VICTORIOUS PROCLAMATION #1
Prior to Christ’s resurrection, all the way back to the days of Adam, believers had waited in Paradise for the promised Savior. Finally, Christ made His Victorious Entrance and His Victorious Proclamation that He went to the cross, paid the penalty for sin, and that their salvation was completed, once and for all, just as God promised in Genesis 3:15. He was victorious over sin, over satan, and He paid our penalty for us – the penalty of death (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Can you imagine how ecstatic those Old Testament believers must have been when Christ appeared unto them in His resurrection body and told them He had come to take them home to Heaven – home to God. It was and is the most wonderful trip anyone ever took, when Christ personally escorted them and led the procession from Paradise to Heaven.
We have examined Paradise and Torments, which were located in Hades but were separated by a great gulf fixed. Now let’s look at Tartarus, the third compartment.
Question: Believers were in Paradise; unbelievers were in Torments; who was in Tartarus?
TARTARUS – VICTORIOUS PROCLAMATION #2
The Bible tell us about Tartarus in 1 Peter 3:18-22: “By whom (by means of the Holy Spirit) also He (Christ) went and preached unto the spirits in prison (Tartarus), which were sometime (once upon a time, at a point in time past) disobedient (1 Peter 3:19,20a).
Jesus did not actually preach as we think of preaching; He made a Victorious Proclamation to all the fallen angels incarcerated in Tartarus. The content of His proclamation has been suggested in 1 Peter 3:18; and is amplified by Hebrews 2:9-16 and 10:5-14.
The “spirits” were fallen angels in Tartarus. They were none other than the same angels who infiltrated the human race in the days of Noah, just before the flood (Genesis 6:2,4; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). In Genesis 6:2, the Hebrew word translated “sons of God” (“BenehaElohim”) appears only four times in the Old Testament: Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; and in this verse.
“BenehaElohim” is always used for angels – never humans. In the New Testament, “Son of God” is a designation for Jesus Christ, while “sons of God” refers to believers; but we must not confuse the Greek of the New Testament with the Hebrew of the Old Testament. We need to make another distinction: “sons of God” in the Old Testament is used for all types of angels – holy and fallen. There are two types of fallen angels: those which are “bound”in Tartarus, and those not bound but free to roam about and cause havoc in the world (at satan’s bidding) called “demons.”
All fallen angels are under satan’s control. The angels in Genesis 6:2 later became the bound angels in Tartarus (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). Questions may arise as to how angels could procreate with human women. The Bible does not directly address this issue, however the Bible does state that it occurred. Therefore we can only assume that it was possible to a point, before the flood. But, God judged these infiltrators and cut off not only their ability to procreate, but the same ability of all angelic creation so this can not occur again. This particular span of time leading up to the flood was one of the most intense in all the annals of human history. It was at this point that God truly demonstrated His grace towards you and me.
The human race had been so completely infiltrated that there were only eight people who were still true humanity. So successful was satan’s attempt to destroy true humanity that only Noah and his family were not part angel and part man.
If satan’s attack on humanity would have succeeded, then Jesus Christ could not be born to save fallen man, and you and I would be without hope. True humanity would have vanished from the face of the earth and satan would have won the appeal and the strategic victory of the Angelic Conflict. But God knew, billions of years ago in eternity past, exactly what would happen throughout human history.
So, when God destroyed the earth by flood and preserved Noah and his family, the ‘super race’ of people perished from the earth and “the Angels who kept not their first estate” were incarcerated in Tartarus (Jude 1:6).
Our Lord paid them a visit to bring them up to date on human history and make the Victorious Proclamation of His glorious victory over death, over sin, and over satan.
Remember these fallen angels have been incarcerated for centuries and were not in touch with anything that had transpired in human history since their incarceration. They were expecting satan to show up any time and make his proclamation of victory over Christ.
What a shocked bunch of angels they must have been when God, the second person of the Trinity (Jesus Christ) suddenly appeared on the scene. They were now doomed forever, hopelessly lost. As I write this study and as you read, they remain incarcerated, awaiting the great White Throne Judgement and their final execution in the Lake of Fire, which has been termed in the past as Operation: Footstool (Revelation 20:10&14).
OPERATION: FOOTSTOOL
“The Lord (God the Father) said unto my Lord (Jesus Christ), Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool (Psalm 110:1; Matthew 22:45).” Reference also Hebrews 10:13.
There is absolutely nothing in all of time and eternity that will ever come close to what Jesus Christ accomplished at Calvary. However, “it ain’t over til it’s over.” And it won’t be over for our Lord until God makes the enemies of Christ His footstool.
With the exception of the cross, the greatest events are yet future. As believers, living physically in this life (or spiritually in the next) we will witness the most dramatic events yet to unfold in all the annals of human history and eternity, and that is the conclusion of the Angelic Conflict, or “Operation: Footstool.”
Christ waits patiently for His ultimate and final victory over satan (Psalm 110:1), just as we await our ultimate sanctification at the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
In closing, if you are not a believer, there is still time for you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved (Acts 16:31; John 3:15-18,36; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Acts 4:12). Come to Him. He awaits you. He only wants your faith and belief as He already did the work for you; there’s nothing left for you to do, other than believe.
Eternal life can be yours right now, forever, through the Son of God. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 5:24; 8:32,33; 11:25, 14:6; 20:31; Acts 2:21; 4:12; reference also 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; 2 Timothy 1:9,10; Hebrews 1:13; 2:7,8).
Father, we thank you for your living Word. In Jesus’ name, Amen.