4 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; 5 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; 6 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; 7 and if he rescued
righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for
as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his
righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord
knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under
punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in
the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.
GOD PRESERVES THE RIGHTEOUS
The Lord knows how to rescue the godly
from trials, and to keep unrighteous under punishment until the day of
judgment. In other words, God is always on top of everything. He preserves His
own. Arbitrarily, He also reserves the wicked for judgment.
Peter begins a series of "if or
since" statements to make the case that God does indeed bring judgment
upon those who rebel against Him with certainty. If[since] the angels who
rebelled were cast into hell [Tartarus, which was a part of the Greek underworld]
.. since these angels remain there, being held in chains, or pits, of darkness
until God is ready to fully judge them for their sin. …if[since] the wicked men
who mocked Noah and his family perished through the flood.. Jesus said that the
world would be as it was in Noah's day when He returned (Mat 24:36–44). And
lastly, if[since] Sodom and Gomorrah were burned to extinction. These are
examples to what would happen to the ungodly. In summary, these historical
events of God’s judgments in the past do guarantee that God will continue to
reserve His own and punish the wicked.
Let’s not forget these dreadful acts
of God in the past. Let us learn from it. Otherwise, we would be bound either
to discouragement or despair. Let’s remember that;
“God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not
Surely, ‘God remains faithful for He
can not deny Himself.’[2 Tim 2:13]
Peter used the examples of Noah and
Lot that He won’t abandon the righteous. We don’t argue that Noah was
righteous, do we? “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet
unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By
this, he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes
However, we raise doubts about Lot
being called righteous. We may read his story and think he was worthy of God's
judgment. But, he was "righteous" before God. However, he was
"distressed" or "oppressed" by the immoral and violent
conduct of the people of Sodom. In the New Testament, it means to be tired,
exhausted, worn down, afflicted, or treated roughly. He was “tormented” for he
was beaten down and discouraged by what he saw in Sodom.
Both Noah and Lot were rescued for
being righteous. God will judge the wicked but preserve the righteous. He knows
how to rescue the righteous as much as He holds those who are ungodly to be
punished for their rebellion on the coming day of His judgment.
What does this mean to you today? We
may be tempted to look at the world and think that those who oppose God are
winning. Does standing with God cost more than it's worth? We must never forget
that God is still paying attention. Destruction will come, and so will
salvation. Let us then be faithful for He would vindicate the righteous
