The Dust Bowl

“These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved” (v17).

Con artists. Hucksters. Spiritual snake oil salesmen. Pete accuses this posse of false teachers never delivering on what they promise. In the previous verse, he said they are just like Balaam, the profitable prophet. They’re out to make a quick buck. But they also fail to furnish anything of value for what they’re paid. They’re “waterless springs” (v17).  They’re “mists driven by a storm” (v17). As a result of their intentionally empty promises, they’ve made reservations in pitch black punishment.

Don’t forget the big picture. The Apostle Peter writes from Rome to a network of churches in what we know today as Turkey. Back in the day, they called these areas “Pontus, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1Pet 1:1). Pete wrote his prequel to encourage Jesus’ followers to keep on keeping on in the face of the external pressures of persecution and prejudice. His sequel warns believers about a very troublesome team of false teachers infiltrating local churches and tearing them apart from the inside (2:1-3). We might want to make a note that attacks can come from both inside and outside the church.

The apostle has put together an elaborate scouting report on these hucksters here in 2 Peter 2. How ‘bout a quick review? “Irrational animals” (2:12). “Blots and blemishes” (2:13). “Accursed children” (2:14). They’ve “followed the way of Balaam” (2:15). If that’s not bad enough, the former fisherman charges them to be “waterless springs and mists driven by a storm” (v17). When it’s all said and done, they fail to deliver on what they’ve promised. They stoke their audience and sell them on the amazing results of their teaching. But in the end, they supply a big load of zilch.

The false teachers are springs that absolutely bone dry. Pete paints a picture of a massive fountain that’s empty. He uses the Greek word pege, which describes a spring, fountain, stream or any other source of fast-flowing liquid. A cold mountain creek. A gurgling geyser. A cascading fountain. Now turn the spigot off. What should be a reservoir of refreshment doesn’t have a drop. 

They’re also charged with being “mists driven by a storm” (v17). A fast-moving line of black clouds rolls into the area. The wind gusts. The trees bend. Thunder rumbles. Rain is a forgone conclusion. The only question is how much will fall. But before you know it, the front blows by without a drop. That’s the comparison Pete’s making. Shakespeare called it “sound and fury, signifying nothing.” There was an incredible marketing campaign when they hit town. They cranked the hype machine to eleven. There was no doubt this was going to be not just good but amazing. But by the time you see their tail lights, you realize you’ve been left with nothing. Jesus’ kid brother Jude uses a very similar description of these promise breakers as “waterless clouds, swept along by the winds” (Jude 12). Instead of supplying an oasis of God’s goodness, these con artists deliver the Dust Bowl. 

Just how desperate are we for the refreshment that can be found only in Jesus? King David wrote a hit song about his own thirst for God. “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Ps 42:1). David’s dying of spiritual dehydration, yet we put this verse on coffee mugs and t-shirts. He knows that guzzling from the river of God is the only drink that truly satisfies. “You give them drink from the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life” (Ps 36:8-9). 

These snake oil salesmen are exactly the opposite of our Savior. Check out Jesus’ own words to a weary woman who’s come to draw water from the local well. “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring (Gr. pege) of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn 4:13-14). Later, the Son of God boldly announces to a huge crowd that He’s the fountain everybody’s looking for. “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (Jn 7:37). In his jaw-dropping glimpse of heaven, Pete’s old fishing buddy John discovers that King Jesus will personally escort His people “to springs of living water” (Rev 7:17). The false teachers don’t deliver what they promise. They guarantee spiritual refreshment but are all show and no substance. But Jesus always delivers. As a matter of fact, He OVER-delivers!

As a result of their big bait-and-switch, Pete lets us know these false teachers have a date with darkness. “For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved” (v17). We’re not talking about a candlelit room at the Ritz. This is the absolute pit of hell. Just another reminder that the picture we have of hell isn’t the one we’ve been sold. As a matter of fact, any thought that we can see anything is wrong. The Message nails it. These con artists are “headed for the black hole in hell” (v17 The Message). Turn out the lights. The party’s over.

Here’s the part that I’m not crazy about. It’s one thing to talk trash about a team of deceivers back in the first century. It’s another when I apply what I read to the knucklehead in the mirror. So here’s the bottom line. Do I deliver what I promise? Am I a “waterless spring” (v17)? Am I like the “mists driven by a storm” (v17)? Do I tell people that I’ll be there for them and never show? Do I say one thing but do another? Let me be completely transparent with you. I’m not too happy about my answers to these questions. On the other hand, the One who has saved me ALWAYS delivers!