*With the doctrine of this article the Editor is in full agreement, believing it surely to be what this passage of Scripture teaches. The translation of the Greek is another matter.*
To many this passage offers real difficulty. Others, apparently taking advantage of its obscurity, have made wrong use of it. But the obscurity of this passage does not lie so much in the inspired language as in the difficulty of getting a translation that correctly conveys its true meaning. Our English Bible commonly used in this country (which has, due to its many undoubted excellences, won a warm place in the heart of English-speaking Christians) completely falsifies the sense of this important passage. And the Revised Version only strengthens the erroneous reading.
Men do not like a present responsibility, and consequently welcome anything that offers itself as an excuse for setting it aside. A hope after death is that which, of all things, soothes a guilty conscience, and encourages the wicked to continue in their evil course and finally perish in sins-without God and without hope. It is hard to overstate the bad effects of this idea upon the conscience of the unsaved. The effect of error is to deaden the conscience and (which is its final end) blind the soul to every claim of God upon it. The truth of God's living word is powerful to effect just the opposite-arouse the conscience, and make it feel its responsibility to God.
Knowing then something of the evil of error and the value of truth, let us look with care at the passage before us.
"Quickened by the Spirit:by which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah," is not what the passage says, as we shall show. As read above, " which sometime were disobedient" refers to "the spirits in prison." Now this is entirely incorrect. For this to be the thought, it would be τoς έv φυλακη πvεύμασιv……τoις άπειθήσασιv πoτε which is not the sense. The construction is this:τoις έv φυλακη πvεύμασιv….άπειθήσασιv πoτε which is to be translated "to the spirits when they were once disbelieving," etc., not "who were once disbelieving." The difference is that in the first it says He went and preached to the spirits when in prison, while in the second it says that He went and preached to them when they were disbelieving, or disobedient, in the days of Noah. He preached by the Holy Spirit in Noah; άπειθήσασιv πoτε, and not τoις άπειθήσασιv πoτε, is clear and decisive.* *For those who are able to look the matter up for themselves, I refer them to their Greek grammars, merely stating that the rule under which this passage is grouped is that the article is often repeated after its noun to introduce some attributive word or phrase, and that when the defining clause is a participle, with the article it qualifies the noun, and when without the article it implies a predicate. I do this to avoid undue references to the Greek which could not edify, but may confuse.*
The passage then should read, " In (or, by) which (Spirit) also having gone to the spirits in prison when they once disbelieved, preached, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing," etc. This is not only the correct translation of this passage, but it brings out its truth, as the other does not.
Had these spirits heeded the preaching of Noah, they could not now be in prison. Noah preached a faithful testimony of God's long-suffering patience and of His righteousness, but it was disregarded; it fell upon deaf ears and contumacious hearts. They died in their sins, and are now in prison, awaiting that awful day of wrath. After death is the judgment (Heb. 9 :27), not repentance. Now is the time to repent (Acts 17:30). The time to have repented was when Noah was proclaiming by the Spirit of Christ the goodness of God that leadeth sinners to repentance. No, my reader, there is not one word in Scripture giving the slightest ground for hoping to be saved after death if you perish in your sins. None can entertain such a hope from God's faithful word. It is a fatal delusion of Satan. It would be senseless to preach to persons after death if judgment, and not repentance, is the lot of spirits in prison.
The passage rightly understood brings out the grace of God to sinners-yes, to those very ones who are morally guilty of the death of His Son. When man's wrath and hatred to God were at their greatest, God's love and grace shone brightest.
This is indeed encouragement at the present time, so much like the days of Noah. And we may rest assured that God will be glorified in the faithful proclamation of His patience and grace to sinners. Christ cannot be truly preached without unfolding that precious grace which freely forgives and blesses. The Holy Ghost who preached in Noah is He who now preaches to a world that has not changed one particle for the better; and if it pleased God to have made known His goodness then, it pleases Him to have it declared now.
Every stroke of Noah's hammer told off a few precious moments never to be regained, and brought the rebellious, nearer that awful prison mentioned in i Peter 3 :19. Should not these solemn thoughts stir us all up to our responsibilities toward the lost around us on every hand ?-cherishing the hope that some will heed the gracious message, and assured that in any event God will be eternally glorified in the making known the riches of His grace through Christ. F. H. J.