“…whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.”
whereas angels who are greater in power and might
Angels are greater in “power and might” than human beings. That means that they have greater capacities than false teachers.
do not bring a reviling accusation against them
Good angels do not revile false teachers. We find a case in point in Jude 8-9, “Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. 9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’” Michael did not blaspheme the devil but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” Yet, these apostates have the audacity to curse any authority.
The exception to this is the devil himself. He keeps a file on each of us (Re 12:9,10; Job 1:6-11; Zech 3:1-2) and accuses the believer before the throne of God. The devil finds out our sins by a demonic CIA. Then he brings our sins before God to accuse us.
before the Lord
When good angels gather in convocation, they do not bring accusations against these false teachers.
PRINCIPLE:
It is important to respect authority, no matter how evil that authority may be.
APPLICATION:
Respect for authority is an operating principle of the Word of God. This verse carries that idea to any authority, regardless of its orientation. It is not right to “blaspheme” false teachers. This does not mean that we cannot criticize them. Every second book of the New Testament criticizes false teachers, such as 2 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy, or 2 Peter.
Satan accuses us before the Lord. However, Jesus is our defense attorney (2 John 2:1,2). He defends our case. His case on our behalf is perfect.
I am struggling with the phrase "against them" in 2 Peter 3:11. I am thinking of the "demand of the watchers" in Dan. 4:17 and the "outcry" against Sodom in Gen. 18:20 and 19:13. Angels certainly observe human activities, can they not "report" to the Lord what they see?
Rev Cliff,
It is good to hear from a fellow DTS grad. Thanks for your comment.
Verse 11 functions as a contrast to verse 10 where false teachers did not hesitate to revile evil angels. The issue is to disregard authority whatever kind it may be. Good angels were more powerful than evil angels but yet they respected the principle of authority.
The antecedent from verse 10 is “dignitaries” who are false teachers. Also, the parallel from Jude may indicate that Michael did not dare pronounce judgment against the devil on his own authority. Peter broadens the point here by indicating that good angels do not announce judgment over evil angels but leave that judgment to the Lord.
Having said that, this does not imply that angels cannot defer the issue to the Lord or “report” it as you say. It is the Lord who executes judgment in the Genesis passages. The Daniel passage simply shows that angels parlayed the message of God’s sovereignty over the world.
What is the difference between ‘blaspheme’ and ‘criticize’?
Donna, to blaspheme means to speak evil of someway as to do them harm,to injure their reputation. To criticize is very similar to blaspheme. However, there is a difference between objective and subjective criticism. It would be proper to objectively criticize evil and its purveyors.