The Spirits in Prison

The Spirits in Prison For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 1 Peter 3 18-20 This passage in Peter has long been the source of much confusion in the church. Why is that? Well, if you build the foundation crooked, you will get a crooked house! To get the foundation right, we have to go back to Genesis 2 and 6. And God blessed them, and said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Genesis 1:28 This was the first command that God gave to man, and along with it came the primary responsibility. The command was to reproduce, the responsibility was to care for the earth. What is the devils primary task as he sees it? It was of course to usurp God, for which rebellion he was cast down. (Isaiah 14:12) Has he abandoned that objective? It would appear not, for having been cast out of heaven, he has turned his attention to mankind, and his primary focus has been on that first command and responsibility that God gave Adam. So the devil uses every means at his disposal to prevent mankind from multiplying, and to exploit the earth instead of caring for it. Exploit it enough, and it will cease to support humanity, or dissuade humanity from multiplying in the first place. If we go to Genesis 6, we can see this strategy in action. Over the course of time, mankind’s population increased and spread across the earth. The daughters that were born to them came to the notice of the sons of God, who saw that they were fair; and they took wives of all those they chose. The Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, because he is also

flesh: therefore his lifespan shall be a hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and afterwards, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they had their children, who grew up to become the famous mighty men of old. God saw that the wickedness of man was throughout the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was continually evil. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved. So the Lord said, I will destroy mankind who I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and creeping things, and the fowls of the air; for I regret having made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:1-8) The population increased in spite of Satan’s attempts to prevent it, so he switched tactics and sought to corrupt the gene pool. The term “sons of God” here and throughout the OT refers to angels. (Angels are always male) In this case those who had followed Satan. They mated with human women, and the corrupt offspring were exceptionally large and intelligent. These “Nephilim” (Heb: giants) had an enormous impact on the rest of the population, and were responsible for introducing false religion, worship of idols, and gross sexual immorality.1 The text also suggests that their activity impacted negatively on the natural environment. This corruption and wickedness so grieved God, that He determined to destroy the earth and its inhabitants with a flood. That is the background to 1 Peter 3:18-20 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; 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 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. 2 Peter 2:4-6. (The rest of chapter 2 is well worth reading in this context) 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— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued 1 For a fuller study of this phenomenon, see my book “In the beginning”

unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. Jude 6-7 Peter and Jude are here talking about the same thing and events. They are both referring to the sexual wickedness of the pre flood population of Noah’s day, inspired and encouraged by the Nephilim. They identify and compare that pre flood population with the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, who you will recall, lay siege to Lot’s house in order to rape the angels that were in his house to warn Lot of the impending destruction of the city. (Genesis 19) The angels that left their assigned abode, and mated with humans, producing the Nephilim who introduced humanity to all kinds of sexual depravity; are described has having been cast into hell2 bound in chains until the day of judgement. Paul states that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and God warned Adam that if he disobeyed, he would die (Genesis 2:17); however angels are not mortal. So those that sinned by mating with humans were bound in chains and cast into prison awaiting judgement and the punishment of the lake of fire It is to these spirits that Jesus went after His spirit left His dead body in the tomb. He went to them to proclaim His victory over sin – all sin, including the sexual sin that they were responsible for committing and introducing to humanity3. But what about the people of Sodom, and those who follow in their wickedness? They are described as being punished by eternal fire!4 The sexual sin of Sodom and the cities of the salt plain have taken root in every society since, but it is only in our time, in the 21st century that homosexuality has been accepted as on a par with heterosexuality. Even the church has run after this folly. Just as the society of Noah was destroyed, just as the society of Sodom was destroyed, so also will our society be destroyed by this perversion of God’s first command to Adam and Eve to multiply. Not only are those who engage in these ungodly lifestyles bringing judgement upon themselves for 2 Greek: Tartarus, Lit – prison, 3 Some make a connection between this event and Ephesians 4:8-11. I don’t see any connection at all, I believe Paul is describing a different set of circumstances, although both have Christ’s victory over sin as central to the narrative. 4 They, like all who reject God will be judged at the second resurrection, and thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15. (See my article “Heaven and Hell” for an in depth study)

unnatural sexual practices, but they are also defying God by setting up an alternative family unit that is sterile, thus renouncing Gods first command to man to reproduce. Any church that is in agreement with this, and accepts it, will likewise be destroyed. (Revelation 2:18-29) In fact this is already happening, for those churches that have embraced homosexuality are dying, which is only fitting, as homosexuality is sterile, and the gospel of salvation by grace is fertile and fulfils God’s command to Adam to multiply. The blood of Christ saves to the uttermost those who believe, even those captured by the sexual sin of the Nephilim, and by the perversion of Sodom, which is what the spirit of Jesus proclaimed to the wicked angels bound in chains in Tartarus! Roger Malone. July 2019