Jude - Part 3

Jude
Contending for the Faith

A Lesson from History

Jude – Contending for the Faith

Review of 3-4
Meet the Apostates


"Beloved, while I was making every effort to write
you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity
to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly
for the faith which was once for all handed down to
the saints. 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."
(Jude 3-4)


Question:
Who were the Apostates?


Judaizers?

The first candidate for the apostates
would be Judaizers. The Judaizers,
which were opposed by Paul in
Galatia, advocated the mixing of Old
Testament law with the New
Testament message of grace.
However, when one closely examines
the characteristics of the false
teachers outlined by Jude (e.g. their
appetite for fleshy indulgence), they
do not seem to dovetail with the
message preached by the Judiazers.


Gnostics?
Many believe that Gnosticism first emerged in the
late Hellenistic or early Imperial period among
speculative and syncretistic Jews. Gnosticism was
essentially a Greek philosophical belief system that
prided itself in having unique, hidden, and superior
knowledge about all spiritual matters. In all genuine
Gnostic literature, the physical universe is said to
have been birthed from the act of an arrogant and
powerful subordinate god named ―demiurge‖ who
supposedly made a huge mistake by mixing the
spiritual and physical realms together in the act of
creation. Man was created with a spark of divinity,
which, when fully awakened, is supposed to make
him completely divine once he sheds his outer
―shell‖. Many Gnostics held that all spirit is good,
all physical matter is evil, and therefore God could
never take on the form of a human being. This
particular aspect of the Gnostic teaching is known
as Docetism.

Nicolaitans?
Another possible heresy that Jude could be addressing is that of Nicolaitanism, which
early second century sources (Irenaeus) say started with the Nicolas identified as a
proselyte from Antioch (Acts 6:5). Nicolaitanism sported many of the characteristics of
Gnosticism in that it encouraged the practice of physical immorality, a fact called out by
Jesus in Revelation 2:15 in His address to the church at Pergamum. Additional evidence of
the Nicolaitan-Gnosticism link is that a woman, Jezebel, appeared to be the leader of the
group in Thyatira (Revelation 2:20). Like Jude (v11), Christ also referenced the error of
Balaam in Revelation 2:14 during his instruction to Pergamum, which seemed to indicate the
teachings of Balaam and the apostasy being addressed in Jude were linked at the hip.
Further evidence of this is seen in the fact that, since the 19th century, it has been common
to view the name (Nicolaitan) as a translation into Greek of the Hebrew name Balaam.

The doctrine of the Nicolaitans appears to have been a form of antinomianism: a belief that
is based upon a recognition of the mercy of God as the ground of salvation. However, it
goes astray in the mistake that man can freely partake in sin because the Law of God is no
longer binding. It held the truth on the gratuitous reckoning of righteousness.

Nicolaitanism may be the strongest candidate for the heresy Jude was addressing.


Exposition of 5-7
A lesson from History


"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. 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,
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."
(Jude 5-7)


Questions to Consider

How could God destroy people who knew about Him?
What angels are Jude talking about? What was the sin of the angels?

"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.
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, 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."
(Jude 5-7)

What do these historical examples have in common?

When will ‗the judgment of the great day‘ take place? What was Sodom‘s sin?


“Now I want to remind you…”

Verse(s) Historical Reference False Teacher Verse(s)
Reference
5-7 Apostate Israel, fallen angels, and ―these people 8
ungodly residents of Sodom & also‖
Gomorrah
9 Michael‘s restraint with Satan ―But these 10
people‖
11 Cain, Balaam, Korah ―These‖ 12
14-15 Enoch‘s prediction of judgment ―These‖ 16
17-18 Apostle‘s prophecies of false ―It is these‖ 19
teachers

Jude uses repetition via historical references to underscore his warning


Apostate Israel, Angels, and Gentiles
Warnings as to what awaits human and spiritual beings who reject God


―after saving a people out of the land of Egypt…‖
"Now it came about at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,
from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in
the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants
and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there
was not someone dead. Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, ―Rise up, get
out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the Lord, as you
have said. ―Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me
also.‖ The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said,
―We will all be dead.‖ . . . Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses,
for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing;
and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them
have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. Now the sons of Israel journeyed
from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children. A
mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of
livestock. . . . Now the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty
years. And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, to the very day, all the hosts of the
Lord went out from the land of Egypt."
(Exodus 12:29-41)


―destroyed those who did not believe…‖
"The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ―How long shall I bear with this evil
congregation who are grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel,
which they are making against Me. ―Say to them, ‗As I live,‘ says the Lord, ‗just as you have
spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all
your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward,
who have grumbled against Me. ‗Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to
settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. ‗Your children,
however, whom you said would become a prey—I will bring them in, and they will know the land
which you have rejected. ‗But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. ‗Your sons
shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they will suffer for your
unfaithfulness, until your corpses lie in the wilderness. ‗According to the number of days
which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even
forty years, and you will know My opposition. ‗I, the Lord, have spoken, surely this I will do to
all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall
be destroyed, and there they will die.‘ ‖ As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land
and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad
report concerning the land, even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land
died by a plague before the Lord. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of
Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.―
(Numbers 14:26-38)

―We learn from
history that we learn
nothing from
history.‖
- George Bernard Shaw


" For 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 baptized 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, so that we would not crave
evil things as they also craved. 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."
(1 Corinthians 10:1-11)



Did not believe … how?
Did not believe … in what?
These people had seen God in
action so their issues was not
believing that there was a God,
but they did not trust in God.

"And without faith it is impossible to please
Him, for he who comes to God must believe
that He is and that He is [faith that] a
rewarder of those who seek Him [faith in]."
(Hebrews 11:6)


Profile of Apostasy

"Then he [Moses] took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said,
―All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!‖ Then Moses went up with Aaron,
Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His
feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out
His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank. Now the
Lord said to Moses, ―Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone
tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.‖ So Moses arose with
Joshua his servant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. But to the elders he said, ―Wait here
for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter, let him
approach them.‖ Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory
of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He
called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the
glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top. Moses entered the midst of the cloud as
he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights."
(Exodus 24:7-18)

Profile of Apostasy

" Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled
about Aaron and said to him, ―Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man
who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.‖ Aaron said to them,
―Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring
them to me.‖ Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to
Aaron. He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf;
and they said, ―This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.‖ Now when
Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, ―Tomorrow shall be
a feast to the Lord.‖ So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace
offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. Then the Lord spoke to
Moses, ―Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have
corrupted themselves. ―They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have
made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‗This is your
god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!‘ ‖"
(Exodus 32:1-8)

Profile of Apostasy
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that
which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and
divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been
made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did
not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations,
and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and
exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible
man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God
gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be
dishonored among them. 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."
(Romans 1:18-25)


―And angels who did not keep their own domain …‖

Two possibilities for who these angels are:
1. The host of angels who rebelled against God and followed Satan (Rev. 12:7-10).
Unlikely as Jude says they are kept in eternal bonds in darkness and not free.
2. The ―sons of God‖ mentioned in Genesis 6:1-4 where angels, in some form or fashion,
sinned in conjunction with women to produce a race of creatures that appeared to
herald the flood of Noah.


―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 wives:
"Ye have wrought great
destruction on the earth‖
- Book of Enoch, 12:4

Even though the Book of Enoch is not recorded in the
Old Testament, God inspired Jude to use it because it
was considered historically valid, and it supported his
overall theme. Jude‘s quote and thoughts from Enoch
come from the pseudepigraphal book of 1 Enoch, which
his audience apparently knew.

Enoch‘s message was evidently passed down through
oral tradition and finally recorded in a book called 1
Enoch. It, and other books such as The Book of
Jubilee, The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, and
The Assumption of Moses (from which Jude probably
quoted in verse 9), was not part of the Old Testament
canon. But being accurate, Jude and the Holy Spirit
together deemed it satisfactory to use in his work.

Enoch was a hero to the Old Testament saints because,
like Elijah later in the book of 2 Kings, he was taken by
God into glory without dying (Genesis 5:24; may be a
typology of the Rapture). Enoch‘s prophecy is the
earliest human prophecy found anywhere in Scripture,
with it predating the words of Moses, Samuel, and the
Hebrew prophets by many centuries.

Word Study - Abandoned
Greek Meaning

apoleipō ① To depart from a place with the
suggestion of finality
―And angels who did not keep their own
② Desert
Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W.
domain, but abandoned their proper (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the
abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under New Testament and other early Christian
literature.
darkness for the judgment of the great day‖
- Jude 6

Interpretation & Application
The simple verb leipō means ―to leave.‖ The prefixed preposition apo makes the compound verb mean
―to leave behind.‖ These angels left heaven behind; they had abandoned – for all time – the rightful
place in which God had placed them. They were done with it forever. The verb is aorist in tense which
refers to a once-for-all act. This was apostasy with a vengeance with them literally burning their bridges
behind them. Moreover, they had descended to a foreign place, the earth, and into a foreign
relationship, the human race. This is what the apostate does – they forever turn their back on God and
pursue lifestyles, false religions, and sinful behaviors that are not what God intended them to have.


―He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness…‖

• Kept: same word used to describe believers secured by God for glory; these
are secured by God for punishment
• Eternal bonds: these angels are bound with chains, while believers are free in
Christ
• Darkness: always symbolic for judgment. Darkness is simply defined as the
absence of light. Believers have the light of God in their lives while the enemies
of God live in darkness

―for the judgment of the great day…‖

1. Bema Seat 2. Sheep/Goat 3. White Throne

This judgment This judgment This judgment
concerns itself concerns itself concerns itself
with the believers with living Jews unbelieving
rewards. Occurs and Gentiles at humans and
after the the end of the fallen angels.
Rapture in tribulation. Occurs outside
Heaven. Occurs on earth. of earth.

1 Cor. 3:11-15 Matt. 25: 31-46 Rev. 20: 11-15


―for the judgment of the great day…‖

Sheep/Goat /
Judgment of OT Saints White
Believer‘s works Judgment Throne
Judgment Eternity
(Unsaved,
2nd Coming

Fallen
Rapture

Angels)

Tribulation Millennium

7 years 1,000 years


―For some, Hell is
simply a truth
realized too late.‖
- Os Guinness


―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.‖
- Jude 7

Sodom: ‫ ,סְ ד ֹמָ ה‬whose root literally means ―to burn‖
Gomorrah: from ‫ ,עֲ מ ָֹרה‬that can mean ―people of fear‖


―just as odom and Gomorrah …
S

This verse begins with an adverb of comparison having the meanings of ―in the same
manner as, after the fashion of, as, just as.‖ Here it introduces a comparison showing
a likeness between the angels of verse 6 and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah of
this verse. But the likeness between them lies deeper than the fact that both were
guilty of committing sin. It extends to the fact that both were guilty of the same
identical sin. The angels went after something they should not have and so did the
people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Word Study - Indulged
Greek Meaning
ekporneuo ① Indulge in illicit sexual relations
② Debauchery
Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W.
"just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the
around them, since they in the same way as New Testament and other early Christian
these indulged in gross immorality and literature.

went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an
example in undergoing the punishment of
eternal fire.‖ - Jude 7)

Interpretation & Application
The prefixed preposition ek (ἐκ) indicates in the usage of the word a lust that gluts itself, satisfies itself
completely. The force of ek (ἐκ) which itself means ―out,‖ is ―out and out.‖ It signifies a giving of one‘s
self utterly – ―completely sexually immoral‖ is how it reads in the Greek. The words ―strange flesh,‖ that
is, flesh of a different and in this case an opposite (diametrically opposed) nature, speak of the angels‘
intercourse with women, the latter being forbidden flesh. The sin of the angels was against nature. In
the case of the cities mentioned, it was the sin which Paul mentions in Romans 1:27, a departure from
the natural use and against nature. This word and verse speak to the fact that God punishes those
who practice sin which is contrary to God‘s design.

―went after strange flesh …‖
―and they [the men of Sodom] called to Lot and said to him,
―Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them
out to us that we may have relations with them. . . . They [the
angels] struck the men who were at the doorway of the
house with blindness, both small and great, so that they
wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.―
(Genesis 19:11)
Two Points on the above verses:
1. The Sin of Sodom was homosexuality (not un-hospitality or
rape has critics assert). Jude confirms this fact.
2. Even after they had been supernaturally afflicted, the men of
Sodom continued to pursue their sin.

―People go to Hell
sweating.‖
- John MacArthur


―exhibited as an example…‖
―My God would never hurt anyone…‖
My God would not send anyone to Hell…‖

Fact:
The real God punishes sin, punishes apostasy, and
has given us examples such as Sodom and
Gomorrah to prove His point.

The verb ―exhibited‖ means ―to lie exposed,‖ and is used in classical writings of food
on the table ready for the guests, and of a corpse laid out for burial.


―exhibited as an example…‖
"Unless the Lord of hosts Had left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom,
We would be like Gomorrah."
(Isaiah 1:9)

"―Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah with its neighbors,‖ says the Lord,
―no one will live there, nor will a son of man reside in it."
(Jeremiah 49:18)

"For the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the sin of Sodom,
Which was overthrown as in a moment, And no hands were turned toward her."
(Lamentations 4:6)

"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 lives thereafter;"
(2 Peter 2:6)


―undergoing the punishment of eternal fire…‖

―So it will be at the end of the age;
the angels will come forth and take
out the wicked from among the
righteous, and will throw them into
the furnace of fire; in that place
there will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth.‖
(Matthew 13:49-50)

"You serpents, you brood of vipers,
how will you escape the sentence of
hell?"
(Matthew 23:33)


Apostate Israel, Angels, and Gentiles
What final applications can we make from these examples?


Concluding thoughts
"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. 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, 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."
(Jude 5-7)
• It doesn‘t matter whether you are spiritually created beings (angels),
a nation hand-chosen by God (Israel), or a society/culture that lives
in a sinful way without regard for God‘s presence … those who reject
God will in turn be rejected and judged by Him.
• The certainty of God‘s judgment has been demonstrated via
examples set forth in historic space/time; any rejection of them
disregards the truth of reality and God‘s Word.
• We need to respond to the reality of these examples with evangelism
and a desire to share the truth with those who do not know God so
they will understand their wrong living and turn to God for
forgiveness; experience His love, and avoid His wrath.

Charlie Peace was a notorious
English criminal who lived in the
1800‘s. When he was being taken
to the gallows, a priest followed him
and read to him about Heaven and
Hell. When the priest began
talking about Hell, Peace asked him
―Are you talking about Hell?‖ The
priest responded Yes. Peace then
said, ―Let me tell you something –
I‘m about to be hanged right now.
And if I believed 1/10th of what
you said, I would crawl across
England on my hands and knees on
broken glass if I could just save one
person from this Hell that you so
glibly talk about.‖

― The wheels of God‘s
judgment may grind slow
but they grind exceedingly
fine‖
-A. W. Tozer

―Do not be deceived,
God is not mocked; for
whatever a man sows, this
he will also reap.‖ –
Galatians 6:7


Jude - Part 3

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Jude - Part 3