DEATH, THE INTERMEDIATE STATE, THE RESURRECTION AND THE FINAL DESTINY — page 11

The Pit (Abyss)

The “pit”, or the “abyss” (the same word in Greek), is a temporary place of confinement for evil angelic spirits (Isa. 24:21-22; Rev. 9:1-2, 11, 11:7, 17:8, 20:1-3). It is translated as “the abyss” in Luke 8:31.

While angels do not die (Luke 20:35-36), those who are considered wicked will be sent to the “pit” when Christ establishes His millennial kingdom (Isa. 24:21-22). Some evil angels are in the “pit” now. The apostle Peter said: “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but having cast them down into hell [the deepest pit of darkness – JND], delivered them into chains of darkness, reserved for judgment” (2 Pet. 2:4). The word wrongly translated “hell” here, in the King James Version and in most Portuguese versions, is not “gehenna”, but “tartaros” in Greek. It should be translated as “the pit deepest of darkness” (JND). Apparently, this is a special place of solitary confinement in the “abyss” or “pit”.

Some of the fallen angels in Noah's day sinned in such a corrupt manner that God intervened in judgment and cast them into this “deepest pit of darkness”. Jude adds more light on this, saying: “And the angels who did not keep their principality [original state – ARA], but left their own habitation, He has reserved in darkness, and in everlasting chains until the judgment of that great day.” (Jude 6) At the time of the flood, some of the angels who fell with Satan before creation chose not to keep their “original state”, which was sexless (Matt. 22:30). They “left their own habitation” which was in the heavens, and then came down and engaged in the degenerate practice of cohabiting with “the daughters of men” (Gen. 6:4). Apparently, their project was to create a super race of beings. We are told that there were “giants”, “the mighty ones [heroes – JND]” and “men of renown” (AIBB) on the Earth in those days (Gen. 6:4). Such a practice was so corrupt that God exterminated them in the judgment of the flood – except for “eight” people (1 Pet. 3:20). The wicked angels involved in this practice were cast into the “deepest pit of darkness”. It is so profane that God covered it and told us very little in His Word.

The “pit” is a temporary place of judgment in which the fallen angels are kept until “the judgment of the great day”, which will be at the end of the times (Rev. 20:10). While these wicked creatures remain confined in the “pit” until that day, their wicked influences will be released on the Earth once again during the great tribulation under the direction of the antichrist (Rev. 9:1-11).

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In summary, there are three words used in Scripture to describe the temporary state of all beings created by God in the invisible spirit world. All of them begin with the letter “P”:

• “Paradise” for righteous men.

• “Prison” for evil men.

• “Pit” for Satan and the evil angels.