What are “angelic majesties”?

Answer:

"then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord" (II Peter 2:9-11).

This is in the middle of describing false teachers. One emphasized characteristic is a lack of respect for authority in any form. They "despise authority," are "self-willed," and have no fear of reviling "angelic Majesties." False teachers don't want to be corrected by anyone.

These are people who want no restraints of any sort on their behavior (Romans 1:28-31). It is a natural result of rejecting God’s authority since governmental authority derives from God (Romans 13:1-2). But it goes a step further than rejection. They despise all authority.

The false teachers are also described as daring, brazen, bold, or audacious. They have lost any fear of acting against authority.

Albert Barnes describes “self-willed” as “being self-complacent; a trait of character which, of necessity, makes a man imperious, dogmatical, impatient of contradiction, and unyielding.” Matthew Poole defines it as “stubborn, refractory, addicted to their own ways, and therefore will not be ruled by others.” In other words, false teachers believe they are right, and no one is going to tell them differently (Psalms 73:8).

Sadly, people don’t see the danger of false teachers’ behaviors. Instead, they are drawn to them, much as teenage girls are drawn to the “bad boys” in their circle.

False teachers have no fear of blaspheming “glories” or dignities. The Greek word doxas, used in II Peter 2:10, means "glories." Some believe this is a reference to angels as spoken of II Peter 2:11, and so to clarify, the word "angelic" is added. Others believe it is a reference to anyone whom God has glorified with a high position. However, the Greek word doxa is frequently used in reference to the glory of God and the things connected with God. The other times it is used in the plural form are I Peter 1:11 and Jude 8. False teachers will lie about the glories of God’s work resulting from Christ’s suffering.

In contrast, angels, who are greater and mightier than any man, refuse to slander false teachers before God. They do not even slander Satan before God (Jude 9). It is God’s place to render final judgment (Zechariah 3:2). [There is a debate as to what “them” refers to in II Peter 2:11. Possibilities are the “glories,” fallen angels, or false teachers. I lean to the latter because the form of “them” in Greek is plural, genitive, and has consistently been used about the false teachers in II Peter 2.]