Second Epistle of Peter
GOD SPARED NOT
Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 2:4 (KJV)
This verse tells how angels who sinned were cast down to hell. It is the first of three examples of how sinners were overthrown. The next verse tells of Noah and the sinners overthrown by the flood, and then in verses 6-9 we have Lot and the destruction of the wicked Sodomites. These illustrations from past history are given to show that the guilty heretics mentioned in our chapter need not expect to escape the righteous judgment of a sin hating God. This whole portion pictures the certainty of the future punishment of the unrepentant sinner.
"God spared not"
Many today seem to brush off the fact that God is righteous and holy and that He will and must punish sin. They think they can live as they please in this world, and yet somehow God will spare them; will not send them to hell. Peter here does his utmost to show that God will not spare the unrepentant, unbelieving, disobedient sinner.
"God spared not the angels that sinned"
The fact that "God spared not the angels that sinned" tells us that He will not spare because of any excellency in His creatures. The angels excel us in strength and knowledge, but when they sinned judgment was immediately pronounced upon them. One may be a great man in this world, a king, a president, a statesman, an industrialist, a scientist or capitalist, but none of these things will cause God to spare in the Day of Judgment. Only if, as sinners, they believe in and obey the Lord Jesus for pardon, will they be spared.
Verse 5 uses the same expression "spared not." There it speaks of sinners who lived before the flood. How many perished in the flood we cannot determine, but one thing is certain, a great number of souls lost their lives at that time. Because they were many did not cause the Lord to spare them. Verse six mentions the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah. Although Peter does not use the same expression, "spare not," yet the thought is still the same. None in these great cities were spared excepting Lot and his two daughters. Sin swept them all away.
In Romans 8:32 we read, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Sin is such a terrible thing that before a single sin could be forgiven, or a single sinner pardoned, Christ had to die on the cross to pay for that sin by a terrible death on the cross in the place of that sinner. Now God can righteously spare the sinner who puts his faith and trust in Christ and His work on the cross. "To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26). If God spared not His own Son, let not the unrepentant, Christ rejecting sinner, think for one moment that God will spare him.
"angels"
Consider for a moment the lofty place and work of unfallen angels. The Scriptures abound with reference to them. The word "angel" means "messenger," and this is perhaps their principal work. They are messengers of God. We see them at this work in many places. They announced the birth of Christ (Luke 2:11). Hebrews 2:2 says they brought the law to Moses. We see them bring messages to Daniel, etc. They are serving spirits; "Are they not all ministering (serving) spirits" (Heb. 1:14). They ministered to Christ at both the temptation and in Gethsemane. One brought Elijah food in 1 Kings 19:5, and another shut the lions mouths so they could not hurt Daniel (Dan. 6:22). They guard children (Matt. 18:10). An angel delivered Peter out of prison (Acts 12:7). They worship the Lord (Neh. 9:6, etc.). They fight the battles of the Lord (Ps. 68:17, etc.). They are great in power and might (2 Pet. 2:11; Rev. 5:2). They will play a great part in the end time (Matt. 13:39; 16:27; 24:31).
"angels that sinned"
Why would angels sin? Everything was in their favor – they had no evil environment or circumstances. They had no tempter as did Adam and Eve. One might thing that their happiness in heaven would be unalloyed; that they would crave nothing different. Still, they rose up in rebellion against the Lord. Satan evidently was the first sinner. Isaiah 14 tells us that it was his desire to be as high as the Almighty, which caused him to rebel. "The devil sinneth from the beginning" (1 John 3:8). "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth" (John 8:44).
The nature and time of the sin of the fallen angels of our verse is not revealed. It would seem they followed the lead of Satan. These seem to be a special class of sinners, because they are bound in the pit, while Satan and many of his followers are loose and free to roam the earth. We see this in connection with those out of whom the Lord cast demons. Some think these angels of our verse are those who sinned in that they took human wives and are the sons of God of Genesis 6.1, but this theory seems flawed primarily because of what we considered in 1 Peter 3:19 – God's Word does not provide a number or reason they sinned.
Though angels fell, the saints of God are made to stand, though not in themselves, but in Christ. Although Christians still fall into sin, sin does not have dominion over them. Their new nature hates it, and the Spirit of God within gives them victory over it in a measure.
God deals with man according to grace, but in strict justice with angels. This is because man had a tempter and also all but Adam and Eve were born after sin came into the world, and so were not responsible for its coming. He gave Christ to die for man's sin, but this has no efficacy for the sins of angels.
"cast them down to hell"
The word for "hell" here is "tartarus." This is the only place it is used in the Word. It is generally conceded to be the deepest abyss, or pit of hell, a gloomy dark place of punishment. This may be the same bottomless pit into which Satan will be cast (Rev. 20:1-3). We read that hell was prepared in the first place for the devil and his angels
(Matt. 25:41). Some of them were the first inhabitants of this dread place. In Luke 8:31, in the story of the man out of whom the Lord Jesus cast a legion of demons they request, "that he would not command them to go out into the deep." This may be the same deep or Tarturus of our verse. It would seem that this Tartarus is the final abode of Satan and all fallen angels. In Matthew 8:29 they ask of the Lord, "Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" They were fearful that the Lord might cast them into this pit before the appointed time.
While hell was prepared for the devil and his angels, let not unrepentant and/or unbelieving sinners think that they will escape that dread place. Hell is a real place, and all those who insist on following Satan, rather than submit to Christ, will find their place therein along with the fallen angels (Matt. 13:42; 25:46; Luke 16:23; etc.). There is no mercy, no forgiveness, no restoration for fallen angels, but for man all these things may be had, but only while in this life. The only escape from this dread place is to trust and obey Christ now. Fallen angels not only lost heaven, but deserved hell.
"delivered them into chains of darkness"
In verse 7, read how God delivered just Lot out of Sodom; here we read of fallen angels delivered, not from danger, but into hell. They are "delivered into chains of darkness."
Revelation 20:1, 2 tells how an angel came down from heaven with a great chain in his hand, and bound Satan and put him in the pit. Chains speak of bondage; the darkness, of misery. Into what a terrible place these sinful angels land. How utterly foolish it is for anyone, whether angel or man, to rise up in rebellion against the Lord.
"reserved unto judgment"
These fallen angels are already in chains of darkness; reserved unto the Day of Judgment. There is no sign here of annihilation or hope of pardon. Their condition is utterly hopeless. Since God punished angels who sinned, false teachers should not expect better treatment. Verse 9 says that the unjust of our day are also reserved "unto the day of judgment to be punished."
Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 2:5 (KJV)
Here the apostle takes another example from past history of God's judging hand. In the last verse we see how He spared not the old world of sinners who lived before the flood.
Probably more people died in the judgment of the flood than in any other catastrophe which ever struck this world. It is generally thought that the flood came over 1,500 years after Adam and Eve were created. With the longevity of man at that time, and all those years, there could have been millions of humans in the world. They all perished, except the eight souls who were in the ark. This shows the level of God's contempt of sin.
"Noah"
Peter said the Lord "saved Noah." Some do not believe there was a flood and question whether Noah ever existed. They call it all a nice piece of fiction. Peter believed that there had been a flood and that Noah was a real man. The Lord Jesus also believed it. He said, "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all" (Luke 17:26, 27). It is interesting to note that Peter brings in Noah and the flood, and then Lot and Sodom, just as the Lord Jesus did (Luke 17:26-29).
"but saved Noah"
The Lord told Noah of the coming flood, and instructed him to build the ark. "Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house" (Heb. 11:7). It is interesting to notice that grace is first mentioned in the Bible in connection with Noah (Gen. 6:8). This would tell us that, although the Lord calls Noah, "a preacher of righteousness," he still was not sinless, or he would not have needed the grace of God. This also teaches us that God will not destroy those who trust and obey Him along with the wicked. Think of the ark as a type of Christ. All who entered the ark were saved from the flood. All who trust and obey the Lord Jesus are saved from sin and hell.
"the eighth person"
The expression "The eighth person" no doubt refers to the fact that Noah was one of the eight persons saved from the flood by entering the ark. The Revised Version has "preserved Noah with seven others." There is no word for "person" in the Greek. It is literally, "Noah the eighth" implying that he was one of the eight. Jude 14 speaks of Enoch the seventh from Adam. This is chronologically correct. Some have thought that Peter meant that Noah was similarly the eighth from Adam, but this is not chronologically correct. Noah is the tenth in line from Adam. Since there were just eight souls saved by the ark, it is natural to believe that Peter meant one among eight.
This all agrees with what Peter says in his first epistle (3:20), where we read, "wherein few, that is eight souls were saved." Out of the great mass of humanity at the time of the flood only eight souls were spared. If the righteous through Christ be many or few, they only shall be saved.
"a preacher of righteousness"
In Genesis 6:9 we read that "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." Then in Genesis 7:1 the Lord says to him, "For thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation." But we nowhere read in Genesis that Noah did any preaching. This is an added word of inspiration by Peter. Noah could hardly refrain from preaching while building the ark. Many would ask him, "Noah, what are you building this ark for?" So he would be compelled to explain about the flood which was coming. No doubt Noah's words, building the ark, and exemplary life preached to the sinners round about him.
Every word which Noah preached and every board he put into the ark was a warning to the world that judgment was coming. Noah preached and built for 120 years, so the world had plenty of time to repent. How gracious the Lord was to warn them so long before the flood came. The warnings mostly fell on deaf ears, because when it came time to go into the ark, none went in save Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives. You say, "My how discouraging, all that preaching and all that building and only seven believe and obey the message." It is well to remember that the Lord will not reward because of success, but because of faithfulness. Perhaps this is the reason so many churches grow for a while and then die. In reality, Noah did not do so badly. At least his whole family was saved and sadly that is more than some preachers are able to say.
"bringing in the flood"
In Genesis 7:16 we have, "And they went in – and the Lord shut them in." When the Lord shut Noah in the ark, He shut all others out. After the terrible flood started to come it was too late for those outside to gain admittance. No doubt some pounded on the door, but Noah could not open that which God had shut. The flood swept them all away. As with the five foolish virgins, they knocked on the door but it was too late. "Every living substance was destroyed – and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark" (Gen. 7:23).
"the world of the ungodly"
Noah was a preacher of righteousness in a time of general corruption. To his credit, he was willing to preach to such sinners and for so long a time. He did not get discouraged, even though they did not heed and probably laughed and scorned. The extent of the corruption is suggested in Genesis 6:5 and 11:13. Genesis 6:5 says, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." The stench of it all rose up to heaven and God washed it all away by the mighty flood.
