As I began to look at what verses I was going to include for this study I really had a hard time deciding where to break the flow of what Jude wrote. Much of what we see in this section from verse 3 down to verse 16 is an explanation of what false teachers look like and what they do. But I did decide that I would take as little as possible so that I can be sure that we understand the flow of the text as we move along in this letter. I don’t want to go so slow to drag out more than what Jude is saying but there are some things that need clarification to understand the point he is making in this letter.
With that said we will now continue our flow from what we studied on in our last study. Jude began with a bang. He is not trying to make you wonder what the point is but is clear that there are people in the church in which he was writing that have come into the congregation with a message that is contrary to the true Gospel. This fact is no different for today but sadly many of these false teachers are in the open, on our TV’S and on our social media feeds. Sadly many follow after them as if they have all the answers without ever lining up what they say against Scripture.
Jude shows to us several different groups throughout history that have defiled the Gospel and have lived contrary to the commands of God. They have defiled their thinking and with that they have defiled the true Gospel message. We too will point out people in our time that do this as well.
That will bring us to look now at our verses for this study as we look now at our first point.
1.Defilement by the unbelieving Israelites.
Look with me at Jude vs.5 Now I want to remind you, though you know all things, that Jesus, having once saved a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.
To open up this point, I want make clear that Jude is making mention of the unbelieving Israelites, the fallen angels and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah in reference to those that will receive wrath and punishment from God for eternity. He even says at the end of Jude vs 7 (that these) are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
Now all of the people in these groups represent people that are unbelieving, sinful and disobedient to God’s commands. None of these people have received nor will receive the grace or mercy of God. These will be given much more of an explanation in this letter but for now let’s just see how Jude speaks of these 3 groups. After looking at these 3 groups we will see that his point is that false teachers will fall into this same category.
First he speaks of the first group as those that Jesus, having once saved a people out of the land of Egypt. Now I love the fact that we see that Jude places Jesus as the One that saved the people from out of the land of Egypt. For those that want to discredit the Trinity of God they will once again have trouble with this verse.
We know that chronologically it will be many, many years before the birth of Jesus from the time of the Israelites being freed from slavery in Egypt. So there is no other explanation of why Jude places Jesus as equal with God other than that He is God. Now I think it is important to mention that many translations of the Bible have the word Lord instead of Jesus in this verse. After the discovery of older transcripts many of the newest version have translated that verse with Jesus because that is what is seen in those oldest manuscripts.
I don’t want to spend to much time on trying to prove that point but I do think it is important to mention that here. So we know that Jesus is God, has always been God and will always remain as God. There is no change in status because He has always been God. Therefore it was Jesus that indeed set free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
We must note that some of those that had been set free from slavery in Egypt did not serve God in the way we would think. Jude says that (Jesus) subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.
I think it important to understand that the people that were freed from slavery were thankful to be released from their hard labors and probably had hope in how they felt life would look after that time. But as we know God set down laws and rules that they needed to abide by. Some would be for their own growth in life and others would be for the worship of God. These people looked to go and live the way they wanted and did not follow after God the way they had been commanded. They wanted the benefits of freedom without the cost. Many people want salvation, they want the benefits of eternal life without the cost of what it means to follow Christ.
These unbelieving Israelites were not given eternal grace but was only spared for so long. Eventually they would be killed either by natural causes or by some miraculous act of judgement from God. Just like them many people stand in the place of God’s blessings but do not believe. Their belief in God is intellectual, emotional and empty. They have no obedience and no true worship of God, therefore they will not be spared just like these unbelieving Israelites weren’t either.
This brings us to look at the second group for this study….
2.Defilement by angels.
Look with me at Jude vs.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.
We are looking at these with some context but also with a very short explanation because the point we want to see comes at the end of this study. The next group we see is angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode.
We must take note that these angels are not obedient. They have abandoned their place of residence. They did not remain where God commanded them but left the very place and for the purpose that they were given. Of course we know that this was all done under God’s sovereign plan but we must know that Jude is making the point that these angels or we could say demons have been disobedient. This disobedience is a sign of an unregenerate being whether human or spiritual.
We call these demons but clearly the Bible says they are angels or fallen angels may be another term we would use. Revelation 12:9 says And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
So these disobedient angels did not follow God but followed Satan. Peter speaks of this in a similar way when he says in 2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels who sinned, but cast them into the pit and delivered them to chains of darkness, being kept for judgment.
Here we see Peter clearly call this disobedience sin. It is not a mistake, it is not because they were created in sin or that they have free will and therefore God shouldn’t punish a being because they made bad choices. No clearly disobedience is sin. For these angels they have been kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, Jude says. They have been bound and they will be judged in finality. Why because they proved that they were disobedient and defiled. We all fall into this category and for that reason we should be thankful for the grace of God, that He reached down with His mercy and grace instead of allowing us to continue in our disobedience.
We must realize that both the unbelieving Israelites and now the disobedient angels have in common judgement from God. This leads us to look at the next group in our next point.
3.Defilement by the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Look with me at Jude vs.7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, having indulged in the same way as these in gross sexual immorality and having gone after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
There are probably very few people that have went to church for any amount of time that does not know the defilement of Sodom and Gomorrah. The sin was gross sexual immorality and having gone after strange flesh Jude says here.
This sexual immorality goes beyond just some passing lust even though that in itself is sinful and dangerous. This sexual immorality is what drove the people of these cities. This was their life, this is what they lived for.
We see this in Genesis 19:4-8 that says Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from young to old, all the people from every quarter; 5 and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them.” 6 But Lot went out to them at the doorway and shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. 8 Now behold, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them what is good in your eyes; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.”
The men of these cities were so driven with sexual lust that they even went the way of homosexual encounters. Lot did some things that were questionable here like offering up his daughters that were virgins but the point is that we see clearly that the people of Sodom, Gomorrah and the surrounding cities were corrupt in sexual lust. They had such an appetite for sex that Jude says they went after strange flesh.
This indicates homosexual encounters between the people of the city. This very thing is what is spoken about in Romans 1:24-27 that says Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions; for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the males abandoned the natural function of the female and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
Once again what we see is that these defiled and sinful people of these cities are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
For those that think God will save everyone or that God is so much a God of love that He will not send anyone to Hell, has never read the Bible but is only believing in a god that they have created for themselves. In fact this is exactly what false teachers are doing. They are compared to these 3 groups that include, unbelieving, disobedient and living from internal passions. This is what we will see as we briefly look at our last point for this study.
4.Defilement by false teachers.
Look with me at Jude vs. 8 Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and blaspheme glorious ones.
Notice the connection to the 3 groups of people that we just mentioned in the first 3 points. These men refers to the same men that he mentions in Jude vs 4 where he says 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 sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
*These men do not seek to glorify God but are living just as the unbelieving Israelites did, just as the disobedient angels and the sexual driven, passion oriented people of Sodom and Gomorrah did. Jude seems to reverse the order in verse 8 where he starts of by saying that these false teachers also by dreaming, defile the flesh.
They have ambition to see God do things that He never said He would do. They are demanding of God to work in ways contrary to His character. They want a god that they made up or dreamed up and in doing so they defile the flesh. They are driven to fulfill their desires no matter what, whether it be financially, sexually, popularity or just for self gratification internally, these false teachers will not stop at one fulfillment but continue on proving their place in God’s judgement.*
They also reject authority which is equal to disobedience. So many people that profess Christ do not want to be held accountable for their actions. They claim the blood of Jesus over their life and keep on living how they want. Disobedience is a sign of someone that is not living for Christ and one that is deserving of eternal judgement from God. I hate to see so many people that profess Christ fall into this category.
Then lastly these false teachers blaspheme glorious ones. Not only do they reject God but they also truly do not believe in God. They believe in a god they created but not the true God we know from the pages of the Bible. The are like the unbelieving Israelites that may see the work of God in creation, they may believe the works of God but they do not follow after God in their life. They too will fall into condemnation for eternity.
What we have seen in this study is just the beginning of what Jude has to say about the character and condemnation of these false teachers. I hope that if you are a teacher or preacher of the Bible and you find yourself in one of these 3 categories that you will repent today. I pray if you are a person that professes Christ and you are in any of these 3 categories that you will repent, ask God to forgive you and start today to live for God.
Disciple's Direction 