The Second Letter of Peter- 6

Subtitle: The Problem of False Prophets 3

2 Peter 2:6-10. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, August 16, 2026.

We continue today looking at the examples of divine judgment that Peter gives in 2 Peter chapter two.  Last week, we talked about the judgment of The Flood in the days of Noah.  God judged the rebellious angels and wicked humans who followed them in sin.  At the same time, God rescued Noah and his family from the waters of The Flood by having them build an ark that could raise them above the destruction.

Peter then turns to the example of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  At this point, let me insert that God is not trigger happy with His destructions.  They always come after long periods of wicked people “getting away with” wicked deeds.  This was true in The Flood episode as well as with Sodom and Gomorrah.  We can also recognize that same grace being extended to the modern world.

The modern world can be very hypocritical in this area in its attacks on the God of the Bible.  On one hand, it can complain that a truly good and all-powerful God would not allow so much evil on the planet.  Yet, on the other hand, they are also the loudest voices of complaint against God’s judgments that are recorded in Scripture.  Thus, God is accused when He judges and when He doesn’t judge.  In the end, this is an assertion of human wisdom over the top of the divine wisdom found in Scripture.  This assertion never ends well for those who insist on casting off God’s wisdom for their own.

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah stands as a warning to those who think God’s judgment is “sleeping” or a myth.  The day will come as sure as the fact that many will not be ready though they were warned well in advance.

Let’s look at our passage.

Example # 2 Sodom & Gomorrah (v. 6-10)

The destruction of Sodom and the other cities is found in Genesis 19. However, in Genesis 18 God tells Abraham what He is about to do.  He is going down to investigate whether the condition in these cities is as bad as the “outcry” that has come up to God against them.  It is not explained, but we can imagine people crying out to God in prayer or just venting to the “heavens” about the treatment they were receiving from these places.  Thus, the angels coming into the city is the investigation by God.

This also leads to a discussion between Abraham and God about any righteous people who may be impacted by such a judgment.  Would God really destroy the cities if there were at least 50 righteous people in them?  Abraham continues this questioning all the way to 10 righteous people.  Genesis 18 ends with a statement from God, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”

Of course, the cities are later destroyed with only four people heading the call to escape the coming destruction.  We should note that the events of Genesis 19 contain within them a statement of God, to Abraham or any who have the same question, regarding his judgments upon the wicked and any righteous people who may be caught up in it.  The message is simply this.  God knows how to judge the wicked while rescuing the righteous.  His rescue doesn’t have to always look the same, but He will rescue the righteous.  We saw this with Noah and his family (note that the whole planet had less than 10 righteous individuals).  In this passage, Peter emphasizes God’s rescue of “righteous Lot.”

Peter also tells us that the judgment of destruction upon Sodom was “an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter…”

Sodom and the plain around it were struck by brimstone raining fire upon the area.  This was most likely a meteor that exploded in the atmosphere above the area.  This would have heated the air to thousands of degrees in a fraction of a second, moving forward in a blast wave and followed by burning particles that would pepper the area. 

This is what happened to those cities.  The warning is not so much about the details of the judgment.  Whether God sends a great flood or rains down fiery meteors, the warning is that He will eventually judge men for their wickedness.  His judgment is a real thing that all people will have to face in one way or another.

The men of Sodom had given themselves over to sin that was transgressing all kinds of moral boundaries.  When you transgress boundaries, you don’t always know where it will take you or how far it will take you.  How many visiting strangers had they violated and “got away with it?”  The point is not so much that they picked on the wrong guys (i.e., angels who they thought were men).  Rather, this was the day of judgment.  God was beginning to hold them accountable, and they demonstrated the righteousness of His judgment in their grotesque activity.

This is true of all nations or empires no matter how great they are.  God is able to judge them in a second, bringing them down to destruction.  How then ought we to live in light of this?  Are the cities of America more righteous than this?

The ultimate destructive event is found in Revelation 20.  Fire comes down out of heaven melting the elements of the earth.  Heaven and earth are found no more, and all humanity stands before the Great White Throne to be judged.  The wicked are cast into the Lake of Fire, walled off from God’s new creation.

We might ask, “How does this connect to the false teachers and false prophets that Peter is saying will come?”  Where did Sodom learn the wicked things that they were doing?  They didn’t learn it from Noah.  Over time, men led by wicked spiritual forces taught others to transgress the proper, moral boundaries passed down by those who had seen God’s judgment in the past.  They became perverted sexually and perverted religiously through idolatry.  Their degrading domination of strangers was completely antichrist, demonic.  Do we not have such things today?

Not all false teachers are religious and show up in churches.  We have many false teachers within philosophy, the sciences, education, the entertainment industry, government, and false religions.

Thus, we have this ancient problem.  There are those who do not want to retain the knowledge of God and quickly grasp at the teaching of those who say, “Did God really say such and such?”

Peter describes Peter as righteous.  He may not appear very righteous in all of his actions, but he did remain faithful to God during his time there.  He protested the wickedness of the men of the city.  In fact, Genesis 19:9 describes their disdain for him.  “This one came in as a sojourner and is already acting like a judge…”  They didn’t want to be reminded of righteousness.  They wanted to pursue wickedness.  If you serve the purposes of Christ, warning people of the dangers attached to their sinful activity, many will hate you for it.  Lot was acting as a teacher of righteousness in the face of recalcitrant, moral renegades.

Peter also describes Lot as being “oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men.”  These men recognized no boundaries to their desires.  The oppression of Lot displayed in the Genesis 19 story is their willingness to disgrace those who were his guests.  They then told Lot that they would do worse things to him after they were done with the two visitors (the angels). 

God was there that day.  The threats of these wicked men were empty and hollow.  By the morning, they would be gone.  However, how many people were violated by them or perished under their hand without God’s intervention?  This can be troubling to us.  The timing of God’s judgment may feel like it is too late.  However, before we pull on that thread, we should note that the oppression is not just the external things that happen.

Peter speaks of Lot’s righteous soul being “tormented day after day by their lawless deeds.”  We have people and cities who are currently living wickedly in the face of such examples and warnings from God.  Yet, none of them are “getting away with it.”  Their destruction is just as sure as the people who were destroyed by The Flood and those who perished in Sodom and Gomorrah.

The question is this.  Am I being corrupted by the constant pressure towards sexual immorality, materialism, unloving actions, and overall godlessness?  Or am I living for Christ and sharing the torment of my soul with him and with other believers?  We can also carry this internal burden as we attempt to break through their desire to live for the flesh by sharing the truth about God’s Judgment, Repentance, and God’s Grace.

Verse 9 serves as a conclusion to what these examples illustrate.  The judgment of false teachers and those who live in wickedness is surely coming.  However, this conclusion focuses on God’s ability or knowledge in matters of bringing judgment.

We can look at a powerful government, powerful rich person, a powerful supernatural entity and think to ourselves, “That’s impossible.  No one can stop that.”  However, God knows how to deal with these things.  We might think it is impossible, but that isn’t important.  So what?  Are you now going to refuse to do what God has told you to do?  It may seem to be impotent in front of the wicked and powerful.  However, the same God who has told what He desires of you is also planning the judgment of those powerful, wicked forces.

Peter first speaks about rescuing the godly from “trial.”  Dealing with false teachers and those who belligerently live wicked lives is a temptation and a test.  We can be tempted to go along with them by our own flesh.  Or we can be tempted to give up on righteousness out of discouragement.  Yet, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from such things.  He supplies spiritual strength and wisdom from the Holy Spirit in the present.  Ultimately, there is a great trial that is coming upon the whole earth.  It is sometimes referred to as the Great Tribulation of the Last Days.  Only God can deliver the righteous from the trial of the wicked and the trial of His judgments upon them.

Both the example of Sodom and The Flood have to do with ultimate judgments.  There seems to be a pattern here that Peter is describing.  God either removes the righteous (Enoch, Lot) or He protects them through the judgment (Noah).  So, it will be in these last days.  God has a plan that will remove the righteous before He pours out His wrath upon the nations.  Yet, those who repent during this time of wrath can be protected through the trial.  In fact, even if they physically die, their spirits are protected and held unto a time of resurrection.  This is the ability of God to rescue the righteous in various ways that only require us to trust Him.

The flip side of this is that God knows how to reserve the unrighteous for the day of judgment.  In verse 4, Peter spoke of the angels “reserved for judgment.”  Also, there were the spirits of all the wicked humans held in reserve in the grave awaiting the judgment day (they are still there).

The great Judgment Day that is scheduled for the Nations of this world, leading up to the Second Coming of Jesus, is only a taste of the greater Judgment Day that happens a 1,000 years later at the Great White Throne Judgment.

God knows how to judge the wicked while protecting the righteous.  It is not that we cannot be touched by difficulties.  It is a sure protection that brings us through all that we may have to face and brings us to the great future that He has prepared for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

Verse 10 begins the transition out of the illustrations back to the false teachers that we face in this Church Age.  He describes them as “especially those who indulge the flesh and its corrupt desires and despise authority.” 

Indulging the flesh is similar to Paul’s phrase “walking in [according to] the flesh.” This is a person who let’s their flesh make the decisions of what they do instead of listening to God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. 

Peter says that these desires are corrupt.  The word has the sense of being polluted or defiled.  Desires in and of themselves are not bad.  Desires become corrupted when we do not recognize God’s ordained boundaries withing them.  Thus, sexual desire is not the problem.  It is that our flesh desires that there be no boundaries in our sexual activity (at least only boundaries I give myself). There is no end to the boundaries that sin will pull us past in the name of satisfaction.  However, it never satisfies.

False teachers are not happy with the proper boundaries that God has given to truth and right living.  They develop interpretative schemes and stories that reinterpret the clear truth of God’s Word. 

They also despise authority.  This area is fraught with problems.  Many church leaders have abused their authority.  However, all true authority comes from God.  It is God who gives parents authority over their children.  However, He does not want them to abuse that authority.  Rather, they are supposed to image His loving purposes.

These false teachers despise the authority that God gave to the apostles like Peter, Paul, John and others.  They were to lay down a foundation of teaching and principles that Christians could live out and know that they are good with God.  False teachers don’t like what Peter has written.  They don’t like what Paul has written, so they write their own ideas down and promote them against the truth sent by God.

We see each of these components (walking in the flesh, despising authority) in the two examples.  The angels rebelled against God’s authority out of a fleshly desire to have offspring like humans.  The ancient world followed in this rebellion against God for their own fleshly reasons.  Sodom and Gomorrah cast off the restraints of morality even despising those who reminded them of the boundaries.

We must not be deceived.  God is not mocked.  If we sow to the flesh, we will reap corruption from the flesh.  However, if we sow to the Spirit, we will reap eternal life!  Let us follow Jesus and his commands by faith.  We will be tempted and tested.  However, God has a plan for rescuing us and dealing with the wicked around us.  In fact, this is so sure that we can offer salvation to those who are in the camp of the wicked.  Of course, they will not all repent.  However, it is always surprising when people break down and repent of the choices they have made.  Until Jesus comes, let us focus on being teachers of righteousness but also teachers of repentance and grace, teachers of God’s great love for whoever would put their faith in Him.

False Prophets 3 audio