A really good comment was submitted from my contact page in regards to "hades." This is the comment that was sent.
"One thing I think you may have not considered or mentioned on the “paradise” issue is it *prior to the resurrection* being a separated compartment of sheol. You did say this was also the Greek understanding in Jesus’ time. The idea of those in the heart of the earth, seeing up into heaven as if it were across the way is not too convincing to me. But rather, that Jesus rose taking the captives (inc those in Hades who heard him preach and listened) with him, ie transferring “paradise” to heaven from then on. There are still scriptures about hades like, "the Lord knows how… to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment" 2 Peter 2:4-9."
My response to this comment is that the quote from 2 Peter 2 does not teach there is a place called "hades" or "paradise" (Abraham’s Bosom) where the dead reside until Christ takes them to heaven. Neither does the verse stating "Jesus rose taking the captives" teach there is a place the dead waits till they are redeemed by Christ.
He led captive a host of captives
The phrase "Jesus rose taking the captives" used by the person who submitted the comment comes from Ephesians. Paul wrote,
Therefore it says, "When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men." (Now this expression, "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) (Eph 4:8-10 NAS)
It takes quite a stretch of imagination to extract a temporary place for the dead like "hades" or "Abraham’s Bosom" from Ephesians 4:8-10. Paul is actually quoting Psalms 68.
Why do you look with envy, O mountains with many peaks, At the mountain which God has desired for His abode? Surely, the LORD will dwell there forever. The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands; The Lord is among them as at Sinai, in holiness. Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captive Thy captives; Thou hast received gifts among men, Even among the rebellious also, that the LORD God may dwell there. Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation. Selah. God is to us a God of deliverances; And to God the Lord belong escapes from death. (Psa 68:16-20 NAS)
Descending to the lowest parts of earth does not mean He went to a spirit world deep inside the earth. The quote is referring to Christ coming down (descending) from heaven to earth (the lowland and not the mountains). John wrote,
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (John 6:38 NAS)
Christ freed the captives (all who believe in Christ). Luke wrote,
Through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses. (Act 13:39 NAS)
Christ promised to take His people to heaven where they will be with Him forever. John wrote,
In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
(John 14:2-3 NAS)
This is the gospel of Christ passed down from the beginning. The gospel does not teach any storage place for the dead in "hades" or "Abraham’s Bosom." This is equally true for 2 Peter 2.
Proclamation to spirits in prison
Another proof text used to teach that there are spirits in "hades" awaiting to be released to heaven is in 1 Peter 3. Peter wrote that Jesus made a "proclamation to spirits now in prison."
In which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.(1Pe 3:19-20 NAS)
The problem with this proof text is that Peter does not say the spirits were released from prison, only that Christ made a "proclamation" to them. This proclamation can be found in the book of Revelation.
And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." (Rev 5:13 NAS)
This proclamation is sounded to all creation, whether in heaven, earth, under earth or anywhere else. This does not mean the spirits in prison who heard this proclamation were freed from their punishment.
The gospel preached to the dead
Another proof text used to teach that there are spirits in "hades" awaiting to be released to heaven is in 1 Peter 4. Peter wrote,
For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God. (1Pe 4:6 NAS)
The statement that "the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead" does not refer to spirits in "hades." The verse states, "they are judged in the flesh," which means they are still physically alive. The basic gospel message is that we are dead in sin and that Christ raises us from the dead in this life. Ephesians 2 has the explanation of 1 Peter 4:1-6. Paul wrote,
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) (Eph 2:1-5 NAS)
All mankind is dead until Christ saves them into newness of life. Therefore, the gospel is preached to the dead. Paul wrote,
Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (Rom 6:13 NAS)
This is why 1 Peter 4:6 says "the gospel has…been preached to the dead" that "they may live in the spirit according to the will of God." Peter is not teaching that the spirits of the dead are being preached to in "hades." He is teaching that the gospel is being preached to dead humanity and that God is making them alive to do the will of God. Nowhere does 1 Peter 4:6 say Christ preached to the dead in "hades;" nor, does it connect the "preaching to the dead" as occurring during the time Christ was dead and buried.
Jude, 2 Peter, and 1 Enoch paralleled
If you parallel 2 Peter chapter 2 with Jude it becomes apparent that the writers of 2 Peter and Jude are explaining the same thing. In addition, both Jude and 2 Peter are directly referencing the 1 Book of Enoch. The table below shows the parallels between Jude, 2 Peter, and 1 Enoch.
| Jude | 2 Peter | 1 Enoch 1, 6, 10 |
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| 1:4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. | 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. | |
| 1:5 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. |
2:2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 2:3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. |
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| 1:6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. | 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; |
** 6:2 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 ** 12:4 called me -Enoch the scribe- and said to me: ‘Enoch, thou scribe of righteousness, go, declare to the Watchers of the heaven who have left the high heaven, the holy eternal place, and have defiled themselves with women, and have done as the children of earth do, and have taken unto themselves. ** The angels leaving heaven and bearing children with women comes from 1 Enoch 6:2, 12:4. This is corroborated in Genesis 6:4 * 10:4 and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world. And again the Lord said to Raphael: Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening * 10:5 in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light. |
| 2:5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; |
10:1 Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, 10:2 and said to him: Go to Noah and tell him in my name “Hide thyself!” and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come 10:3 upon the whole earth, and will destroy all that is on it. And now instruct him that he may escape * 10:4,5 Were moved to the previous section |
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| 1:7 Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. |
2:6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter; 2:7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men 2:8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with their lawless deeds) 2:9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, |
10:6 And on the day of the great judgment he shall be cast into the fire. 10:7 And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the 10:8 Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons. And the whole earth has been corrupted |
| 1:8 Yet in the same manner these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. | 2:10 and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, |
10:9 through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin. And to Gabriel said the Lord: Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy [the children of fornication and] the children of the Watchers from amongst men [and cause them to go forth]: send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in 10:10 battle: for length of days shall they not have. And no request that they (i.e. their fathers) make of thee shall be granted unto their fathers on their behalf; for they hope to live an eternal life, and |
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1:9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you." |
2:11 whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. |
10:11 that each one of them will live five hundred years. And the Lord said unto Michael: Go, bind Semjaza and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves |
| 1:10 But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. | 2:12 But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, |
10:12 with them in all their uncleanness. And when their sons have slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgment and of their consummation, till the judgment that is 10:13 for ever and ever is consummated. In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: and 10:14 to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever. And whosoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them to the end of all |
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2:13 suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, 2:14 having eyes full of adultery and that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; |
10:15 generations. And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers, because 10:16 they have wronged mankind. Destroy all wrong from the face of the earth and let every evil work come to an end: and let the plant of righteousness and truth appear: and it shall prove a blessing; the works of righteousness and truth shall be planted in truth and joy for evermore. |
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1:11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. 1:12 These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; 1:13 wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. |
2:15 forsaking the right way they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, 2:16 but he received a rebuke for his own transgression; for a dumb donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet. 2:17 These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. |
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1:14 And about these also Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, 1:15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." |
1:9 And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones To execute judgment upon all, And to destroy all the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. |
The Day of Judgment
The "day of judgment" does not consistently reference the same event throughout Jude and 2 Peter 2. In Jude 1:6; and 2 Peter 2:4 the "day of judgment" is referencing 1 Enoch which is specifically referring to the flood during Noah’s time (Genesis 6:4-7). 1 Enoch does not refer to some far judgment into the future beyond our current time. In Jude 1:7; and 2 Peter 2:9, the judgment is referring to the fire that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24). Jude 1:11 is referencing the judgment that God rendered upon Korah during Moses time. Numbers chapter 16 states,
The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah, with their possessions. (Num 16:32 NAS)
It is clear that each judgment discussed in Jude and 2 Peter 2 are examples of actual events where humanity was judged in the real world at their death. Many people who read Jude and 2 Peter 2 either do not know or simply disregard the fact that Jude and 2 Peter 2 are referencing 1 Enoch and other specific events that already occurred. As a result, they tend to automatically interpret every reference of "the judgment" in Jude and 2 Peter 2 as a future event beyond our current time or some event at the time of Christ’s death and resurrection.
This is an egregious error that leads people to believe multiple falsehoods. One falsehood is that Jude and 2 Peter 2 are teaching a holding place called "hades" or "Abraham’s Bosom" where the dead awaited Christ to redeem them at the resurrection. They typically teach "that Jesus rose taking the captives (inc those in Hades who heard him preach and listened) with him, ie transferring “paradise” to heaven from then on," which is the inquiry that sparked this article. Another rendition of this is the doctrine of "purgatory" where the elect dead are sent until they make penance and then are released to heaven after they are done with penance. Neither Jude nor 2 Peter 2 are teaching either of these doctrines.
To be clear, the "judgments" referenced in Jude and 2 Peter 2 are examples of actual events that took place in the past. They are examples of actual historic events showing how God deals with humanity; So, we should not expect God to treat us any differently. This is the main point of Jude and 2 Peter.
Angels cast into "hell and pits of darkness"
In Jude and 2 Peter 2 those that are reserved in the "hell and pits of darkness" are angels and not humans.
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment.(2 Pet 2:4)
And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. (Jude 1:6)
The "judgment" of the angels in Jude 1:6; and 2 Peter 2:5 are referring to events that occurred at the time of the flood. The duration of time the angels are kept in bondage is "eternal." There is no time when they will be allowed to escape. Jude and 2 Peter are referring to pits of darkness that is referenced throughout the entire book of 1 Enoch. In 1 Enoch 10, the Azazel is cast into darkness.
Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light. (1 Enoch 10:4-5)
1 Enoch also states, "let him abide there for ever." This is not a reference to a temporary place where the dead go to wait to be redeemed to heaven some time in the future. The angels are reserved there till the final judgment which is eternal fire (Mat 18:8, 25:41; Jude 1:7; Rev 19:20, 20:10-15, 21:8; 1 Enoch 10:6, 13-14).
This "pit of darkness" could be similar to or the same pit as the "bottomless pit" the fallen angels and demons are released from in Revelation 9.
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. And he opened the bottomless pit; and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit (Rev 9:1-2 NAS)
The bottomless pit is not a temporary place where the spirits of dead humans are waiting for the redemption of a messiah. Furthermore, the angels and demons are destroyed in the "lake of fire" afterwards (Rev 19:20, 20:10-15, 21:8). The book of Revelation is in complete agreement with 1 Enoch on how God punishes angels and men.
Sodom and Gomorrah
The next example used in Jude and 2 Peter 2 is the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. The ungodly people of Sodom and Gomorrah were cast into "eternal fire" when God destroyed the cities (Jude 1:7; and 2 Peter 2:9). The text does not say dead humans are waiting in darkness, "purgatory," or in “hades” as a holding place until Christ rose from the dead or until their penance was complete. Jude 1:7 says they are "undergoing the punishment of eternal fire." The "punishment of eternal fire" is the final judgment. There is no "hades" or "purgatory" involved in the final judgment of the ungodly at Sodom and Gomorrah. Both Peter and Jude use Sodom and Gomorrah as an example stating that the wicked were immediately judged into “eternal fire” when the Lord destroyed the city. Peter and Jude did not teach any humans went into a holding place like “hades” or "purgatory."
The other proof text that the souls of the dead are or were in "hades" comes from 2 Peter 2:9. Peter wrote,
The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment. (2 Peter 2:9 NAS)
2 Peter 2:9 is showing a dichotomy between how God helps the righteous and condemns the unrighteous. God upholds His people and keeps them in the faith, while, at the same time, leaving the ungodly in the depravity of their own sin. Peter is explaining that God kept Lot and his family from the temptation of sinning while He hardened the hearts of rest of the people until the cities were destroyed by fire at “the day of judgment.” God is the one who keeps us from temptation. This is why the Lord’s Prayers says,
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (Mat 6:13 NAS)
Likewise, God will give the unrighteous over to their own sin as a punishment. Paul wrote,
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, (Rom 1:28 NAS)
This has nothing to do with "hades" or "purgatory" but is a core teaching of the gospel. The godly will be in the light and the ungodly will be in the darkness. This is discussed further in the following section on "the black darkness."
Accursed Children
The Angels had left heaven to come to earth and produce children called “Nephilim” with the "daughters of men" (Genesis 6:4). These children (Nephilim) were exceedingly violent and ungodly. Jude 1:8-10; and 2 Peter 2:10-14 compare the actions of the children of the angels (Watchers) with the false prophets mentioned in Jude 1:4-5; and 2 Peter 2:1-3. The phrase “accursed children” in 2 Peter 2:14 is a reference to the children (Nephilim) of the angels (Watchers) that came down from heaven (1 Enoch 10:9, 11 and 15). The Nephilim defiled the flesh, and rejected authority, and reviled angelic majesties. The "false prophets" (2 Peter 2:1) and "certain persons" (Jude 1:4) in the church were acting similar to the Nephilim
The "accursed children" are destroyed in the judgment (Jude 1:10; and 2 Peter 2:12). They are not released from captivity or taken from "hades" or "purgatory" in a future redemption. 1 Enoch 10:13-14 states that the children of the Watchers were cast into an “abyss of fire” to be tormented forever. 1 Enoch states,
In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: and to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined forever. (1 Enoch 10:13-14)
According to 1 Enoch, the children of the Watchers were cast into eternal fire "in those days" and not far off into the future. Nowhere in 2 Peter, Jude, or 1 Enoch is there a mention of a temporary holding place for the dead until a distant future judgment at the end of the world or at Christ’s death. The text clearly shows that the angels are held in darkness till the day of judgment (the flood) when all of humanity was killed (at the flood) and subsequently thrown into eternal fire. Just like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were cast into eternal fire (Jude 1:7; and 2 Peter 2:6) at the time when those cities were destroyed. In the same way, the "accursed children" were thrown into eternal fire at the time of the flood. The concept of "hades," "Abraham’s Bosom," or "purgatory" where a messiah redeems them from punishment in the future is completely absent from any of these texts.
The way of Cain, Balaam, and Korah
The way of Cain
In Genesis 4, Cain and his brother Abel offered sacrifices to God. God did not accept Cain’s sacrifice whereas God accepted Abel’s sacrifice. Because Cain did not like how God received his sacrifice, Cain killed his brother. Cain’s hatred towards God caused him to murder. John wrote that Cain "was of the evil one."
For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.
(1John 3:11-12 NAS)
The way of Cain is that of absolute rebellion and hatred towards what God has ordained.
The way of Balaam
Like Cain, Balaam rebelled against God’s commandments and caused "stumbling blocks" before God’s people. John wrote about Balaam in the book of Revelation.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit acts of immorality (Rev 2:14 NAS)
The way of Balaam was also the refusal to adhere to God’s will according to His commandments and in turn push the ungodliness upon the rest of society.
The way of Korah
Korah was an Israelite during the Exodus from Egypt. Korah turned many Israelite’s against Moses and the commandments of God. Like Balaam, Korah caused a rift between the children of Israel. God opened up the earth and swallowed up Korah and those who contended against God. Numbers states,
And the sons of Eliab: Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were called by the congregation, who contended against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the LORD, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured 250 men, so that they became a warning.
(Num 26:9-10 NAS)
In each of these examples, Cain, Balaam, and Korah, they rejected God’s commandments, killed and/or led astray God’s people, and were judged at a specific event during their time. None of these examples indicate that the spirits of Cain, Balaam, or Korah were waiting in "hades," "Abraham’s Bosom," or "purgatory" to be redeemed at a future event.
The black darkness
In 2 Peter 2:17, Peter writes the statement, "for whom the black darkness has been reserved." The "black darkness" Peter is referring to is not "hades" or "purgatory." The meaning of "black darkness" is twofold. It is the condition of the ungodly soul while living and when they are judged after death. God saves His people out of the darkness and into the light. Peter wrote,
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1Pe 2:9-10 NAS)
Believers are in the "light" and the ungodly are in "darkness." Darkness in this sense is not referring to a place like "hades" or "purgatory." This is very clear when looking at the usage of the word "darkness" throughout the New Testament.
Then watch out that the light in you may not be darkness. (Luk 11:35 NAS)
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:5 NAS)
And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. (John 3:19 NAS)
I have come as light into the world, that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness. (John 12:46 NAS)
and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, (Rom 2:19 NAS)
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? (2Co 6:14 NAS)
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; (1John 1:6 NAS)
Jude wrote that “the black darkness has been reserved forever” (Jude 1:13) for the “men (who) revile the things which they do not understand” (Jude 1:10). This is the same thing Jesus said about those who were disobedient servants of God.
But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 8:12 NAS)
Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 22:13 NAS)
And cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 25:30 NAS)
In either case, whether it’s the darkness of the ungodly in this world or being cast into outer darkness, the "black darkness" is not a holding place like "hades" or "purgatory" where spirits of the dead will be redeemed from in a future or past event.
The Lord came with many thousands
“Hades,” “Abraham’s Bosom,” or “purgatory” is not taught in Jude or 2 Peter 2. This is clear by the statement in Jude "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones." The Lord coming with His angels occurs at the final judgment of a specific people. In this case the flood. There is no rescue for anyone from "hades" or "purgatory" in 2 Peter or Jude. Jude quotes 1 Enoch 1:9.
And about these also Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” (Jude 1:14-15)
This quote from 1 Enoch is clearly referring to the flood that God sent to wipe out humanity and the children of the Nephilim during the time of Noah. Many times people refer to this Jude verse as a future "end times" event where Christ comes back to earth at the end of the world. Jude 1:14-15 is a quote from 1 Enoch 1:9 that is referring to the Lord executing His judgment at the time of the flood. God executed His judgment then, He will execute His judgment today, and He will continue to execute His judgment till "His enemies are made a footstool for His feet" (Heb 10:13 NAS). The time to believe in Christ and keep His commandments is now. Judgment happens at death and there will be no second chance that will undo an ungodly life after death.