Damnation of False Teachers
Jude 1:5b-7 – that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
One of the first things a reader of the epistle of Jude will notice about his style is not only the use of dynamic and colorful metaphors, but the author’s fondness for triads. A triad is a literary device where groups of three things are used to support a single idea. “This device of using triads makes the grasping and remembering of what is said easier” (Hamilton 378).
✘ Disbelieving Israelites Destroyed
Once saved always saved definitely does not apply to those Israelites who were once saved from Egyptian bondage only to be destroyed in the wilderness. There are many occasions where the former slaves rebelled against God. Jude will mention Korah’s rebellion in verse eleven. Paul noted several examples of their unbelief in 1 Corinthians 10:1-10. After which he warned the saints at Corinth, “now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:11,12). Their ultimate example of unbelief came when they believed the report of the ten spies over that of Joshua and Caleb who believed the Lord would keep His promise and deliver Canaan land over to the people. For this lack of trust in God, the entire generation died in the wilderness. “For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (Heb. 3:16-19; cf. Num. 14:26-38).
✘ Deserting Angels Detained in Darkness
The details or source of Jude’s discussion about angels is sketching and unknown. This has left many an opportunity to invent fancy fables to fill in the blanks. One of the most widely accepted legends is that the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1f were fallen angels who fell to earth and had sex with the “daughters of men” whom they found beautiful. This resulted in a hybrid race of giants who became so wicked that God destroyed the world with the flood of Noah’s day. First of all, evil angels would not be called “sons of God,” only good angels have been so identified by the Bible. Jesus said that angels do not marry (Mt. 22:30). It was because of man’s sin, not evil angels reproducing with humans, which resulted in the Flood. God regretted creating man, not angels, which moved Him to destroy the world. The sons of God were the righteous descendants of Seth who foolishly married the wicked, beautiful daughters of Cain.
What is known of this illustration is the angels deserted the role or realm which God created for them to serve. As a result they are to be kept chained in darkness till the final day of judgment. Perhaps Jesus speaks of this when He said to the disobedient at Judgment, “depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41 ). Of course, the chains and perhaps the darkness are metaphors since angels are spiritual beings. God is light and they are without Him in darkness. The bondage represents their limitations placed upon them by God. Jude’s point is the angels were created greater than men and man created a little lower than the angels. Nevertheless, God still condemned them for their rebellion. So, God will condemn the false prophets and those who chose to follow them.
✘ Deviant Homosexuals’ Destination
The story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities of the plain (Admah and Zeboim) is found in Genesis 19. These people had “given themselves over to” fornication. Sex was an obsession for them. They lived for it and they died because of it. When the angels came to Sodom, Lot sought to protect them, so he took them home. The men of the city came seeking to know them carnally. These sexual perverts were struck blind and yet they still sought for the door to get in at these angels. Jude says they had “gone after strange false.” The word for “strange” means different. Some have argued that men going after men is not different but the same flesh. Others believe different is referring to angels. However, the men of Sodom did not know these were angels, but thought them to be males. Paul’s discussion of homosexuals explains their behavior, “for even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. “Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due” (Rom. 1:26-27). From the beginning of Creation the Creator created woman for man and only they are to become one flesh (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4,5). Men with women is God’s natural design for sex. Men with men and women with women is different flesh than God assigned. These cities serve at an example of those who will suffer eternal fire.
– Daniel R. Vess
The 23rd Channel
The TV set is my shepherd. My spiritual growth shall want. It maketh me to sit down and do nothing for His name’s sake, because it requireth all my spare time. It keepeth me from doing my duty as a Christian, because it presenteth so many good shows that I must see. It restoreth my knowledge of the things of the world, and keepeth me from the study of God’s Word. It leadeth me in the paths of failing to attend the evening worship services, and doing nothing in the Kingdom of God. Yea, though I live to be a hundred, I shall keep on viewing my TV as long as it will work, for it is my closet companion. Its sound and its picture, they comfort me. It presenteth entertainment before me, and keepeth me from doing important things with my family. It fills my head with ideas which differ from those set forth in the word of God. Surely, no good thing will come of my life, because my TV offereth me no good time to do the will of God; thus I will dwell in the place of the Devil and his angels forever. – author unknown
A Mother’s Finished Product
I took a piece of plastic clay And idly fashioned it one day- And as my fingers pressed it, still It moved and yielded to my will. I came again when days were past The bit of clay was hard at last. The form I gave it, still it bore, And I could change that form no more! I took a piece of living clay, And gently fashioned it day by day, And molded with my power and art A young child’s soft and yielding heart. I came again when years were gone: It was a man I looked upon. He still that early impress bore, And I could fashion it never more.
– author unknown