Our outline for this SERIES is taken from the Old Roman Creed (vide ante) from which the Apostles' Creed was adapted and possibly in use before the mid-2nd century.
Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham – Matthew 1:1b
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying,
“Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
Gospel of the Apostle Matthew 16:13 NKJV
This question and self-designation of Jesus Christ — iēsous, meaning “Jehovah is salvation” from the Hebrew root, yᵊhôšûaʿ or Joshua with the same meaning — reveals a great mystery that in His incarnation JESUS IS also the Son of Man.
Who is the Son of Man?
“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Numbers 23:19 NJKV
Yet the Messiah of Israel IS the Word of God and cannot lie.
‘Ya`akov became the father of Yosef, the husband of Miryam, from whom was born Yeshua, who is called Messiah.
Matthew 1:16 Hebrew Names Version
(Yes, Matthew Levi, Simon Peter, and Miryam the mother of Jesus Christ are all Jews.)
King David, a thousand years before, asks,
What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?
Psalm 8:4
His Jewish disciples whom Jesus asks know this self-designation of Yeshua from the Prophet Ezekiel about 600 years before.
“Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.
Ezekiel 2:3 NKJV
“Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them.
“Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears.
And He said to me: “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city.. “Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man!”
..he asked his talmidim, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
They said, “Some say Yochanan the immerser, some, Eliyah, and others, Yirmeyahu, or one of the prophets.”
Matthew 16:13b-14 HNV
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answered and said,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Matthew 16:15-16 NKJV
The Son of God
And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. – Gospel of Luke 2:7 RSV
Hard to imagine — this Son of Man, the Son of God!
male issue (one begotten by a father and born of a mother)
son of man
Christ seems to have preferred this to the other Messianic titles, because by its lowliness it was least suited to foster the expectation of an earthly Messiah in royal splendour.
son of God
those who revere God as their father,
.. governed by the Spirit of God,
Examine closely every aspect of the life of JESUS from manger to the cross and you will witness both humanity and deity — Christ the Son of Man—Christ the Son of God.
Roger@TalkofJesus.com
NEXT: we will see why JESUS is
His Only Son
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Peter’s second epistle to the church mirrors what the Lord had prayed prior to His crucifixion:
“But I have prayed earnestly for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, once you have returned, strengthenG4741 your brothers.”
Gospel of Luke 22:32
The Apostle had recently written to these same believers:
For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets
A single greek word for ‘that you may be mindful’ is the same word of remembering used frequently in the gospels.
And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.
Matthew 16:75 NKJV
Peter emphasizes the subject matter spoken before by the ‘holy prophets,’ referring to the major and minor prophets of Old Testament Scripture from Isaiah to Malachi—pointing to them as Holy [ἅγιος – hagios – (an awful thing)] and certainly in contrast to the misleading false prophets and teachers against whom the Apostle has already warned.
Secondly, Peter equates Apostolic authority in this reminder mentioning the Holy Prophets speaking God’s word even before Jesus instructed them in Person.
and of the commandment of us,the apostles of the Lord and Savior..
commandment of the apostles of your Lord and Savior
or commandment of your apostles of the Lord and Savior.
The end was neither — the incarnation of JESUS the Son of God nor — resurrection of JESUS the Son of David hoped for by some of the Jews.
And don't Common Era scoffers also want a conquering King — bringing victory without cost and proclaimation without persecution, also saying:
… all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
2 Peter 3:4c NKJV
And so they do, Peter suggests, but these [scoffers and doubters of Christ] are without excuse.
For this they willfully forget: that
by the word of God the heavens were of old,
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
A clear reference to Noah, who Peter has just mentioned.
2 Peter 3:5-6 NKJV
But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word,
are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition [apōleia– the destruction which consists of eternal misery in hell]
of ungodly [ἀσεβής – asebēs – destitute of reverential awe towards God]
men [anthrōpos – men or women].
2 Peter 3:7 NKJV
Has your Common Era Pastor preached this Apostolic caution?
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: …
And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
Genesis 7:21, 9;11 KJV
The Apostle’s Timeless Response
agapētos HEAR THIS:
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing,
that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us [or you]
not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
In the year of the Lord 2025 — dismissed by scoffers as: 2025 of the Common Era [2025 CE] — Do you fear the wrath to come when Christ returns?
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,
in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise,
and the elements will melt with fervent heat;
both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
[literally, utterly burned up and consumed by fire!]
2 Peter 3: 10 NJKV
Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along.
On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
2 Peter 3:11-13 New Living Translation
The Apostle’s command to look ahead may not appeal to you anymore than considering your inevitable death of the flesh.
Ah, but what of your spirit, the resurrection of our familiar flesh and the judgment to come?
Peter assures Christ’s true followers — the saints of the Chruch which may include you:
And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen,
make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.
2 Peter 3:14-15a NLT
Might the Apostle actually be calling YOU, beloved member of Christ — in need of repentance for your impure fruit, to reject those easy false teachings which oppose the Lord Jesus Christ?
The APOSTLES, including Paul
NEXT, we will briefly study just one Epistle or Letter of the Apostle to the Gentiles [or Hellenists or Greeks], Paul.
Here Peter now mentions the Apostle Paul, due to an already developing false teaching in the early church broadly known as gnosticism [a Greek word meaning “knowledge.”]
Gnosticism
Such ‘knowledge‘ often accelerates into a down-hill slope into the pit of error. Therefore a brief summary here from BibleHub.com
Dualism: Gnosticism is marked by a strong dualistic worldview,
The material world is often seen as the creation of a lesser deity,
sometimes identified with the God of the Old Testament,
who is distinct from the true, transcendent God.
This, of course, is NOT SCRIPTURAL from either Jewish Scripture OR the Gospel of the New Testament.
Gnostics believe that.. salvation involves awakening this divine spark through gnosis.
Some Gnostic texts depict Christ as a purely spiritual being .who did not truly suffer or die.
Gnosticism generally views the physical world as corrupt or illusory.
This belief often leads to ascetic practices or,
conversely, to libertine behavior, as the material is deemed irrelevant to spiritual salvation.
Peter confirming Paul
So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters.
There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.
You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you..
2 Peter 2:1a – King James Version
Accepting Apostolic Testimony OR Following False Prophets
After presenting his Apostolic testimony to wavering preachers, elders, and marginal followers of “The Way,” Simon Peter now alerts the church to dangerous heresies taught by some seeking to undermine the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Trustworthy Prophetic Word, reads the heading in this section of 2 Peter 1 of the Christian Standard Bible, also citing testimony from all the synoptic Gospels [Matthew, Mark & Luke].
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.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; where unto ye do well that ye take heed..
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.
2 Peter 1:17-21 excerpt KJV
The Apostle now warns of pernicious perils of false prophets and false teaching of those who deny Apostolic testimony.
2 Peter 2:
There were indeed false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.
2 Peter 2:1a – Christian Standard Bible
Peter, Apostle of Jesus, provides familiar examples from the Jewish Bible (Old Testament):
and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah v.5a
and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes v.6a
and if he rescued righteous Lot, v.7a
Compare yourself to Noah. Or compare yourself to Lot, Paul suggests, a righteous man living in Sodom surrounded by every wickedness conceived by evil men in charge of his community.
Are Sodom and Gomorrah not the cities of our home churches to whom Simon Peter writes once again?
And doesn’t our world reminiscingly resemble that near to destruction in the time of Noah?
Take heed that we have survived thus far only be saved from the final judgment of fire by Christ’s righteousness!
How do the Apostle’s examples from Genesis apply to us?
The believers to whom Peter writes live in Asian and Roman and new worldly cities not unlike Sodom — as do we in our towns and churches susceptible to every evil tolerated and encouraged by leaders of every gathering in our home community.
Destructive Doctrines
HEADING from the New King James Version
WATCH OUT! warns the Apostle in his second epistle.
.. even as there will be false teachers among you, – v.1b – NKJV
You know these preachers and elders who CLAIM JESUS.
Some saints succumb to their subtle sweet tolerance. For their deceptive doctrine suggests Christ while discounting His lordship over our saved SELF’s still flourishing in the flesh of this life.
Pernicious Preachers of Their Own Doctrines
ψευδοδιδάσκαλος – pseudodidáskalos, psyoo-dod-id-as’-kal-os; from G5571 and G1320; a spurious teacher, i.e. propagator of erroneous Christian doctrine:—false teacher.
No, it isn't only the preacher in the pulpit who purveys false doctrine, though some succumb at times as the Apostle fears.
They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves.
– 2:1c CSB
.. who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them.
2 Peter 2:1c King James Version
And many shall follow their pernicious ways
Time to define a key word Paul uses FIVE TIMES in his Second Epistle (translated in 2 Peter 2:2 KJV as "pernicious ways").
ἀπώλεια – apōleia –
The KJV translates Strong‘s G684 in the following manner: perdition (8x), destruction (5x), waste (2x), damnable (1x), to die (with G1519) (1x), perish (with G1498) (with G1519) (1x), pernicious (1x).
The Apostle Peter chooses STRONG language to describe these sins against the Lord.
And in fact, Jesus had spoken the same to describe Judas Iscariot!
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition;G684 that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Gospel of John 17:12 KJV – the words of Jesus
What must Peter — one of the Twelve — have thought when Judas took the cup the Lord shared at their last Passover meal?
The Lure of their Depravity
Common Era preachers may draw in the multitudes to gatherings of those seeking an advantage in the life of proclaiming Jesus.
(Judas, who minded their money, was like that.)
Peter continues in his second epistle warning the faithful:
And in their greed they will exploit you with false words, their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
2 Peter 2:3 LSB
The Apostle describes how to spot false teachers scemingly opposed to all Truth:
Bold, arrogant people!
They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones [2:10b LSB]
go after the flesh in its corrupt lust
and despise authority.
(even that of the Lord’s Apostles, Peter implies)
Daring,
self-willed,
they do not tremble when they blaspheme [angels] glorious ones 2:10 LSB
(We’ll continue Peter’s mention of angels momentarily.)
They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting.
With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception.
2 Peter 2:18 LSB
The APOSTLE’S WARNING!
These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them.
For by uttering boastful, empty words, they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who are actually escaping from those who live in error.
2 Peter 17-18 CSB
Peter has already presented his powerful case of his authority as an Apostle of Jesus Christ — who IS the only Son of GOD the Father and One with the Holy Spirit.
Won’t you obey an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ?
“For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son,with whom I am well pleased,”
2 Peter 1:17 ESV
OR
Will you subtly slide back into the vomit of your former overindulgence in every sin of this world?
What the true proverb says has happened to them:
“The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”
2 Peter 2:22 ESV
Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Proverbs 26:11,12 ESV
GOD, Angels, Men, Apostles, creatures & authority
FOLLOW PETER'S LOGIC:
In the beginning, God [ĕlōhîm] created the heavens and the earth. – Genesis 1:1
The apostle of Jesus Christ.. stands [in] the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: – 2 Peter 1:1
Jesus is associated with righteousness, highlighting His sinless nature and the moral perfection that He imparts to believers.
2 Peter 2:1 The term “Master” is used in the context of false teachers denying “the Master who bought them.” It underscores Jesus’ ownership and authority over believers, as well as the cost of redemption.
ibid.
Peter introduces himself as a servant [doulos] of Jesus
2 Peter 1:1
and in his first epistle the Apostle instructs those chosen in Christ:
The Apostle Peter, as servant of the Lord and witness to God in the flesh embraces great responsibility for the faith of those chosen as elect saints in Jesus Christ.
Creation, its creatures and Angels
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
… The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
2 Peter 2:4,9 KJV
The Apostle connects evil men affecting the righteous like Noah and Lot within a lengthy tirade citing angels that sinned. Though we know little of the unseen messengers (evil or good), Peter reminds us of a comparison of Jesus to Adam, who was tempted into our fall by a most-powerful angel.
.. and his angels he charged with folly: – Job 4:18b KJV
.. but cast them into hell..
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,[lit. Day Star] son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; .. Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.
and committed them to pits of darkness, held for judgment…
[2 Peter 2:4b NASB]
These cunning false teachers speaking against Apostolic Authority — granted through the same Holy Spirit of God by which the Prophets spoke — do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties [Doxa] – ‘they blaspheme the glorious ones’ – v.10
FALSE TEACHERS, who are no better than evil men who refused to listen to GOD’s Prophets speaking by the Holy Spirit and less powerful than angels, will also suffer the judgment of angels who turned against the Creator.
.. whereas angels, though greater in might and power,
do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord.
2 Peter 11 ESV
Balaam, False Prophets and Pernicious Popes!
YES, we are still addressing the warning of the Apostle Peter in his second epistle to the 1st century church.
If you have noted in 2 Peter 2 that I quoted Scripture including men the Apostle lists as negative examples, but I missed a false prophet mentioned only once, you would be right.
Peter’s full list (chronologically) includes:
Angels – vs.4 & 11
mankind, except Noah – v.5
community of mankind in Sodom and Gomorrah, except Lot – v.6
the Prophet Balaam – vs. 15-16
ALL these are WARNING SIGNS from the LAW of Moses — cited by the Apostle Peter, servant of God and JESUS Christ, sent by true direction of the Holy Spirit — to BELIEVERS in the first century churches AND those including a Lot from Common Era elect yet to be born into the body of Christ before the Day of Judgment.
I have nearly bogged down in the mire of Moses’ serious warning in the book of Numbers concerning Balaam.
Moses, Prophet and Lawgiver of Israel, sheds light enough on such men and women who cunningly lead communities of the faithful away from the Lord our God — from then nearer the Beginning until the Day of Jesus Christ.
What Popes, you may ask?
Which false prophets since Jesus, you may wonder?
AND what do these have to do with the Apostle’s example of Balaam in 2 Peter 2?
NEXT – We will examine the timeless application of Balaam to Peter’s prophesies of false teachers and HERESIES already evident to the Common Era church.
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