IN 2 PETER 2:1–3, AND THROUGHOUT much of the rest of the chapter, Peter warns against false teachers.

(1) These false teachers emerge from within the believing community—in precisely the way that the most dangerous false prophets in Old Testament times were those who emerged from within the old covenant community (2 Pet. 2:1). False teachers and false prophets are a lot easier to spot when they stand outside the fellowship of God’s people and criticize. A David Hume or a Bertrand Russell seduces far smaller numbers of God’s people than many popular “televangelists.” Even on a smaller scale, the most dangerous false teachers in a local church are those with either little biblical grasp or perverse biblical grasp who in the name of the Gospel twist the community into their particular mold. Expect such people. All of the Bible attests the frequency of their attacks and the tragic damage they cause.

(2) What they “secretly introduce” are “destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them” (2 Pet. 2:2). They never describe their teaching in such terms, of course, nor do they stand in the pulpit and say something like “I disown Jesus” or “I deny that Jesus fully redeemed me from my sin.” If they did, they would be turned out. Their approach is almost always to relativize Jesus, diminish his significance, or allow him to stand as part of the background noise while they direct the attention of believers to their own agenda—legalism, perhaps, or endless self-help, or sentimentalized therapy, or a Jesus who is no more than one of many options. Thus by their teaching they disown the Jesus whose death potentially embraced all, not least these false teachers who nominally submit to him but who in reality domesticate him or reinvent him.

(3) Very often these false teachers are popular (2 Pet. 2:2). In fact, their popularity has two painful effects. In the eyes of many, it legitimizes these teachers—and then their ostensible legitimacy destroys the credibility of genuine Christianity, for their conduct brings “the way of truth into disrepute.”

(4) Quite commonly these false teachers “exploit you” (2 Pet. 2:3). Sometimes this exploitation is blatantly fiscal: always watch where the money goes. At least as commonly it is manipulative: they shape your mind and direction by their fluent storytelling.

(5) God has the last word; the condemnation of these false teachers is inevitable (2 Pet. 2:3). As the following verses (2 Pet. 2:4–10) make clear, God is perfectly capable of saving the righteous remnant and of bringing these false teachers to condemnation.

For each of the preceding five points, think of two examples, one drawn from the Bible and one from Christian history, recent or otherwise.

ISAIAH 19–20 CONTINUES THE prophecies regarding Egypt/Cush. Here I shall outline the flow of thought and then draw out an important lesson for the contemporary world.

Isaiah 19 is divided into two parts. The first is poetic in form (Isa. 19:1–15) and pronounces judgment on Egypt. The details are not sufficiently specific for us to be certain which historical assault on Egypt is in view. Egypt was seized by Esarhaddon (671 B.C.), Ashurbanipal (667), Nebuchadnezzar (568), Cambyses (525), and Alexander the Great (332). Probably the “cruel master” or “fierce king” (Isa. 19:4) is representative of all of them. The lesson for Isaiah’s fellow citizens is the one constantly repeated in this book: do not make alliances with foreign powers; trust God alone. When God acts against Egypt, her religion will not save her (Isa. 19:1–4), nor will the Nile (normally her lifeblood, Isa. 19:5–10), nor her counselors (Isa. 19:11–15).

The second part of Isaiah 19 is in prose (Isa. 19:16–25). The words “in that day” recur (Isa. 19:16, 18, 19, 23, 24)—a sign of the collapsing of the ultimate horizon, the final day of judgment, into the impending historical horizon, much closer to the prophet’s immediate context. Using the categories of the day, Isaiah depicts the time when all of Egypt—even a city like Heliopolis (Isa. 19:18 fn.), formerly the center of the sun-god, Ra—will come under the reign of God. And not Egypt alone: other pagan powers, here represented by Assyria, will unite in common worship of Israel’s God, and there will be peace (compare Isa. 2:2–5). Here is another adumbration of gospel power that draws in men and women from “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9), in line with God’s gracious promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:3b).

The setting of Isaiah 20 is more specific: the Egyptian-backed Philistine revolt against Assyria (713–711 B.C.; cf. Isa. 14:28–31). The passage predicts the destruction of Ashdod, a major city of Philistia. During these three years, Isaiah was told by God to be dressed (or undressed!) like a captive, “stripped and barefoot” (Isa. 20:2), for at least part of each day, until Ashdod fell—and then he gave a stunning interpretation of his action: he was depicting the destruction and captive status, not of Philistia but of Egypt (Isa. 20:4–6). The lesson is obvious: do not trust your future to Egypt; she is a broken reed.

One lesson to learn turns on the fact that this destruction of Egypt did not take place until forty years later (671). Often we demand immediate answers from God. But God took twelve years to bring down Hitler, seventy to bring down the Russian empire, two centuries to humble the British Empire. Reflect on the implications.

IN CHAPTERS 14–16 ISAIAH records oracles against Philistia (to the west of Jerusalem) and against Moab (to the east). Now (Isaiah 17–18) he speaks against Syria to the north (with its capital Damascus) and Cush to the south. Ancient Cush was made up of modern Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somaliland, i.e., a large area south of the fourth cataract of the Nile River. By the late eighth century B.C., Cush had merged with Egypt, which is still in view in chapters 19–20. Indeed the twenty-fifth dynasty, which ruled this huge region, were Ethiopians.

Recall that the crisis King Ahaz of Judah faced in Isaiah 7 was an alliance between Syria and Israel, designed to thwart Assyria; Syria and Israel tried to force Judah to join their alliance. So this oracle is against Damascus (Isa. 17:1) the capital of Syria, and includes Ephraim (Isa. 17:3—another name for the northern kingdom of Israel). Syria and Israel, so threatening to Judah, would soon be destroyed by Assyria. Damascus fell in 732, Samaria ten years later. After their destruction they would be like an emaciated man (Isa. 17:4), like a field after harvest with only a few stalks left (Isa. 17:5), like a grove of olive trees in which the fruit has been plucked and beaten with only a few olives left (Isa. 17:6). The ultimate cause of the destruction of these nations is their idolatry (Isa. 17:7–8), bound up with fertility cults (Isa. 17:10–11).

The means for destroying Syria and Israel is depicted in Isaiah 17:12–14—almost certainly Assyria, which is in turn destroyed. Yet Isaiah speaks of “many nations” (Isa. 17:12): once again we have stumbled across prophetic foreshortening, Assyria serving as a model both of all the means of temporal judgment that God uses, and of the fact that he brings all nations to account, even those his providence has deployed as the club of his wrath (cf. Isa. 10:5).

If there is no help for Judah and Jerusalem in the nations of Israel and Syria (and still less in Assyria), there is also no help in the other regional power, Egypt/Cush (chap. 18). Egypt sends its ambassadors to Judah (and doubtless to other minor states) to try to woo them into their camp (Isa. 18:1). Isaiah speaks to them (Isa. 18:2)—almost certainly he actually speaks to the king in a prophetic oracle about the ambassadors, rather than addressing them directly—and in brilliant rhetoric describes the destruction of their nation. Yet he also heralds a time when Egyptians, just one of the many “people of the world” (Isa. 18:3), will see the banner the Lord raises and bring gifts to “Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD Almighty” (Isa. 18:7).

Why fawn over pagan nations (and thinkers!) when the Lord himself will judge them, and when they will one day bow to him?

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Power for ministry. It’s something every Christian should desire. Not because we want to glorify ourselves or draw attention to our strength or performance. Indeed, the boast of the Christian is always in our weakness, because it’s in our weakness that God’s power is perfected. Our obvious weaknesses makes us rely on God and desperate for His power and grace to fill where we’re lacking. The power we desire is no less than God’s own supernatural power. Here, in Acts, Jesus promises us this power through the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is our point of continuity between our ministry and the powerful ministry of Christ. When John baptized Jesus, the Spirit of God powerfully descended upon Christ and “remained on him” (John 1:32-33). It was the Holy Spirit who anointed Christ to perform many healings, signs, and wonders. In fact, the title “Christ” literally means “anointed one.” So whenever we call Jesus the “Christ” we’re saying, “Jesus is the anointed one.”

Often, when we see the miraculous deeds of Jesus throughout the gospels, we’re inclined to first think of his divine nature – as God – how he has power over his creation. While this is certainly true, surprisingly, the Bible often points to the anointing of the Holy Spirit, rather than Jesus’ deity, as the explanation for his powerful ministry (e.g. Luke 4:18, Acts 10:38). Now Jesus baptizes us with this same Spirit, and as Christians (his anointed ones) we have this supernatural power available to us!

If you’re lacking in power, ask for a fresh outpouring of His Spirit in your life. Jesus has told us in Luke 11, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (v. 13)! God is eager to fill us afresh with His Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). I’m always stirred in the book of Acts to see Spirit-born, Spirit-sealed, Christians repeatedly filled with the Holy Spirit. It reminds us, our experience with the Holy Spirit doesn’t end with conversion, but rather begins there. Seek Him. Seek the power of the Holy Spirit. I’ll end with a prayer that I’m praying myself.

“Father, thank you for sending your promised Spirit. Thank you for saving me, causing new life, and sealing me with your Spirit. Jesus thank you that when you ascended to Heaven, you didn’t leave me as an orphan. You sent me the Helper. Baptize me afresh with your Spirit. I want to be your faithful witness. I need your strength. I need boldness. Lord, use me to do mighty deeds in your name, so that the name of Christ might be lifted up. Spirit, help me to eagerly desire your gifts and to fan them into flame. Fill me today and make me more like Jesus. Help me to walk in step with you and bear your fruit for your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

1 PETER 4 CONTINUES THE THEME of Christian conduct, including unjust suffering. This theme is now increasingly tied to identification with Christ (e.g., 1 Pet. 4:14), to final judgment (1 Pet. 4:5–6, 7, 17), and above all to the will of God: “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good” (1 Pet. 4:19, italics added).

But what does it mean to “do good”? This is spelled out in part in 1 Peter 4:7–11:

(a) We must be “clear minded and self-controlled so that [we] can pray” (1 Pet. 4:7). Self-control is an element of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23). Minds clouded by the heated pursuit of hedonism are not minds that can pray.

(b) We must “love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8). Peter assumes, realistically, that various breaches will occur in the Christian assembly—just as they occur in a family. But in a mature family, the love of each family member for the others covers over the breaches. So also in the church. This does not mean that there are no sins to expose and discipline; the whole New Testament stands against such reductionism. On the other hand, we must face the fact that sins will be committed—and be prepared to cover them over with love. For there is no way back to the innocence of Eden—certainly not by probing each blemish and letting it all hang out, going over the same sins and failures again and again. There is no way back; there is only a way forward—through the cross, to forgiveness and forbearance. Christians must love each other deeply, “because love covers over a multitude of sins.” Mature Christians know their own hearts well enough to realize that they need such love and need to display it.

(c) We must “[o]ffer hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Pet. 4:9). Loving has more to it than forbearing with another’s faults; it has more to it than positive activity such as showing hospitality: it includes how we show such hospitality—not in a grumbling or resentful fashion, but eagerly, graciously, generously.

(d) We must use whatever gifts we have received to serve others (1 Pet. 4:10–11). Peter gives some examples, but his list is not exhaustive. If one is called to speak in the church (for example), it is not a time for showing off or for amusing the goats, but for feeding the sheep, and that means speaking “as one speaking the very words of God” (1 Pet. 4:11). Meditate on Romans 12:6–8.

Everything is to be done in such a way “that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 4:11).

ONE OF THE STRIKING THINGS ABOUT 1 Peter is how Christian conduct is tied to winning a hearing for the Gospel. We saw that theme in yesterday’s meditation. Christians are to live in such a way that even the pagans will be forced to glorify God (1 Pet. 2:12). It is God’s will “that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men” (1 Pet. 2:15). The same theme is developed in chapter 3. Wives with unbelieving husbands should so adorn themselves with a gentle and quiet spirit that their husbands “may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of [their] lives” (1 Pet. 3:2).

Similarly in 1 Peter 3:8–22. This passage includes one of the most difficult texts in the New Testament (1 Pet. 3:18b–21), one I cannot hope to broach here. But it also once again connects Christian conduct with Christian suffering and therefore with Christian witness. This does not mean that Christian conduct has a merely utilitarian function. Christians are not to act in godly ways simply because it increases their credibility for propagandistic purposes. There are many reasons for doing good. We were “called” to it (1 Pet. 3:9); doing good is constitutive of our very identity. Moreover, such behavior inherits blessing from God (1 Pet. 3:9–12). Apart from the horrible exceptions that arise out of corrupt regimes and renegades (all too many of them), a citizen doing good does not have to fear oppression from those in charge of criminal justice systems (1 Pet. 3:13). We ourselves ought to keep a clear conscience before the living God (1 Pet. 3:16). Above all there is the example of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 3:17–18).

But in addition to all these reasons for living godly lives, Peter again connects conduct with witness. Even if we suffer unjustly, we will not live our lives in fear, as pagans must (1 Pet. 3:13). Rather, in our tears we will “set apart Christ as Lord” (1 Pet. 3:15); we will “sanctify” or “consecrate” Christ as Lord. And in this context, we will hear the apostolic injunction: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Pet. 3:15). This is similar to Paul’s “be prepared in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2). Of course such readiness presupposes a heart attitude eager to bear witness and a commitment to grow in apologetic competence. As in so many other areas of life, we learn best how to do it by doing it. But Peter’s immediate point is that as we bear witness, we must do so “with gentleness and respect … so that those who speak maliciously … may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Pet. 3:15, 16).

THE SHORT PARAGRAPH 1 PETER 2:13–17 is filled with moral admonitions found elsewhere in the New Testament. In today’s meditation I shall briefly clarify the main points and observe the supporting themes around the paragraph.

First, like Paul in Romans 13, Peter tells his readers to submit to every properly constituted human authority, and to do so “for the Lord’s sake” (1 Pet. 2:13–14). Implicitly, Peter acknowledges that such human authorities were set up by God, and their proper function (or at least one of them) is to foster justice. Second, it is always God’s will that Christians by doing good “should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men” (1 Pet. 2:15). Behavior stamped by courtesy, respect, and integrity is not itself preaching the Gospel, but it wins a hearing for the Gospel, simultaneously preparing a way for it and authorizing it. Third, our freedom from the law-covenant must never become an excuse for licentiousness: “live as servants of God” (1 Pet. 2:16). Finally, it is always right and good to show proper respect to everyone. Everyone is made in the image of God. But what “proper” means may take on different overtones with different ranks: “Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king” (1 Pet. 2:17).

The surrounding verses provide support for this outlook. (a) Christians are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,” their very existence designed to declare the praise of the One who called them “out of darkness and into his wonderful light” (1 Pet. 2:9). The transformation of Christians’ conduct is the attestation that they really do belong to God (1 Pet. 2:10, 25). (b) This also means that we no longer belong to the world. Here we live “as aliens and strangers” (1 Pet. 2:11). If we do not think in those terms, but are frankly comfortable with the world and its ways, we ought to question whether or not we really belong to the “people belonging to God.” This is the assumption Peter makes when he writes, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Pet. 2:12). (c) If any of this involves hardship or suffering—as it especially did in the case of slaves who belonged to cruel and unjust masters—we can never forget that we follow a Master who himself suffered most unjustly. No moral value attaches to suffering what we deserve; we show ourselves to be followers of Jesus Christ when we suffer unjustly and endure it faithfully. “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Pet. 2:21).

THE SECOND MAJOR SECTION OF Isaiah, chapters 13–27, focuses on the nations. This word of the Lord through Isaiah is not actually delivered to the nations; it is pronounced against the nations but in the ears of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. In a general sense the message is similar to that in the first part of Isaiah (chaps. 1–12): salvation belongs only to the Lord, so he alone is the One to be trusted. The denunciation of the nations therefore includes comforting asides to Judah (e.g., Isa. 14:1–2) and ends with the deliverance of the people of God (chaps. 26–27).

Isaiah 13 is an oracle against Babylon. Because in Isaiah’s time the primary military threat was Assyria and not Babylon, many critics think that this chapter is a later interpolation, written a century and a half later (about 550 B.C.) when Babylon had not only risen to supremacy but was already in decline, threatened by the rising Medo-Persian Empire (see Isa. 13:17). But that view is too skeptical. The introduction to the oracle unambiguously affirms that Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw this vision (Isa. 13:1). Moreover, Isaiah 39 shows that even in Isaiah’s day, though Babylon was not an immediate threat like Assyria, it was already a rising power. Perhaps more important yet, Babylon’s history went back all the way to the Tower of Babel (Gen. 10:9–10; 11:1–9) and thus could serve as a symbol of all nations that defy the God of Israel—a symbolism that persists even in the New Testament (e.g., Rev. 17–18), long after historic Babylon is in eclipse. The ultimate collapse of “Babylon” takes place when “Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth,” who is “drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus” (Rev. 17:5–6), is obliterated in the triumphant dawning of the reign of the Lord God Almighty (Rev. 19:6), the rule of him who is called “Faithful and True” and whose name is “the Word of God” (Rev. 19:11, 13).

Note three features of this oracle. (a) Once again the “day of the LORD” (Isa. 13:6) is bound up not only with the Lord’s coming, but with his coming in judgment. For those opposed to the living God, it is “a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger” (Isa. 13:9). (b) Typical of Hebrew poetry, this day is associated with celestial signs; it is as if all nature has to join in with these events, for their significance is no less than cosmic (Isa. 13:10; cf. Acts 2:20). (c) The heart of the sin that must be overthrown is arrogance (Isa. 13:11, 19).

ISAIAH 1–12 FORMS THE FIRST major division of the book; Isaiah 11–12 closes that division with a picture of the ideal king and the changes he will bring, with the Lord being praised in Zion.

There is a rapid move from the destruction of Assyria in Isaiah 10 to the establishment of the kingdom of God in Isaiah 11. The two are obviously connected theologically: it is God’s initiative that effects both. Nevertheless, there is in Isaiah’s prophecy a massive foreshortening of the historical process.

In the vision by which he was called to prophetic ministry, Isaiah saw a seed springing from the stump, the remnant of Israel (Isa. 6:13). Now Assyria falls like a mighty forest before the ax of God (Isa. 10:33–34)—and a shoot springs from the stump of Jesse (Isa. 11:1), i.e., from the Davidic dynasty. If in Isaiah 4:2 the Branch referred to the remnant, or to the Lord’s saving work through the remnant, here it explicitly refers to the Messiah. “Messiah” simply means “anointed one,” so every anointed king in the Davidic line was in this sense a “messiah.” But only the ultimate Messiah could fill the slot described here. Uniquely empowered by the Spirit of God (Isa. 11:2–3a; cf. John 3:34), his rule is impeccably righteous (Isa. 11:3b–5), the antithesis of the corruption in the nation that has attracted God’s judgment. So perfect and absolute will be Messiah’s rule that death and destruction will die: the ultimate state he introduces will be ideal (Isa. 11:7–9).

Verses 10–16, the second part of chapter 11, unpack some of the symbolic elements of the preceding verses. God’s covenant people are regathered to him (Isa. 11:11–16), but surrounding them are the nations who will also rally to him (Isa. 11:10). The banner raised over this vast assembly (Isa. 11:10, 12) marks Messiah’s rule, “and his place of rest will be glorious” (Isa. 11:10). At one level, the “remnant” thus regathered refers to the survivors of historic Israel (Isa. 11:12), but in the prophetic foreshortening they are also the generation of the elect and faithful people of God in the last days.

The praise of chapter 12 is directed toward “the Holy One of Israel,” one of Isaiah’s titles for God. In chapter 11 the Messiah is among his people and his reign has begun; in chapter 12 God is among his people and is praised. It is hard not to see that the presence of the Messiah and the presence of God are one and the same, just as in Isaiah 9:2–7 the Davidic king is also the mighty God. Here is the consummation of salvation. “The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isa. 12:2–3).

THE THRUST OF ISAIAH 10:5–34 is clear enough. At the beginning and the end (Isa. 10:5–19, 28–34), the emphasis is on the fact that mighty Assyria will herself be crushed after God has used her to punish his own covenant people. In the central section (Isa. 10:20–27), the people of God are encouraged neither to fear nor to rely on Assyria, but to rely on the Lord alone.

I shall begin with this central section (Isa. 10:20–27). One of its great themes is “the remnant.” Judgment will fall, but the people of God wilzl not be wiped out: there will be a remnant. This “remnant of Israel” (Isa. 10:20) probably does not refer to the remnant from the northern kingdom of Israel, but to the remnant of Israelites from the south as well as the north (note the parallel “house of Jacob,” the common ancestor, and “remnant of Jacob,” Isa. 10:20, 21). “Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous” (Isa. 10:22), against “the whole land” (Isa. 10:23). But a remnant will return, not just to a place, but “to the Mighty God” (Isa. 10:21). In the light of such promises, the people of the southern kingdom, God’s “people who live in Zion” (Isa. 10:24), should not be afraid of the Assyrians, even though they are beaten by them. God’s wrath against Israel will end; indeed, it will in short order turn against the Assyrians themselves (Isa. 10:25–27).

That brings us to the sections on either side of Isaiah 10:20–27. At one level the theme is plain enough. The God who uses Assyria to punish his wayward covenant community nevertheless holds Assyria responsible for her own sins, and will ultimately destroy them. The empire that is nothing more than a battle ax in the hand of God, wielded against a rebellious nation (Isa. 10:15), will itself ultimately be axed down by God (Isa. 10:34). The pronouncement of this judgment is designed to foster faith and perseverance on the part of the remnant.

There is an important subsidiary theological theme in this chapter; the biblical tension between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility surfaces in powerful ways. God uses mighty Assyria as if it were nothing but a tool in his hands (Isa. 10:5, 15). He himself dispatches Assyria to punish Israel (Isa. 10:6). Assyria, of course, is totally unaware of God’s control. Nevertheless, she is held responsible for her own actions and attitudes, not least her arrogance and pride (Isa. 10:7–11, 13–14). So God will punish her (Isa. 10:12). This tension between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility is not to be despised or rejected, but seized with gratitude, for it will preserve us both from denying the reality of evil and from imagining that evil could ultimately triumph. Meditate on Acts 2:23; 4:27–28.