The Expository Files

 

 The Lord Knows How (To Get Us Out Of This Mess)   
 

“…then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment…" (2 Peter 2:9 NASU)

This is not a pleasant chapter to read, but its portrayal of the corrupt influence the world sometimes has on disciples is sadly accurate, and therefore its message is important to us.

This chapter is about the exploitation of those trying to serve the Lord. There are the false teachers who introduce false ways, and in their gross misconduct, give an excuse to the enemies of righteousness in the world to malign the truth (vs. 1-3). Examples from both history and contemporary events show how the hypocrisy and sin of religious pretenders can give truth a bad name.

Then Peter cites Biblical events of the past to show how God can rescue the righteous from such evil environments. He rescued Noah from his world (v. 5) and Lot from his (vs. 6-8). Yes, the Lord knows both how to "rescue the godly" and punish those committed to doing evil.

The world will bring us to ruin if it can. It will exalt itself against God and all that is holy. It will daily suffer dreadful pain as the "wages of its own wrongdoing", and yet continue on its evil course. It will seek to entice the faithful away from their God with "arrogant words of vanity" by "promising them freedom." All the while, the exploiters are actually in dreadful servitude of their own corruption, and continue to follow their master as he leads them toward the eternal "black darkness" (2:12-19).

Like Lot, we may at times feel "oppressed" and "tormented" by what we see around us. But we remember that the Lord knows how to deliver His faithful ones out of this mess. "Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness" (2 Timothy 2:19).

By Jon W. Quinn
The Final Page
From Expository Files 19.12; December  2012

 

 

 

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