God Keeps the Godly

2 Peter 2:5-9

2 Peter 2:9 (NKJV) …then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment.

This verse comes at the end of a paragraph that begins with 2 Peter 2:4 and must be understood in that context. In this paragraph, Peter tells us that God cast certain angels into Tartarus (hell), where they are held under punishment for the final judgment.

After telling us about these angels, Peter tells us about two men who God kept from destruction. Noah and Lot differed in their occupation and circumstance, but God rescued them when others were judged.

First, Peter talks about Noah. This is the “Noah and the Ark” Noah.

A couple thousand years after God created humankind, humanity had become so corrupt that God decided to destroy every living thing on earth. However, one man was faithful to God. Noah was the one righteous man on all the earth. So, God had Noah build an “Ark” (a really big boat), and with that boat, God preserved Noah and enough of every creature to give the world a fresh start. 

Here is what Peter tells us about these events.

2 Peter 2:5 (NKJV) …and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly

God did not spare the ancient world. All the people alive at that time perished in the flood and are now in Hades (hell, but not the same as Tartarus) waiting for the final judgment. However, notice what the text says about Noah. He was “a preacher of righteousness.”

I get the impression that if measured by numbers, Noah was not a successful preacher. However, the Bible tells us a couple of things about Noah. First, in Genesis 6, when we are introduced to Noah, the Scriptures say:

Genesis 6:8 (NKJV) But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

And then, the Scriptures give us the reason that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Genesis 7:1 (NKJV) Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.”

Finally, we see in Hebrews 11 that Noah was a godly man of faith.

Hebrews 11:7 (NKJV) By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Noah spent over one hundred years building the Ark. During that time, God waited. He was waiting for Noah. Hebrews 11:7 tells us that Noah building the Ark condemned the world. His example of unwavering faith in God, although it did not persuade people, left those around him with no excuse. One aspect of this condemnation is that Noah was divinely warned. I want to show you two verses that apply to this subject.

First, Amos 3:7 says:

Amos 3:7 (NKJV) Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

And Second:

John 16:13 (NKJV) However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

From Amos 3:7 and John 16:13, we understand that God tells His people what is to come. In Noah’s case, Noah was given instructions to build an Ark because a flood was coming. There is no way Noah could have known a deluge was coming apart from God revealing it to him. Noah believed God and made preparations. The process of building the Ark took over one hundred years, but Noah never wavered. That faith saved Noah. 

In our day, we anticipate the return of our Lord Jesus. By reading Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation, we can get a good picture of what is to come. And, we have been warned to be ready. We are not called on to build boats but to remain faithful to Jesus and to be about God’s work. And like during Noah’s time, God is waiting. He is waiting while we tell people about Jesus. We, as a people (as disciples), are called to be His witnesses to an ungodly world.

The people that ignored Noah continued life as usual, so they were caught completely by surprise. It is the same in our day. The signs of the times indicate that the Tribulation (something God made known to us) will be coming upon the earth very soon. And, most people are not aware and will be caught entirely by surprise. Their destruction will come upon them seemingly out of nowhere.

However, it is not so with us. We have nothing to fear because the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptations. The world around us may be apathetic and not listen to our warnings, but that does not mean we should stop preaching. WE have nothing to fear, but the WORLD should be terrified because something worse than the flood is coming.

Noah serves as an example of someone the Lord kept from temptations in a world filled with wickedness. A second person Peter speaks of is Lot. 

Lot was Abraham’s nephew. Abraham was a man of faith, and because Lot stuck with Abraham, we know that Lot was also a man of faith. When Abraham left his home and moved to a land neither had seen, Lot packed up and went with Abraham. No other relatives (brothers, cousins, sisters, etc.) followed, just Lot. 

Lot and Abraham both kept sheep and other livestock. God blessed them and caused their herds and flocks to grow. Soon they had so many possessions between them that the land could not support both of them. Because of this, their herdsmen began to bicker over grazing and water rights. So, Abraham suggested to Lot that they split up. Lot looked at the Jordan valley, which was lush and green in those days, and decided to move there. 

Peter tells us that Lot was a righteous man, and yet, he chose to live in an ungodly city. (They didn’t have internet service out in the country?) When God delivered Lot from Sodom, He told Lot to go into the mountains, but Lot said,

Genesis 19:18–20 (NKJV) ¹⁸Please, no, my lords! ¹⁹Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. ²⁰See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

I do not know what Lot feared, but he definitely was afraid to live in the mountains. So, this may have been why Lot chose to live in Sodom.

Whatever the case, Sodom was wicked in the extreme. Let’s read what Genesis tells us about Sodom.

Genesis 13:13 (NKJV) But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.

Here God says the men living in Sodom were “exceedingly wicked.” (I think that means very bad!) Lot was a righteous man, and yet he chose to live in the middle of such wickedness. He did not avoid the society of Sodom, but he did not join them in their sin against the Lord.

The wickedness got so bad that God decided to end it. He burnt it. He rained fire down from heaven and turned the whole city to ashes. 2 Peter tells us that God did this as an example to those who would live wickedly later. However, God does not destroy the righteous with the wicked. So, He sent angels who literally pulled Lot out of the city before burning it.

For whatever reason, Lot chose to live in cities, and the willful rebellion against God tortured him. In the Genesis account, we see that Lot had “sons-in-law” in the city. From this, we gather that Lot and his family were accepted as part of the community. How could Lot have lived among and shared life with these people without caring? Of course he cared! That is why his righteous soul was tortured. Lot lived differently because he was a righteous man. However, his righteous life did not have enough influence to save even his sons-in-law. 

Here is what Peter tells us about this incident.

2 Peter 2:6–8 (NKJV) ⁶…and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; ⁷and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked ⁸(for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)

First, we see that Lot was oppressed by the filthy conduct. The word translated here as “oppressed” is elsewhere translated as “exhaust by labor or suffering,” “wear out,” or “overpower.” Peter explains Lot’s suffering more by saying Lot “tormented his righteous soul from day to day.” The word used here for “tormented” means to interrogate a person by torture and it is also used of the waves “battering” the boat the disciples were in on the Sea of Galilee.

The torment for Lot was seeing and hearing their lawless deed. From day to day, he saw and heard what the people in his city were doing. It was heavy upon him. 

Our world is not different from Sodom and Gomorrah. Look at how Romans 1 describes our world.

Romans 1:18 (NKJV): For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 

Romans 1:28–32 (NKJV): ²⁸And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; ²⁹being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, ³⁰backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ³¹undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; ³²who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

God’s messengers grabbed Lot’s hand and took him out of the city so that he would not perish with the ungodly. Before that happened, Lot tried to warn people, but they would not listen. When Jesus returns, He is going to catch us up to meet Him in the clouds. Just like Lot, we will literally be lifted out of the destruction to come.

Each of us must choose. We can choose to be a part of this world and its destruction, or we can choose to be saved.

All it takes to be saved is to talk to Jesus. Just tell Him you want to be saved. He does the rest. 

Sadly, like in Noah’s day and Lot’s day, very few will actually be saved. Not because God is unable, but because people are unwilling.