Jump Start # 1698

2 Peter 2:4 “For God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment”

  We continue on with our thoughts about angels. We now come to a very interesting passage that leads to many questions of which are not answered. God doesn’t write a section on “angelology” for us. Passages, such as our verse today, brings to light things that we would never know. It tells us a bit about angels. The purpose was an illustration for us. This isn’t about angels. It’s about us. The point being, God doesn’t play favorites. Sinful angels were judged. The sinful world in Noah’s day was destroyed. Sinful Sodom was reduced to rubble. The false prophets who were spreading their poisonous messages were going to face God and the meeting wouldn’t be pretty. God would judge them. He didn’t spare the world. He didn’t spare Sodom. He didn’t spare sinful angels, and he won’t spare these false prophets. That’s what the context is about.

Peter begins this historical section of God’s judgment by telling us about angels. It’s angels, the flood, and Sodom. The last two are in historical order. So, does that mean the sinning angels took place before the flood? Many think so. There are two theories that many believe Peter is drawing from.

First, some believe very early on, there was a rebellion in Heaven. An angel tried to take over. He was kicked out and eventually became Satan. That is the most common explanation for the origin of Satan, a angel that went bad. Isaiah 14 is generally used to defend this thought. There it says, “How thou art fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations” (v. 12). It sure sounds like someone got kicked out of Heaven. The problem with this theory is that the context tells us that this is a taunt that Israel would use against the king of Babylon  (v. 4). Babylon wouldn’t last. This is not talking about Satan, angels or any of those things.

Our verse in Peter presents a challenge to the angel gone bad theory of Satan. If Satan was a rebellious angel, why was he not committed to the pits of darkness like the others? Where did Satan’s angels come from? Are only some bad angels locked away and others were allowed to go to the “dark side,” using a Star Wars expression? Questions which we do not nor can not know the answers to. We have our theories. We have our ideas. We lack Biblical support to prove those theories.

Second, others believe the sinful angels were the ones in Genesis 6, before the flood, “when the sons of God came to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them.” The “sons of God” is thought to be the angels. It is believed that angels came to earth and had sexual relations with women and a race of people were formed. Interesting. Many problems with that theory. Angels are spirits. So, they took on flesh, had sex and reproduced? Was this a heavenly and earthly mixture? What happened to that race?  The first of the chapter tells us that the sons of God married these daughters. So, the angels didn’t just come down here and have sex and leave. They married? They built homes, had jobs, became daddies and lived down here on earth? Did these daughters know that these men were not men, but actually angels? Did their babies look and act differently? This passage most likely is talking about spiritual people connecting with non spiritual people. Noah’s line seems to be righteous. Everyone else seems to be unrighteous. It got to a point when only Noah and his immediate family remained righteous. Every thought was evil continually. God destroyed the world because of sin. That seems to be the consistent theme running through these verses.

There are many angel theories that we just do not understand. Jude tells us that Michael, the archangel, disputed with the devil about the body of Moses. One little statement late in the N.T. Nothing is said about this in the O.T. It would have never been known, except God pulled this out, again, as an illustration for His people. The context tells us that the false among them were reviling “angelic majesties.” The dispute between Satan and Michael is brought up to show that not even Michael, not even to the devil, did he present a railing judgment against him.

Angels sinned. That’s sad. It’s sad when anyone sins. It shows that they chose a path other than what God had intended for them. It shows that they have a free will. They are not robots. They can rebel. When they do, they face the consequences.

There is no indication that sinful angels have a Savior. There is no concept of a sacrifice or the offer of forgiveness for those angels. Do angels continue to sin today? I don’t know. Was this a one time incident? I don’t know. Do we know what they did wrong? No. Peter doesn’t tell us. Jude says, “Angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day” (6). Do we even know what the proper abode of angels is? It’s hard to guess what they did wrong, when we are not sure what “right” looks like. What is the domain of angels? Heaven? God has sent angels to serve His people. We are down here, not up there.

The sinning angels are used to remind us that God will judge. If He doesn’t give an angel a free pass, He won’t give us one either. We must obey God. We must not rebel against God. We must humble ourselves in His presence.

There is a lot of things that we do not know about angels. What God tells us is to help us. Our hope and our place is with God.

Roger

Jump Start # 1331

2 Peter 2:4 “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment”

  The second chapter of second Peter is a page of the Bible that many do not like to think about. God judges. The warnings of this page are directed toward those in Peter’s days that left the truth and were disturbing the faith of other Christians. The words are serious. The picture of judgment is severe. Peter walks through history, first with angels, then Noah, then Lot and ties it all in with the present. God doesn’t take lightly those who misrepresent Him, distort things, or exploit others with false words and ideas.

There are three historical accounts listed: angels, Noah and Lot. We know about the last two. They are found in Genesis. They are in chronological order. It’s the first one that brings questions to our minds. When did the angels sin? What was the occasion? Why did they sin? If these were all to be in a historical order, then it happened before Noah and the flood. Passages in Nehemiah and Psalms lead us to understand that God created angels when He created the world. Angels haven’t always been. Nor are angels a form of pre-humans that are later sent to earth. Nor are angels departed souls that turn into angels. Our images of cute, chubby babies that are angelic do not fit the picture the Bible gives us. Angels are definitely in. Go to a gift store and you’ll find all kinds of angel figurines. Most are those fat babies or long haired women, not what you find in the Bible. There are two angels we know by name in the Bible, they both happen to be male names. Many conclude that this is where Satan came from. He was an angel that went bad. There is a reference to Lucifer in Isaiah 14 that many think point to an angel being kicked out of Heaven. The arrogant words and rebellion led him to be cast down. There are two problems with this. First, Isaiah 14 is telling us about the king of Babylon, not the origin of Satan. Second, if Satan was an angel who sinned, why was he not cast into the dark pit with the others?

God did not spare angels when they sinned. That statement holds a lot of thought for us.

First, it tells us that God does not play favorites nor has a double standard. Angels dwell with God. We read of angels being sent from Heaven. There is that special expression, “the Lord’s angel,” which may be a special angel or one of unique position. No one seems closer to the presence of God than angels. When they disobeyed, they were condemned. They will be judged.

This ought to tell us that God doesn’t let us get away with wrong things because we are so cute or we are His children. If anything, Peter’s warnings remind us that we too must be obedient to God. Obedience is a word that has dropped off the chart when it comes to religious messages these days. You’ll never hear the popular national preachers talking about obedience. Jesus did. He did often. Obedience was a sign of our love to God. Today, the message is, “Just love.” The Beatles had it with “All you need is love. Love is all you need.” That works in a pop song. It doesn’t fly with God. Love is not an emotion, it’s a choice. You show love by doing what God said. Even angels were sent away when they disobeyed. If the angels couldn’t get away with wrong, you know that we can’t either.

Second, God did not have a saving plan for angels. Jesus didn’t die for angels. He died for mankind. Unlike the angels, God doesn’t send us away and put us in pits of darkness when we do wrong. Had He done that, most of us would have been in those dark pits since we were teenagers. We did wrong early in life. It didn’t take much but we sure were good at it. Most of us have followed that prodigal to the far country. Most of us know the shame, guilt, pain and trouble that has come from our disobedience. Caught by parents, caught by teachers, caught by the police—we know that we very well could have been in those dark pits where the disobedient angels are. Instead, God redeemed us. God gave us a second chance. God did not give up on us. God sent Jesus to save us, rescue us and give us a new life. God has done more for us than He did for the angels.

Third, these words are intended to serve notice to those who are going the wrong way. It’s not enough that they don’t care about their own souls, but they were twisting things and getting some of God’s people to go along with them. These words, these judgments, were a warning siren to startle, wake up and get people to realize what was going on. Some folks are never content with things. They always have to change. They even want to change God. They mess around with God’s word. They twist things, bend things and position God to say things that He never did. This happened then and it continues to happen today. People can read a passage and say, “it doesn’t mean that.” They stuff their ideas, their agendas, their theology into the discussion and before long, the outcome is something very different from what the Bible teaches. Churches take on cultural and social reform rather than preaching the saving message of Christ. Sin is tolerated. Folks are accepted without commitment and without changing. The church doesn’t look like the holy bride of Christ. Instead of changing the people, the message is changed. The wellness and happiness of man replaces the dignity and respect of God. Good times replace the Gospel message. Folks dance with the wolves rather than watching out and avoiding the wolves. Preachers smile. The pews are packed. The money flows in. Church buildings are replaced with stadiums. All is well. However, no one notices that God is no longer smiling. This word, these warnings are pitched aside. Error has filled the hearts and folks are believing a lie rather than the truth. These very words of Peter are not read. They are not taught. They are not understood. Pits of darkness does not make the sermon series. It doesn’t fit well with a happy church that has donuts in one hand and is rock climbing with the other. No time for judgment. No time for warnings. It’s a happy message for a fun people in the neighborhood. That sells. And the crowds are deceived. They are having such a good time how could God not be pleased.

Peter’s warnings remind us. God did not spare angels. God did not spare Noah’s world. God did not spare Sodom. It’s time to tighten things us and get back to what God wants. It’s time to quit playing and start becoming the people of God. It’s time to put down the food and pick up the Bible. It’s time to read every page of that Bible and think about what is being said. It’s time to study. It’s time to know things. It’s time to let God set the course.

Even the angels were judged.

Roger