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Jude 1:5-11

Sunday Morning Bible Study

February 24, 2013

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?

We have begun working our way through this little letter written by one of Jesus’ half-brothers.

Half-brother?  They had the same mother (Mary) but different fathers (Jesus was God’s Son, Jude was Joseph’s son).

Jude is apparently the youngest of Mary’s five sons.  To help you remember that he’s the youngest brother …

PlayHey Jude” clip

I mentioned last week that there are quite a few parallels between Jude and 2Peter.  Did any of you read 2Peter?  You get extra credit!

We mentioned last week that Jude’s main theme is his concern for the false teachers that are beginning to crop up in the church.

As Jude begins to lay out his instruction about false teachers, he starts with a pretty heavy history lesson.

George Santayana wrote,

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Jude is going to give us seven historical examples that ought to make us shudder when it comes to the seriousness of false teachers.

Let’s Read the passage

Jude is going to give us a history lesson, pointing to things that ought to be warnings to us about these false teachers.  There are going to be seven historical examples.  See if you can identify them as we read.

(Jud 5–11 NKJV) —5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, 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. 8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. 9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

:5-11 Lessons from History

:5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

:5 to remindhupomimnesko – to cause one to remember, bring to remembrance, recall to mind: to another

Aorist active infinitive

:5 I wantboulomai – to will deliberately, have a purpose, be minded; of willing as an affection, to desire

Present deponent indicative

:5 you knewoida – to see; to know

Perfect active participle

:5 oncehapax – once, one time; once for all

:5 having savedsozo – to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction

Aorist active participle

:5 afterwarddeuteros – the second, the other of two

:5 did not believepisteuo – to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in

Aorist active participle

:5 destroyedapollumi – to destroy; to kill; metaph. to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell

Aorist active indicative

The words Jude uses for “saved”, “believe”, and “destroyed” are words that are parallel to spiritual salvation.

:5 destroyed those who did not believe

Just because God got the people out of Egypt safe didn’t keep them from being destroyed.  They needed to believe.

The History

Many times after having come through the Red Sea, the people complained about how hard it was living in the wilderness.
They complained about the water.
They complained about the food.
They complained because Moses was spending too much time with God.
The Spies
After the Israelites came out of Egypt, Moses sent twelve spies into the Promised Land so the people would know what was up ahead of them (Num. 13-14)
They came back reporting on what the Promised Land was like.

It had lots of benefits – milk and honey, fruit.  It also had problems – giants.

(Nu 13:27–28 NKJV) —27 Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.

When the people heard about the giants, they responded,

(Nu 14:3 NKJV) Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”

God’s reply to the people’s response was,

(Nu 14:11 NKJV) Then the Lord said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?

As a result, the people who did not “believe” did not make it into the Promised Land.

(Nu 14: 23 NKJV) they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.

Lesson

1. Believe

The writer of Hebrews records,
(Heb 3:19 NKJV) So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Our eternal salvation is based on what Jesus did for us.
He died on the cross in order to pay for the sins of the world.
But the whole world isn’t going to be saved, just like the Israelites coming out of Egypt weren’t all “saved”.
Salvation isn’t just based on what Jesus did, but on you choosing to believe.
(Jn 3:16 NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

: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;

:6 angelsaggelos – a messenger, envoy, one who is sent; an angel

:6 did not keeptereo – to attend to carefully, take care of; to guard

Aorist active participle

:6 proper domainarche – beginning, origin

The old King James reads:

the angels which kept not their first estate

:6 leftapoleipo – to leave, to leave behind; to desert or forsake

:6 abodeoiketerion – a dwelling place, habitation

:6 chainsdesmon – a band or bond

:6 everlastingaidios – eternal, everlasting

:6 darknesszophos – darkness, blackness

:6 He has reservedtereo – to attend to carefully, take care of; to guard

Perfect active indicative

Jude uses the same word for “reserved” that he did for “keep”.

They “did not keep” their proper place, so God has “kept” them in chains until judgment day.

:6 angels who did not keep their proper domain

History

We don’t have clear documentation in the Scriptures of these events.

It seems that Jude is quoting from the apocryphal Book of Enoch

There are some Scriptures that might be speaking about the events that Jude refers to.

It’s possible that the angels leaving their “proper domain” might refer to angels cohabiting with humans before the flood of Noah. (Gen. 6:1-4)  I say “might” because not everyone agrees that this is what it’s talking about.

(Ge 6:1–4 NKJV) —1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. 3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

This might be what Peter is referring to when he wrote,

(2 Pe 2:4–5 NKJV) —4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly…
If God didn’t spare them, then He knows how to punish the ungodly…

Some have suggested that the place of imprisonment is the “bottomless pit”, the abyss (abussos), mentioned in Revelation 9:1-2

(Re 9:1–2 NKJV) —1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.
The abyss is where Satan will be bound for 1,000 during the time when Christ reigns on the earth Rev. 20:1-3)
(Re 20:1–3 NKJV) —1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
At the end of the 1,000 years, the abyss is opened, Satan has one last chance to deceive the nations, and then he is tossed into the Lake of Fire for the rest of eternity. (Rev. 20:10)
(Re 20:10 NKJV) The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Lesson

2. Purpose

God created you for a purpose, just like He created the angels for a purpose.
The evil angels went against God’s purpose for them.
PlayGod Pie” clip
You can think of the “pie” as your finances, or just all that you have in life, including your time.
How concerned are you that you are using what God has given you for the right things?
God did not create you for evil.
God created you for good works – things to do

(Eph 2:10 NKJV) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Have you found your purpose?  Are you giving Him a piece of your pie?

: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.

:7 the cities around them

Sodom and Gomorrah weren’t the only cities destroyed in Lot’s day.

The cities of Admah and Zeboiim (Deut. 29:23; Hos. 11:8) were also destroyed.

:7 mannertropos – a manner, way, fashion

:7 having given … over to sexual immoralityekporneuo – to go a whoring, “give one’s self over to fornication”

Aorist active participle

:7 gone afteraperchomai – to go away, depart

Aorist active participle

:7 strangeheteros – the other, another, other; another: i.e. one not of the same nature, form, class, kind, different

:7 are set forthprokeimai – to lie or be placed before (a person or a thing) or in front of; to set before

Present deponent indicative

:7 exampledeigma – a thing shown; a specimen of anything, example, pattern

:7 eternalaionios – without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be

:7 judgmentdike – custom, usage; right, just; execution of a sentence, punishment

:7 sufferinghupecho – to hold under, to put under, place underneath; metaph. to sustain, undergo; suffer punishment

Present active participle

:7 set forth as an example

All these stories that Jude is hinting at are examples for us to learn from.

Paul tells us that the stories of Moses and the Exodus are just like this, examples to pay attention to.

(1 Co 10:6 NKJV) Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.

:7 as Sodom and Gomorrah

Historical

The story is found in Genesis 19.
Abraham’s nephew Lot had been living in the city of Sodom.
God had seen the wickedness going on in Sodom, and was going to destroy the city.
God sent two angels to pull Lot out of the city before it was destroyed.
(Ge 19:4–5 NLT) —4 But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. 5 They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”

Lesson

3. Purity

People like to point out that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was homosexuality, and that certainly was a part of it.
But the picture being painted isn’t limited to homosexuality, but all forms of immorality.
We were reading the other day in Leviticus 18 about the “laws of sexual morality”.
Yes, homosexuality is mentioned in one verse (vs.22) as something horribly wrong, but it’s just one verse out of thirty, detailing stuff that’s just too strange to think about like having sex with your mom, or your sister, or animals.
I was asking myself, “Why does God mention all these strange behaviors?”

Answer:  Because people do them.

People will go down one wrong path after another looking for pleasure.

God designed you for purity.
It’s like your car – designed for a special kind of fuel.  Most of our cars are designed for normal, regular gasoline.  But there are other kinds of fuels out there.  If you put diesel into your gasoline engine – it will make a mess.  If you put that special E85 biofuel in your car, it might actually run, for a few miles, and then you are going to have an expensive mess on your hands.
Sex isn’t wrong.  It’s just designed to operate on one fuel:  Marriage.

:8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

:8 Likewisehomoios – likewise, equally, in the same way

and – mentoi – but yet, nevertheless, howbeit

:8 dreamersenupniazomai – to dream (divinely suggested) dreams; metaph., to be beguiled with sensual images and carried away to an impious course of conduct

fromenupnion – a dream

fromhupnos – sleep

:8 defilemiaino – to dye with another color, to stain; to defile, pollute, sully, contaminate, soil

:8 authoritykuriotes – dominion, power, lordship

from kurios – “lord”

:8 rejectatheteo – to do away with, to set aside, disregard; to reject, to refuse, to slight

:8 dignitariesdoxa – glory; of the angels in their exterior brightness

:8 speak evilblasphemeo – to speak reproachfully, revile, blaspheme

:8 Likewise

Jude is making the connection between the false teachers and the historical examples he’s been given.

They defile the flesh – like Sodom and Gomorrah
They reject authority – like the people coming from Egypt as well as the angels who rebelled
They speak evil of dignitaries – like what we’ll see in verse 9

:9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

:10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.

:9 MichaelMichael – “who is like God”

:9 archangelarchaggelos – archangel, or chief of the angels

:9 the devildiabolos – prone to slander, slanderous, accusing falsely; a calumniator, false accuser, slanderer,

:9 contendingdiakrino – to separate, make a distinction; to oppose, strive with dispute, contend

:9 he disputeddialegomai – to converse, discourse with one, argue, discuss

:9 dared nottolmao – not to dread or shun through fear

:9 accusationkrisis – judgment; opinion or decision given concerning anything; sentence of condemnation, damnatory judgment, condemnation and punishment

:9 bring againstepiphero – to bring upon, bring forward; to put upon, cast upon, impose

:9 revilingblasphemia – slander, detraction, speech injurious, to another’s good name

This is the noun of the word translated “speak evil” in verse 8.

:9 rebukeepitimao – to tax with fault, rebuke, reprove, censure severely

Aorist active optative

:9 he disputed about the body of Moses

Robertson:  Clement of Alex. (Adumb. in Ep. Judae) says that Jude quoted here the Assumption of Moses, one of the apocryphal books. Origen says the same thing. Mayor thinks that the author of the Assumption of Moses took these words from Zechariah and put them in the mouth of the Archangel Michael. There is a Latin version of the Assumption. Some date it as early as b.c. 2, others after a.d. 44.

History

Again, we don’t have a Scriptural account of this incident.
It appears that Jude is quoting from the apocryphal book “The Assumption of Moses”.
We do not believe that this book was an inspired, infallible part of Scripture, but at the very least this part that Jude quotes is authoritative.
We will just have to take Jude’s word for it.

:10 these – the false teachers

:10 do not knowoida – to see; to know; knowing by mental perception

:10 speak evilblasphemeo – to speak reproachfully, revile, blaspheme

They say bad things about beings they know nothing about

:10 naturallyphusikos – in a natural manner, by nature, under the guidance of nature: by the aid of the bodily senses

:10 they knowepistamai (“upon” + “to stand”) – to put one’s attention on, fix one’s thoughts on, to turn one’s self or one’s mind to; to be acquainted with, to understand; a knowledge obtained by proximity to the thing known

:10 brutealogos – destitute of reason; contrary to reason, absurd

:10 beastszoon – a living being; an animal, brute, beast

:10 corruptphtheiro – to corrupt, to destroy

In the opinion of the Jews, the temple was corrupted or "destroyed" when anyone defiled or in the slightest degree damaged anything in it, or if its guardians neglected their duties

:9 The Lord rebuke you!

Lesson

4. Respect

Jude’s point is that these false teachers aren’t following Michael’s example of treating even the devil with respect.
Play “Be Afraid” clip
We ought to “be afraid” of the devil.
As one of God’s former cherubim, he is a being of enormous intelligence and power.
Our victory against the devil comes solely from Jesus.
Jesus gave His disciples authority over demons.

(Lk 10:17–20 NKJV)17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

You too have authority, but it’s Jesus’ authority.

It’s not up to you.  You cannot handle it on your own.

We ought to learn from Michael’s example and simply reply to demonic forces with, “The Lord rebuke you!”
When Satan comes knocking on the door, turn to Jesus and say, “Lord, it’s for You!”
And then we stand behind Jesus and let Him answer the door.

Show respect for Rulers

(1 Pe 2:13–17 NKJV) —13 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

:11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

:11 wayhodos – a way; a course of conduct

:11 they have goneporeuomai – to lead over, carry over, transfer; to pursue the journey on which one has entered, to continue on one’s journey; to lead or order one’s life

Aorist deponent indicative

:11 errorplane – a wandering, a straying about

:11 for profitmisthos – dues paid for work; reward: used of the fruit naturally resulting from toils and endeavors

:11 have run greedilyekcheo – to pour out, shed forth

Aorist passive indicative

A metaphor for excessive indulgence.

It is used in a positive way to describe God’s love for us:

(Ro 5:5 NKJV) Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

:11 rebellionantilogia – gainsaying, contradiction; opposition, rebellion

:11 perishedapollumi – to destroy; to kill; metaph. to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell

:11 the way of Cain

Cain was the first son (Gen. 4) born to Adam and Eve.

Cain had a problem, his younger brother Abel.  Cain hated Abel because it seemed that Abel did everything right, including pleasing God.

In the end, Cain killed his brother Abel.

Lesson

5. Love

John wrote,
(1 Jn 3:11–12 NKJV) —11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, 12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
The false teachers of Jude’s day were just like Cain, full of hatred.
Are there people you hate?
PlayDanger Will Robinson” clip
If you are giving yourself excuses to hate people, you are in danger.

:11 the error of Balaam

Balaam was the fellow (Num. 22-25) who was paid by the king of Moab to put a curse on the Israelites as they were moving through his country on the way to the Promised Land.

As Balaam was on his way to pronounce a curse on Israel, God warned Balaam about what he was going to say.

Peter wrote,

(2 Pe 2:15–16 NKJV) —15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.
Balaam was the fellow whose donkey turned around and spoke to him. And to make things funnier, he spoke back to the donkey.

As Balaam tried to conjure up a curse, he kept coming out with blessings on Israel instead of curses.

The story sounds as if he goes home without getting paid, but if you follow the story more fully you realize that he eventually found a way to earn his paycheck.

He came up with the idea of using the young, cute Moabite women to entice the Israelite men into sexual immorality, and then bringing God’s judgment on them.

Lesson

6. Generosity

That’s the opposite of “greed”.
The false teachers of Jude are cut out of the same cloth as Balaam.
Balaam’s motto:  Do anything for a buck.

It’s all about the money.

PlayGreed is Good” clip
It’s possible you might make a few bucks if this is your motto, but there’s a very good chance you will also end up in hell.  Paul wrote,
(1 Ti 6:9–10 NLT)9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

:11 the rebellion of Korah

Korah was a man who wanted to be a priest, to be in charge (Num. 16).  The problem was, God didn’t want him to be a priest.  God had chosen Aaron to be the priest.

Korah organized a rebellion among the Israelites to force his way into the priesthood.
Moses didn’t know what to do with Korah, and so God told him to simply make a test and have both Korah and Aaron offer incense to God.  In the end, Korah was destroyed and Aaron saved the people.

Lesson

7. Submit

As Americans, we have problems with the concept of submitting.
We think it’s simply “American” to rebel against the “man”.
Play “The Patriot” clip.
The problem comes when you find that what you might be rebelling against is actually God.
What if God has allowed that difficult boss to be in your life to teach you some important life lessons?
(1 Pe 2:13–17 NKJV) —13 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

Submission is not fun.  Yet it’s a lesson we all need to learn, every single one of us.

Ultimately submitting to others is about developing our skills of submitting to God.

We’ve seen seven lessons from history:

Believe, Purpose, Purity, Respect, Love, Generosity, and Submit.

These are the things the false teachers were not.

These are the things we ARE to be.