to your calling to glorify the Lord, and forget all that other stuff.
Comments
DarkMirror
Direct mentions of supernatural beings interest me. "Glories" are called "dignitaries" in the KJV/NKJV, which to me doesn't say anything about the supernatural realm. The Wycliff translation calls them "lordshipping," which feels even more obscure. I do like "celestial beings" and "glories" because it feels like a generalized word and I doubt Peter would want to get too specific or detailed.
Catacomb Resident
The difficulty here is the ambiguity, in that Peter may well be referring to mere terrestrial majesties. Thus, my comments that it really wasn't the target that mattered so much as the attitude.
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