When a wolf looks at sheep, what does he see? Food. His motivation for getting close to sheep is not to care for their needs or protect them from danger; it’s to feed on them. But in order to get close to sheep, a wolf employs deceptive tactics to keep the sheep from discerning his dangerous presence before he can achieve his aims.

That’s why Paul called false teachers in the church “fierce wolves” who don’t spare the flock (Acts 20:29), a metaphor he likely adapted from Jesus, who described false prophets as leaders “who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). What makes these leaders false is not merely that they teach false doctrines, but that they have false aims. Their aim is not “love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5) but something else. It’s an aim they hide from the sheep, an aim that causes them to view the sheep as a means of satisfying some ungodly appetite.

Jesus, switching to a tree metaphor, said, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). And Paul labored to help sheep spot the “fruits” of disguised “wolves” infiltrating the flock. Let’s look at three of these fruits as described by Paul in 2 Timothy 3, where Paul offers a description of the “opponents” Timothy can expect to meet in his ministry (2 Timothy 2:24–26).

Pious Disguise

The first characteristic of a wolfish leader Paul describes is someone who “[has] the appearance of godliness, but [denies] its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). It’s worth looking at his full description:

Understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. (2 Timothy 3:1–5)

We can summarize such leaders this way:

Their Wolfish Aim: self-indulgence
Their Sheeplike Clothing: “the appearance of godliness”
Their Recognizable Fruit: a lack of personal holiness (“denying its power”)

“Wolves can be very good at concealing their motives from sheep.”

Now, just by reading Paul’s list of these leaders’ selfish pursuits, you’d think they’d be easy to spot. But frequently they’re not, because wolves can be very good at concealing their motives from sheep. They move into positions of leadership because their guise of “godliness” is convincing, at first. But then their influence begins to cause a decline in the spiritual health of a church.

One such leader I worked with a few decades ago was in a pastoral position for years before he was discovered. I remember feeling a growing intuitive uneasiness around him before I saw any clear evidence. It was hard to put a finger on what was wrong, but something seemed off, and not only to me. There was a deficit of spiritual authenticity. His teaching and example seemed to lack power. Then the disguise began to slip, and other discerning leaders pressed until his secret, selfish, immoral pursuits were exposed.

I’m not suggesting that our every uneasy intuition is accurate. Fruit becomes apparent over time, so watch for patterns. Watch for a permissive application of “grace” and an orientation toward worldliness and self-indulgence. Watch the way a leader handles money. Watch for subtle signs of laxness regarding sexual ethics. Note other spiritually discerning people’s uneasiness regarding the leader. Watch for a leader’s defensiveness, condescension, and lack of transparency when challenged. And if a culture of manipulation and fear develops around a Christian leader, that’s cause for concern, since a wolf tends to appear godly but loves badly.

Opposing Truth

Another characteristic of a wolfish leader is someone who “oppose[s] the truth” (2 Timothy 3:8). This is what we expect from a wolf, since they’re false teachers. And again, we might assume they’d be easy to spot right away. But often they’re not. Their influence, at least at first, is usually more insidious and ambiguous than we expect. Paul describes them like this:

Among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. (2 Timothy 3:6–9)

One way to summarize such leaders is this:

Their Wolfish Aim: self-promotion (selfish ambition)
Their Sheeplike Clothing: an image of spiritual power and/or theological erudition
Their Recognizable Fruit: manipulation of susceptible people, impressive appearance of spiritual power accompanied by advocacy for doctrines that undermine the gospel, opposition to godly leaders

Though Paul isn’t necessarily describing wolfish leaders’ strategic progression in these verses, it’s often the case that such leaders are sneaky to begin with, and only later become more openly oppositional, when they’ve consolidated a critical mass of influence.

‘Creepy’ Leaders

False teachers tend to creep in. When Paul says they “capture weak women,” we might be tempted to interpret this through a #MeToo grid, but he’s not referring to their preying on women sexually (though some, no doubt, did). He means these wolves single out those who, for various reasons, are particularly susceptible to deception, and convince them that they can be part of something new God is doing, something more powerful and spiritually important than whatever the church’s faithful, humble, godly leaders are teaching.

What makes these false teachers compelling is that they are able to demonstrate an appearance of whatever spiritual power impresses the Christian community they’ve crept into. In a continuationist context, they may appear to possess impressive gifts of the Holy Spirit, while in a cessationist context, they may appear to possess impressive theological and spiritual knowledge. These gifts or knowledge can confuse even godly leaders at first, since the sheeplike clothing can appear legitimate even if something seems off.

Showing Their Teeth

But eventually, wolves begin to show their teeth. That’s why Paul says such teachers in the church are like “Jannes and Jambres,” the names Hebrew tradition gave to the Egyptian sorcerers who wielded impressive magical power in their opposition to Moses (Exodus 7:10–12). Paul calls them “corrupt,” because their wrong teaching isn’t coming from a mere and sincere misunderstanding of the Scriptures, but from an intent to use the Scriptures to advance or protect their personal image of power and importance. When true gospel doctrine, either publicly taught or personally applied, threatens or thwarts the social (and usually financial) capital they covet, they aggressively and ruthlessly “oppose the truth,” and their folly becomes plain.

Watch for a pattern of pursuing church leadership positions that seems unhealthy. Watch for a charming charismatic personality that in the past has left a disproportionate number of disillusioned and wounded people in its wake. Watch for claims to and apparent demonstrations of the kinds of spiritual power valued in the church, but which encourage a troubling dependency on and loyalty to the leader(s). Watch for a group forming around a leader, noticeably comprised of susceptible, spiritually weak members, that begins to manifest distrust in godly church leaders. Watch for a pattern of conflicts with godly leaders and resistance to submit to leaders in general.

Adversity Avoidance

The third characteristic of a wolfish leader is someone who avoids “persecutions and sufferings” for the sake of Christ and his gospel (2 Timothy 3:11). This characteristic is implicit when Paul writes to Timothy,

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra — which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:10–13)

Here’s how I would summarize such leaders:

Their Wolfish Aim: self-preservation
Their Sheeplike Clothing: “confident assertions” (1 Timothy 1:7) and controlling leadership that give the appearance of courage
Their Recognizable Fruit: avoidance of personal sacrifice and public persecution for the sake of preserving reputation, status, wealth, and comfort

A wolflike leader might project a very confident image, he might rationalize domineering and manipulative behaviors as characteristics of a “strong leader,” and he might point to numerous strenuous performances that he asserts are “sacrifices.” But his confidence, his leadership, and his “sacrifices,” when examined carefully and honestly, tend to benefit him more than those he “serves.”

That’s why here, as elsewhere, Paul refers to his persecutions and sufferings as a fruit of a true Christlike leader. Paul isn’t pointing out his personal greatness when he speaks of enduring “far greater labors, far more imprisonments [than the false teachers], with countless beatings, and often near death” (2 Corinthians 11:23). He’s contrasting the fruits.

“True Christlike leaders bear fruits that evidence a willingness to sacrifice for Christ and his people.”

In the United States in particular, Christians suffer few of the kinds of persecutions and sufferings that Paul and the Christians of his day endured. So a wolflike leader can meld in much easier. But still, true Christlike leaders bear fruits that evidence a willingness to sacrifice reputation, status, wealth, and comfort for Christ and his people that stands in contrast to the self-promoting, self-enriching, self-indulgent aims of wolflike leaders. Pay careful attention, and you’ll see them.

Pay Careful Attention

That’s exactly what Paul said to the Ephesian elders in his parting words to them before heading to certain imprisonment and probable death for the sake of Jesus:

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:28–30)

Careful attention would have to be paid because those “fierce wolves” would be wearing sheeplike clothing. Their emergence would be subtle — they would even infiltrate the team of elders (like Judas among the disciples). They’d have an appearance of godliness, seem to possess impressive spiritual power, and exude an image of confidence and courage. Many of the sheep would find themselves swayed. The elders would need to remind themselves and their flock of what Jesus had said: “You will recognize them by their fruits.”

And if they paid careful attention, the fruits would point to this: a wolflike leader preying on the sheep to satisfy his own ungodly appetites.

The New Testament quotes Psalm 110 more than any other Old Testament passage. The apostles and the early church loved Psalm 110 for its majestic depiction of the Lord Jesus Christ and his reign over all nations.

One of the most striking citations of Psalm 110, however, comes from Jesus himself. To understand the meaning of the psalm and its fulfillment in him, consider Jesus’s appeal to Psalm 110:1 in Matthew 22:44. At the end of a long discourse with his opponents (Matthew 21:28–22:14), Jesus turns to Psalm 110 to explain his identity:

“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” (Matthew 22:42)

Their answer is certainly correct. Any student of the Old Testament would have answered the same way. Jesus, however, isn’t satisfied. He reveals their deficient messianic understanding by asking them a question about Psalm 110:1:

He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’? If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” (Matthew 22:43–45)

Though the Messiah would come from David’s line, he would not be just another king of Israel — another Solomon. No, “something greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42). David himself recognized as much when he spoke of his future son as “my Lord.” Fathers, after all, do not address their sons as “Lord.”

But what made Jesus’s appeal to this psalm so powerful that no one dared to ask him more questions (Matthew 22:46)? To appreciate the full significance of Jesus’s use of Psalm 110:1, we first consider the psalm in its original context.

Psalm 110’s Messianic Priest-King

Psalm 110 depicts David’s hope in a messianic priest-king who will rule the earth. The psalm opens with Yahweh’s speech to David’s future Lord:

The Lord [Yahweh] says to my Lord [Adonai]: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” (Psalm 110:1)

The promises of the Davidic covenant stand behind this speech. God had promised to give David a son and to establish the throne of his kingdom forever (2 Samuel 7:12–16). Psalm 110:1 reveals that this son is none other than David’s Lord (Adonai), who would one day reign over his enemies from Yahweh’s right hand (representing Yahweh’s kingship, power, and authority).

“David’s greater son is the Son of God who took on flesh to obtain our redemption.”

This kingly hope stretches back to the beginning. The imperative “rule” in Psalm 110:2 echoes the creation mandate given to Adam, the first priest-king in the biblical storyline (Genesis 1:26–28). Adam failed to subdue and rule the earth, but David’s Lord will reclaim dominion for humanity in a fallen world filled with evil forces. He will fight his holy war with an army of ready and willing volunteers on the eschatological “day” of his power (Psalm 110:3).

Surprisingly, this king will also hold a permanent priesthood (Psalm 110:4). David recognized that a son from the tribe of Judah did not qualify for the Levitical priesthood. Therefore, the future priest-king will belong to the order of Melchizedek, the ancient priest-king of Salem (identified with Jerusalem in Psalm 76:2) who shared a meal of bread and wine with Abram and blessed him after his victory in battle (Genesis 14:17–20). Since Melchizedek preceded the Mosaic law, his priesthood reflects Adam’s regal priesthood. David’s offspring will reunite the offices of king and priest in his own person, thus embodying God’s creational ideal for humanity.

The future son will also defeat his enemies. He will “shatter kings on the day of his wrath” and fill the nations “with corpses” (Psalm 110:5–6). He will even conquer the spiritual powers behind them when he shatters the “head” — an allusion to Genesis 3:15 — over the wide earth (Psalm 110:6). David’s Lord is the seed of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent, ending Satan’s tyrannical reign when he lifts up his own head in victory (Psalm 110:7). This priest-king will extend his rule from Jerusalem and bless the offspring of Abraham like Melchizedek of old.

Will the True Priest-King Please Stand Up?

Jesus’s quotation of Psalm 110:1 in the temple signals that he is the messianic priest-king of Psalm 110. Ironically, shortly after confounding the religious authorities in the temple, Jesus is put on trial before Caiaphas the high priest (Matthew 26:57–68). Jesus may be in the dock, but Caiaphas is the one on trial. During his examination, Jesus sheds more light on the answer to his question in the temple. When asked if he is the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus appeals again to Psalm 110:1:

You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven. (Matthew 26:64)

Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the Son of David, but by appealing to Psalm 110:1 (and Daniel 7:13–14) in his answer to Caiaphas, Jesus reveals how he would fulfill those Old Testament texts. Jesus would not ascend an earthly throne in Jerusalem to defeat Rome; he would instead ascend to heaven to take his seat at God’s right hand and rule the nations and the spiritual forces of evil behind them. Moreover, his exaltation to God’s right hand would come through a bloody cross. Suffering is the path to glory. First death, then resurrection, then ascension to his heavenly throne.

Perhaps we go too far to suggest that David anticipated a resurrected Messiah reigning in heaven when he penned the words of Psalm 110, though he probably understood more than we give him credit for. After all, he did expect the Messiah to defeat the serpent (Psalm 110:6), rule the nations (Psalm 110:5–6), and hold a priesthood “forever” (Psalm 110:4), implying an end to the Mosaic covenant and the Levitical priesthood, along with its animal sacrifices. Psalm 110 may very well reflect David’s belief that the Messiah would deal with the ultimate problems of sin, death, and separation from God by overcoming the serpent’s power and reclaiming Edenic fellowship with God.

Such messianic hopes come together only in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Indeed, as Jesus hints in his response to Caiaphas, and as the rest of the New Testament makes clear, Psalm 110:1 is fulfilled in a resurrected Savior.

Exalted King, Undying Priest

The New Testament authors recognized that some Old Testament texts prophetically predicted specific details about the life and ministry of the Messiah — for example, that he would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). They also recognized that God sovereignly orchestrated certain persons (like Melchizedek), events (like the exodus), and institutions (like the priesthood) to function as types of Christ. Psalm 110 has elements of both. David prophesied that his greater son and Lord would reign from Zion over the world as a priest-king (though exactly how that prophecy would come to pass remained uncertain). David also recognized that the priest-king Melchizedek was a type of the Messiah to come (Psalm 110:4). Both elements of Psalm 110 reach their fulfillment in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Preaching on the day of Pentecost, Peter proclaimed that Jesus’s resurrection and ascension into heaven fulfilled the words of Psalm 110:1 (Acts 2:34–35). According to Peter, God made Jesus “both Lord and Christ” when he raised him from the dead and seated him on the highest throne in the universe (Acts 2:36).

The author of Hebrews concurs. After Jesus made purification for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3; see also 1:13). Having fulfilled the old covenant sacrificial system with his sufficient self-sacrifice, Jesus rendered it obsolete and inaugurated the new and better covenant.

And with the new covenant came a new priesthood after an order greater than Levi’s. Melchizedek’s priesthood served as a type of Jesus’s permanent priesthood because Genesis — containing no record of Melchizedek’s birth, death, or family history (Hebrews 7:3) — presents Melchizedek as one who lives (Hebrews 7:8). Jesus became a priest after the order of Melchizedek on the basis of an indestructible life (Hebrews 7:16), meaning that he rose from the dead, never to die again. He holds his priesthood permanently and is therefore “able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

Psalm 110:4 is true of Christ only if the prophecy of Psalm 110:1 is fulfilled in a resurrected king who took his seat not in an earthly Jerusalem, but in a heavenly Zion.

Our Lord and David’s Lord

So, how could David’s son be David’s Lord? The ultimate answer is that David’s greater son is the Son of God who took on flesh to obtain our redemption. For Jesus to ascend to heaven in fulfillment of Psalm 110:1, he first had to defeat sin, Satan, and death. To defeat sin, Satan, and death, he had to fully atone for sins. To fully atone for sins, he had to be human like us, and he had to be God for us. Only God can satisfy the demands of his own infinite holiness and righteousness. Only God can truly and fully propitiate God’s own wrath. Yet only as man could he represent us, obey the law for us, die the death we deserve, and stand in our place, bearing our guilt. The ultimate fulfillment of Psalm 110 could come about only through one who is the God-man: David’s son yet David’s Lord.

Psalm 110 anticipates the hope of the gospel, which, according to the apostle Paul, was “promised beforehand through [the] prophets in the holy Scriptures” (Romans 1:2). This gospel, says Paul, is about God’s Son, “who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:3–4). Our Lord and David’s Lord. Psalm 110 is a majestic psalm because it speaks of Jesus, our majestic Savior.

God’s Judgment and Homosexuality
When humans exchange the glory of God for disordered sexual desires, the consequences are profound. In this episode of Light + Truth, John Piper opens Romans 1:24–28 to show the relationship between God’s judgment and homosexuality.