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2 Peter 2:17<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Truth to Learn<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The Bible is like refreshing, cleansing water to the soul.<\/p>\n Behind the Words<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The word \u201cmists<\/span>\u201d is translated from omichl\u0113<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201ca mist, a fog, or a cloud.\u201d Peter\u2019s meaning is most likely \u201ca cloud.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDriven<\/span>\u201d is from alaun\u014d<\/span><\/em>, which means \u201cto carry or to drive.\u201d<\/p>\n The word \u201cstorm<\/span>\u201d is translated from lailaps<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201ca whirlwind or a storm.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBlackest<\/span>\u201d is the translation of dzophos<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cdoom or blackness.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, the word \u201cdarkness<\/span>\u201d is from the Greek word skotos<\/span><\/em>, which means \u201cobscurity or darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n Meaning Explained<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Peter has said many unkind things about these false teachers; now he boils it down to a couple of very picturesque images. He says that they are \u201cwells without water,<\/span>\u201d and he says that they are \u201cclouds driven by a storm.<\/span>\u201d These are both descriptions of something full of promise that never delivers. Imagine a person wandering in the arid wilderness who sees a well with the anticipation of securing a much needed drink of water only to find the well is dry. Likewise, imagine a farmer who has planted his crops in anticipation of a bountiful harvest seeing clouds appear with the promise of rain only to have the clouds blown away by a strong wind without dropping a bit of water.<\/p>\n Water is a necessity of life that is both soothing and refreshing, and it has a cleansing effect on dirty things. The Word of God is like water to us, refreshing and soothing our souls and cleansing us as we read and understand the message of the God of the Bible. Thirsty souls come to church to be refreshed and strengthened. However, when these false teachers get up to preach, instead of providing the refreshment and cleansing that the people need, they provide no water, only dried up words.<\/p>\n These false teachers promise the refreshing and cleansing effect of the Word of God, but what they deliver is \u201cwaterless,\u201d like an empty well or a cloud without rain.<\/p>\n Peter then makes a proclamation about the end state of these false teachers. He says that the \u201cblackest darkness is reserved for them.<\/span>\u201d The final state of these false teachers will be the enveloping darkness of eternity without the light of God. We often think of the fiery torture of the lake of fire as the worst punishment that can happen to a lost soul, but the total separation from the light of God (for God is<\/strong> light according to 1 John 1:5<\/span><\/strong>) with no prospect for reconciliation for all of eternity is worse yet. Blackest darkness, indeed!<\/p>\n Challenge<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Let me encourage each of you to earnestly desire the light of the Word of God. Learn to crave it as you do food and water. Make it part of your every day diet, not just an occasional snack. Let me also encourage you to seek out a church where the word of truth is preached, holding fast to the fundamental truths contained in the Bible, where those who open up the Word to you each week do so because it is their ministry, not their source of income!<\/p>\n In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2009 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n <\/span>If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 2 Peter 2:17 These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. Truth to Learn The Bible is like refreshing, cleansing water to the soul. Behind the Words The word \u201cmists\u201d is translated from omichl\u0113, meaning \u201ca mist, a fog, or a cloud.\u201d Peter\u2019s meaning is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[317,318,319,320,321,322],"class_list":["post-968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blackest-darkness","tag-clouds","tag-darkness","tag-driven-by-storm","tag-springs","tag-without-water"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-fC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"signature\"](\"\/signature.gif\")
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