What does it mean to be reserved for judgment (2 Peter 2:4)?

Second Peter 2:4 says, “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment” (NKJV). Of course, this is only the first part of an “if-then” statement. The thought is finished in 2 Peter 2:9–10: “Then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority” (NKJV).

Jude 1:6 refers to the same angels’ fate: “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.”

This information is part of Jude’s and Peter’s condemnations of false teachers in the church. Those who “secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them” (2 Peter 2:1) will suffer consequences. The false teachers exhibit depraved conduct, “bring the way of truth into disrepute,” and exploit believers (2 Peter 2:2–3). Peter assures the faithful that these greedy false teachers will face God’s judgment:

In 2 Peter 2:4–10, the apostle points to the historical record to confirm the punishment of the false teachers in his day. His first case in point is the angels who sinned: “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment” (2 Peter 2:4). Other examples Peter cites are the world of Noah’s day (verse 5) and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (verse 6). If God judged those people and even judged wicked angels, then He will also judge the false teachers who were troubling the church.

According to 2 Peter 2:4, God cast “the angels who sinned . . . down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment” (NKJV). We note the following facts about these angels:

• they sinned
• they were thrust down to hell
• they are currently kept in chains of darkness
• they will face judgment in the future

What was the angels’ sin? There are differing opinions, but we believe the sin is described in Genesis 6:1–4. At that time, certain “sons of God,” or angels, took human wives and bore offspring. Jude describes the angels as those who “did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling” (Jude 1:6). The rebellious intermarriage between fallen angels and humans was swiftly punished. The angels who participated in that sin are now held “in gloomy pits of darkness” (2 Peter 2:4, NLT). They are confined and cannot escape.

Where are the sinful angels now? Most translations of 2 Peter 2:4 say that the angels who sinned are in “hell.” A few translations qualify it as “the lowest hell” (ISV). And strictly literal translations, such as the Berean Literal Bible, say that God cast the angels “down to Tartarus.” This is the Bible’s only use of the Greek word referring to the netherworld. Tartarus is a deep subterranean pit where demons are punished. The demons Jesus cast out in the region of the Gerasenes feared they would be thrown “into the Abyss” (Luke 8:31), a reference to the place also called Tartarus.

What will be the fate of the angels who sinned? Since they are being “held for judgment” (2 Peter 2:4), we know that they will face a future assessment and further sentencing. Their current confinement will result in their doom “on the great Day” (Jude 1:6) when the angels will face an ultimate judgment along with sinful humanity. On that fearsome day, God will say to unrepentant sinners, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41; cf. Revelation 20:10–15).