Henry Nelson, of Wilmington, Delaware, was a veteran of World War II. He had served as an instructor in the Army Chemical Warfare Department.
Yet he ignored a warning by the superintendent of the Riverside Housing Development that the apartment he lived in was being fumigated with hydrogen-cyanide gas, tore down the barricade at the door and went in after two blankets. The neighbors saw him remove the sign and barricade and go in, and they called the Development office. But when employees arrived it was too late. Nelson lay sprawled on the living room floor with the two blankets in his arms. Despite both written and verbal warnings, and despite his training in the Army, he had gone to his death. (1)
This is what Jude is doing, he is sounding the warning, But many in the church today, the church in America and in the free countries of the world, are actively ignoring the warning. There are many examples in the Bible, judgments of God, that are there to serve as an example to us. If you leave here today with nothing else, remember this,
the bottom line in the message today, God judges sin. He has in the past, He does so today, and Jesus is returning soon to judge the living and the dead:
1 Peter 4:5 (NKJV) They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
God will judge sin. And He will judge those who call themselves His children more severely. Jude sounds the warning. Ungodly men have crept into the church is leading the church astray, leading the church into rebellion against God Himself. The arguments they present sounds enticing and reasonable, but in the end, it will be death. So Jude gives three examples from the past.
Jude 5a (NKJV) But I want to remind you, though you once knew this,
Jude is not telling his audience anything they did not already know. This sermon this morning is not going to tell you anything new, anything you don’t already know.
You know this stuff, but we need reminding don’t we. We get away from the realities of Judgement, and one little sin leads to another, the next being a little more than before, and we actively ignore the consequences, until the consequences are nearly forgotten.
We need reminding, and often, from verse two, the faith, the gospel, that was once for all, delivered to the saints. We need hear it again and again. We need to hear the gospel, again and again and often.
What happens to those who depart from the faith? As a review, I want to reiterate what was said last week, There are many who hear, many who have tasted God’s goodness, yet rebel against God, leaving what they know to be true. They were never truly saved.
So Jude reminds them using three examples:
1. The faithless Israelites – Verse 5
2. The angels who rebelled against God – Verse 6
3. The Immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah – Verse 7
Jude 5 (NKJV) But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
Jude is reminding his Jewish audience about the Exodus, a story they all know all so well. That story is really incredible if you think about it. Most of the Israelites that God saves from Egypt were not faithful. Even though they have seen the miracles, following the pillar of clouds by day, the tower of fire by night, the demise of the Egyptian army, the water from Rock, and God feeding them daily, Mana found on the ground every morning. The list goes on.
Yet, the people were faithless. They did not believe God. The report came back from the spies who said there were giants in the land. And the people were fearful. The wanted to go back to Egypt and was considering putting in new leaders to replace Moses and Aaron. Joshua and Caleb (2 of the 12 spies) pleaded with the people to put their trust in God, but they would not.
This was rebellion against the will and the Word of God, and God cannot, will not tolerate rebellion. As a result, everybody in the camp twenty years and older was destined to die at some time in the next forty years. Their unbelief led to their extermination. (2)
God does not take lightly the sins of His people. Their example was illustrated several places in New Testament as a warning to those who consider themselves God’s people.
Hebrews 3:16–19 (NKJV) For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
The Israelites where destroyed, not because of intellectual belief, but because they did not live that belief, they did not actively trust God, they did not believe in Him. What did James say?
James 2:20b (NKJV) . . . that faith without works is dead?
They did not live by faith. And we are called to be faithful. Jesus calls us to faithful until death.
Revelation 2:10 (NKJV) Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Probably Jude began with Israel because they were God’s people, the objects of his favor and redemption, and yet they experienced his judgment when they sinned.
The parallel to the Christian community is obvious, since they too have experienced God’s favor but are liable to his judgment if they stray from him. (3)
Next example Jude gives is the angels who rebelled against God:
Jude 6 (NKJV) And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
This verse gets a little complicated, because if you ask 4 Bible scholars what all this is referring to, you are liable to get 6 different answers.
Jude is most likely referring to the inter testament books, called the pseudepigraphal, apocalyptic writings in a variety of languages, written over the course of several centuries between the Old and New Testaments. More specifically, Jude is referring to the book of Enoch. Jewish tradition believe that some Angels, called watchers, (and not part of the group that left heaven with Lucifer/Satan) they left their domain in heaven to cohabitate with the women on earth, referred to the pre-flood passage in Genesis.
Genesis 6:1–2 (NKJV) Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
"Sons of God," referring to angels who left their proper place in heaven, if this be the case, then sexual sin by angels is strongly implied, thus bringing great wickedness on the earth and was clearly not tolerated by God, and hence the flood.
Others believe the "sons of God" refer to the godly line of Seth whose family line was corrupted by the daughters of men, meaning the ungodly line of Cain, bringing much wickedness which God judged by sending the flood.
There are other thoughts of this, but this is a discussion for another time. What is clear here is there were angels of God, who actively chose to rebel against God. There is an interesting play on words in the Greek.
Jude 6 (NKJV) And the angels who did not "KEEP" their proper domain, but left their own abode, He "HAS RESERVED" in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
The words "keep" and "has reserved" is the same word in the Greek. Some translations have “keep” instead of “has reserved.” It is the same word used in verse 1, were it says
" 'PRESERVED' in Jesus Christ.”
The Angels left their assigned duty of keeping their assigned domains, to do their own thing, now God is keeping them in chains and darkness and the worst is yet to come – Judgment. Here is the amazing thing, angels who knew first hand what it is like to be in the presence of God yet they chose to leave. Now God has them confined in chains and darkness till the day of judgment and then forever separated from Him.
Of note here, there are two groups of fallen angels, these that are confined and those with Satan who still roam the world free.
Jude’s message for us is clear. Whenever we find ourselves succumbing to the temptations to live autonomously, to do as we please, to reject authority, to remove any notion of proper place or position, we are waging war against Heaven and are in danger of becoming subjects of judgment. (4)
Jude’s third illustration, of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns, serves as a dreadful example of what happens to those who turn from God to follow their own lustful natures.(5)
Jude 7 (NKJV) as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
There are few people in our current culture that does not know about Sodom and Gomorrah, and its often referred to as a big joke. But what is clearly emphasized here is their grievous sin of unrestrained sexual immorality. Sexual sin with the angels is indicated by the way Jude says, “in a similar manner to these.” Sexual sin is given special emphasis in the Bible. Paul writes strong warning against sexual immorality in his letter to the Corinthians.
The phrase “having given themselves over to sexual immorality” is a single Greek word and indicates an intense, not occasional, sexual immorality that is indulged, a way of life, and for that matter, a way of death. God views sexual immorality very seriously.
“and gone after strange flesh” is a clear reference to the sin of homosexuality. Ezekiel tells us that Sodom also guilty of the additional sin of rejected the poor and needy. God is speaking here and He says:
Ezekiel 16:49–50 (NKJV) Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.
These sins are listed in the scripture for our instruction: “are set forth as an example” tells us clearly, unbridled sexual immorality and ungodly living will not go unpunished.
“suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed by fire and brimstone from heaven. The fire the wicked will endure is eternal. We need to reread Revelation 20.
These were given as instruction for us. We are to watch out for those who claim to be godly whose action indicates otherwise. Do not follow them. Jesus said:
Matthew 7:20 (NKJV) Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
The main point Jude made is clear. No person in the believing community can presume on God’s grace, thinking that an initial decision to follow Christ or baptism ensures their future salvation regardless of how they respond to the intruders. Israel’s apostasy stands as a warning to all those who think that an initial commitment secures their future destiny without ongoing obedience. Those who are God’s people demonstrate the genuineness of their salvation by responding to the warning given. The warnings are one of the means by which God preserves his people until the end. Those who ignore such warnings neglect the very means God has appointed for obtaining eschatological (end times) salvation. (6)
We live in a fallen world. For those who truly know God and know His grace and mercy, God will preserve his people.
2 Peter 2:9 (NKJV) then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment
How are God’s people to live? Keeping our eyes on Jesus. Its all Jesus and keeping our eyes on Him. We get into trouble when we begin to look elsewhere, at the enticements of the world are move away from to our destruction.
(1) Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996), 1361.
(2) Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 551.
(3) Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, vol. 37, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003), 442.
(4) David R. Helm, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude: Sharing Christ’s Sufferings, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), 307.
(5) Edward C. Pentecost, “Jude,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 920.
(6) Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, vol. 37, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003), 446.
