2 Peter 2:18
For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.
Truth to Learn
Well written messages that are delivered by a skilled public speaker are not always messages from God.
Behind the Words
The word translated “mouth” is the Greek word phthengomai which really means “to sound a musical note” or “putting sounds together to communicate something.” It is used of great orations which are like orchestrations of words.
The adjective “boastful” come from huperogkas, which is a compound word made up of huper or hyper meaning “over or excessive” and ogkos, which literally means, “a mass.” These teachers use big words, and lots of them, to present their great oratory messages.
The word “empty” come from the Greek word mataiotēs, which means “futile or worthless.”
Meaning Explained
For me this is one of the saddest verses in Peter’s writing and one that makes me the most indignant toward these false teachers. These preachers, according to Peter, “mouth empty, boastful words.” The message that they present is full of words that sound great and probably stir up the souls of the people, but they are empty words that serve no spiritual purpose. Their objective, if you remember from Peter’s earlier writing, is to fill the pockets of the teacher, not to satisfy the spiritual needs of the people.
Peter now tells us that these teachers use these great oratory messages to lure the people through the lusts of the flesh. These are messages that are attractive to the people because they don’t criticize the sinful practices of the flesh, but excuse them away and make it so that the people think they can continue in their lustful ways without condemnation. Instead of the people recognizing the sinfulness of their actions and habits, they are led to believe that they can continue in them without humbling themselves before the Judge of the ages.
Now, here’s why I get incensed with these false teachers. Peter tells us that the people being deceived by these “great” messages are, “people who are just escaping from those who live in error.” These are people who have come out of churches where they were being taught erroneous doctrine. They have recognized that they were not receiving the truth and have left those churches only to be entrapped by these false teachers who are catering to the lusts which the people should be confessing and forsaking.
Oh, the deceitfulness and selfishness of these false teachers! When the people want the truth and are fed a lie instead, when the people are seeking freedom and are given bondage instead, when the people want peace and are given guilt instead… Woe to these false teachers! God will judge them, as Peter has said, and their judgment will be both harsh and just!
Application
Are the sermons you hear every Sunday the kind that make you feel good about yourself and the way you’re living? Do you ever hear a message that God uses to drive you to your knees? There’s nothing wrong with feeling uplifted by the Word of God, but if you’re never challenged by a sermon, you may be listening to a symphony instead of the still, small voice of God.
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2009 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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