Ministry of Grace Church

2 Peter 2:4

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;

Truth to Learn

False teachers, like the angels who sinned, will be judged!

Behind the Words

The word “if” indicates a conditional clause. In Greek there are three (some say four) classes of conditional clauses in Greek. This one is a first class condition. A first class conditional sentence assumes that the premise (protasis) is true for the sake of argument. For this reason, some have proposed that the “if” can be translated as “since.” Whereas this is not always true, , in this case it does give us a better sense of what the Greek is saying.

“Sent them to hell” is translated from the verb tartaroō. This is based on the noun Tartaros, the name of “the subterranean abyss of Greek mythology where the gods were punished.”

Meaning Explained

Peter told us in the previous verse that the judgment of false teachers and their destruction will come. He told the early Christians this because, like today, these false teachers seemed to be prospering in spite of their selfish tactics. He now goes on to give us several examples of judgment that have already been performed upon those who thought they were getting away with their rebellion. The first of these examples is in today’s verse, the angels that sinned.

We don’t know exactly what their sin was, although Jude 6 implies that these angels left their original dwelling place and went somewhere they were not supposed to go. Some believe that this is a reference to the angels having come down to earth to cohabitate with human women, but that is really only speculation. What we do know is that they exceeded the bounds that God had set for them and they were punished.

Peter tells us that the angels are incarcerated in Tartarus in chains of darkness (gloomy dungeons) awaiting their judgment. And, by combining this verse with the end of this sentence (in verse nine), we see that Peter is saying, “If God did not spare angels when they sinned … then the Lord knows how to … hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.” His point is that judgment will certainly come to these spirit beings just as judgment will come to the false teachers who are selling snake oil to the people.

Since angels are each a separate creation, there can be no substitutionary payment for their sins. We, on the other hand, being procreated beings can, and do, have someone else who paid for our sins. That someone is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who paid with His blood. The Bible tells us that if we do not accept this fact, then we too will be cast into Hell (Hades) to await the Great White Throne judgment where all unbelievers will be cast into the lake of fire for eternity.

Application

What future awaits you? The choice is yours: either the pain and suffering of Hades and the Lake of Fire, or as Peter talked about in the previous chapter:

a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.