This section of Peter’s epistle uses several examples from scripture to note God’s judgment. First is the angels who sinned, of which we know little beyond speculation. However, this judgment seems to be the first meted out by God. We are familiar with the flood, and the judgment of the ancient world. Next are Sodom and Gomorrah, who God destroyed with fire and brimstone. He states these two cities serve as an “example to those who afterward would live ungodly” (6).
In the midst of such judgment of evil stood righteous men like Moses and Lot, who were oppressed by the evil which surrounded them. But, they were spared by God.
This is to let us know today that “the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment” (9).
As always, your standing before God and treatment by Him depends upon your own obedience or disobedience. God treats us all fairly because God is just!
