Jude 5-7
A Call to Perseverance
“I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” - Jude 5-7
Introduction
In Acts 27, we find a wonderful illustration of salvation when Paul was placed on a ship to sail for Italy. Out at sea, a horrible storm came about and brought the crew to the point where they all knew they were going to die. During the storm, an angel from God appeared to Paul to tell him their lives would be spared. Paul shared this word with the crew, and their courage was renewed. However, as the storm continued to rage, some of the men began to go to jump ship with the lifeboats; and Paul said, “Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved” (v. 31). So the men cut the ropes bunkered down in the ship as their only hope. The illustration here is wonderful: We take refuge in Christ, trusting in the promise that we will not be lost. However, the promise comes with a warning that if we jump ship, there is no surety of being saved. So it is that this text in Jude provides similar warnings. This is a call to perseverance, to not abandon the ship.
The Christian life has always been one of seemingly paradoxical realities. For example, consider the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. God is the one who does all the work in our salvation, and He gets all the glory; yet, this does not negate the fact that God’s sovereign salvation manifests in the person’s own decision to repent and follow Christ. Remember that phrase “preserved in Christ” that Jude used to describe a Christian in verse 2? The Christian is one who is safely and securely held in the hands of Jesus; yet, this does not negate the responsibility of the Christian to endure with faith and holiness until the end of their lives. We are preserved with sovereign grace, and we must persevere ourselves; that is what this text is all about.
Here in Jude 5-7, we find three examples of the judgment that falls upon defectors from the faith, those who fall short in their responsibility to persevere in faith and holiness. We are given examples from the Jews, angelic beings, as well as the Gentiles. We will learn that we must not abandon our faith in the Lord Jesus or the natural boundaries of God the Creator. As we examine this text, my prayer is that we grow in our fear of the Lord, take His warnings seriously, resolve to persevere, and not falter in the day of adversity.
The Defection of Israel, v. 5
The first example of God’s judgment against defectors Jude draws our attention to is that of Israel in the wilderness. The most significant detail we must establish on the front end is that in each of these cases, but this one particularly, Jesus is said to be the deliverer and the destroyer. Modern translations will rightly read in verse 5 that Jesus saved Israel out of Egypt, and afterward destroyed the faithless in the wilderness. Jude agrees with the Apostle Paul along these lines, in 1 Corinthians 10:1-5, we read:
Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
The comparison of ancient Israel to the modern Church doesn’t hold up at every level, but it was plainly used by the New Testament authors and we need to understand what they were getting at. Just as God the Son delivered the Jews out of slavery to the Egyptians, so Jesus spiritually broke our bondage to Satan, sin, and hell; this is justification. Next, God the Son intended to lead the Jews through the wilderness just as we go through a process of sanctification throughout our lives on this earth. Lastly, Jesus meant to bring Israel into the promised land, and so He means to safely deliver us to our eternal inheritance in heaven; this is glorification. Many preachers have rightly said that salvation is threefold: justification (I was saved from the penalty of sin), sanctification (I am being saved from the power of sin), and glorification (I will be saved from the presence and possibility of sin). Every true Christian must have all three of these, no one gets to have one without the other. We must also keep in mind that all of these parts are received the same way: by grace through faith in Christ alone.
Israel skipped out on the one aspect of salvation that most professing Christians like to skip out on too, sanctification. They wanted to be delivered from Pharaoh, and they wanted the luxury of paradise, but they didn’t want persevering holiness in the wilderness. When they grumbled against God, they grumbled against Christ. Israel wanted Christ to deliver them from the misery of sin’s effects, they didn’t want Christ to deliver them from the fleeting pleasure of sin’s presence. Of all the hundreds of thousands of Israelites who were delivered from Egypt, only two of them entered the promised land. Not even Moses or Aaron were allowed to enter. Only Joshua and Caleb.
The sobering reality we are to consider from this is that of all the multitudes who call themselves Christians (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Evangelicals of various kinds), most of them will not enter heaven. The reason for this is that they do not possess saving faith, they just want to play church. A religion of name only disciples will always be the greatest threat to an authentic church. The greatest threat to Christianity in Russia is the Russian Orthodox Church, for they are the ones who ban the true preaching of the cross. The greatest threat to Christianity in America is the weak Evangelicalism which offers regeneration without repentance, winning heaven without warning of hell, peace with God without practicing holiness, and personal relationship with Christ without connection to a local church. Religion like that will produce multitudes of defectors as Jude describes here, because they will call themselves Christians only as long as their selfish needs are met. The moment suffering for the cause of Christ comes their way, they will abandon the faith and stand against genuine believers.
The Rebellion of Angels
The second warning Jude places before us is that of the angels who transgressed. The question immediately comes to mind here, “What is he talking about?” To begin, Jude says the angels are “reserved in everlasting chains” which means he isn’t talking about the fall of Satan. We know this, because Satan isn’t currently bound; Satan is roaming the earth at this very moment like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). This must also be a story familiar to the Jewish audience Jude wrote to, and contained in the Old Testament. Given these preconditions, only one story of fallen angels fits the standard, and that is Genesis 6:1-4,
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
Admittedly, this is one of the most bizarre stories of the Bible, and one of many different interpretations; so, let us approach it briefly with humility. The most popular interpretation of scholars today would say the “sons of God” were the descendants of Seth, whereas the “daughters of men” are the descendants of Cain. The people who take this interpretation say these events threatened the lineage of Jesus, and also conclude we are not to intermarry with unbelievers today. I completely agree that the lineage of Christ was threatened here, and that we are not to intermarry with unbelievers, but I don’t think that is what this text is entirely about.
Virtually every time the phrase “sons of God” is used like this in the Old Testament, it refers to angelic beings; in fact, the Bible of the Apostles (the Septuagint) translates this title as “angels.” A certain group of angels were not content with the state of nature God had given them, the rank of authority God had stationed them, or the roles God had assigned to them. In other words, their pride didn’t want God’s creation order. Because of this, they came to earth, took the form of men (which angels often do in the Bible), and with their human bodies interbred with women. The result of these relationships were unnatural, and frankly, monstrous. We have no idea how strange and otherworldly the pre-flood earth was. Giants walked the earth, the strange creatures of fantasy tales could very well have actually existed, for the lines which separate humans from beings of other realms had been crossed. I believe what we have here is an instance of such unique wickedness that God started the countdown to destruction; as though to say, “That’s too far. You have 120 years, and then I’m killing every trace of this atrocity.” God wiped out these beings and their offspring with the flood, after that, He bound the angelic beings responsible with eternal chains to stop it from happening again. The singularity of this event could be the reason it seems so perplexing to us.
This concerns us, because Jesus said, “as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man” (Luke 17:26). The exact evil we read of in Genesis 6:1-4 won’t happen again, but similar things will increase as we approach the return of Christ. As society moves away from God, it won’t remain spiritually secular. It will embrace pagan forms of mystic spirituality. People will increasingly try to transcend the bounds of what makes them human. Like the angels, you will see more and more people throw off God’s creation order and declare themselves free to do and be whatever they want. This is already happening with scientists trying to crossbreed humans with animals, humans with technology, and various other cultist aberrations. However, the most obvious rejection of God’s natural creation comes in the third example….
The Lesson of Sodom and Gomorrah
When Abraham and his cousin Lot decided which lands they would settle, Lot chose the land which looked best. In Genesis 13:10, we read, “Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord” [emphasis added]. In other words, Lot looked at this land, and it reminded him of what Eden must have been like. When the inhabitants of these areas gave way to unprecedented wickedness, fire and brimstone reigned down upon them, and turned this once fruitland into a sea of salt that can still be seen today. As Israel was meant to be a shining example of God’s election and died in the wilderness, as the angels were meant to serve the almighty but fell to chains of darkness, as the lands of Sodom were once fruitful and were consumed with fire, so everyone who defects from the faith will also be destroyed.
Like the angels who threw off the restrictions of God’s natural order, Sodom and Gomorrah threw off God’s design for human sexuality, and did as they wanted. First, they fell to idolatry, they “changed the glory of the un-corruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:23). The result of this was the descent to judgment described throughout the first chapter of Romans:
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. (v. 26-27)
This is one of the similar things we will see increase as we near the return of Christ. What was the sin of Sodom? Exactly what Disney is trying to get your children to celebrate right now. Sodomy. It was every expression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and even pedophilic lifestyles. These sins not only bring the judgment of God, they are the judgment of God. If you want to see a nation abandoned by God, look for the approval of LGBTQ+ lifestyles.
The “strange flesh” described by Jude is the flesh of the angels in the form of men that we read of Genesis 19. It is still homosexual lust, just an even more unnatural form of it. If you read the account of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, you’ll read how the young and old came out to abuse the angels sent by God (P for pedophilia will soon be added to the LGBTQ acronym if we don’t start resisting their insanity). The Sodomites’ main tactic to quiet Lot when he resisted them was shame. Essentially they said, “Don’t judge our lifestyle!” The same way they call you a homophobe for affirming Biblical sexuality. You’ll also read how uncontrollable their lust was. As the Sodomites moved for the angels, they were struck blind, and rather than run away they continued their attempt to rape the angels without sight! If there is one group controlled by the spirit of antichrist in the West today, it is the LGBTQ “community.” If its influence is not purged from society, God will destroy this nation.
Now, because we’re on this subject, let me give a few brief exhortations. First, treat your professing LGBT neighbors as any other lost people. Homosexual sin is more destructive than others, but homosexuals need Jesus as much as anyone, and they can be saved. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, the Apostle Paul makes the point that many in the Corinthian Church had been saved from this very lifestyle. Second, if you struggle in this area, do not hesitate to reach out for help. Don’t bury yourself in shame and indulge your sin in secret. At this church, we are here for you. We will walk with you, and get you the help you need. Christ died to set you free from this, so He can and will do it.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I leave you with Jude’s last words in this section, he says these are “set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” The nation of ancient Israel was and is no more. Sodom was and is no more. The angels that transgressed are bound in chains and will not repeat their sin. However, the same faithlessness of Israel, pride of the angels, and degeneracy of Sodom are temptations every believer will be presented with. If they didn’t escape with the knowledge they had, how much worse will it be for us if we fall back?
In Matthew 11:21-23, Jesus spoke along these lines as He declared judgment on three cities who rejected His preaching:
Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.
What Christ is saying here is that the more light you have the greater your punishment will be should you defect. Sodom never had a Bible, a Bible-believing church, or the freedom to worship as we do. The angels never had a Savior die for their sins as we do. Israel never had the full knowledge of Christ as we do; they only had the shadow, we have the substance. You think Israel, angels, and Sodomites had it bad when the judgment of God fell on them? Wait till you see the American apostates on Judgment Day. All of these will say to the American backsliders on Judgment Day, “If we had the knowledge you did, we would have served Jesus with all our lives! How could you hear the gospel week after week, and still not live for Jesus?” May we renew our faith in the risen Christ today, for that is the only way to persevere until the end.
