The Way of Cain, the Error of Balaam
11 Woe to them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13 wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
Three men mark the road — self-willed worship, hired religion, rebellion against appointment — and five images from nature give the verdict: promise without substance.
The woe names three travelers. Cain's way is worship on the worshiper's own terms, souring into hatred of the brother whose offering was received Genesis 4:3–8 1 John 3:12. Balaam's error is the gift for hire — the prophet whose counsel sold Israel into sin at Peor for wages Numbers 31:16 2 Peter 2:15. Korah's rebellion is the assault on appointment itself, and the earth's mouth closed over it Numbers 16:31–33. The verbs escalate — went, ran riotously, perished — a walk becoming a stampede becoming a grave.
Then five images, every one a promise unkept. Hidden reefs — spilas G4694 — in the love feasts. Shepherds feeding themselves, the charge Ezekiel's woe already carried Ezekiel 34:2. Clouds without water, the boast of a gift never given Proverbs 25:14. Autumn trees with no fruit at harvest time, twice dead, uprooted. Wild waves foaming their own shame — the restless sea is Isaiah's picture of the wicked Isaiah 57:20 — and wandering stars, lights that hold no course and guide no one, for whom blackness of darkness is kept forever. The letter's verb again: their blackness is kept as surely as the saints are.
settled What this mark means