AFTER GOD SAVED, HE DESTROYED THOSE UNBELIEVERS & THE MOST WICKED OF FALLEN ANGELS EXAMINED – Jude 1:5-6
{{Jude 1:5 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord subsequently destroyed those who did not believe, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt. Jude 1:6 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.}}
INTRODUCTION TO THE SUBJECTS. [Verse 5]. This verse is like the introduction to a book, and verses 5, 6 and 7 are like the three chapters in the book. The verse begins with the assumption of knowledge, that Jude’s readers would know all about the biblical events when Moses led the exodus from Egypt. He stresses that he wants to remind them of those things, even though they should know the facts. Jude is going to draw a conclusion here, and we will get to that shortly, but first, what are the events that Jude is alluding to?
[A]. GOD’S DELIVERANCE IN EGYPT. God intervened in history to deliver, or save – either word can be used - His people from Egypt. That happened under Moses when he led them out from Pharaoh’s stranglehold. Then note, that the verse goes on to say that later on, God destroyed the ones who did not believe, from all that company who left Egypt. Do you remember how many of that original lot from the exodus actually made it into the Promised Land? Anyone? It was just 2 – Joshua and Caleb. Only two. What happened to the others? Jude 5 says they were destroyed because they did not believe.
That makes us wonder about the human heart, or to say it another way, our souls and spirit. If you were among that crowd leaving Egypt, what did you see? Well, firstly, you would have seen the series of plagues that fell on the land but not affecting the Israelites. They were miraculous. Secondly, you would have witnessed the destruction by God of all the firstborn of the Egyptians. God brought them out with a mighty hand. Now once you had seen all that, surely you would have followed Jehovah and stayed close to Him. Do you think you would have strayed? They pledged their allegiance to the Lord but did they really follow Him deep in their hearts?
Thirdly, they very quickly got to the Red Sea (or Reed Sea) and God parted the waters and destroyed Egypt’s army. Miracles of miracles! By now you’d be saying that God is the greatest and you will always keep trusting Him. Then came the miraculous provision of manna and quails. God is great. There is only one God. We will serve Him forever! Really? I want to share with you a New Testament passage that relates to this situation, a passage that speaks of the unfaithfulness of those delivered out of Egypt. – {{Hebrews 3 v 15-19 “while it is said, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.” Who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses, and with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? and to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? and so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.}} There, it is stated “because of unbelief”, as Jude also said, and for that reason, God destroyed them. Their unbelief was demonstrated by rebellion, idolatry, grumbling and disobedience.
In writing to the Corinthians about temptation and idolatry, Paul cites Israel in the wilderness as an example for us all in the matter of proper belief and behaviour. The example is this passage – {{1Corinthians 10 v 1 - 12 “I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things as they also craved, and do not be idolaters as some of them were, as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play,” nor let us act immorally as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day; nor let us try the Lord as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents; nor grumble as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”}}
They complained. They made a golden calf and bowed down to it and provoked God. For the cause of unbelief, they did not enter in, but were destroyed. What Jude says in his passage is that the false teachers getting into the churches of his day, and ours, of course, themselves, men of unbelief, even though they make great noises about God and appear to be His, will be destroyed. In the previous verse, 4, he uses the word condemnation in speaking against them.
Look at verse 5 again in your bibles. Some versions say “Jesus” and some say “Lord” and some say “God”. Manuscripts vary in this, but it is most probable on the evidence that “Jesus” is maybe the best one. The ESV uses Jesus and the NASB and NIV use Lord. In reminding the readers of the fate of the Israelites who left Egypt, Jude is implying the same fate awaits these false teachers, and those who turn God’s grace into licence to sin freely, and that they will be destroyed for the same reason – unbelief.
The apostle Peter also reminds his readers – {{2Peter 1 v 12 “Therefore, I shall always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. 2Pet 1 v 13 I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder.”}}
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THE FALLEN ANGELS – WORST EVIL – CHAINED IN DARKNESS
[B]. INTRODUCTION TO VERSE 6. 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 (ESV)
In verse 6 we come to the first problem in Jude. Have a look at it. God does not tolerate rebellion and sin. He does not allow corruption and wickedness to triumph. Every rebellion and act of wickedness has its day of judgement. The point Jude is bringing out here, is that God has acted already in the past against wicked and polluted behaviour. Jude has just dealt with one of these in verse 5 – that of the nation delivered from Egypt, whose generation was destroyed. In verse 6, he deals with the fallen angels, and in verse 7, he deals with Sodom and Gomorrah. Then, in verse 8, he returns to these false teachers infiltrating the churches of his day and remaining right through until the Rapture, remaining also to the 2nd Coming.
[C]. ANGELS WHO ABANDONED THEIR POSITION OF AUTHORITY. Verse 6 introduces the angels “who did not keep their own domain.” In the ESV it uses “who did not stay within their own position of authority”, and in the NIV the expression is “who did not keep their positions of authority”. The next part adds, “but abandoned their proper abode or authority”. Naturally we ask, “Who are these angels and where in scripture do we read of this?”
(a) – The Angels whom God created. Some time in the past, God created the hosts of heaven we call the angelic hosts. There are innumerable angels, and they are in rank, right up to the archangel, Michael. In Revelation 5 v 11 which happens in heaven right after the rapture, John looked, and heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands.
There are also cherubim and seraphim that some consider to be angels, but I think they are separate beings, living beings or living creatures. I think the cherubim are the highest of God’s heavenly creation and they are in association with the throne of God, and represent the attributes of God. In Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah saw the seraphim in his vision in the temple, when he saw the Lord high and lifted up.
There are two positions I do not support: Number 1: Some people claim that God created the angels at the same time he created the heavens and the earth in Genesis. Number 2: Some claim there are several archangels. By very definition of the word, “arch” means chief, so there is only one archangel. Whenever “archangel” is used, it is always singular. Angels have names. Did you know that? What is another angel name?
Angels are very powerful beings. Two angels destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. In Revelation 7 v 1 we read of 4 angels who will stand at the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind should blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. Again in Revelation 14 v 6, there is another angel who flies in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. Just one angel can preach to the whole earth.
(b) – The Angels who fell with Satan. Not all angels are good angels for some are bad ones, really bad. In fact the fallen ones are all vile and wicked because they revolted, and rose up in rebellion to overthrow God. They attempted to raise themselves to a higher station than that which God had allotted to them; and consequently, the sin for which they were and are to be punished, was pride and rebellion. Maybe one-third of them was/were involved when they rebelled under Satan.
Benson puts the case this way – “Observe, reader, when these fallen angels came out of the hands of God, they were holy, (else God made that which was evil,); and being holy, they were beloved of God, (else he hated the image of his own spotless purity.); but now he loves them no more, and they are doomed to endless destruction; (for if he loved them still, he would love what is sinful); and both his former love, and his present righteous, and eternal displeasure, toward the same work of his own hands, are because be does not change; because he invariably loves righteousness, and hates iniquity.”
One passage is this one – {{Isaiah 14 v 12-15 “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the Most High.’ “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.”}} These bad angels are called demons and they too, are in rank. The powerful ones are over nations as we find in Daniel (evil princes. Also Ephesians 6:12). Satan is the prince and power of the air (Ephesians 2:2), and our atmosphere is where the demons are. These evil spirits have no power against God’s people for His own have the Holy Spirit who is God.
One thing to remember about Satan is that he is defeated, and is not omnipresent. You hear people say, “Satan made me do it.” or “Satan tempted me.” Satan tempted Eve and the Lord Jesus Christ, but he is in one place at one time. Satan does not tempt people as if that is his purpose. His sights are higher. People’s own sinful natures lead them into sin, and the demonic world will influence that also. Satan’s end, and the end of all demons, is in the lake of fire.
[D]. WHO ARE THE ANGELS OF Jude 6? Let us look at Jude 6 carefully – {{“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.”}} What Jude says here, is that there is a group of angels who refused to remain in their position of authority, or their principality (meaning beginning or commencement), their abode created for them in which to function, and at this time, when Jude wrote, they are in eternal chains under gloomy darkness, until the time they face judgement, and their end in the lake of fire. The Greek indicates these angels had rank and dignity in heaven. This is a different set of angels from the evil ones who are with Satan and active in his control, and who have freedom to move around through the earth and atmosphere. These, in Jude, never again will have any freedom.
Are you asking, “But who are these angels?” It seems they are from a second fall of angels from heaven, but what prompted it? We must go to the book of {{Peter, chapter 2 v 4 “If God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgement; 2Pet 2 v 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; 2Pet 2 v 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.”}} Peter is speaking of the same event as Jude, but introduces the reason – “when they sinned” in verse 4 – but then links Noah into this.
We will turn to Genesis 6. {{Genesis 6:1 “Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, Gen 6 v 2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Gen 6 v 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever because he also is flesh. Nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” Gen 6 v 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Gen 6 v 5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”}}
The sons of God –-> either the seed of Seth, or they were fallen angels who lusted after human women. I will quote William Kelly here in a good summary – “What Genesis 6 does say is that there were “sons of God” upon earth at that time who acted in a way contrary to everything in relation to God, and which was so offensive to Him that He would not allow the earth to go on any longer, and this is what brought on the flood. No doubt too, there was a general iniquity in mankind that brought the flood upon them. Man was very corrupt and man was vile, but beside that, there was this awful violation of the separation that divides the creatures of God in some mysterious manner. Hence, God completely destroyed the whole framework of creation, and put an end to them and their offspring, so that every one of them perished. That is what took place then.”
NOTE:- The two positions for “sons of God” – the line of Seth, or the most evil class of fallen demons are both unsatisfactory in explaining the gross evil mutations of Noah’s time. That study is not for today.
[E]. THE BOOK OF ENOCH. Now I will mention to you maybe something new, the Book of Enoch. This Apocryphal book, written some time before Christ, (maybe 100-150 years earlier), did have some influence in the early church. It is a long book, over 100 short chapters, and deals with fallen angels in a larger section of the book. This is just a small section – [[Announce to the watchers of heaven, who forsook the high heaven and their holy eternal abodes, and have corrupted themselves with women;” xv. Jude 1:3 : “Wherefore have ye forsaken the high and holy and eternal heaven, and have slept with women?” … lxiv.: “These are the angels who have gone down from heaven to earth;” and other passages.]]
The Jewish idea that amatory passion (induced by sexual love or desire) is not limited to the creatures of earth, and that some angels, yielding to the spell of the beauty of the daughters of men, forsook their own kingdom, and entered unto unnatural relations with them, is taken from the Book of Enoch. Genesis 6 v 2 lies at the foundation of this tradition. Jude is in agreement with some of Enoch. Jude, quoting from the book of Enoch, does not indicate the entire Book of Enoch is inspired, or even true. All it means is that a particular verse, or verses may be true, or else, believed by others. It is interesting to note that no scholars believe the Book of Enoch to have truly been written by the Enoch in the Bible. None of us will know what the story is, for God has hidden it, but the sin of these angels was very great and God chained these most evil angels in hell or the abyss. We should be careful about speculation.
[F]. THE APPLICATION TO US. Now what bearing do verses 5 and 6 of Jude have on us? It is interesting to look at what Jude wrote, but we must understand applications to us. What shouts at us so loudly is that God will never tolerate rebellion against Him, and apostasy in His Church. That is why King Saul was judged. It is wicked. Excellent commentator A C Gaebelein wrote – “Thus all apostasy starts with unbelief in what God has spoken. The angels which kept not their first estate, who left their own habitation, and who are now chained, are the same angels of whom Peter speaks, those who brought in the corruption described in the opening verses of Genesis 6:1-22. They gave up the place assigned to them. This is the next step in the progress of apostasy. Unbelief leads to rebellion against God. Sodom and Gomorrah come next. Here we find the grossest immoralities and going after strange flesh. These vicious things are still in the world, and why are they so prominent in our days? On account of unbelief. Then follows the statement, that these apostates are filthy dreamers who defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. This is lawlessness. This is the goal of all apostasy. The predicted lawlessness with which this age ends is the fruitage of infidelity. Such is the development of apostasy. Unbelief, rebellion against God and his revealed truth, immorality and anarchy. These steps may be traced in our own times.”
These are not days to sleep. We need to be awake, and take the bible humbly and seriously. The Lord is coming soon.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
