Who Were The Spirits In The Prison? And What Was The Objective of Jesus Preaching to The Spirits in Prison? At 1 Peter 3:19, 20, after describing Jesus resurrection to spirit life, the apostle says: In this state also he went his way and preached to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedience when the patient of God was waiting in Noahs day, while the ark was being constructed. Commenting on this text, Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words says: In 1 Peter 3:19 the probable reference is, not glad tidings (which there is no real evidence that Noah preached, nor is there evidence that the spirits of the antediluvian people are actually in prison), but to the act of Christ after His resurrection in proclaiming His victory to the fallen angelic spirits. (1981 Vol. 3, p. 201) We should note that preaching refers to a proclamation (Greek ke.rysso) that may be not only of something good but also something bad, as when Jonah proclaimed Ninevehs coming destruction. The only imprisoned spirits referred to in the Scriptures are those angels of Noahs day who were delivered into pits of dense darkness (2 Peter 2:4, 5) and reserved with eternal bonds under dense darkness for the judgement of the great day. (Jude 6). Therefore the preaching by the resurrected Jesus Christ to such unrighteous angels could only have been a preaching of judgement not good news. It may be noted that the book of Revelation transmitted in vision to John by Jesus toward the close of the first century C.E contains much about Satan the Devil and his demons as well as their ultimate destruction, hence, a preaching of judgement. (Revelation 12-20) Peter use of the past tense (preached) indicates that such preaching had been done prior to the writing of his first letter.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 08:40:59 +0000
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