Second Peter 2:4 gives a warning of the impending judgment of sinners: "For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment," then it follows that He will not spare unrepentant sinners. The day is coming when God will judge and destroy sinful rebels.
As Peter warned his people about the false teachers that will creep in unawares, leading many to follow their destructive ways, he spoke of their coming judgment. They will "bring on themselves swift destruction" (2 Peter 2:1); and, "for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber" (v. 3).
To illustrate, Peter gives three examples of the righteous judgment of God in times past (vs. 4-6). He then speaks of God's handling of believers, in contrast with how He deals with godless sinners (vs. 7-11). For the sake of time, today we will look at the first example, or the first "case study," found here in verse 4—that of the sinful fallen angels.
"For if God did not spare the angels who sinned" (v. 4a). This first case study shows that the judgment of sinners is necessary. It also shows that the impending judgment will be swift and decisive. But who are the angels?
Jude has a section that is very similar in content to this portion of 2 Peter. Jude 6 says, "And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day." "The great day" (Jude 6), refers to that glorious day when Christ returns to take us home to be with Him forever.
Peter speaks of God's righteous judgment against sinners. He speaks of judgment against rebellion and ungodliness. This is given to assure us of the fact that God protects His own and deals effectively with unrighteous men; specifically, in the case of false teachers.
The message is this: "If God did not spare the angels who sinned" (v. 4a), He will not spare the sinful, deceitful, and lying false teachers. Sinner beware! The righteous judgment of God is coming.
At the end of verse 4, Peter gives a warning of the impending punishment of sin. He says here that "God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness" (v. 4). Without going into a long theology lesson, let me just say this: there are mainly two possible angles as to what Peter is talking about. One is Satan and the rebellious angels that joined him, being cast out of heaven with him.
The details of Satan's rebellion and the fall of the angels is in large part a mystery. But the details in Scripture indicate that in that rebellion, Lucifer and the angels that fell with him (approximately one-third of the angels) were cast out of Heaven to the earth. There is no mention of them being imprisoned "in chains" (v. 4b) or "pits of darkness" (NASB).
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit" (Isa. 14:12-15).
That final reference, "to the depths of the pit" (v. 15) speaks of the final doom of Satan and his demons, not where they are now. "Cut down to the ground" (v. 12) tells you where they are now. They are here seeking to devour us, God's people. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12).
The other possibility, and the most likely one, is that Peter is referring to the angels who sinned gravely in Genesis 6:1-4. If we look at what Peter is saying here and compare it with Jude 6, which speaks of "angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode," we can take it as a reference to Genesis 6:1-4.
In those verses, "sons of God" (vs. 2, 4) is understood to mean fallen angels (or demons). So, the sin that was the final straw leading to the Flood, was that demons possessed men to cohabitate with women, overstepping the boundaries God had given them. Those demons then were "chained" (2 Peter 2:4b), or confined in "pits of darkness" (NASB), where they await their final destruction, which is yet to come.
Note Genesis 6:1-4. "Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the LORD said, 'My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.' There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown."
The Psalmist wrote, "What is man that You are mindful of him and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor” (Psa. 8:4-5). Hebrews 2:6-7 quotes Psalm 8:4-5, saying to man that God has made him a little lower than the angels. The writer of Hebrews goes so far as to apply it to Jesus, the Son of God, saying that when He was born in the flesh, He was made for a little while lower than the angels.
This does not mean that Jesus was less than God. It only means that, according to the flesh, He had temporarily taken a state lower than the angels, who are spirit and do not struggle with the weaknesses of the flesh. Man does struggle with the flesh and its weaknesses, which sets up the equation Peter was after: If God was powerful enough to put down the rebellion in Heaven and cast Satan and his rebellious angels out, and if He was powerful enough to lock up the sinful demons in a pit of darkness and keep them there until the time of final judgment, then how much more is He able to deal with sinful, deceitful false teachers?
He is more than capable, and His judgement of rebellious, unrepentant sinners is just around the corner. Rest assured, false teachers will be judged, while God's faithful people will be vindicated and ushered into heaven to spend eternity with Jesus. Amen.
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