False Advertisement

One seafood restaurant by our house in Texas has a large sign painted on their wall – “Free crabs tomorrow.” People know it’s false – if anyone were to ask for the free crabs, they would say, “Tomorrow.” The next day, too, they would say, “Tomorrow.” And so on. Over the past several decades, several companies have been sued for millions of dollars for false advertising. Yogurts claim to have special yeasts; cereals claim to make children smarter; shoes promise to burn more calories; memory aids promise to defeat dementia, etc.

False teachers are also good at false advertisements. Peter cautioned his readers.

“The false teachers are waterless springs and rainclouds driven away by a whirlwind because, with their boastful and empty neighing, they entice with flesh’s sensual desires those who had barely escaped a lifestyle of wandering. Promising them freedom, they enslave them to corruption, and the followers become enslaved to that which they’ve overcome.” (2 Pet 2:18–19)

Imagine wandering in the wilderness and coming to a place with a sign “Freshwater Spring,” and upon drawing near it, finding it empty! Or going through a drought and finally seeing a raincloud approaching only to be driven away by a whirlwind. The spring and the raincloud give hope, only for the hope to be destroyed by no water. Similarly, false teachers boast and neigh empty words that entice people, giving them hope [Peter repeatedly compared false teachers to animals, including referring to their loud sounds as neighing!]. But when they draw near to the false teachers, they find emptiness or them being entangled in their flesh’s sensual desires. The new believers had left their wandering lifestyle and came to faith with the hope of blessedness, only to be driven back to another set of sexuality and sinfulness. What the false teachers promised weren’t blessings at all; instead, they’ve entered a more destructive lifestyle than the ones they knew earlier. They promised them freedom but delivered them to slavery.

By damaging their followers’ lives, the false teachers also harm themselves.

“If, after escaping the world’s defilement because of knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again get entangled and become defeated, the latter stage has become worse than the former. It would have been better for them not to know the way of righteousness than to know and turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. The proverbs have become true of them: A dog returns to its vomit and a washed pig returns to rolling in mud.” (2 Pet 2:20–22)

Dogs and pigs didn’t know how to stay clean. Eating their vomit or rolling in mud after a bath was normal to them. Sadly, returning to evil practices was second nature to the false teachers; their latter evil acts were worse off than the previous evil practices.

David Koresh was a great Bible teacher in the early days of his ministry. Many followed him, and they were known as the Branch Dravidians. Eventually, allegations of polygamy, statutory rape, and physical and sexual abuse of children came. Rightly or wrongly, the American government decided to invade the Branch Dravidians. Instead of surrendering and defending their case in court, they held off for 51 days, shot the law enforcers, and set the complex on fire. Ultimately, seventy-six Dravidians, including David Koresh and twenty-five children, died from gunshots or fire. Their latter stage was worse off than the former.