Blindness

2 Peter 2:9–16 (CSB)

9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority.

Bold, arrogant people! They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones; 11 however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord. 12 But these people, like irrational animals—creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed—slander what they do not understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed. 13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are spots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery that never stop looking for sin. They seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed. Children under a curse! 15 They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path and have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness 16 but received a rebuke for his lawlessness: A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

Examine / Explain

The unrighteous who are spiritually blind will be held under punishment for the day of judgment. They are mindless beasts who have no morals. They do as they please, even in the middle of the day, for everyone to see. Their sensuality drives them and their desire to bring others along with them. They have lost their way from the LORD and only desire the gains from the world.

How do I apply this to my life?

This passage is about believers. Balaam was a prophet who focused more on getting what he wanted than following God’s purpose. And the mindless beast had more sense than he did. It took a divine interaction for Balaam to change. As believers, we have the Holy Spirit within us, but if we don’t respect that spiritual authority in our lives, we will focus on what we can gain instead of God’s purpose. Without the Spirit guiding us, we are mindless beasts only seeking to satisfy our sensual desires. Not caring who we bring with us. Look at our culture and how it has changed over the past decades. Was there always sin and sexual deviance? Yes. But now it is on full display and encouraged to the point where if you disagree with it, you are the problem. We have become bold, arrogant people who reject authority in our lives, especially spiritual authority. What would it take for us to come back? What would a spiritual awakening look like in our day and age? I feel people would reminisce about past awakenings and think that our country could return to “a simpler time.” That is not exactly what would happen. There would be change. There are those who will find the Lord and salvation, but culture can’t go back that far. So I don’t know what it would be like, but we need it. We need hearts to break. We need brokenness to sweep across our country. We need believers to surrender their path of personal gains to advance the kingdom of God and not their own.

What is my response?

Father, where do I fall? I struggle so much in my time with You. I don’t pray nearly as much as I would like to. I have difficulty seeing You as a spiritual being, so may I communicate with You. Am I blinded to the spiritual realm? Am I blind to You as a spiritual father? Do I understand You better than I relate to You? How do I pray for a spiritual awakening when struggling with spiritual things? I want to be aware of spiritual happenings. I want to be closer to You relationally. I want to get past whatever blocks are in the way of any of that. I need You more than anything else, and I want to live my life that way every day. So I ask that you help me and remove my blinders so I can see what is unseen. Amen.