“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” (v4).
The great theologian Dr. Phil likes to say, “The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.” Peter says that’s true of God. If you want to know how Almighty God will handle the lying teachers who have infiltrated local churches, just look back at how He dealt with evil in the past. This is the first of three “ifs” the apostle lists in verses 4-8. Pete flips back to Genesis for three examples of divine punishment of wickedness. Dr. Phil is right. If God came down hard of sin before, there’s every reason to think He’ll do it again with these spiritual hucksters.
There’s nothing “iffy” about God’s judgment.
It’s probably a good idea to understand “if” as “since.” There’s no doubt these three things happened. “If God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell”…since He did! There’s no “if” when it comes to God dropping the hammer on the fallen angels. It happened before. It will happen again. Pete’s using an old teaching method of Jewish rabbis. He’s proving a big idea from a smaller fact. It’s kinda like those questions on the SAT. “If A is true and B is true and C is true, then D must be a stone cold, lead pipe lock.” The apostle pulls his three examples from the pages of the Bible’s first book. Fallen angels (Gen 6:1-6). The Great Flood (Gen 6:11-13). Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:1-29). Actually, verses 4-10 are one very long sentence. Pete drops three examples in 4-8 to prove his bid idea (God’s punishment of the lying teachers) in 9-10.
There’s nothing “iffy” about God’s judgment.
Let’s take a look at the first of the three “ifs.” “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned” (v4). This sure seems to be a direct reference to the time Satan led a rebel army of fallen angels in a coup against God’s authority. Almighty God quickly crushed the rebellion and booted these insurgent angels out of heaven (Heb 12:22; Rev 12:7-9). Ezekiel gives us some of the gory details of how Lucifer pulled the ultimate heel turn as the “signet of perfection” who eventually “sinned” because he thought he was such hot stuff (Ezek 28:15-19). But Satan and his unholy horde didn’t stop there. Genesis 6 tells us how they took demonic possession of human men in order to hook up with hot chicks (Gen 6:1-3). Jesus’ little brother Jude says God put His holy foot down, chained them up, tossed them into hell and turned off all the lights. “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” (Jude 6). Since God handled the angelic rebellion, we can count on Him to handle the false teachers.
There’s nothing “iffy” about God’s judgment.
The Lord certainly doesn’t look forward to bringing the pain. “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways” (Ezek 33:11). The one sure way to avoid God’s discipline is to repent. Do a 180. Turn from your sin. Turn to Jesus. He really hates the idea of sending us to hell. He’s given us the gift of repentance. Use it. Turn around. Turn around now! Pete hopes that the lying teachers who are tearing the church apart will spin from their sin and follow Jesus. You see, Christ is also proof that God must punish wickedness. The sinless Son of God took on our sin so that He could exchange it for His perfection (2Cor 5:21). God poured out His hot wrath on His Son for our sin (Is 53:4-12). We can either trust in what Jesus has done for us or be on the business end God’s judgment of our sin. It’s our choice. Choose wisely.
Because there’s nothing “iffy” about God’s judgment.
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