29 more, we read th a t “ God spared not the angels th a t sinned bu t cast them down to hell and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved unto judgm ent” (2 Pet. 2:3, 4, R .V .). The clear im plication of all th is is th a t th e spirits to whom Jesus preached when He went to th e abode of the dead were the angels th a t sinned in the days of Noah, and who were now in prison in conse quence of th a t sin. Let us notice in th e next place what th e word Translated “preach,” in 1 P eter 3:18-20, means. There are two words in constant use in the blew Tes tam en t which are tran slated “preach.” One.of them means “ to preach the Gos pel,” th e other “to h erald ” (to herald the king or kingdom ). I t is th e la tte r of these two words which is used in this passage. There is not a suggestion in th e passage th a t the Gospel w ith its offer of salvation was p reached’to any one. Thp King and the kingdom were heralded to them . Christ has been heralded as King in heaven, earth and hell. In the th ird place, notice th e results of th is preaching. There is not a word of suggestion th a t any of th e spirits in prison were converted by it. If they were, we must learn it from other sources th an th is passage; b u t th ere is not a single passage anywhere in the Scriptures th a t suggests th a t th e re were any conversions or any salvation rer su ltan t from th is preaching. The .pur pose of the preaching evidently was not the salvation of those already lost, but th e proclamation of th e kingdom and the King throughout th e universe. The time is coming when “every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things u n d e r 'th e earth, and every tongue shall confess th a t Jesus Christ is Lord, to th e glory of God, the F a th e r” (Phil. 2:10, 11). But th a t enforced confession of Christ on the J>art pf disobedient men and
THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S wicked men? There is nothing what ever to indicate th a t they were. The word “ sp irits” is never used i n ' this unqualified way of th e spirits of de parted men, bu t it is used constantly of angelic or supern atu ral beings (Heb. 1:7, 14; Mt. 10 :1 ; Mk. 3:11; Lk. 6:18; 7:21; Acts 19:12; 1 Jn . 4:1, and many other places). The only place in Scrip tu re where “ sp irits” is used of men in any way analogous to th is is Heb. 12: 23. The constant use is of angels or other supern atu ral beings. If we so in terp ret it here, then of course the preaching was- not a t all to men who had been wicked in th e days of Noah, but to sup ernatu ral beings who had been disobedient in th e days of Noah and who were now in prison in consequence of this disobedience. Are th e re any Scripture passages th a t h in t th a t th ere were supern atu ral beings who were dis obedient in th e days of Noah and who A-ere consequently now in prison? There are. In Gen. 6:2 we are told th a t “th e sons of God saw the daugh ters of men th a t they were fair and they took them wives of all which thgy chose.” By the “sons Of God” in th is passage many commentators under stand the descendants of Seth, a godly man; but if we are to in terp ret Scrip tu re by Scripture, they seem ra th e r to have been angelic beings. There seems to be a clear reference to th is passage in Jude 6, where we are told of “angels which kept not' th e ir own principality bu t left th e ir proper h ab itation ,” and in consequence were k ep t in everlasting chains in darkness unto the judgm ent of the great day (R. V .); and in the next verse we are told th a t Sodom and Gomorrah in lik e m anner w ith these (th a t is, these angels) gave themselves over to fornication and went after strange flesh (R.' V .). Now from this it seems clear th a t th e sin of th e angels was going a fte r strange flesh, th e very sin mentioned in Gen. 6:3. F u rth er-
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