Christ and the imprisoned spirits

Pastors, teachers, and commentators have always had a hard time with three difficult and related pas sages: 1 Peter3:18-22; Jude 5-7; and 2 Peter 2:4-9. Dealing with realms of darkness and Christ preaching to spirits in prison challenges the talents of any interpreter, but the difficulties are heightened for Seventh-day Adventists, who believe that the dead are unconscious and that hell is only future and temporary.

We shall begin with a brief overview of the Old Testament and intertestamental background to these passages. Then we will survey the basic elements in each of the New Testament passages and see how these passages utilize the intertestamental motif of the fallen angels, or "watchers," to convey a particular message. And finally, we will reflect on the significance of all this for pastors and teachers.

Sons of God and daughters of men

The first part of Genesis 6, immediately before the Flood narrative, contains the bedrock motif underlying our passages. According to Genesis, sons of God, who are not identified, saw the beauty of the daughters of men and married them. Genesis does not explicitly state the results of these unions. But since, in what immediately follows, Yahweh says that His Spirit will not abide in humans forever and that humans would be limited to 120 years of life, the strong implication is that the results were evil.

Then Genesis mentions the Nephilim.* Their precise connection with the union of the sons of God and daughters of men is not clear from the text, although the two seem to be related. After this the text speaks of the wickedness of humans and moves to the Flood story.

It would hardly be apparent that the New Testament passages we are studying have anything to do with Genesis 6 were it not for the intertestamental literature, especially 1 Enoch. ¹ There Genesis 6 is embellished and expanded with the following basic elements: The sons of God, who are now specifically identified as angels, are said to have lusted after the beautiful daughters of men. On Mt. Hermon, these angels conspire to marry the human women. These unions result in the birth of great giants, who consume man's possessions and sin against animals, filling the earth with blood.

The good angels take the case before God. They bind the evil angels, and Enoch, whom God has hidden, announces the evil angels' doom. They will have no peace and will be destroyed at the final judgment. In the interim they are imprisoned in the earth, where they are still able to do harm and influence the course of events.

Judaism and early Christianity adopted this basic scenario, with many variations in detail, as the standard interpretation of Genesis 6.² And in ethical material a kind of standard reference was formed by linking the negative example of these evil angels, or "watchers," with other examples. The most common combination was the watchers, the people who lived at the time of the Flood, and Sodom and Gomorrah. ³

There are obvious similarities between the basic elements in this intertestamental legend and elements in the New Testament passages we are studying:⁴

1 Peter 3. This passage portrays Christ as preaching, in the spirit,⁵ to the spirits in prison who refused to obey in the days of Noah. This passage also says that Christ, through His resurrection, has gone into heaven to the right hand of God, where angels, authorities, and powers are subject to Him.⁶

Jude 5-7. Here we find that certain angels did not keep their own position, but left their appointed place, and as a result have been kept by God in eternal bonds in deep darkness until the final judgment. These evil angels, together with the He brews who were unfaithful during the wilderness wanderings and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, serve as negative examples and warnings of judgment.

2 Peter 2. This passage cites three examples to show that God can hold the wicked for punishment until the day of judgment: the evil angels, the people at the time of the Flood, and those of Sodom and Gomorrah. It says the angels sinned against God, who is now holding them in hell (Tartarus), in a place of great darkness, until the day of judgment. Verse 4 is very similar to Jude 6 and is probably dependent on it, although 2 Peter 2 contains unique elements.

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the intertestamental embellishment of Genesis 6 stands behind these passages. Several elements--the imprisonment of evil angels in deep darkness, keeping them until the day of judgment, and the recognition of their ultimate doom--that are found in the intertestamental literature but not in Genesis 6 are assumed in these New Testament passages. In fact, Jude and 2 Peter even use the watchers motif in the context of the negative examples cited above as becoming standard.

But more important than the fact that these passages assume the intertestamental watchers embellishments is the matter of how the New Testament uses this material. It is to this question that we now turn.

The watchers in the New Testament

1 Peter 3. Adventist interpretation of this passage has varied, ⁷ but generally we have ignored the intertestamental back ground in favor of a position that sees Christ warning the antediluvians through Noah. It is much more natural, however, to see the preaching to spirits in prison as a reference to the intertestamental motif. But it is also important to recognize that this reference is incidental. The author does not argue for the story, but assumes that his readers are familiar with it.

Peter mentions the motif for several reasons. Our passage begins by pointing to Christ's death for our sins. His example shows that it is good for us to suffer for doing right (verse 17). Peter's reference to Christ "preaching" to the spirits in prison follows and shows that we can do right with courage because the evil powers that might harass us have already been condemned by Christ and are subject to Him (verses 19, 22).

At this point, an understanding of the background actually helps in interpreting the text. In the intertestamental material, the "announcement" to the imprisoned angels (made by Enoch) is an announcement of doom and defeat. Christ's "preaching" to the spirits should be understood against this background. Peter is saying that Christ has fulfilled that which people of his day commonly thought Enoch had done. Christ, by His death and resurrection, effects the doom of the evil powers.

That the "preaching" to the spirits involves an announcement of judgment is also clear from the conclusion the passage draws (verse 22). The evil angels have been defeated and are now subject to Christ. The point is that Christ has accomplished all that the legends of the day attributed to Enoch. Christ "preached" (announced) the doom of all evil angels; in Christ we need have no fear of them.

Jude 6. In this passage also, the reference to the punishment of the watchers is incidental. It is part of a list of examples (already traditional in Judaism) showing that God is willing to punish. Jude's reference to judgment falls within the con text of-his stern warning against the false teachers who threaten his readers.

2 Peter 2. The same is true in 2 Peter. The evil angels, punished, imprisoned, and awaiting the final judgment, are but one element in a series of negative examples. They are evidence that God can rescue the godly and punish the wicked. Again the context is a warning against false prophets and teachers whose heresies threaten the readers. The passage does not affirm the intertestamental leg end; rather, it refers to it as an incidental example.

The extent to which the authors of these General Epistles believed the various details of the watchers motif is impossible for us to determine, and speculation is futile. But inspiration is not omniscience. Obviously these New Testament writers felt free to allude to this motif that was a commonplace of their day. In each case they took up the motif in the course of conveying a message that is quite different from that of any of the intertestamental sources. Recognizing this background solves some of the difficult problems of the passages.

Significance for the pastor

In the light of the background and meaning of these difficult passages, how should we, as pastors and teachers, handle them?

First, we must be honest and not gloss over the problems. Obviously, the communication context will determine the degree of detail that we can share. One would not include in a sermon all the technical details that he might present in a class. But nevertheless, we must always deal with the problems honestly.

Second, we should make use of the intertestamental background material to aid in the interpretation of these passages. Too often we are afraid to refer to this material because its use seems problematic. The fact is that this background material aids our interpretation; we cannot really understand the passages apart from it. So we must familiarize ourselves with this background material and know how to bring it to bear in an appropriate way in our interpretation.

Third, we must focus on the messages the authors of these passages intended them to bear. Each passage holds a positive message. The elements that we consider problematic are incidental to the messages, not central to them.

There is a great temptation to feel that when we have solved the problems the texts present we have interpreted the texts. But this is not the case at all. To solve the problems that the texts raise for Adventist belief is only to remove certain barriers to understanding them. The task of interpretation is always to understand a text's positive message.

And the fact is that people need to hear the positive messages these passages convey. We need to hear, as 1 Peter 3 teaches, that Christ has put all hostile powers under His feet, and that we can therefore find hope and confidence in Him. We also need to hear the message of Jude and 2 Peter, that what we believe and teach and who we follow are important to our spiritual life and growth.

We can never feel that we have succeeded in interpreting these passages until we have made their messages clear. This is the task of exegesis and of preaching.

Finally, we must be willing to admit that these passages contain problematic elements. We should never feel that if we cannot answer every question we have failed. Both pastors and teachers must be willing to admit fallibility and the lack of omniscience. Those to whom we minister will be patient with our human limitations if they also sense our willingness to struggle with a text, our honesty, and our commitment to the message the text conveys.