God Has Plans for the Wicked

2 Peter 2:17-22
17These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

We had a little terrier dog when I was a kid who used to eat grass on occasion. My dad told me it was because her stomach was upset and eating grass helped make her vomit and then she would feel better. I had absolutely no idea if that was true, but hey, I was a kid and believed every word my dad told me. I searched that myth on Google, and it’s not true. But – I did watch in horror as that dog would return to that vomit and consume it again. Apparently that’s been the practice of dogs for over 2,000 years, because Peter accesses the practice with these words about those who would lead Christ-followers astray.

This passage is difficult to read, for there are no punches pulled. God has a plan for dealing with unrepentant wickedness. And while we think our times can be shrouded in darkness, remember that Peter wrote these words 2,000 years ago. He saw that same darkness and felt the same alarm we feel. The phrase that runs through my minds is “it doesn’t have to be this way.”

While God acknowledges the darkness that surrounds us, He is also the Light of the World. Should false teachers arise to drag us away, we can turn to them in the name and power of Jesus Christ and say, “no – not me. I call on the name of Jesus alone.” In that case, the darkness has to flee. We do not have to be like the dog that returns to its vomit. The old life of separation from God is gone and can claim us no more.

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