But there were false prophets also among the
people
As well as holy men of God, who gave out prophecies, by the
inspiration and impulse of the Holy Spirit; that is, among the
people of the Jews, God's professing people, whose God was the
Lord, and who had chosen them to be a special and peculiar
people, above all people of the earth; and had distinguished them
by his favours from all others: among these, though the Syriac
version reads "in the world", there were false prophets, who ran,
and were not sent; and who prophesied, and the Lord spake not to
them: of these there were many in Jeremiah's time, and in the
times of Ezekiel; and in Ahab's time, besides the four hundred
and fifty prophets of Baal, slain by Elijah, there were four
hundred that called themselves the prophets of the Lord; among
whom went forth a lying spirit, encouraging Ahab to go up to
Ramoth Gilead, promising him prosperity and success; Zedekiah the
son of Chenaanah, with whom Micaiah, the true prophet, had much
contention, was at the head of them; and such there were among
that people in all ages, until the times of Christ, and in his
likewise; see ( Matthew 7:15
) now from these, by an easy transition, the apostle proceeds to
another part of his design in this epistle, to describe the
characters of false teachers under the present dispensation, that
saints may beware, and avoid their pernicious principles and
practices:
even as there shall be false teachers among
you;
which need not to be wondered at, or stumble any, it being no new
or strange thing, but what was always more or less the case of
the people of God. This is a prophecy of what should be, and
agrees with the prediction of our Lord, ( Matthew
24:11 Matthew
24:24 ) and which regards not only the times immediately
following, in which it had a remarkable fulfilment, for false
teachers now began to arise, and appeared in great numbers in the
age succeeding the apostles, but to all periods of time from
hence, to the second coming of Christ; and these were to spring
from, and be among such that bore the Christian name, and so
regards not Mahometans and Deists; and it is to be observed, that
the phrase is varied in this clause, and these are called not
"prophets" but "teachers": because as prophecy was more peculiar
to the former dispensation, so is teaching to the present:
who privily shall bring in damnable heresies:
errors in the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel; such as relate
to a trinity of persons in the Godhead; and to the person of
Christ, to his proper deity, distinct personality, eternal
sonship, and real humanity; and to his office as Mediator,
rejecting him as the true Messiah, and as the only Saviour of
sinners; denying his sacrifice and satisfaction, and the
imputation of his righteousness; and to the Holy Spirit, his
deity, personality, and divine influences and operations: these
are "damnable", or "destructive", or "heresies of destruction";
which lead to eternal destruction both those that introduce and
propagate them, and those that embrace and profess them; for they
remove, or attempt to remove, the foundation of eternal life and
happiness: the manner in which these are usually introduced is
"privily"; at unawares, secretly, under a disguise, and
gradually, by little and little, and not at once, and openly; and
which is the constant character and practice of such men, who lie
in wait to deceive, creep into churches at unawares, and into
houses privately; and insinuate their principles under specious
pretences and appearances of truth, using the hidden things of
dishonesty, walking in craftiness, handling the word of God
deceitfully, and colouring things with false glosses and feigned
words: and even denying the Lord that bought them; not the Lord
Jesus Christ, but God the Father; for the word (kuriov) is not here used, which always
is where Christ is spoken of as the Lord, but (despothv) ; and which is expressive of
the power which masters have over their servants {i}, and which
God has over all mankind; and wherever this word is elsewhere
used, it is spoken of God the Father, whenever applied to a
divine person, as in ( Luke 2:29 ) ( Acts 4:24 ) ( 2 Timothy
2:21 ) ( Revelation
6:10 ) and especially this appears to be the sense, from the
parallel text in ( Jude 1:4 ) where the Lord
God denied by those men is manifestly distinguished from our Lord
Jesus Christ, and by whom these persons are said to be bought:
the meaning is not that they were redeemed by the blood of
Christ, for Christ is not intended; and besides, whenever
redemption by Christ is spoken of, the price is usually
mentioned, or some circumstance or another which fully determines
the sense; see ( Acts 20:28 ) ( 1
Corinthians 6:20 ) ( 7:23 )
( Ephesians
1:7 ) ( 1 Peter 1:18
1 Peter
1:19 ) ( Revelation
5:9 ) whereas here is not the least hint of anything of this
kind: add to this, that such who are redeemed by Christ are the
elect of God only, the people of Christ, his sheep and friends,
and church, and who are never left to deny him so as to perish
eternally; for could such be lost, or deceive, or be deceived
finally and totally by damnable heresies, and bring on themselves
swift destruction, Christ's purchase would be in vain, and the
ransom price be paid for nought; but the word "bought" regards
temporal mercies and deliverance, which these men enjoyed, and is
used as an aggravation of their sin in denying the Lord; both by
words, delivering out such tenets as are derogatory to the glory
of the divine perfections, and which deny one or other of them,
and of his purposes, providence, promises, and truths; and by
works, turning the doctrine of the grace of God into
lasciviousness, being disobedient and reprobate to every good
work; that they should act this part against the Lord who had
made them, and upheld them in their beings and took care of them
in his providence, and had followed them with goodness and mercy
all the days of their lives; just as Moses aggravates the
ingratitude of the Jews in ( Deuteronomy
32:6 ) from whence this phrase is borrowed, and to which it
manifestly refers: "do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people
and unwise! is not he thy Father that hath bought thee? hath he
not made thee, and established thee?" nor is this the only place
the apostle refers to in this chapter, see ( 2 Peter 2:12
2 Peter
2:13 ) compared with ( Deuteronomy
32:5 ) and it is to be observed, that the persons he writes
to were Jews, who were called the people the Lord had redeemed
and purchased, ( Exodus 15:13
Exodus
15:16 ) and so were the first false teachers that rose up
among them; and therefore this phrase is very applicable to them:
and bring upon themselves swift destruction;
either in this life, being suddenly cut off in the midst of their
days, and by the immediate hand of God, as Arius and other
heretics have been; or eternal damnation in the other, which
their tenets lead unto, and which will swiftly come upon them
when they are promising themselves peace and safety.