Where Angels Fear to Tread 

Introduction:

Peter Gets Emotional—Pay Attention

One thing the Holy Spirit does in this passage to get our attention is to unleash Peter’s emotion. 2 Peter 2 is a long, fierce, highly emotional condemnation of false teachers. You can tell Peter was worked up emotionally because of the short, rapid-fire, sometimes incomplete sentences, the piling up of accusations, the length of the rebuke, and the extremely sharp language. The Holy Spirit is teaching us here that this is a matter of grave importance that needs our full attention.

But not just a grave matter—we’re going to find some crucial insights into one of God’s most wonderful attributes.

Review: Stockpiling Wrath

We left off last time in v.9 with God holding all unbelievers in custody for judgment.

2 Peter 2:9 The Lord knows how … to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment while continuing their punishment.

Any time you’re upset because you think someone is getting away with his evil deeds, just remember Romans 2:5. The only thing that’s happening in the delay between now and Judgment Day is they are just storing up wrath against themselves for the day of God’s wrath. Every day they aren’t punished for their sin is just another addition to the stockpile of wrath that’s coming for them.

That’s true of all unbelievers, but Peter says:

2 Peter 2:10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise lordship.[1]

That’s a description of the false teachers. They are especially deserving of punishment from God because of two sins: following their flesh and despising lordship. Then Peter goes on to elaborate on how they commit those two sins from here all the way down through v.16. He takes them in reverse order. So despising lordship first.

The Sin: Despising Lordship

What “Despise” Really Means

The first thing we need to understand about this is that the word “despise” isn’t what it sounds like. When you see that word in the Bible, it doesn’t mean hate. It means to think little of or to assign low value to something.

A good example is my attitude about St. Patrick’s Day. I don’t hate that holiday, I don’t dislike it, I don’t mind it at all. I might even like it a little bit, but mostly, I just don’t care about it. Ever since I got out of the third grade and I don’t have to worry about people pinching me for not wearing green, from that point on, St. Patrick’s Day has no impact on how I live life. It can come and go without me even noticing.

That’s what despising means in the Bible. It means to have the same attitude toward something that you have toward the Bozeman, Montana girls’ lacrosse team. You don’t love them, you don’t hate them—they just don’t matter to you one way or the other.

Despising God’s Lordship

And Peter says that’s how the false teachers felt about God’s lordship. His authority and ownership of them. It’s the same issue we saw back in v.1.

2 Peter 2:1 … They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them

The fact that God owns them and has authority over them has the same impact their decision making as St. Patrick’s Day has on mine.

Are We Guilty of This?

That word “despise” is important because it gets to the heart of the issue. Peter doesn’t just say they disobey God’s authority. The real problem is how much sway it has in their hearts. You can obey a rule for one reason or another and still have a low view of it. What God cares about is how important it is in your heart.

And when you think about it that way, you realize this isn’t just a problem with false teachers. We all have the root of this sin in our hearts to some degree. It’s why we sin. Every time we choose to do wrong, it’s because we are thinking too little of God’s authority. It doesn’t matter to us as much as it should.

Human authority matters to us. You don’t intentionally run a stop sign right in front of a cop. If people break the rules at work, they don’t do it right in front of the boss. But when I choose to cave in to a temptation even though God is right there with his eyes on me, what am I saying? I’m saying, “I’ll just defy God right now. He said don’t do this, he has the authority to say that, but I’m just going to ignore his authority and do as I please.”

When you’re all alone and temptation rises, you consider numerous factors. Will someone find out? Is this something that I’ll regret? Will it cause problems for me? Will there be some consequences? Those are all wise questions to ask, but it’s also good to get in the habit of asking a question that’s far more important than all those. Do I take God’s authority seriously? Even if no one’s going to find out, there’s no negative consequences I can foresee, it’s not going to hurt anyone or cause any trouble—is just the mere fact that God said no a strong force in my decision-making? Do I tremble at the idea of taking on God? Or does his lordship mean little to me?

When Angels Fear to Tread

So we would all do well to work on increasing our regard for God’s authority. None of us has as much as we should. But for these men, their regard for God’s lordship was next to zero. When you and I stumble into disregarding God’s authority, once we come to our senses and repent, we bow the knee. But for these false teachers, God’s authority meant nothing and they didn’t repent. They were in an ongoing state of despising God’s lordship.

And how did that flesh out in their lives, Peter? Give us an example of them despising God’s lordship.

Peter says, “Okay,” but it’s been a couple verses since Peter has hit us with an unexpected twist, so he’s due. And here it comes. Of all the sins in their lives that Peter could have pointed to to illustrate their lack of respect for God’s authority, here’s what he says:

Arrogant Slander of Celestial Beings

10 … these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings

That’s his big example of how they disregard God’s lordship? Of all the terrible things these guys were doing, that’s what Peter picks as the prime example of their rebellion against God? Think of all the worst church scandals you’ve heard of in the church. The most shameful sins church leaders have been guilty of that show rebellion against God’s authority. Have you ever heard of one where the guy slandered a celestial being? If it’s embezzlement of church funds or a sex scandal or something illegal, it makes the news. But have you ever seen a headline, “Local pastor caught slandering celestial beings”? Have you ever heard of a pastor being fired for doing this? Have you ever even been tempted to slander celestial beings? Isn’t that kind of obtuse? I mean, maybe it’s something they shouldn’t do, but is it really that big a deal?

Who Are the Glories?

That question gets even more perplexing when you consider who the celestial beings are. Literally, the word is “glories.” “These men are not afraid to slander glories.” Who are the glories? It’s not God, because it’s plural. Could it be angels? I don’t think so because look what he says next.

2 Peter 2:10 … Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander glories. 11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against them[2] in the presence of the Lord.

Not even angels will slander the glories, so the glories are someone other than angels. So if it’s not God and it’s not angels, who’s left?

Most commentators say it’s a reference to demons, and I think that’s correct.

Demons in the Created Order

Now, the obvious objection that comes to mind is that glory is associated mostly with God. Are demons glorious?

Well, everything God created has some degree of glory. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul describes the differences in the things God created, and he says this:

1 Corinthians 15:40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

Everything God made has some form of glory or splendor. And the beings in the heavenly realms (Scripture calls them the sons of God) are higher than beings on earth.

Psalm 8:4 … What is man? … 5 You made him a little lower than the sons of God.

Sons of God refers not only to good angels, but also rebellious ones. Remember, it was the sons of God who came down and married human women before the flood. So I think the NIV gets v.10 exactly right when it says the false teachers slander “celestial beings.” And when Psalm 8 says we are lower than them, it shows that the celestial beings are a higher order of being than humans. Celestial beings are up here, then below them are humans, and at the bottom are animals and plants and the rest of the physical creation that mankind is supposed to rule over.

So it’s not a problem that Peter calls demons glories. He does that to drive home the point he’s making about why this was a despising of God’s lordship. I’ll get back to that in a minute, but first I should tell you, there are numerous other views on what it means that they slandered glories, and there isn’t time to list all of them, much less give all the arguments for and against each one. But let me just give you the biggest reason why I think it’s talking about demons.

The Parallel in Jude

It’s because of the parallel section in the book of Jude. Jude and 2 Peter 2 are very similar, parallel passages—sometimes word-for-word the same. So Jude can give us insight. And here’s the Jude passage:

Jude 1:8 .. these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject lordship and slander glories.

So Peter says the false teachers despise lordship and slander glories, and Jude says the false teachers reject lordship and slander glories. Then Peter says, “But even angels don’t do this.” But look what Jude says.

Jude 1:9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil … did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

So can you see why I think the glories are demons? Both Peter and Jude say, “These men aren’t afraid to slander glories,” then Peter says, “but not even angels slander them” and Jude says, “but not even the archangel slandered the devil.”[3]

How Slandering Demons Defies God

Okay, so these guys slandered demons—how is that an example of despising God’s lordship? And what’s wrong with slandering demons or Satan anyway? Are we supposed to be polite to the devil? Does Peter want us to be nice to demons so we don’t hurt their feelings?

No. If a preacher preaches about Satan and demons and repeats all the negative things the Bible says about them, that’s good. This isn’t about being polite to them. It’s about knowing your place in the created order. As we saw in Psalm 8, humans are beneath the celestial beings.

They’re up here, humans below them, and animals below us. That’s God’s created order.

When the false teachers slandered demons, they were subverting that order. So that’s how slandering demons shows a low regard for God’s lordship. They were disregarding God’s created order. They were treating celestial beings as inferiors. Any time you slander someone, you’re placing yourself above that person. That’s why we’re not supposed to slander fellow humans.

Romans 14:4 … To his own master he stands or falls.

James 4:11 Brothers, do not slander one another. … 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you–who are you to judge your neighbor?

When you slander someone, you’re putting yourself in a place of superiority over that person—or celestial being.

When people want to use profanity, the way to be profane is to take something that’s holy or sacred and drag it down to the level of the common. So people will say, Jesus Christ, God, holy this, holy that. But they also say things like hell or damn. Why are those words profane? Because damnation and eternal hell are very serious spiritual realities. And so are demons. So not even angels slander them.

2 Peter 2:10 … Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; 11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.

Angels are far stronger and more powerful than humans. They actually are at the same level as those other celestial beings. They’re at the same level, but not above them, so not even angels act like they are above the demons.

And if not even angels will do it, it’s really arrogant for human beings to think they can do it. These false teachers are the fools who rush in where angels literally fear to tread.

Bold

Look again at what Peter says in v.10.

2 Peter 2:10 … Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings.

The word “bold” indicates people who claim rank, authority, or ability to which they are not entitled. Imagine I got hired at a huge, prestigious law firm. I’ve had the job for 2 weeks, working in the mailroom. And I see a big board of directors meeting. So I just walk right into the meeting and take a seat and start spouting all my ideas about the company.

What would that say about my character? I think even secular people would say that’s a pride problem.

What if some of those board members were bad people? That’s irrelevant. Me thinking I could just walk in there and start mouthing off after two weeks in the mail room would show that I don’t know my place. That’s what this word “bold” means.

Arrogant

The other word is translated arrogant (your Bible might say “willful” or “self-willed”). It literally means “self-pleasing.”[4] This is a person who cares only about getting his way, regardless of how it affects anyone else. The exact opposite of Philippians 2:3.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

These people do exactly the opposite of that. They use their position of leadership to just ride roughshod over people. That’s a trait that Titus 1:7 flat-out says disqualifies someone from being a pastor. An arrogant man is disqualified.

Those two terms—bold and self-pleasing—often go together because the more someone gets an elevated opinion of himself, the more self-serving he becomes. If he thinks he’s above the celestial beings, he’s certainly above you.

Silent in God’s Presence

The lower your regard for God’s authority and his created order, the less humility the person will have. Notice, it says the angels don’t slander them “before the Lord.” Angels stand in the presence of God. One thing about standing right there in God’s presence—that has a way of keeping you in your place.

A few times in this message already I’ve told you, “This Greek word means this,” or “a literal translation would be this….” And I say that with some authority, as someone who has studied Greek a long time. But I’m definitely not a Greek scholar. Suppose we had Daniel Wallace in our group. He’s a New Testament Greek scholar who writes Greek textbooks. If he were sitting here, I might not sound quite as authoritative in my pronouncements. It would be more like, “Dr. Wallace, correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I can tell, it seems like the word means this.” Why? Because I have a high view of his authority in NT Greek. When you’ve got the ultimate authority in the room, you’re not overly bold in your pronouncements.

When angels speak, and God is standing right there, they don’t run off at the mouth about other exalted beings or place themselves above their peers. Why? Because they have a high view of God’s lordship as revealed in the created order. They think, “If God made us peers, then we’re peers. We’re not going to elevate ourselves above that.”

But the false teachers didn’t regard God’s lordship, so they were fine with contravening the created order.

How Did They Slander Them?

So what were the false teachers saying about the demons that was so slanderous? Peter doesn’t tell us.

One possibility is that they mocked their very existence. The people in ch.3 doubt the Second Coming and Judgment Day. People who do that are generally also people who either doubt the existence of the spiritual realm altogether or think very little of it. If you tell those people, “You have to really be on alert, because the devil prowls around like a lion, and if you’re not careful, he’ll devour you”—they’ll say, “Seriously? You’re saying I need to be afraid of a little red man with a pitchfork and horns? Come on.” That’s one way to slander or belittle celestial beings. People do that every Halloween.

Maybe they were doing that. More likely, they believed demons existed but they were elevating themselves above demons in their teaching. Many times, false teachers will try to impress people by speaking authoritatively about the spiritual world. They go beyond what the Bible says and tell you all kinds of things from their personal experience. “Demons do this, and they have these names, and they are really concentrated in that part of town.”

And if someone asks, “How do you know that?” they’ll say, “I heard it from the demons. I’ve dealt with a lot of demons and this is what I’ve learned.”

Be careful when you hear people talk like that because demons’ full-time job is deception.

2 Peter 2:12 these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand.

They make all kinds of authoritative pronouncements, and Peter says, “They don’t even know what they’re talking about.”

Anyone who ever talks about spiritual things that aren’t in the Bible is out of his depth. There is no truth about God, the spiritual world, or the Christian life that can be figured out through human reasoning or research that isn’t in the Bible. And when you try to figure out spiritual truth through natural human reasoning, that’s like a donkey trying to figure quadratic equations. Nobody is so intelligent or so spiritual that they can figure out one single truth that isn’t in the Bible.

Another possibility is that these men weren’t making things up about demons, but they were acting like authorities over the demons—rebuking them or casting them to the pit or ordering them here or there or speaking mockingly to them. People who do that imagine themselves to be the demons’ superiors, and they take pride in that.

There was a group of men that Jesus once gave authority over demons. He gave the Apostles that power along with other miraculous powers to validate them as his spokesman. But even them, after they had cast out a bunch of demons, Jesus said:

Luke 10:20 Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you

Even when the Lord grants us victory over evil spirits, still, we need to remember our place in the created order.

The Consequence: Dying Like Animals

So look what happens to these men who try to elevate themselves higher than their proper place in God’s order.

2 Peter 2:12 … They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.

They think, “I’m higher than the angels!” And God says, “Actually, you’re more like cattle. You try to elevate yourself all the way up above the celestial beings—higher than the highest place in the created order. But in reality, you’re all the way at the bottom, below humans, down there with the animals.”

That’s what happens when you try to monkey with the created order. You can change your place in the hierarchy, but not upward. Only downward. The more they try to exalt themselves, the more debased them become.

Which Sins Are the Worst?

The reason it seems strange to us that Peter would use this as the big example of why they were so deserving of hell is that we naturally think of the severity of sin in terms of how it affects people. If someone does something that dishonors God, but it doesn’t seem to hurt any humans, it doesn’t feel that serious to us. We measure everything based on how it affects people rather than the glory of God because people tend to be more important in our hearts than God’s glory. That’s why pastors get fired for embezzlement or adultery or being violent, but no pastor ever gets fired for slandering celestial beings.

But passages like this show us how much we need to adjust our attitudes to align with reality. Anything we do that subverts God’s created order is evil. It is harmful to humanity and, more importantly, it is dishonoring to God because when God created everything the way he created it, he said, “It is very good.”

The created order is beautiful. It’s good. It’s beneficial. And that’s why it’s such a bad thing when humans think they’re at liberty to adjust it.

Modern Rebellion Against Divine Design

And this is relevant in our day because the world wants to rebel against the created order at every turn. Evolutionists want to drag humans down to the level of animals. And at the same time, above the spiritual world. They aren’t the least bit afraid to mock the very existence of angels or demons or God himself. Above God and below the animals.

They say, “How about we redefine marriage? God said it’s one man and one woman together for life—let’s make it something else. God said sex belongs within the confines of marriage, let’s totally detach it from marriage. God created male and female, and his design is for men to be masculine and to look and act like men, and for women to be feminine and to look and act like women—how about we twist that around and make women like men and men like women? For that matter, let’s just shuffle the genders around like a deck of cards. Those are just as much a part of the created order as gravity and the laws of physics, which, by the way, are a great way to understand what it means to accept God’s authority in the created order.

Learning from Gravity

Take gravity. God doesn’t have to say, “Thou shalt not jump off cliffs” because we all understand gravity enough to where we don’t need to be told. But suppose someone says, “But I LOVE jumping off cliffs! I don’t agree with gravity.”

Well, you might not like it, but that’s how the world works. God created the world in a way that says, “In the day you jump, you will surely die.”

What? God’s going to KILL me just for jumping off a cliff? Why is he so harsh?”

Is gravity harsh? It is if you rebel against it. But if you accept it and learn to embrace it, it can actually be a lot of fun. You can use it for skiing or water slides or golfing. Plus you have the added benefit of not flying off into space. If you don’t resist it and just go along with it, gravity becomes a wonderful thing.

The same goes for the rest of the physical world. An object in motion tends to stay in motion. The speed of light. The conservation of energy. The laws of aerodynamics. That’s all God’s beautiful created order.

Maybe you don’t like it. You’re not a fan of electromagnetism. You think light goes way too fast. You don’t like it that water expands when it freezes. You have two choices. Fight against it or embrace it and enjoy it. Fight against those things and you lose every time. Life’s going to be rough. Accept them and embrace them, and they can be your best friend. Life can be great.

And all of that is true in the spiritual realm as well. A man wants to look in order to lust. He thinks, “I’m all alone, no one will know, I can get away with this.” That’s like saying, “I’m all alone at the top of this cliff. I can jump off and no one will ever know.” Maybe they won’t, but gravity doesn’t care. You can ignore God’s design at the top of the cliff, but by the time you reach the bottom, God’s design won’t bend. God’s design always wins.

From Arrogance to the Slaughter

So did gravity catch up to those false teachers? It sure did.

2 Peter 2:12 … They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed

They tried to elevate themselves to the top of the created order, and ended up at the very bottom with the animals. They thought, “Look at us—we’re way up here above the celestial beings!” and God said, “Actually, you’re more like cattle.” It’s just like what happened to Nebuchadnezzar, when he got all puffed up with pride and thought he was the king of the world, and so God made him crawl on all fours like an animal.

These men didn’t literally crawl around like animals, but their lives took on the same meaning as animals. Peter says:

2 Peter 2:12 … They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed

If you’re a cow, the meaning of life—the reason you exist, is to be food. You’re born for the purpose of being slaughtered. It shouldn’t be like that for any human, but for people who disregard God’s created order, that’s what they turn their lives into. Exalt yourself and God will humble you. Like the rich oppressors in James 5:5, where James says, “You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.”

Align with the Architect

The Portrait of True Godliness

So what’s the practical application of all this for us? Do you see what Peter calls them in v.13?

2 Peter 2:13 … They are blots and blemishes

But to us Peter says:

2 Peter 3:14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to [Christ’s coming], make every effort to be found without blot and without blemish

Same two words. And that’s not the only place where Peter says, “Here’s what the false teachers do” and then uses those same words in the negative form to describe what the ideal for the Christian life is. These men were living the opposite of the ideal Christian life. So if you just go through chapter 2 and turn every description to the exact opposite, you get a beautiful portrait of the perfect Christian life. The practical application for everything he’s saying in chapter 2 is the exact opposite of what he describes.

Delight in God’s Design

So let’s try that with today’s passage. The false teachers think little of God’s authority by disregarding the created order. So the application for us is to make much of this attribute of God—his authority, and to embrace his created order.

Maybe it doesn’t make sense to you that marriage would be one man and one woman together for life. Two choices: fight against the created order or accept it and embrace it. Resist God’s designs for sex, male and female, morality, and everything else, and it will be like walking off a building. It will be bad for you and harmful to humanity.

Or, you can accept the fact that God is God, embrace his authority and lordship as the designer of life, trust that he knows the best way for things to be, and get in step with it, and that will bring life and flourishing and joy.

Any time you come across a command in Scripture that seems odd—you don’t understand why God would command it, remind yourself that you’re like a child who wonders if gravity is really a good idea. Even if you can’t see why God would require such a thing, you can trust that he knows the best way to order his creation.

As Christians, we don’t just submit to God’s authority; we love it because his authority is to our advantage. We obey him because he is the architect of the universe and the author of life. Aligning ourselves with his way puts us in sync with the created order. There is a profound rest that comes to the soul when we stop warring against God’s design.

We love having a Father who is in charge of everything. You want your protector and provider to have ultimate authority. We love being declared righteous by a Judge who cannot be overturned or appealed. We love knowing for sure that his way is the best path through life. And we love it that every time God commands something, he’s revealing a piece of his nature to us. For us, God’s Lordship isn’t a restrictive chain or a heavy burden. It’s the very ground beneath our feet. It is solid and stable.

So we say with the psalmist:

Psalm 119:97 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. … 127 Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, 128 and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path. 129 Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them. 130 The unfolding of your words gives light.

Summary

These men slandered demons, which showed a low view of God’s authority because God is the one who set celestial beings higher than humans. The result was they ended up like beasts. The effort to excel higher than the human station brought them lower than the human station.

[1] The Greek word for Lord is kurios. This word iskuriotes.

[2] Some take the glories to be angels and “them” to refer to the false teachers. So the meaning would be that the false teachers are not afraid to slander angels, yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against those false teachers. Even when slandered, the angels don’t slander back. But I don’t see what the relevance of the angels’ forbearance would be for Peter’s point.

[3] Sometimes Peter uses the same words as Jude but makes a different point, but when he does that, he makes it clear. If the words are ambiguous and it could go either way, I think it’s safest to assume the meaning is not drastically different.

[4] αὐθάδεις—this adjective in plural form derives from the pronoun αὐτός (self) and the verb ἥδομαι (I am pleased with).

[2] From ch.7.