2 Peter 2:17

These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. WELLS - "clouds," in Jude 1:12, both promising (cf. 2 Peter 2:19) water, but yielding none. So their "great swelling words" are found, on trial, to be but "vanity" (2 Peter 2:18). CLOUDS. 'Aleph (') A B C read [ homichlai (G3658a)] 'mists:' dark, not bright as "clouds" often are; whence the latter is applied to the saints: fit emblem of the children of darkness. "Clouds" is inserted from Jude 1:1...

17._These are wells, _or _fountains_, _without water. _He shews by these two metaphors, that they had nothing within, though they made a great display. A fountain, by its appearance, draws men to itself, because it promises them water to drink, and for other purposes; as soon as clouds appear, they give hope of immediate rain to irrigate the earth. He then says that they were like fountains, because they excelled in boasting, and displayed some acuteness in their thoughts and elegance in their words; but that yet they were dry and barren within: hence the appearance of a fountain was fallacious. He says that they were_clouds carried _by the wind, either without rain, or which burst forth into a calamitous storm. He thereby denotes that they brought nothing useful, and that often they were very hurtful. He afterwards denounces on them the dreadful judgment of God, that fear might restrain...

17-22 The word of truth is the water of life, which refreshes the souls that receive it; but deceivers spread and promote error, and are set forth as empty, because there is no truth in them. As clouds hinder the light of the sun, so do these darken counsel by words wherein there is no truth. Seeing that these men increase darkness in this world, it is very just that the mist ofdarkness should be their portion in the next. In the midst of their talk of liberty, these men are the vilest slaves; their own lusts gain a complete victory over them, and they are actually in bondage. When men are entangled, they are easily overcome; therefore Christians should keep close to the word of God, and watch against all who seek to bewilder them. A state of apostacy is worse than a state of ignorance. To bring an evil report upon the good way of God, and a false charge against the way of truth, must e...

Verse 17. _THESE ARE WELLS WITHOUT WATER_] Persons who, by their profession, should furnish _the water of life_ to souls athirst for salvation; but they have not this water; they are _teachers_ without _ability_ to _instruct_; they are _sowers_, and have no _seed_ in their basket. Nothing is more cheering in the deserts of the east than to meet with a _well of water_; and nothing more distressing, when parched with thirst, than to meet with a well that contains no water. _CLOUDS THAT ARE CARRIED WITH A TEMPEST_] In a time of great _drought_, to see _clouds_ beginning to cover the face of the heavens raises the expectation of rain; but to see these _carried off_ by a sudden _tempest_ is a dreary disappointment. These false teachers were equally as unprofitable as the empty well, or the light, dissipated cloud. _TO WHOM THE MIST OF DARKNESS IS RESERVED_]

THESE ARE WELLS WITHOUT WATER - Jude 1:12 employs several other epithets to describe the same class of persons. The language employed both by Peter and Jude is singularly terse, pointed, and emphatic. Nothing to an oriental mind would be more expressive than to say of professed religious teachers, that they were “wells without water.” It was always a sad disappointment to a traveler in the hot sands of the desert to come to a well where it was expected that water might be found, and to find it dry. It only aggravated the trials of the thirsty and weary traveler. Such were these religious teachers. In a world, not unaptly compared, in regard to its real comforts, to the wastes and sands of the desert, they would only grievously disappoint the expectations of all those who were seeking for the refreshing influences of the truths of the gospel. There are many such teac

EXPOSITION 2 PETER 2:1 BUT THERE WERE FALSE PROPHETS ALSO AMONG THE PEOPLE; rather, as in the Revised Version, _but there arose false prophets also among the people. _The transition is simple and natural. Besides the true prophets mentioned in the last chapter, who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, there arose false prophets, men who wore "a rough garment to deceive" (Zechariah 13:4), and assumed without warrant the prophetic character. Such pretenders would commonly prophesy false things; but the word ψευδοπροφῆται_ _seems principally to imply the absence of a Divine mission. By "the people" (λαός) is meant the people of Israel, as in Romans 15:

THESE ARE WELLS WITHOUT WATER,.... Which look large and deep, promise much, and have nothing in them; so these men looked like angels of light, transformed themselves as ministers of righteousness, had a form of godliness, and boasted of their great knowledge; promised great advantages to their followers, but were like deceitful brooks, or dry wells, and so disappointed those that came to them, and attended on them; having nothing but the filth and slime of error and iniquity, being destitute both of the grace of God, comparable to water, and of the truth of heavenly doctrine, which is like the rain that fills the wells, pools, and fountains. CLOUDS THAT ARE CARRIED WITH A TEMPEST; these false teachers may be compared to clouds for their number, for many antichrists and false prophets soon came into the world; and for their sudden rise in the churches, into which they crept privily and...

II. THE EVIL TO COME THROUGH FALSE TEACHERS CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The source of the evil (2 Peter 2:1)_ 2. The lessons from the past. (2 Peter 2:4) 3. The description of the apostates (2 Peter 2:11) 2 Peter 2:1 The Apostle Peter is now being used by the Spirit of God to prophesy. He predicts the coming evil for the professing church, that apostate teachers would do their vicious work. As pointed out in the introduction every other writer of the Epistles bears the same witness and that witness is mostly found in the second Epistles and in the Epistle of Jude. (See...

The sins of the false teachers are now described licentiousness (2 Peter 2:10), audacious blasphemy (2 Peter 2:10), open profligacy (2 Peter 2:13), and covetousness like that of Balaam (2 Peter 2:15). They are as worthless as springs without water, and their end is blackness of darkness. The whole section is based on Jude 1:8.* 2 P. softens the severity of Jude's language and rearranges the order. He expands the reference to Balaam and omits Cain and Korah. In 2 Peter 2:11 he omits the

FALSE PROPHETS (2 Peter 2:1) _ 2:1 There were times when false prophets arose among the people, even as amongst you too there will be false teachers, men who will insidiously introduce destructive heresies and deny the Lord who bought them; and by so doing they will bring swift destruction on themselves._ That there should arise false prophets within the Church was something only to be expected, for in every generation false prophets had been responsible for leading God's people astray and for bringing disaster on the nation. It is worth while looking at the false prophets in the Old Testament story for their characteristics were recurring in the time of Peter and are still recurring today. (i) The false prophets were more interested in gaining popularity than in telling the truth. Their policy was to tell people what they wanted to hear. The false prophets said, "P