2 Peter 2:17-19 Revised Standard Version

17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for them the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved. 18 For, uttering loud boasts of folly, they entice with licentious passions of the flesh men who have barely escaped from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved.

13. What is the significance of “waterless springs and mists driven by a storm”?

I accidentally skipped ahead and feel like this might not be as productive as normal.

This imagery is similar to a boat without a rudder that is tossed this way and that by the waves. The waterless springs and mists have no foundation and go along with whatever storm moves them. People without a moral conviction follow whatever is before them. It is a senseless existence. This was a little more opaque than normal.

14. What does “nether gloom of darkness” mean to you? Does it remind you of Job?

To me this is the chaos before creation and is the sensory deprivation that can be associated with existing eternally in hell without the ability to related to God or anything and simply continue in a state of isolation.

15. Folly was my favorite word of the day. What does it mean to you?

To me it means spending effort on something that has no value. Plain and simple. I do too much of this.

16. Again, with Licentious. Enticing men? What kind of men are being enticed?

All men.

17. Barely escaped from those who live in error. Is error the correct term? I see it as an accident. But here it seems to refer to those who follow wicked ways. Is this a reference to us barely escaping? Or is there another meaning hidden here?

The basic part is that God sets what is right and the error is in not following what God wants. The accident is potentially not knowing what God wants. Being wicked is doing something God does not want done. Us barely escaping is that it was not our skills or ability that kept us from the same, but that Jesus did the work for us, and God allows us to take credit for it. There are probably many hidden meanings, but we need to be thankful for our lot in life.

18. What kind of freedom is good freedom? Is this corruption not the same as sin that enslaves us? Whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved. How little does it take to overcome a man?

The good freedom is from the penalty of sin. The freedom here that is desired is the freedom from the power of sin. We can choose not to sin. The freedom that is enticing is the freedom to sin and try to ignore the guilt of it. Man can be enslaved by the simplest of things, it only takes putting yourself before God in any fashion to create the corruption and sin and downward spiral of enslavement.

Peter’s goal is to remind us that if we try to overcome on our own, we fail. If we rely on God, we succeed. The concept is simple. He is trying to show how all encompassing our need to be led is. Even food or drink or work or family or any good thing can trip us up. How much more so the trappings of the flesh, the enticements of the world, and the devious efforts of the wicked?