August 10
HELL / PART 9
TARTAROO
According to J. Preston Eby:
-"Next we consider the Greek word "TARTAROO" - the English form is "Tartarus." The passage where this word is
found is II Pet. 2:4. "God spared not the angels (messengers) that sinned, but cast them down to "hell" ("Tartarus"), and
delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment." Jude also presents the same truth without
mentioning the name as he writes, "And those angels (messengers) who kept not their first position of power and authority,
but left their habitation, He has kept in chains under thick darkness, for the judgment of the great day" (Jude 6).
The whole thought is of a restraint, a confinement, a prison, a condition in which apostates are held for a specific period
of time, in the same manner as prisoners are often held in jail awaiting the day of trial. "Tartarus" is not the judgment
itself, but a state or condition in which persons are inescapably held over unto a day of judgment." ( Hell, J. Preston
Eby )
According to J. W. Hanson:
-"Peter alludes to the subject just as though it were well-known and understood by his correspondents. "If the
angels that sinned."-what angels? "were cast down to "Tartarus," where is the story related? Not in the Bible, but in a book
well-known at the time, called the Book of Enoch. It was written some time before the Christian Era, and is often quoted by
the Christian fathers. But no one can fail to see that the apostle employs the legend from the Book of Enoch to illustrate
and enforce his doctrine of retribution. As though he had said: "If, as is believed by some, God spared not the angels that
sinned, do not let us who sin, mortal men, expect to escape." If this view is denied, there is no escape from the gross doctrine
of "Tartarus" as taught by the pagans and that, too, on the testimony of a solitary sentence of scripture! But whatever may
be the intent of the words, they do not teach endless torment, for the chains referred to only last unto the judgment." (
The Bible Hell, J. W. Hanson )
-It is believed by many that Peter and Jude were referring to sinning messengers in the days of Noah. These
sinning messengers were referred to as “the sons of God” who took “the daughters of men” as wives
and produced children by them ( Genesis 6:2 ). As to the nature of these angels ( messengers ), there are many different thoughts
and opinions. Some believe that the flood, in Noah’s day, was brought on and designed by God for the very purpose of
thwarting these fallen angels ( messengers ) in their design.
-The important point to see though, is that "Tartarus" does in no way teach endless torment, for the chains
referred to only last unto the judgment. It is to be seen as a state or condition in which persons are held over unto
a day of judgment for the purpose of correction. The Lord knows how to reserve …
-THE UNJUST UNTO THE DAY OF JUDGMENT!-
