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Animals can do some gross things. In fact, 2 Peter 2:20-22 uses the behavior of a couple of animals to make a point. It talks about people and says, ‘If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”’ (NIV 1984)
When I was growing up, we had both dogs and hogs. I don’t remember if any of our dogs lapped up their own vomit, but the pigs loved to wallow in the mud. But this passage is not about the animals. It talks about our accountability for knowledge. Those who come to know Jesus, then return to the corruption of the world are worse off than if they had never known Jesus. When we add knowledge to our faith and virtue, as 2 Peter 1:5 says, we must follow it. Insight into God’s will is dangerous if we don’t also obey it.
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Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.