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"For if God
spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and
delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto
Judgment;"
This particular text may be a little obscure and its true
interpretation a little difficult to establish clearly in the light
of all the other passages considered on this subject, even to
myself. However, this one thing I know: any given text of Scripture
must be interpreted according to the general tenor of the over-all
teachings of the Scriptures on that subject. If any interpretation
of a Scripture crosses or contradicts other plain texts on that
subject, one can rest assured that something is wrong with his
interpretation on that Scripture. To conclude that this one
Scripture teaches that celestial angels sinned and were cast down to
hell, etc. would be to contradict the general tenor of Scripture as
evidenced by the discussion of this number of other passages on this
subject. Therefore, whether we may clearly understand this
particular passage or not and may not be able to fully and clearly
explain just what it does mean for sure, we know that it does not
mean that.
But I will insert here an excerpt from the writings of C. E. Orr
which seems to me to be a reasonable and true interpretation of 2
Peter 2 :4, 5, and Jude 6, 7, both of which texts deal with this
same thought.
Quote: "2 Peter 2:4, 5, and Jude 6, 7. This has reference to Adam
and Eve. They were cast out of Eden, their first estate. . . Notice
that in the last two texts the writers are speaking of great
wickedness or sin. Why should Peter start with sin in the eternal
heaven and then go next to the wickedness in the days of Noah? Why
should he overlook the sin in Eden which plunged the world into sin?
We understand that Peter and Jude are talking about wickedness on
the earth, and therefore start with the sin in the garden and not
sin among holy angels in heaven. The Bible is not a record of what
is done in heaven, but what is done in earth. It is said in John
8:44 that the devil was a murderer from the beginning. In John 1:1
we are told that God was in the beginning. The word "beginning" is
used here of both God and the devil, and is so used because of our
finite minds being unable to grasp the fullness of eternity, but
this beginning reaches back into eternity beyond beginning.
"Sin is a principle. Righteousness is a principle. We hold that no
holy being could create or generate a sin principle any more than an
unholy being could create a righteous principle. For holy angels to
sin, a sin principle must have existed and they received it in their
nature by faith or in some manner. The devil and angels did not
create sin, for God created all that has been created. God did not
create sin. He did not create goodness. Goodness is an uncreated and
eternal principle. We hold that sin is an uncreated and eternal
principle. If it be a created principle, then God created it, for He
alone is Creator. A holy being could not create sin and retain his
holiness; therefore God did not create sin. Devils could not create
it; therefore sin is uncreated. God saw that His creation was good,
but we do not understand that sin was His creation.
"Jesus taught His disciples to say when praying, 'Our Father which
art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done in earth, as it is in heaven.' Now, if angels in heaven sinned,
then God's will was not done in heaven and Christ's words would not
mean much to us. If holy angels in heaven sinned one time, how can
we know that they have not sinned many times? Why could they not sin
some future time, and if they can sin, why could not we after we got
to heaven? To our mind the only logical conclusion is that sin never
entered heaven and never will. No holy being in heaven ever sinned
or ever will. Why would God redeem sinning man at such a great cost,
and not redeem sinning angels?" -O. B. Wilson |
