2nd Peter 2:4 says, “For if God spared not the angels who had sinned, but having cast them down to the deepest pit of gloom has delivered them to chains of darkness to be kept for judgment” (DARBY). In this chapter the apostle Peter was addressing the subject of apostasy and in verses 4-6 he gives 3 examples of apostasy from the Old Testament and God’s judgment upon the apostates. In verse 4 he refers to “the angels that sinned.” Who are these angels and what was their sin? There are those who teach that this is referring to the fall of Satan and the angels that followed him in his rebellion against God. This cannot be, for Scripture is clear that Satan and his angels are NOT bound in “chains of darkness,” but are free to roam the earth exerting their influence over mankind. The time is coming when Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit, for we read in Revelation 20:1-3, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” This will not be fulfilled until Christ comes to set up His Millennial Kingdom. Satan and his fallen angels know this time is coming, for demons referred to this in Matthew 8:29, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have you come to torment us BEFORE THE TIME” (NASB). In Luke 8:31 we read of those same demons, “And they besought Him that He would not command them to go out INTO THE DEEP.”

So, again we ask, “Who are these angels and what was their sin?” A clue in given to us in Jude 6, “And the angels WHICH KEPT NOT THEIR FIRST ESTATE, BUT LEFT THEIR OWN HABITATION, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under the darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” Jude informs us that they abandoned the place that God had given them to live. Where did they go? I believe Genesis 6:1-2 provide the answer: “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that THE SONS OF GOD SAW THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN THAT THEY WERE FAIR; AND THEY TOOK THEM WIVES OF ALL WHICH THEY CHOSE.” These angels, which are called “sons of God” (see Job 1:6 and 2:1), left their angelic habitation and came to earth to intermarry with human wives. This unholy union, which resulted in a corruption of the human race, was so great in God’s eyes that He decided to destroy man with a universal flood. This sin of the angels was the worst case of apostasy ever and it caused God to cast them into the bottomless pit “before the time” (that is, before He casts Satan and all the angels into the abyss). They are in that “pit of gloom” and have been delivered “to chains of darkness to be kept for judgment.” This means it’s not their final end. Their final destination will be the lake of fire, along with Satan and all fallen angels. Revelation 20:10 declares, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone…and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Though only Satan is mentioned here, it is clear that this “final judgment” will include all the angels who had been “reserved in everlasting chains under the darkness UNTO THE JUDGMENT OF THE GREAT DAY.”  (209.1)  (DO)