BEWARE OF BEING ‘EXPLOITED WITH COUNTERFEIT WORDS’

9. (a) What motivates corrupt men to try to build up a following? (b) What will happen to such men and those who are deceived by them?

⁹ What motivates such corrupt men to build up a following for themselves? The apostle Peter answers: “With covetousness they will exploit you with counterfeit words.” (2 Peter 2:3a) These individuals seek to gain material advantages for themselves or want the power, authority and honor that come with being looked up to as teachers. By means of “counterfeit words,” that is, deceitful statements, including plausible arguments, they endeavor to take advantage of others, exploiting them. Since both the motivations and the teachings are wrong, the result to the individuals involved is ruin. The apostle Peter continues:

“As for them, the judgment from of old is not moving slowly, and the destruction of them is not slumbering.

2 Peter 2:3

10. (a) When was the first expression of God’s judgment against the ‘serpent’s seed’ made? (b) Why is its execution “not moving slowly”?

¹⁰ The executional judgment that God has decreed “from of old” against all who come to belong to the ‘serpent’s seed’ will without fail be carried out. (Genesis 3:15; John 8:44; Jude 14, 15) Though originally stated about 6,000 years ago and repeated since then, this judgment is “not moving slowly” as if it will never arrive. The destruction is sure to come, for it is not dormant. It is still very much alive in God’s purpose.