Commentary - 2 Peter 2:4-10

Bird's-eye view

In this section of his second letter, the apostle Peter is arming the saints against the insidious threat of false teachers. He has just described them as secretive purveyors of destructive heresies who will be met with swift destruction (2 Pet 2:1-3). To show that this is no idle threat, Peter reaches back into the Old Testament and pulls out three premier, top-shelf examples of God's unblinking judgment against rebellion. This is not a scattershot approach; it is a carefully constructed legal argument. Peter's point is that God has a long and consistent track record. If God did not hesitate to judge rebellious angels, the entire antediluvian world, or the notoriously wicked cities of the plain, then these greasy grace preachers who are troubling the church should not expect to get away with their licentiousness. But this is a two-sided coin. In the midst of these cataclysmic judgments, God also has a perfect track record of rescuing the righteous. Noah was saved from the flood, and Lot was pulled out of Sodom. The logic is inescapable and builds to the great conclusion in verse 9: the Lord knows how to do both simultaneously. He is fully capable of keeping the unrighteous under lock and key for a future judgment while at the same time delivering His godly people from their trials. This is a massive encouragement to the faithful and a terrifying warning to the wicked.

The central thrust is God's discriminating justice. He is not a clumsy, scattershot judge. He is a God who distinguishes, who separates the precious from the vile. The false teachers Peter is combating are characterized by their "corrupt lust" and their contempt for authority. Peter's historical examples demonstrate that these are precisely the kinds of sins that attract God's fiery attention. This passage is therefore a potent dose of the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, and a profound comfort to those who feel besieged by the wickedness of their age.

Outline

Context In 2 Peter

Second Peter is a letter written to Christians who are facing an internal threat, as opposed to the external threat of persecution addressed in First Peter. The danger here is false teachers, men who have crept into the church and are promoting a libertine gospel. They are antinomians, using the grace of God as a cover for all kinds of licentiousness (2 Pet 2:19). Peter's strategy is to remind his readers of the certainty of God's truth and the certainty of God's judgment. Chapter 1 establishes the reliability of the apostolic witness and the prophetic word. Chapter 3 will deal with the scoffers who deny the second coming of Christ. This central chapter, chapter 2, is the heart of Peter's polemic. He unmasks the false teachers, describes their character, their methods, and their ultimate doom. The historical examples in our passage (vv. 4-10) serve as the foundation for the entire argument. Peter is saying, "Look at the historical record. God judges sin. He has done it before, and He will do it again." This provides the theological ballast needed to withstand the seductive but empty promises of the heretics.

Key Issues

God's Case Law

When a judge makes a ruling, he often refers to precedent. He looks back at previous cases to establish a pattern of how the law has been applied. This is exactly what Peter is doing here. He is a Spirit-inspired lawyer arguing his case, and he presents three landmark cases from the court of heaven. Case one: Angels v. God. Verdict: Guilty, sentenced to Tartarus. Case two: The Ancient World v. God. Verdict: Guilty, sentenced to destruction by flood, with Noah and his family rescued. Case three: Sodom and Gomorrah v. God. Verdict: Guilty, sentenced to fiery destruction, with Lot and his family rescued. These are not just stories; they are legal precedents. They establish the character and nature of God's judicial process. He is patient, but His patience has a limit. He is holy, and He will not tolerate rebellion indefinitely. And He is just, meaning He will punish the wicked and deliver the righteous. Peter's argument is that the false teachers of his day are walking in the footsteps of the defendants in these old cases, and they should therefore expect a similar verdict. God does not change. What He has done before, He is more than capable of doing again.

Verse by Verse Commentary

4 For if God did not spare angels who sinned, but cast them into the pit and delivered them to chains of darkness, being kept for judgment;

Peter begins his argument with the most severe case imaginable, starting not on earth, but in the heavenly court. The "if" here sets up a logical argument that will conclude in verse 9. The sinning angels are most likely the "sons of God" from Genesis 6 who abandoned their proper dwelling to cohabit with human women, a profound act of cosmic rebellion. This is what Jude refers to when he says they "kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation" (Jude 6). God's response was swift and decisive. He did not spare them. He cast them into "the pit," the Greek word here is Tartarus. This is the only place this word appears in the New Testament, and it refers to the deepest, darkest abyss of Hades, a special prison for these particularly heinous rebels. They are bound in "chains of darkness," a powerful image of both their imprisonment and their moral state. They are not annihilated; they are being held in custody, awaiting a final sentencing at the great day of judgment. The logic is A fortiori: if God judged celestial beings so severely, how much more will He judge mortal men who follow their licentious ways?

5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

The second precedent is the Flood. God did not spare the "ancient world," that entire civilization that had become corrupt to the core. The judgment was total and catastrophic. But in the midst of this universal judgment, God made a distinction. He "preserved" Noah. The word means He guarded or protected him. Noah was not saved by accident. He was saved because he was a "preacher of righteousness." While the world around him was spiraling into violence and perversion, Noah was a herald of God's standards. He preached with his words and with his hammer, building the ark for 120 years in an act of radical, public faith. God saved him along with "seven others," his immediate family. This event establishes a crucial pattern: God's judgment on the "world of the ungodly" is simultaneously an act of salvation for the righteous remnant. The same waters that destroyed the wicked lifted the ark to safety.

6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;

Peter's third case is the infamous destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God condemned them to utter destruction, turning them to ashes. This was not just a historical event; it was a permanent, visible lesson. He made them an "example" for all future generations of ungodly people. The sin of Sodom was not a lack of hospitality, as some modern revisionists would have it. Jude tells us plainly it was giving themselves over to fornication and "going after strange flesh" (Jude 7), just as the angels of Genesis 6 had done. It was a society defined by its proud, aggressive, and perverse sexual rebellion. God's judgment of fire and brimstone was a preview of the final hellfire, and it stands as a stark warning sign on the road of ungodliness: "Do Not Enter."

7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men

Just as with the Flood, the judgment on Sodom was discriminating. In the midst of that cesspool, God "rescued righteous Lot." Now, we know from the Genesis account that Lot was far from a perfect man. He made a selfish choice to move toward Sodom, he offered his daughters to a mob, and he ended his story in a drunken, incestuous disgrace. And yet, the Holy Spirit here calls him "righteous" twice. This is crucial. Lot's righteousness was not based on his flawless performance, but on his position in God's covenant and his fundamental faith, however flawed. He was "oppressed," worn down and vexed, by the constant barrage of filth he witnessed. He was a man out of his element, and God, in His mercy, pulled him out before the fire fell.

8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),

This is a parenthesis that gives us a window into Lot's soul. Though he lived among them, he was not one of them. What he saw and heard tormented his righteous soul. The word for "tormented" is a strong one, implying a constant grinding and vexation. Every day was a fresh assault on his conscience. This is the mark of a regenerate heart, even a compromised one. It cannot be at peace in the presence of flagrant sin. The world's lawless deeds are a source of grief and pain to the righteous. This verse is a great comfort to believers who feel sickened by the cultural rot around them. That feeling of being tormented is evidence that your soul is still righteous, that you have not made peace with the darkness.

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

Here is the grand conclusion of Peter's three-part "if... then" argument. Because God has this established track record, we can be absolutely certain of this twofold truth. First, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial. He has the wisdom and the power to deliver His people. He did it for Noah, He did it for Lot, and He will do it for the faithful remnant in Peter's day and in ours. Second, He knows how to "keep the unrighteous under punishment." The word for "keep" is the same one used for keeping the fallen angels in verse 4. It means to hold them in custody. Their final sentence has not yet been executed in full, but they are already prisoners on death row. God is not wringing His hands, wondering what to do. He has it all under control. This is the great biblical doctrine of the two ways, the great separation that God is constantly effecting in history.

10 and especially those who go after the flesh in its corrupt lust and despise authority.

Peter now brings the general principle to bear on the specific case of the false teachers. God keeps the unrighteous for judgment, but He is especially concerned with this type. Two characteristics define them. First, they "go after the flesh in its corrupt lust." Their theology is a cover for their immorality. They are driven by defiling passions. Second, they "despise authority." This is the root of their rebellion. They will not have anyone tell them what to do, not the apostles, not the elders, and ultimately, not God Himself. This contempt for authority is the very spirit of lawlessness. These two sins, sexual license and rebellion against authority, are two sides of the same coin. When you throw off God's authority, you will inevitably enthrone your own lusts. Peter is about to spend the rest of the chapter detailing the arrogance and doom of such men.

Application

This passage is a bucket of cold, clear water in the face of a sleepy church. We live in an age that is deeply uncomfortable with the idea of divine judgment. We want a God who is endlessly affirming and non-judgmental, which is to say, we want a God who is not God. Peter reminds us that our God is a consuming fire. He judges sin, and He does so with terrifying precision. The historical examples are not myths; they are warnings. Our culture is awash in the very sins that brought down the fire on Sodom, and we have no basis for thinking we are exempt from the consequences.

But the terror of God's judgment is matched by the comfort of His salvation. He knows how to rescue the godly. He did not leave Noah to drown, and He did not leave Lot to burn. For those of us whose souls are tormented by the lawless deeds we see and hear, this is our great hope. Our deliverance does not depend on our political savvy or our cultural influence. It depends on the Lord who knows how to do it. Our task is to be like Noah, preachers of righteousness in a wicked generation, and to be like Lot, maintaining a vexed and righteous soul in the midst of moral chaos. We must not make peace with the world's sin, either in the culture or in the church. We must call it what it is, and we must trust that the God who separates the light from the darkness will one day complete His work, rescuing us into His everlasting kingdom and consigning all rebellion to the chains of darkness forever.