Chapter Five - Verses 5-8
5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
Jude identified the reason he was writing in verses three and four, calling our attention to the need for all Christians to earnestly contend or fight for our faith as there have been (and still are today) ungodly people creeping into our lives, families and churches. Jude also informed us that these individuals, although seemingly holy and well-intentioned are nothing more than deceivers that were known by God before the beginning of time and have been long condemned. These people, as he further identifies as those that pervert the Word of God and deny Jesus, are the reason Jude wrote this short epistle.
In the last chapter we discovered that God is a merciful God that never compromises or sets aside His Word (the Law). He demonstrates His mercy through His justice, in our case by sending His Son, Jesus, to die on our behalf thus fulfilling the requirements of the Law. Jude will now use three Old Testament stories to illustrate God’s absolute justice. This follows and supports what Jude said about the condemnation of the ungodly people, namely that justice will indeed be served to them (Jude 4).
Jude uses the same approach as Peter used in 2 Peter chapter two to demonstrate his point (see 2 Peter 2:3-16). He will use two of the same Old Testament stories (the fall of the dark angels and the judgment of Sodom & Gomorrah), however instead of the story about the judgment of the world by a great flood during Noah’s day, he will use the story about the Israelites leaving Egypt. It appears that both authors assumed that their audiences would know these stories as they both only make brief statements with very little clarification.
It is interesting to see that Jude also conveyed the idea that he is only presenting these stories to remind his readers of something, an idea that Peter used twice in his second epistle (see 2 Peter 1:12 and 3:1-2). Jude, in almost an apologetic way, says that they (his audience) already knew these things but will remind them anyway.
Jude begins with the story that summarizes the departure of the Israelites out of their captivity in Egypt. The text in Jude for most modern English translations says they were led out of Egypt by Jesus. This is often considered to be a mistake by some scholars. Even though there is great support to indicate that ‘Jesus’ is likely the original word (several early manuscripts, statements by early commentators and the use of critical principles designed to identify potential manuscript errors), many believe the reading is “difficult” for theological reasons and consider the insertion of the word as being a “scribal blunder.” This is the reason why many translations and Bible versions use the word, ‘Lord’ instead.
Even knowing that Jesus was never mentioned by name in the Exodus story we can see that Jude may still be correct in his statement. The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow (in other words He has always existed, see Hebrews 13:8). Paul even told us that Jesus was involved in the creation process (see Colossians 1:15-20) plus the Gospel according to John says that Jesus was around before time began (see John 1:1-5) and that if anyone ever saw God they were actually looking at Jesus, “No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.” (John 1:18, NLT), which aligns with Jesus’ claim to be the voice in the “Burning Bush.” (the reason the Jews were going to kill Him, see John 8:58 and Exodus 3:14). Paul also wrote that Jesus was there in the wilderness with the Israelites (read 1 Corinthians 10:1-5). We know that God led the Israelites by cloud in the day and fire by night (see Exodus 13:21), could they have been more than a mere representation of God and His glory? Could Jude have been right saying that were actually referring to Jesus or that Jesus was there? It seems plausible that the entire Godhead was present during the Exodus.
Jude goes on to point out that Moses had his share of distractors and nay-sayers in this group, people that refused to believe in God despite all of the plagues and incredible miracles they witnessed first-hand. They were not allowed to enter into the Promised Land. Even though God did not destroy them right away (although some were indeed quickly eliminated, such as with the ground opening up and swallowing them or consumed by fire, see Numbers 16:28-35; 26:10; Deuteronomy 11:6 and Psalm 106:17) most of the disobedient and non-believing people were allowed to live their lives in the desert but were never allowed to go anywhere else. Justice may have been delayed, but judgment was made and punishment rendered. God often delays judgment as He is a loving and merciful God who wants His people to come to repentance rather than be destroyed.
6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling,
The next story Jude relates is the story about the fall of the dark angels. He says they did not stay in their proper place and as a result of their disobedience they will be ‘kept’ (same Greek word Jude used in verse one) for final judgment. Some scholars have issues with this verse as well. They say it could be one of three possibilities. The first is that Jude is telling us something new, something that was never exposed or told before, however that is not likely as he first mentioned that he was reminding his readers, plus it is too brief of a statement to introduce anything of real substance. The second possibility is that he was referring specifically to the fallen angels mentioned in Genesis 6:1-4 (also known as the Nephilim, see also Numbers 13:33) who chose human women as wives. It is believed by these scholars that this was so heinous (wicked) that God is preventing these angels from ever again interacting with other angels or mankind by keeping them locked up in chains. This would have to be speculation as the Bible does not teach this in any way. The third and probably the most likely scenario is that Jude is simply referring to their fall from serving God (see Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:12-18) and that God in the future, will respond to their disobedience by throwing them all into the lake of fire (see Revelation 20:14), again justice ultimately served.
7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. 8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.
The third and final Old Testament story that Jude chooses is the well-known story about Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis 18:16-19:29). Jude also mentions that this judgment included surrounding cities which are actually listed later in Deuteronomy 29:23. Here, as the result of unnatural sexual desires (namely homosexuality), the people were promptly judged and destroyed by fire. Jude adds a unique term, here translated as ‘eternal’ (the Greek word ‘aiōnios’) to the word ‘fire’ not just referring to the actual destruction but also to the immeasurable time of being eternally condemned and exposed to fire forever.
In verse eight Jude points out that in the same way those people who crept into our lives, families and churches (from verse four) have relied on their dreams, live immorally (defile the flesh), reject authority and blaspheme God and His authority (the glorious ones, which can also include those sent by God on His behalf such as His angels), as seen in each of these Old Testament stories. We need to be careful how we interpret the use of the English word, ‘dreams’ as translated here. The Greek word implies phony visions or holding vain and empty opinions, in other words not like a dream of something positive but something that is against God and intentionally deceiving (same word as used in Acts 2:16-17 and Septuagint version of Joel 2:20-22). Punishment will come for these people but meanwhile we need to contend for our faith, fight as necessary and keep these people away from influencing others.