Holy Scripture unveils the heartbreaking reality that false prophets have always been present among the holy people of God. The inspired Peter imbues on the pages of his epistle, “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction” (2nd Peter 2:1, emphasis added). In prior compositions, it has been this author’s humble and sincere intention to once again point the proverbial spotlight upon this devious menace to elucidate the toxic nature of false doctrine. It was established by Holy Writ, most recently, that false teachers come into existence when the irresponsible and dire choice of wrongly dividing the word of truth for convenience is made. A choice that sprouts when Divine truth is abandoned and forgotten by a person, due to the addictive nature of sin. The apostle Paul implements the simile of a gangrene devouring a person’s soul, that can quickly spread and infect those within proximity. Peter further elaborates by promulgating “these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption” (2nd Peter 2:12, emphasis added). It is worth noting that in an echo of Paul’s council to Timothy (2nd Timothy 2:14, 16-18), the Holy Spirit inspires Peter to also bring to the forefront the false teacher’s tainted understanding of Scriptures. Thus, the threat that arises from a contaminated person is his ability to infect others aerially (via public teaching) with his spiritual disease. Peter and Paul coincide that to allow a false teacher to publicly teach his false doctrine is to allow them to “speak evil of the things they do not understand.” This mandate was explicitly ordered to the people of Israel as well. As Moses gave the Law for a second time to the children of Israel in preparation for their entering the promised land, he instructed them “if there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’ – which you have not known – ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 13:1-3, emphasis added). It is amazing to always read of how Jehovah God refined the faith of His people through these trials. Indeed, the great need of keeping His commandments firmly in their minds is being ingrained by the Lord with this ordinance. The Lord God did not ignore the idolatrous culture that was avidly practiced by the previous inhabitants of the land of Canaan. Thus, God prepared His beloved Israel prior to entering into Canaan so that they could withstand the seductive advances of the land’s idols. He made an emphasis of the severity of these promoters of lies by further commanding, “that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst” (Deuteronomy 13:5, emphasis added). The Holy Father reminds Israel of His irrefutable defeat of the Egyptian gods through the Ten Plagues where He proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that He alone is God. He warns them that the same folly they had witnessed in Egypt was also present inside Canaan. Thus, His mandate to them was one that He had already executed upon the gods of Egypt by eradicating them. Ergo, Jehovah God purged the Israelite’s from becoming infected by the spiritual gangrene in Egypt by removing the dead tissue that is idolatry. Let us comprehend that God’s long suffering and mercy toward Egypt is undeniably displayed in the fact that He did not execute His full judgment upon them until the tenth and final plague. No one can deny that the omnipotent God could have destroyed Egypt with a single plague, but observe that instead He chose to use ten. This holy action confirms Jehovah’s plea “‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel’” (Ezekiel 33:11, emphasis added). This veracity of this Divine exclamation exudes the Lord’s bountiful mercy toward His creation. Yet, it also brilliantly manifests the wisdom of why a rebellious sinner must be removed from His people. Pharaoh, several times during the plagues, acknowledged the true power of God and begged of Him for clemency. However, even though the Lord would remove the plague from Egypt (excluding the final plague), Pharaoh would not repent and obdurately rejected God’s command of releasing His people. It was not until the death of all the firstborn of Egypt that Pharaoh finally submitted to the will of God, but sadly only temporarily. Pharaoh’s adamant refusal to concede to Jehovah God’s will once again ensnared him and ultimately led him to his death (Exodus 14:1-31). Due to the Egyptians hardened hearts, their removal in the presence of Israel became inevitable. The Lord demonstrated with this example to Israel both His goodness and His severity (Romans 11:22). It is wise though to recognize that in both instances, the mercy of God is clearly present. Let us recall that false doctrine is a disease of the interior man; a highly contagious disease of the soul. Thus, when they voluntarily elect to remain in that state of deterioration, they become “evil men and impostors [who] will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2nd Timothy 3:13, addition mine). This is evident in the madness exhibited by Pharaoh’s obsession in openly defying Jehovah God. One more lesson given to us from the Holy Spirit found in these events is precisely how Pharaoh contaminated his own kingdom with his venom. Thus, the caution uttered by the Holy Ghost in this pericope is that a venomous tongue can result in the devastating obliteration of an entire kingdom. To be concluded…
