1 Peter 3:19

‘In which also he went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison,'

And it was thus in His spiritual resurrection body, which was the consequence of His obedience unto death, that He went and made proclamation to ‘the spirits who were in prison because they had been disobedient in the days of Noah'. It is the resurrection which gives point to this proclamation. As the victorious king He openly declares His victory to His prisoners-of-war. Here we have a contrast between the One Who was obedient unto death, and was therefore raised from the dead in a spiritual body and was free, and the bodiless spirits who had been and still were ‘disobedient', and were therefore in prison. Note again how ‘he went to the spirits in prison' parallels ‘having gone into heaven', i.e. He then went into heaven (1 Peter 3:22).

This is an assurance to his readers, and those who heard them pass on the message, of what the end will be of all those spirits who seek to interfere with mankind, including the ones causing their persecution. For these spirits in prison were the ones whom all knew had sought to break down the God-ordained difference between spirits and men in defiance of God. Now they were faced with One Who had broken down that difference, but in a way ordained by God, by becoming man and then being raised in a spiritual body, so that all men could enjoy full spiritual life. They had chosen the wrong way, the way of disobedience. He had chosen the right way, the way of obedience.

It should be noted in this regard that, in Scripture, when it is not in some way qualified and explained, the term ‘spirits' always refers to ‘angels' or ‘sons of the elohim' (e.g. Hebrews 1:7; Hebrews 1:14; 1 Kings 22:21; Job 4:15; Isaiah 31:3 with 2 Kings 6:17; Ezekiel 1:12; Ezekiel 1:20; Ezekiel 10:17; Zechariah 13:2 where a false spirit of prophesy is in mind).

Partly in mind here may be Isaiah 24:21, where we also have a picture of all supernatural beings who have opposed God being put in prison. Here Peter provides a well known example from the past of where this had already happened. 2 Peter 2:4 (which emphasises Peter's interest in this subject), along with the context here, can leave us in no doubt that this has in mind the ‘sons of the elohim' (‘heavenly beings') who sinned in Genesis 6:1 and helped to bring about a situation which could only be dealt with by the Flood.

However we interpret Genesis 6:1, and it probably indicates demon possession of an intense kind described in a folksy way, it demonstrates that the ‘sons of the elohim' had in some way left their initial condition as spirits, that is, ‘their proper habitation', and had sought to become involved in the physical world, something which was totally forbidden (Jude 1:6). This was why they had to be prematurely ‘isolated'. Thus Peter sees Christ's visit to the spirits in prison as in the nature of a declaration to these supernatural prisoners of God of the failure of what they had tried to accomplish, namely the ‘taking over' of the human race, and also a declaration to them of the sure and certain final defeat of their fellow-conspirators and of God's equally sure final victory.

It is, of course, all put in pictorial terms paralleling how an earthly king might behave as he announces his triumph to his prisoners of war (1 Peter 3:19), followed by a coronation and a ceremony where all swear fealty to him (1 Peter 3:22). Spirit beings cannot, of course, be locked in physical prisons, nor would Christ need to physically visit them in order to convey the truth. It all takes place in the spiritual world. But the realities behind it are perfectly literal. This was what Jesus had accomplished through His cross and resurrection.

Why then should Peter introduce this idea here? The answer is firstly that it is preparatory to describing Christ's further triumph over supernatural beings in 1 Peter 3:22, secondly it is illustrating to those who are suffering persecution because of the fanaticism of idolatrous demon worshippers that the evil spirits whom these fanatics worship have been defeated once and for all, as is evidenced by these particular well known examples, so that their own suffering will not be in vain. And thirdly it is also an illustration of the contrast between the Obedient One and the disobedient ones in accordance with Peter's main theme.

It will be remembered that Scripture brings out from beginning to end that there are invisible powers affecting the progress in the world. Beginning with the mysterious power behind the Serpent (Genesis 3), it continues with the equally mysterious ‘sons of the elohim' (Genesis 6:1); the powers behind Balaam (Numbers 22-24); the demons behind idols (Deuteronomy 32:17); the deceiving of David (the 1 Chronicles 21:2); the lying spirit who interfered at the time of Micaiah (1 Kings 22:19); the experiences of Job (Job 1-2); the revelations of Daniel 10; the onslaught on Joshua the High Priest (Zechariah 3:1); Jesus' defeat of evil spirits (Matthew 12:28 and often); and so on. And in all God was in control. That is the message of the spirits in prison.

Note On The Spirits In Prison.

Some cavil at this interpretation and see this as referring to angels who sinned before the creation of man, or as referring to the spirits of men. The latter we must reject because nowhere else is the bare term ‘spirits' without a qualifying genitive ever applied to other than angels.

With regard to the former there is in fact no Scriptural evidence that any angels, apart from Satan, did fall before the creation of man. No indication of date is ever given to the few accounts of when the angels fell.

On the other hand we do have grounds in the very literature which Jude 1:14 cites (the book of Enoch), for the idea that the first angelic fall took place in the days of Noah. Thus in the Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) we have the following description of the fall of these angels, who are called the Watchers, because they were watching over mankind:

“And it came about, when the children of men had multiplied, that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children (6:1-3) --- And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in to them and to defile themselves with them (7:1). ---And again the Lord said to Raphael: 'Bind Azazel hand and foot, and  cast him into the darkness  (10:4) --- bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth,  till the day of their judgment  and of their consummation, till the judgment that is for ever and ever is consummated. In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: and to the torment and  the prison in which they will be confined for ever. And whoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth  be bound together with them  to the end of all generations. And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers, because they have wronged mankind. (10:12-15) --- And  then will the whole earth be tilled in righteousness,  and will all be planted with trees and be full of blessing (10:18-19) ---. 'Enoch, you scribe of righteousness, go, declare to the Watchers of the heaven  who have left the high heaven, the holy eternal place, and have defiled themselves with women, and have done as the children of earth do, and have taken to themselves wives: "You have wrought great destruction on the earth, and you will have no peace nor forgiveness of sin, and inasmuch as they delight themselves in their children, the murder of their beloved ones shall they see, and over the destruction of their children shall they lament, and will make supplication unto eternity, but mercy and peace shall you not attain.” (12:4-6).

It will be noted that if we compare these words with Peter we have the ‘spirits in prison' (1 Peter 3:19), compare ‘the prison in which they will be confined for ever'; the ‘committing to pits of darkness to be reserved to judgment' (2 Peter 2:5) and ‘the new earth in which dwells righteousness' (2 Peter 3:13), and in comparison with Jude here we have ‘the angels who left their first principality' (they ‘left the high heaven, the eternal holy place') and their resulting ‘everlasting bonds' (Jude 1:6), and the fact that they dwelt in darkness. Furthermore in 1 Enoch 60:8 we have mention of ‘the seventh from Adam' (compare Jude 1:14).

The same incidents are described more briefly in Jubilees 4:15; 5:1 ff.; Testament of Reuben 5:6-7; Testament of Naphtali 3:5; Enoch 18; etc. It was clearly havily emphasised in Jewish tradition.

We have only selected a few extracts from the text, but the full text makes quite clear that we undoubtedly have reference here to the events described in Genesis 6:1.

This is confirmed in 2 Peter. There Peter selects three incidents in Scriptural order, the fall of the angels, the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. But the only fall of angels even hinted at in Scripture prior to the Flood, apart from that of Satan himself as hinted at in Genesis 3, is that found in Genesis 6:1.

End of note.