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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 2 Peter 2:4 - 2:10
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Examples from History:
v. 4. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto Judgment;
v. 5. and spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the Flood upon the world of the ungodly;
v. 6. and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
v. 7. and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked;
v. 8. (far that righteous man, dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
v. 9. the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the Day of Judgment to be punished;
v. 10. but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government.
St. Peter here substantiates his statement concerning the punishment which is sure to strike the false teachers by a reference to history, which shows that God's avenging hand always finds those that are guilty of wickedness. The apostle's first example is that of the evil angels: For if God did not spare the angels that had sinned, but, committing them to pits of darkness, bound them over, reserved for judgment. God had created all angels good and holy in the beginning. But a great number of them, filled with pride, rebelled against His government, became guilty of wickedness. Their punishment was swift and terrible: He committed them to the chains and pits of the darkness of hell. This is, of course, not to be taken literally, since the angels, as spirits, cannot be held with physical chains. But the evil angels have been deprived of the blessed fellowship with God, they have been shut out forever from the hope of eternal bliss in the presence of the Lord; and though they have some liberty of movement under God's permission, they stand convicted, they are being reserved for the time when God will pronounce the final judgment upon them.
A second example is that of the Flood at the time of Noah: And if God did not spare the ancient world, but kept Noah, the herald of righteousness, as the eighth one, when He brought on the Deluge on the world of godless men. The Lord had shown a great deal of patience in the case of the men of the ancient world. Even after repeated warnings He had granted them a further respite of one hundred and twenty years, during which time Noah made every effort, by the preaching of righteousness, to bring men to repentance, Heb_11:7. But finally the patience of the Lord was exhausted. He spared only Noah, as one of eight, Noah and his family. All other men were swallowed up in the terrible cataclysm which came upon the world in the Deluge. The picture is that of an unloosing of forces which had been held back only with difficulty, and which now, being released, swept everything before them.
A third example is that of the cities Sodom and Gomorrah: And reducing the cities Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, He carried out His sentence by a devastation, thus setting an example for those that are determined to lead a godless life, and delivered the righteous Lot, who was severely afflicted by the lawless people, by the lasciviousness of their conduct; for day after day, by seeing and hearing, the righteous man living among them vexed and distressed his righteous soul at their lawless deeds, Gen_19:1-38. The judgment of God upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, rightly considered, is one of the most awful examples of His avenging justice. So great was the cry of these two cities in the ears of Jehovah, and so very grievous was their sin, that He visited them with a devastating earthquake, at the same time sending down fire from heaven. Thus the cities were completely overthrown and reduced to ashes in a most terrible catastrophe, the effect of which is plainly noticeable to this day. The Dead Sea with the country surrounding it is a warning example to all men that are determined, in spite of all warnings of the Lord, to continue in their godless life. Only one man was found in the cities who was righteous in the sight of God, Lot, the nephew of Abraham. And Lot was able to testify to the insolent lasciviousness of the conduct of Sodom's citizens. Day after day he had been obliged to see the most revolting sins, to hear the most horrible and filthy talk. The vexation and distress which he thus incurred was magnified, at least in a measure, by the fact that Lot himself had chosen this city for his abode and continued to live there on account of the temporal gain which the rich country brought him. It was a misery and affliction for him to be in the very midst of so much lawlessness and immorality. But God again made a distinction between the just and the unjust by delivering the righteous Lot, thus affording a great measure of comfort to the believers, of all times, Mal_3:13-18.
The apostle now draws his conclusion from the examples offered: The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, but to keep the unjust for the Day of Judgment under punishment, but especially those walking according to the flesh in the lust of pollution and despising authority. From the discussion presented in the chapter up to this point this double conclusion stands out very plainly. In either case the Lord knows how to deal with the situation. He has ways and means to deliver the godly, those that fear Him and walk righteously before Him, out of the temptations which are due to their surroundings, to the unbelievers in whose midst they are living. But, on the other hand, the fact that He will not be mocked, but that He knows how to avenge any offense to His honor is seen in His keeping the unjust, the unrighteous, in punishment and pain until the great Day of Judgment, Psa_16:4; Heb_2:15. Just as the evil angels are even now condemned to the darkness of hell, so the unrighteous will enter the same damnation, according to their souls, just as soon as they die. And they will be kept in this suffering until the Day of Judgment, when the sentence upon them will be confirmed and their sufferings will continue according to both soul and body throughout eternity. This punishment will be especially severe in the case of such unbelievers as live in open sins of the flesh, in the various forms of immorality, in unnatural lusts as practiced in Sodom, whereby both soul and body are polluted, Rom_1:26-32 and at the same time openly despise all authority, divine as well as human, particularly the Lordship of Christ.