David B. Curtis
David B. Curtis
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Good morning, Bereans. We are continuing our study of 1 Peter this morning, focusing on verse 19 of chapter 3. Before we look at our text, let's back up and review for a minute what we saw in our last study of 1 Peter.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 1 Peter 3:18 ESV
Peter is writing to believers who are suffering for their faith as they live as aliens and strangers in the world. They are enduring some very hostile persecution.
As Peter goes through this letter, he presents his recurring theme of living in the midst of suffering. He tells his readers to look to Christ to see how they are to deal with unjust suffering.
As we come to the final section of this third chapter (3:18-22), we see that this passage has major difficulties. Nonetheless, its major point should be noted—Christ's suffering and ultimate victory.
If you read 3:18 and 22 together, you should see that they form the complete thought of the victory of Christ. This is a reminder to Christians that their suffering also results in triumph.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 1 Peter 3:18 ESV
who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. 1 Peter 3:22 ESV
What we see here is that "Christ suffered" and "is seated at the right hand of God." Peter is using Christ as our example of undeserved suffering that ultimately ends in our triumph. I see in 1 Peter 3:18-22 a text very similar to what we see in Philippians 2:5-11. In both texts, we see the humiliation and exaltation of Christ. It takes humility to endure unjust suffering. Do you see that?
The purpose of Yeshua's death was "that he might bring us to God." This is a purpose clause (hina--"in order that he might bring us to God").
Verse 18 ends with this: "Being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit." Both of these phrases are aorist passive participles, which imply a historical event (crucifixion and resurrection,) performed by an outside agency (i.e., the Father or the Holy Spirit).
I want to make a correction to this. After further study, I don't think that "But made alive in the spirit" refers to the resurrection. The voice of "made alive" is passive, so the passive voice of the participle is clearly a divine passive. This means that God is the understood agent of the action of the verb.
Thus, the reference function should be applied to spirit, ‘with reference to the spirit' or "in the spirit." This would have the idea that Christ was made alive spiritually. Considering that the verb "made alive" means to give life where there was no life previously, this clause would be implying that Christ had died spiritually, for He could not be made alive unless He had died. (A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF BIBLICAL STUDIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS SCHOOL OF RELIGION BY JASON M. HAUFFE)
The basic idea of death is separation. Spiritual death is to be separated from God. The true heart of redemption is that Christ was separated from God so that we do not have to be separated from Him. So, the timing of Christ' being made alive spiritually would be during His suffering on the cross.
Christ suffered for doing good and that was God's will. Christ humbled himself in death and Yahweh raised him from dead and seated him at his right hand. Therefore, we also should remain faithful in the midst of suffering with the confident hope that God will also raise and vindicate us.
With this in mind, let's look at our text for this morning.
in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 1 Peter 3:18-20 ESV
As I'm sure you can understand from reading this, this is a difficult text that has many different interpretations. Please keep in mind what we said earlier that "Christ suffered" (v18) and "is seated at the right hand of God" (v22). Peter is using Christ as our example of undeserved suffering that ultimately ends in our triumph.
Most commentators acknowledge that these are some of the most difficult verses in the New Testament to interpret. Even Martin Luther said that this is perhaps the most obscure passage in the New Testament and admitted that he did not know for certain just what Peter meant (Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and Jude [Kregel], p. 168).
Simon Kistemaker points out that the meaning of each word in verse 19 varies and he cites D. Edmond Hiebert who says, "Each of the nine words in the original has been differently understood" (New Testament Commentary: Peter and Jude [Baker], p. 141).
Again, this passage has been subject to many interpretations. Some say Peter referred to the descent of Christ into Sheol between His death and resurrection to offer people who lived before the Flood a second chance for salvation. This is clearly without scriptural support. For example.
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, Hebrews 9:27 ESV
It is appointed for men to die once, once for all time to die. No reincarnation; no second chances.
Another view says that Christ went down to Hades (Greek word for Sheol) during the interval between His death and resurrection and preached to Noah's contemporaries. Clement of Alexandria (ca. A.D. 200) taught this view (Kistemaker, p. 144). This group is subdivided into those who say that Christ gave a second offer of salvation to those who perished in the flood, those who say that He announced judgment to them, and those who say that He announced salvation to those already saved.
What this text actually tells us is that Christ preached to spirits in prison. These spirits were in prison for disobedience and connects their disobedience to the time of Noah.
Let's see if we can break this down.
in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 1 Peter 3:19 ESV
Let me just say here that this verse is the origin of the statement "descended into Hell" in the Apostles' Creed. The doctrine of Christ's descent into hell is known throughout the Christian world primarily because of the Apostles' Creed.
"In which"—refers back to the spiritual sphere of life in which Yeshua now lives (v. 18). This phrase points to what happened to Christ's living spirit.
Sam Storms writes, "The relative clause, ‘in which' that opens this verse has as its antecedent the ‘spirit' of 3:18b. It follows that 3:19 portrays the experience of Christ subsequent to his resurrection, not before it. Christ proclaimed his victory and their defeat, most likely at the time of his ascension and exaltation to the right hand of the Father (3:22)."
So, Sam sees Christ preaching to the Spirits as something he did after his ascension. Many see this as happening between Christ's death and resurrection and some see it happening while he was on the cross and died spiritually.
"He went and proclaimed"—"he" here is Christ. The verb "went" means to go from one place to another and is used in v22 to describe Christ's ascension. It refers to a personal going.
The main point, says France, "is that there is no mention of going down, or of Sheol or Hades (which is never called phylakē [prison] in biblical literature). Christ went to the prison of the fallen angels, not to the abode of the dead, and the two are never equated."
"Proclaimed" is the Greek term kērussō (from the noun keruxz) which means "a herald for a king." In fact, the official kerux or herald would stand in the market place and blow a trumpet, calling the attention of the crowd to the edict of the emperor. His proclamation was as a command. He declares the policy of the king. So, kerusso means to declare the policy of the king.
It is used 62 times in the New Testament—mostly of preaching the Gospel.
but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 1 Corinthians 1:23 ESV
But it can be used of any proclamation.
But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. Galatians 5:11 ESV
Military generals and kings would have a herald announce their victories. Christ went somewhere to announce His victory. No, He was not preaching the gospel to some people in the spiritual world or to some beings in the spiritual world. He was announcing, proclaiming, heralding a triumph. I see it as his announcing his triumph over sin and death and his defeat of all his spiritual enemies. That's what the passage is all about. That's what the context is all about. It's all about triumphing in the midst of unjust suffering.
Christ, then, is making a proclamation to Spirits in prison. Who is that? "Spirits in prison"—there are two theories concerning this: Some hold that it refers to dead men. And to support that they use 1 Peter 4:6.
For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. 1 Peter 4:6 ESV
What does this mean? I don't have a clue, but hopefully I'll have some idea when we get to this text. Another verse used to support the idea that these "spirits in prison" are dead men is Hebrews 12:23.
and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, Hebrews 12:23 ESV
Here "spirits" refers to men. But the plural "spirits" is only used here and in 1 Corinthians 14:32 to describe human beings.
The other view is that "spirits" refers to spirit beings—what we would call gods, watchers or angels. "Spirits" is used frequently in Scripture to describe these spirit beings (Matt. 10:1; Mark 1:27; 3:11; 5:13; 6:7: Luke 4:36; 6:18; Acts 5:16; Rev. 16:13; et al.).
Regarding the spirits in prison Henry Morris says,
These "spirits in prison" almost certainly were the evil spirits who had sinned in the days of Noah by trying to corrupt and control all flesh (Ge 6:1,2,3,4,12). Whenever the word "spirits" is used in the plural and not clearly indicated otherwise (as in Heb 12;23 and 1 Co 14:32), it always refers to supernatural beings or angels. In support of this meaning, note that there are thirty such occurrences in the New Testament, with only two, as noted above, referring to spirits of men. At least twenty-six of these thirty occurrences refer to evil spirits, which strongly indicates that to be the meaning here. (Morris, Henry: Defenders Study Bible. World Publishing)
Peter calls people psuchē in verse 20 ("eight psuchē") which makes me think that "spirits" must be different from people in this context.
What prison would it be talking about that men are in? The word "prison" is from the Greek word phulakē. Thayer defines phulakē as 1) guard, watch 1a) a watching, keeping watch 1a1) to keep watch 1b) persons keeping watch, a guard, sentinels 1c) of the place where captives are kept, a prison 1d) of the time (of night) during which guard was kept, a watch, i.e. a period of time during which part of the guard was on duty, and at the end of which others relieved them.
So, prison describes the act of guarding and by metonymy the place where guarding is done.
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23 ESV
In the Septuagint translation the Greek reads more like "keep (tereo) a guard (phulake) over your heart."
in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 1 Peter 3:19 ESV
As I said earlier there are many different ideas as to what this means. Some folks (such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) claim this means that, after people die, they can have another chance to hear and submit to the gospel. Mormons even argue that people living on earth must be baptized so these dead people, when they hear the gospel, can be forgiven by the baptism of someone else on their behalf.
Some have suggested that Christ was not the one who went and preached, but rather the text has been altered. The Greek words "in which" are en hos, which some Bible scholars read as "Enos," or "Enoch." It is claimed that Enoch preached to the people in Noah's day. There is much to silence this, the heaviest blow being the lack of textual support. There is not one text that supports this claim.
There are two primary views to this passage:
1. It speaks of Christ's ministering through Noah, as he spoke to the rebellious men during the flood. So, Christ preached to the people in Noah's day by the Spirit of Christ which was in the Old Testament prophets. Support for this interpretation is seen in 1 Peter 1:10-12.
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. 1 Peter 1:10-12 ESV
This says that the Spirit of Christ ministered through the former prophets. So, they say as Noah preached before the flood, it was Christ speaking through him. Noah is called a "preacher of righteousness" in 2 Peter 2:5. So, when Noah preached to people, the Spirit of Christ was in him, and was preaching to people through him. So, Christ, by the Spirit, went and preached to the people through the preaching of Noah. They try to strengthen this view by using Ephesians 2:17,18 which says Christ preached peace to Jews and Gentiles who were in Ephesus. But Christ Himself was never personally in Ephesus during His lifetime.
This view was taught by Augustine who wrote, "The passage refers not to something Christ did between his death and resurrection, but to what he did ‘in the spiritual realm of existence' (or through the Spirit) at the time of Noah. When Noah was building the ark, Christ ‘in spirit' was preaching through Noah to the hostile unbelievers around him."
How were these pre-flood men in prison?
Those who hold this view would say, "Every person who is guilty of sin, is spiritually a bondservant of Satan, even while he is alive on earth – John 8:34; Romans 6:16; 2 Peter 2:19; 2 Timothy 2:26. So the people, who were disobedient in Noah's day, were at that time spiritually in prison to Satan."
The problem with this is that nowhere in Scripture are the souls of men ever said to be imprisoned. But these spirits are imprisoned. Phulak is the term and it is not a condition, it is a location. It refers to an actual location, not some condition of being imprisoned in sin. It is a place.
How did they get bound? What did they do to get permanently bound in this place?" Verse 20 tells you, "…they formerly did not obey." When was it? Verse 20, "when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared." Oh, now we know when it was. It was during the time of Noah.
By the way, this must have been very familiar stuff to Peter's readers because he makes such a minimal explanation here. It must have been something with which they were very familiar or he would have gone into it in a greater amount of detail.
The other view, and what I see as the correct view, is that Peter is talking about Christ proclaiming victory to the fallen angels who tried to stop the redemption of man by corrupting the human blood line to prevent Christ from being a sinless substitute.
Let's look at two texts that give us insight to these imprisoned angels.
And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—Jude 1:6 ESV
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 2 Peter 2:4-5 ESV
From both of these texts we see that angels sinned. So, what exactly was their sin? Jude tells us that they sinned in that they did "not stay within their own position of authority"—"stay" is a translation of the Greek word tereo, which means "to keep watch upon, to guard, to watch over protectively." This refers to watching or guarding something which belongs to you innately.
There is an interesting play on words used in this verse. Because the angels did not "stay" (tereo) their proper place, Yahweh has "kept" (tereo) them chained up in another place.
They did not stay "within their own position of authority"—authority here is the Greek word arche. Vincent's Word Studies says, "The word originally signifies beginning, and so frequently in the New Testament, mostly in the Gospels, Acts, Hebrews, Catholic Epistles, and Apocalypse. From this comes a secondary meaning of sovereignty, dominion, magistracy, as being the beginning or first place of power. So mostly by Paul, as principalities (Romans 8:38); rule (1 Corinthians 15:24)."
The Jews regarded the angels as having dominion over earthly creatures; and the angels are often spoken of in the New Testament as arche. So arche would be appropriate to designate their power, which they forsook. Simply put, they didn't stay where they belonged.
Jude goes on to tell us about their sin by saying that they, "left their proper dwelling"—Wuest on "proper dwelling" writes, "Proper is idion, which means 'one's own private, personal, unique possession.' The verb 'left' is aorist in tense which refers to a once-for-all act. This was apostasy with a vengeance. The word 'dwelling' is from the Greek word oiketerion, which means 'habitation' This word is only used one other time in the New Testament."
For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 2 Corinthians 5:2 ESV
Here oiketerion is connected with heaven. Heaven was the abode of the angels.
The angels were created perfectly. They were created good. They were just and they were pure. All the angels were created as "ministering spirits" (Hebrews 1:14), and they all dwelt with God in Heaven. There was no sin in them as God created them. They had this as their first estate; that is, their habitation was in Heaven dwelling in the very presence of God. But they sinned, and they lost their first estate. They lost that habitation, that eternal blessed condition that they would have had with Yahweh had they not sinned.
So, what are Jude and Peter talking about? What was the sin of these angels? Well, there are basically three views of this. The first view says that this is referring to one unique and special thing we don't know anything about. That view does not fit the context of Jude. Verse 6 is following along the same lines as verse 5 where God had indicated that He would put them "in remembrance" of how He had saved Israel out of Egypt but later destroyed them. So, whatever happened, it had to be something they knew, something that He was reminding them of. We have to assume, then, that it's very likely something that is in the Tanakh. Since the story of the defection of Israel in verse 5 and the story of the defection of Sodom and Gomorrah in verse 7 is in the Scripture, we can assume that story of the angel's sin is in the Scripture also. It was something they were familiar with. So, whatever we're dealing with here, we're dealing with something that's in the Tanakh.
A second view is that we're dealing with the original fall of Satan and his angels.
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Luke 10:17-18 ESV
What is the problem with this view? At the time of the writing, where were those angels Jude talked about? Jude says, "he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day." Peter says, "but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment" If this referred to the fall of Satan and his angels, then what is Paul talking about in Ephesians?
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 ESV
In Paul and Jude's day there was a spiritual battle going on with Satan and his demons. And Jude says, "he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day." "Kept" here is also tereo, and here it is in the perfect tense, which means "at a point in time they were kept, and that continues to be their condition." Perfect tense describes the permanence of this keeping.
The word tereo is the same word used earlier in the verse of the angels "which kept not." It means "to guard, to keep watch upon, to keep in custody." In other words, God Himself is "guarding and keeping in custody" these angels He threw into TARTARUS. It then says that they are "in eternal chains under gloomy darkness"—this literally says, "in everlasting imprisonment under the authority of darkness." We see similar language in 2 Peter 2:
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 2 Peter 2:4 ESV
"Hell" here is the Greek word tartaroo. Tartaroo was prison of the ancient Greek deities, it was considered a place of extreme torment.
Jude says God has reserved them for the "judgment of the Great Day"—this refers to the final judgment called "The Great White Throne Judgment" in Revelation 20:
and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. Revelation 20:10-11 ESV
Satan and his demons are not "kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness" at the time of Jude's writing. So, Jude can't be referring to the fall of Satan and his angels. It has to be a very special defection and rebellion among the angels that is recorded in the Tanakh. It had to be something that was so severe that God took the angels that did it and put them in chains; so that whatever they did, they wouldn't do again.
The third view, which I believe is the correct view, is that Jude reflects an ancient Jewish and Christian understanding that identifies these fallen angels as the rebellious "sons of God" in Genesis 6:
When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Genesis 6:1-2 ESV
Jude's nonchalant reference to these rebellious angels suggests that this was well accepted by his readers. Robert Newman has analyzed the history of interpretation of Genesis 6 to show that the supernatural interpretation of the sons of God as being heavenly angelic beings was virtually unanimous in the ancient world until the first century after Christ. (Robert C. Newman, "The Ancient Exegesis of Genesis 6:2, 4," Grace Theological Journal 5,1 [1984] 13-36.)
The term "sons of God," which is bene elohim in Hebrew, is only found six times in the Hebrew text—twice in Genesis 6 and three times in Job, and once in Deuteronomy 32:8. It is always used of divine beings, never of humans.
"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Job 38:4-7 ESV
Here "morning stars" and "sons of God" are names of divine council members or angels. Some folks see "sons of God" as humans, but how were humans at creation? If "sons of God" is a reference to humans, then you have to have humans rejoicing over creation. Somebody please explain that to me.
This phrase "sons of God" is bene elohim, and I believe that ALL uses of elohim in the Tanakh refer to spiritual beings. Elohim is ONLY used of those in the spirit world, so if they are called elohim, they are not of the physical realm, they are spirit beings. I believe that the key to understanding the text of Genesis 6 is a proper understanding of the term elohim.
So, let's look at elohim. It is used 2606 times in the NASB. Elohim is the plural of El, which comes from a root word meaning "might, strength, power." Elohim is plural, but it is what grammarians would call a morphological plural. Hebrew nouns that end in "im" are plural. But in most cases throughout the Tanakh the meaning is singular. We know this from Hebrew grammar. Elohim is like the English words "deer" or "sheep." How do you know if "deer" is singular or plural? You know by the grammar of the sentence in which it is used: "I shot a deer" would be singular. "I saw a bunch of deer" would be plural. In the very first use of elohim in Genesis 1:1 the verb bara identifies the subject of the verb as masculine singular.
Many people think that elohim as another name of Yahweh, but elohim is used in Scripture for many others beside Yahweh. But it is only used of those in the spirit world. Yahweh is called Elohim over 2,000 times as in Gen 1:1. We know that Yahweh is called Elohim, but He is not the only one.
Elohim is used of the gods of foreign nations.
because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did. 1 Kings 11:33 ESV
"Goddess and god" in this text are elohim. For those of you who think that Yahweh is the only God, look with me at:
And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:1-3 ESV
Verse two in the Hebrew is, "onokiy Yahweh eloheka." Yahweh is saying that He alone is Israel's elohim. Other nations had their elohim, but Yahweh was the elohim of Israel.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. Deuteronomy 32:8 ESV
Chapter 10 of Genesis, the table of nations, is the backdrop for Moses' statement here that Yahweh is responsible for the creation and placement of the nations. Mankind was divided into 70 nations at the Tower of Babel for the "sons of God." It is important to note that Israel is not listed in the index of the 70 nations found in Genesis 10. The nation of Israel did not yet exist at that time.
What happens at Babel is man's disobedience, which causes Yahweh to divide them up and give them to the lesser gods. They were to worship the lesser gods because Yahweh was done with them. Man continued to reject Yahweh and serve other gods, so Yahweh gave them up. What happens then in chapter 12? Yahweh calls Abraham and starts over with Israel as His people. Yahweh starts a new family. He has turned over the nations to the lesser gods, who, in fact, work for Him. They are all under His control, and He will someday call the nations back. But for now, He is only Israel's God.
Back to the subject of how elohim is used in the Scriptures. Elohim is also used of demons.
They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded. Deuteronomy 32:17 ESV
Here "gods" is elohim. So, demons are also called elohim.
Here's one that may surprise you: Speaking of Samuel, the witch of Endor said:
The king said to her, "Do not be afraid. What do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a god coming up out of the earth." 1 Samuel 28:13 ESV
"I see a god"—here is elohim. All uses of "elohim" in the Tanakh refer to spiritual beings. Michael S. Heiser says, "Elohim is a place of residence locator." Meaning that elohim is only used of those in the spirit world. For those of you who don't see the "sons of God" in Genesis 6 as spirit beings, you must prove from the Tanakh that "elohim" is used of men. Good luck! If you can't find a human use of elohim, then you must admit that the "sons of God" in Genesis 6 are spirit beings, angels, who descended and had sex with human women producing a hybrid half human half god being.
Their plan and objective was to corrupt the human race by creating a hybrid demon/human form through stepping out of their sphere of authority. Christ was prophesied as being a child who would be "the seed of a woman." What better way than to defile human women so that they were no longer simply human but were part demon and so prevent "the seed" the God-man from being born.
The non-canonical book of 1 Enoch has much to say about these fallen watchers and their sin of cohabitation and their judgment.
1 Enoch 6:1: And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto 2 them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men 3 and beget us children.'
So, in Jude 6 it says that angels are spirit beings who came to earth and mated with human women and produced a hybrid offspring which Yahweh destroyed in the flood. Yahweh judged those angels and locked them up until the judgment of AD 70 where He destroyed them.
in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 1 Peter 3:19 ESV
The watchers who sinned in Genesis 6 are those spirits that are in prison that Peter is talking about here. After his resurrection, Christ went and proclaimed to them the victory of the Cross. Man's sin was paid for.
If you were to ask what possible relevance this might have for those enduring persecution in the first century, France explains:
They might be called to endure the worst that anti-Christian prejudice could inflict. But even then they could be assured that their pagan opponents, and, more important, the spiritual powers of evil that stood behind them and directed them, were not outside Christ's control: they were already defeated, awaiting final punishment. Christ had openly triumphed over them. Here is real comfort and strength for the persecuted church which took very seriously the reality and power of spiritual forces.
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