Judgement and Deliverance

Mission and Vision

Outfitting the Body to Rescue the Searching

To be a church that makes disciples who makes disciples who make disciples.

Recap

Last week we spent the majority of our time looking at the main false doctrines that are being presented as “gospel truth” in the days of Peter as well as the days we live in. All of this was presented as a huge red flag to us in response to 2 Peter 2:1-3

2 Peter 2:1–3 ESV

1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

As I said last week, this was in alignment with what Jesus spoke in Matthew 24:24

Matthew 24:24 ESV

24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

So many times when we are confronted with the fact that these people are still out there in the world spreading their lies, it can make us angry, infuriate us, even cause us to question why God tolerates their actions and words. We will find hope and even justice in these next 8 verses.

In verses 4-11 Peter picks up off of the end of verse 3 “their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” and gives us 3 examples as reminders of God’s faithfulness both to judge the unrighteous as well as deliver the righteous.

Wicked angels and Noah

2 Peter 2:4–5 ESV

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

if….then pattern Here Peter starts to lay out the frame work of a Holy, Righteous, and Just God. So, who are these angels that God did not spare? As we consider the whole of scripture and the words of this verse, the most certain conclusion is that these are a portion of the 1/3 of the angels that were cast out of heaven when Satan fell, as referenced in Ezekiel 28:11-19. This subset of angels committed a heinous sin. A sin that earned them a special placement in gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment.

What was this heinous sin? Peter doesn’t come out and say it directly, he merely hints at it in verse 5. Because of this we can understand that the “sons of God” mentioned in Genesis 6:1-2 and the act of them taking wives amongst the human women was this heinous sin and that these are the angels who will not be spared.

Why is this sin heinous? Because Angels and Humans aren’t the same. Angels, although created by God too, aren’t created in His image or likeness.

To cross that line and even have children with these women creating a new mixed race, was condemned by God to the point that he placed them in gloomy darkness which is a place in hell.

Jude 6 ESV

And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—

So, where is that? Hell in Gloomy Darkness?

The greek word here for Hell is Tartaroo, which is the deepest abyss of Hades. Hades according the Greek is a holding place for the dead, also seen as the grave. So, in Hades, the place for the dead, is Tartaroo which is the deepest abyss and this gloomy darkness. The greek word here zophos, gloom as shrouded like a cloud of darkness.

This is the special holding place for these wicked angels.

If verse 4 speaks of the judgement of these wicked angels, verse 5 points to God’s faithfulness to deliver the 8 members of Noah’s family. It doesn’t just speak of the deliverance of the righteous. It starts out by saying that God did not spare the ancient world.

2 Peter 2:5 ESV

5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Genesis 6:5 ESV

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Mankind had come to a point in those days that their wickedness was great and all they thought about was evil all the time. Continually in the ancient Hebrew actually means “the whole”. Because of this, God sent a flood, as we know, but He didn’t wipe everyone out.

Genesis 6:8 ESV

8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah, described in verse 5 was a “herald of righteousness”. Noah found favor in the eyes of God because he was a righteous man. When a man chooses to be righteous in a wicked age he stands out.

Genesis 6:11–13 ESV

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

The important phrase here is “corrupt in God’s sight”. It doesn’t matter if we think it’s okay. It doesn’t matter what the wicked people of the world think is okay. Wickedness is determined by God and He will not stand by and not deal with it.

He also will not allow the righteous to be swept up with the wicked.

Verse 5 says that God brought the flood upon the earth and the ungodly. Before God began to flood the earth God told Noah to:

Genesis 7:1 ESV

1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.

God was and is faithful to deliver the righteous from His wrath.

Sodom and Gomorrah

2 Peter 2:6 ESV

6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

Similar to Peter’s example of the wickedness in the days of Noah, here he refers to the wickedness of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Because of their wickedness God condemned them to extinction. He wiped them off the face of the earth in order to make them an example and a warning to the rest of the world as to what happens to the ungodly.

Genesis 19:13–16 ESV

13 For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting. 15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

The outcry against the people of Sodom and Gomorrah had become great before the Lord. God’s response to this outcry is to bring judgement on the people.

Jude 7 ESV

7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Not only were these cities indulging in Sexual immorality and pursuing unnatural desires, in Ezekiel 16:49-50 the Lord goes on to describe these wicked people he destroyed.

Ezekiel 16:49–50 ESV

49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.

I don’t add these verses to diminish the sins of their sexual immorality, namely committing homosexual acts. In fact this abomination in verse 50 refers to the disgusting immoral act described in Genesis 19.

Bottom line, God saw their wickedness and destroyed them in judgement, but not before delivering “righteous Lot”.

Genesis 18:23 ESV

23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

God rescued Lot by removing him and his family from Sodom. He had to be removed, which is both sad and interesting. Sad because he lingered. He hesitated.

Too much of Lot’s heart was in Sodom, so he did not have an urgency to leave the city. A lack of urgency to obey God (even when it is necessary and good) is a common sign of compromise and a backslidden condition. (Guzik)

2 Peter 2:7–8 ESV

7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);

Living amongst those wicked people had tormented his soul. Lot had chosen to live amongst them and their wicked deeds that he witnessed day after day.

Lot was righteous in God’s eyes, though perhaps it was hard for others to see his righteousness. Yet the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah tormented his righteous soul from day to day.

Lot’s soul was tormented, but he failed to follow through with godly actions and separate himself and his family from the ungodliness of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord delivered Lot because of his righteous soul; yet Lot lost everything else because of his too-close association with those wicked cities.

“The Lord being merciful to him” was the only thing that saved Lot and his family. They had to take Lot’s family by the hand and deliver them out of the city and to safety before the wrath came.

2 Peter 2:9 ESV

9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,

What Peter is pointing to here is God’s historical track record judging the wicked and delivering the righteous as a way to encourage his readers to know that the wickedness of these false prophets will be dealt with, but not before God will be faithful to remove the righteous before that judgement comes.

2 Peter 2:10–11 ESV

10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord.

Essentially, these false prophets indulge in the lusts of defiling passion and despise authority. Peter has already spoken how they follow their sensuality, and why wouldn’t they despise authority when they blaspheme the way of truth.

These ungodly ones are proud, despising authority. In their presumption they will even speak ill of spiritual powers (Satan and his demons) that the angels themselves do not speak evil of, but the angels rebuke them in the name of the Lord instead.

Much of what goes on under the name of spiritual warfare shows this kind of pride and presumption. While we recognize our authority in Jesus, we see that it is only in Jesus that we have it — and we leave the blasphemous judgement to Him alone.

This just continues to point to the arrogance of these false prophets and their distain for God and His truth. But we can rest assured that God will deal with them. He will bring judgement on them but for now they are kept under punishment until that day.

It’s hard sometimes to see both sides of what God is doing here. He is the frightening judge and at the same time a good and gracious father. He is the source of wrath and destruction but the source of eternal blessing. People have been wrestling with this question about God for centuries, but where they make their mistake is in asking this question about God in the first place.

Which is He? Good and Gracious or judging and the one who brings destruction?

That is the wrong question. It doesn’t depend on who God is, but on who you are. God doesn’t change. Because He is holy, he stands against wickedness and because He is just he will judge sinners justly.

Yet God is also merciful and gracious, forgiving and blessing those who have placed their faith in Christ, whose death and resurrection bring forgiveness of their sins. God justly condemns sin and justly forgives it on the basis of Christ’s death.

So, where do you line up? Are you forgiven as a born again follower of Christ, or are you unforgiven of your wickedness and ultimately facing God’s eternal judgement and wrath?

If you are forgiven, you have some things to do. Praise God for who He is and worship Him with your life as a living sacrifice. Also, pray for the lost and seek to reach them with the Gospel. Pray for their salvation and then be willing to be a witness to the lost when God presents the opportunity.

If you stand condemned in your sin and you’ve not been forgiven, I would employ you to repent today and be saved. If that’s you today and you want someone to pray for you, we have our prayer team in the back. They’d love to talk with you and pray with you.

Corporate Prayer

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