Jude | Chapter 1 – Scripture Supply

Jude

“Contending for the faith”

Outline:

1:1-2 Introduction
1:3-4 Statement of purpose: Contending for the faith

1:5-23 Main body of teaching:

1:5-10 The History and description of the ungodly
1:11-23 Warnings and instructions on false teachers
Chp. 1:24-25 Closing

Jude

“Contending for the faith”

Introduction to the Letter of Jude

Introduction to the Letter of Jude

We now start the little letter of Jude. And before we get into the letter itself, we should address the elephant in the roomwith regards to this letter. You see unlike other letters the investigation of this, 25-verse letter, will take much more time and challenge most Bible students. The reason for this is that the original writer used illustrations intended to emphasize his points about the danger of following false teachers. And it is these illustrations that challenge today’s readers as most are unfamiliar with them for various reasons. Thus, we will need to unravel these illustrations before we can rightly interpret the text of Jude and before we can have its truths applied to our lives. Before we start our examination, I believe that it is valuable for us to first note the 5 difficult illustrations which make up a 1/3 of this letter or 8 out of the 25 verses in the letter of Jude. In so doing I will point them out and explain why they present a challenge to today’s readers of Jude. We won’t begin our investigation of these 5 difficult illustrations until we come in contact with them throughout these 25 verses. First allow me to make this point; these illustrations didn’t present the same difficulties to the original readers as Jude would under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit have used illustrations that the reader would have grasped, and this is further supported in the fact that these letters had acceptance by the readers and included in the standard of scripture. Furthermore, I find it fascinating that Jude would use these difficult illustrations to describe false teachers who were attempting to divert the body of Christ away from the truth of God’s Word.

6 Here the challenge for today’s reader of Jude is two-fold:
First there is a lack of familiarity with exactly what illustration Jude is referring too even though Jude does give supporting information in verse 5 and verse 7. The reference Jude is using here is Gen. 6:1-7.
And that brings us to the second reason this a difficult interpretation as even after we examine the illustration we are still left with a very difficult interpretation.
9 In this illustration the challenge is that though the story referred to by Jude is roughly found in Deut. 34:36 dealing with the death and burial of Moses. The problem for todays bible student is that none of the specifics mentioned by Jude are found in the Deut. 34:36 passage. Furthermore, the rebuke mentioned here in the words quoted by Jude “The Lord rebuke you” are not found in reference to Moses but do appear similarly in Zech. 3:1-3 and the vision that Zechariah received for Joshua the high priest. So where does Jude quote this story from? The answer to that question causes todays reader even more questions as it is taken from the apocryphal book called the Assumption of Moses where we have fragments that tell the story of the funeral of Moses in which Michael the archangel is commissioned to bury Moses but satan opposes him on two grounds: First, that satan is the lord of matter and as such the body should be turned over to him. To this Michael is quoted by Jude here saying the Lord rebuke you as it was the Lord’s spirit that created all matter including mankind. The second part of this rebuke has to do with satan’s charge against Moses as being a murder and is what the Deut. 34:6 passage answers as it regards that fact that Moses was buried in an unmarked grave where no one knows which is what they were to do for a murder. The problem for today’s reader is that Jude takes his story from an obscure text that is outside the bible and is retold as a matter of fact and not merely an illustration. So how is today’s reader supposed to examine this illustration when we don’t recognize the book as being inspired in which it is taken from? The answer is that we recognize that Jude is inspired therefore we only need to accept this story as being true and inspired and not the entirety of the text in which it is found.
11 The problems in this verse for today bible student is a lack of familiarity for the threefold illustration mentioned here. Today’s bible student will need to either be very familiar with these three illustrations or they will need to be able to examine their stories in the Bible and to do that they will need to be able to locate them in order to get the right interpretations. So, I’ll go ahead and supply you with the Biblical references for these three illustrations.
The way of Cain: Gem. 4:1-7 and Hebrews 11:4 (Cain ignored the Word)
The error of Balaam: Numbers 22, Deuteronomy 23 and 2 Peter 2:15. You will also need to look at Numbers 25:2-3, 31:16 and Joshua 13:22 (Balaam opposed the Word)
The rebellion of Korah: Number 16 (Korah rebelled against the Word)
12-13 The challenge in these two verses for today’s Bible student is a bit easier and that is Jude’s use of picture language as he uses five-word pictures to describe false teachers:
Spots in your love feasts
Clouds without water
Late autumn trees without fruit
Wandering stars
14-15 Here the difficulty is again two-fold:
He is not a very familiar Bible character. Enoch is a person whom you will find briefly mentioned in Gen. 5:18-24 and his chief characteristic is that “he walked with God”.
The second problem with this passage is there is no mention of Enoch making this statement in the Bible and like the story above in verse 9 it is found in the apocryphal book of Enoch. The book was known to the early church fathers of the second century and then was lost for many hundreds of years except for a very few fragments. Then it was found in its entirety in a copy of the Ethiopic Bible in 1773. The book of Enoch that was found consists of a few revelations purporting to have been given to Enoch and Noah. The point of the book is threefold: To vindicate the way of God’s divine providence, to set forth the retribution reserved against unrepentant sinners and to show that the world is under the government of God.

Jude 1:1-4

“Contending for the faith”

Introduction
1-2 From and To
3-4 Contending for the faith

Introduction

We started this 25-verse letter an odd way by first going over the 8 verses or 1/3 of the letter’s difficulties with regards to the interpretations. As mentioned previously, all of them are found in the main body of the letter in verses 5-23 and as we approach them, we will be taking a look at each of them. I also want to remind you that this problem with interpreting these illustrations is unique to today’s reader and NOT the original readers as Jude would have not used illustrations on such an important topic as the descriptions and characteristics of false teachers. We now continue our study through the first 4 verses completing the introduction of the letter through the reason for the letter in verse 4.

Vs. 1-2 From and To

Vs.1 One of the things that fascinates me about this little letter is how it fits together from the introduction to the closing, each aspect of the letter interlocking with the next. Nothing could be more connected to the theme of the letter than the identity of the writer. Here at the beginning of the letter the author identifies himself as Jude! For the first time reader of this letter, which is on false teaching and apostasy, it is interesting that it bares the same name as the greatest deception ever fostered, Judas! Here is a name that for the most part is not a common name today as it clearly once was. People name their sons, Peter, John, and Paul. They may even call their pets Nero or Caesar but like other names like Adolf…..Judas has all but disappeared from the registry of names. Yet with that said, God choose a man whose name was Jude to write a letter on apostasy and treachery. I believe that one of the reasons for this is the correlation with the name Jude with the actions of Judas as both turned away from truth, yet both claim a relationship with truth. Jude’s identification is twofold with the greater being displayed first:

Heavenly identification “A bondservant of Jesus Christ”: The Greek word for “bondservant” is Doulos and means a servant by choice. The connection of this Greek word with whom Jude declares as his Master is a great truth; a person will never truly experience the blessings of our relationship with Jesus apart from laying our life down to the very Person who laid His life down for us.
Earthly identification “And a brother of James”: In Gal 1:19 James is called the “Lord’s brother” and when we look at the fact that in verse 17 Jude refers to the apostles instead of identifying himself as one further makes it unlikely that this is the Jude of Luke 6:16 who is called the “son of James”. This only leaves us the Jude of Matt. 13:55 where we read at the rejection from his hometown of Nazareth that some said, “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?” This then is the “JUDE” that is mentioned as one of Jesus’ 4 half-brothers who grew up with their older brother in Nazareth. as the Christ based upon John 7:5 and that their faith in Him came AFTER the resurrection. The only other reference to Jude is in the brief passage in 1 Cor. 9:5 where we are told that “that the brothers of the Lord took their wives with them on missionary journeys”. It is also to note the similarities in their two letters: James writes that “Good works” are evidence of “real faith”. Jude writes that “Evil works” are evidence of apostasy and false teaching.

Jude calling himself the “brother of James” places him in the family of Jesus alongside of Mary and Joseph; yet Jude does not choose to allude to his earthly connection to Jesus only his spiritual connection to Jesus. This clearly indicates humility instead of what Jude will write about in regard to the false teachers who are arrogant. Furthermore, it indicates what Jude valued and identified with more, as he would rather be identified with Jesus spiritually being His servant of choice then being identified with being his earthly half-brother! It was only in his spiritual connection that he truly entered into an everlasting relationship which was far greater than his time of knowing his brother in unbelief. It is this truth that unlocks the readers understanding of this little letter. We must put aside our earthly identification if we are going to grow in our relationship with Jesus and we can only do so as we understand that our “heavenly identification” is what is most important. As it relates to our identification: It is always better for our life and souls if we see ourselves as Jesus’ servant by choice instead of our connection by works our others connection to.

Vs. 2 “To those” is the designation to whom the letter was intended: And Jude identifies that the recipients of this letter have three common qualities; “Called, Sanctified and Preserved”: These qualities are not attributes that come from the individual that Jude has in mind in this letter instead they are things bestowed upon people that DID NOT ever deserve such designation. Also, not that these three qualities that are bestowed upon the reader of this letter cover a person’s PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE! Also notice the Godhead involved in these qualities that are bestowed as we are called by the Holy Spirit, Sanctified by God the Father, and Preserved in Jesus Christ.

Called: That is what happened to us in the past as we were called. The word in the Greek is one that is used for an invitation and in our case we were called while sinners to salvation whereby the sinner is called to repentance by the act of faith in the Lord who called him. The amazing truth is that all have been invited to become believers. In John’s gospel 1:12-13 we read that “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.” Jesus said in Matt. 22:14 that “Many are called but few are chosen”. The fact that from the beginning we have been called to salvation through sanctification because we trust in His truth. And through this calling we will be showered in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have been called out of darkness and into His light, called out of death and into life! Furthermore, our glorification is as certain as our salvation and sanctification. We have a new identity and security as we are God’s beloved!

Sanctified: The second quality is that they are “set apart” and Jude describes specifically Who it is that has “set us apart” as it is “by God”! Security that is only emphases is in the beginning has no lasting security. What happens if what God called is lost because of our failure? This answers that objection: We are the objects of the Fathers love and because we have received His only Son we are also the recipients of this love as well. There is no greater experience a human being can ever have then to be “set apart in the love of God”. Chosen out of fallen humanity by His love. This love isn’t based upon our qualities, but upon His and they can never be earned or deserved instead they are ours simply because we have accepted them. It is for this reason that they have “set us apart” from all that we were to all that He has for us!

Preserved: Here the Greek word means to be “kept or guarded from loss or injury”. Again, the key to understanding this word is to be found in Whose hands we are kept or guarded as we are told that it is “IN JESUS CHRIST”. It is in the very hands of the Person who our sin drove the nails meant for us through! It is in Jude’s closing in verse 24 that he reminds the reader that we are “invited to be objects of our Father’s love, forever kept by the One in whom love was given through.” We are under the watchful care of Jesus. I wonder if Jude reflected upon his brother who watched over he and his siblings?

To the person who is “called, sanctified and preserved” by God and in Christ Jesus they can expect the following three things which are the prescription for contending for the faith as well as fruit of the above three qualities.

Mercy: Mercy in the Greek is a word that has a view on the misery which is the consequence of sin. Mercy precedes grace as is means not getting what we deserve, and Paul says in Eph. 2:4 that God is rich in mercy.
Peace: The word peace here means to join together that which has been separated. Such peace can be ours the moment when we as believers do what D.L. Moody encouraged that we, “Worry about NOTHING, pray about EVERYTHING, and thank God for ANYTHING.”
Love: The word here is Agape which is that divine love which is shed abroad in our hearts. This love is so infused with the believer that the believer’s security and identity become impossible to be separated from the love of God.

Jude prays that these three fruits of being a believer will continue to be multiplied as this is the antidote to being persuaded by false teachers to abandon the truth. What a comfort it is in a letter that is full of the future judgment for false teachers that the Holy Spirit affirms through the words he gave Jude of the assurances and blessings of the believer. The Holy Spirit HAS called us, God the Father HAS set us apart and we ARE preserved in Jesus Christ and these facts produce His mercy, peace, and love!

Vs. 3-4 Contending for the faith

Vs. 3 “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation.” This “common salvation” is NOT common because lacks it value as it is the most precious faith. Instead, it is “common salvation” because it is the property of all who have obtained it by faith. No person’s salvation is of greater value then another’s, as no person’s salvation came about do to anything of themselves! Jude’s salvation came the same way as did those he was now writing to. It is also important to note that this letter was not written for the false teachers to read but for those that shared a common salvation to read so as not to be lead astray. Jude’s intentions were interrupted. The word in Greek for “necessary” is a word that means to compress or apply pressure as one would do if they came upon a person who had a severe wound and was in danger of bleeding to death. These believers had the enjoyed “the blood of Christ” but false teachers had cut away at the truth and they were in danger of bleeding out the Life of Christ. The word “exhorting” is the same word used of the Holy Spirit as it describes a person coming along side to help. The God breathed exhortation of this letter to its readers is that they needed to counter these false teachers, it was of necessity that these follow believers go on the offensive and “contend for the faith”. The Greek word for contend describes what an elite athlete does in an athletic contest! This letter is a direct result of the Holy Spirits constraint placed upon Jude to warn the believers of the false teachers’ tactics to get believers to move away from the truth of God’s Word. In the book of Nehemiah, we have an illustration of what Jude is encouraging from the believers. As Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall in Jerusalem there were those that were actively involved in stopping that work so God spoke to Nehemiah in 4:17-18 that “Those that built on the wall, and those that carried burdens, load themselves so that with one hand they worked at the construction, and with the other hand they held the weapon. Everyone one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built” We Christians have the Sword of the Spirit and need to keep it on us as we build the kingdom. There is no other truth as what we are to contend for is “once for all delivered to the saints”. There is “No other name that can be named that is given save Jesus Christ”!

Vs. 4 The urgency of the change in the message by Holy Spirit given through Jude to these fellow believers can best be understood when we read the characteristics of these false teachers. As we see four things about them: “For certain men”:

“Have crept in unnoticed”: For Jude notes the tactics of these apostates: They HAVE CREPT . That means that the danger was present not future has their penetration into the Church had already begun. The Greek word “crept in” means to enter alongside as they came in the side door and the believers were unaware that they had apostates among them. They had slipped in and were now teaching lies from the pulpits. These like their father the devil appear as “angels of light” from the outside but are like their father full of lies! They perhaps used the same words as God’s Word but established different meanings to these words to deceive people from following the truth.
“Ungodly men”: Jude uses a play on words as he says these false teachers had a “calling” on their lives, but it wasn’t from God the Father it was from the father of lies as they were “ungodly men”. Here we note that these false teachers had strong convictions but for lies instead of truth. Their piety was away from the things of God, and they didn’t share in the godly characteristics.
“Who turned the grace of our God into lewdness”: They twisted truth and started with the grace of God and turned the grace of God into a license to continue in bondage to sin. They didn’t restrain the flesh instead they indulged the flesh calling in grace!

“And deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ”: Lastly they corrupted the character and nature of the Son of God Jesus! They disowned the Jesus of the Bible and instead created their own Jesus!

Jude 1:5-7

“Progression of false teachers”

Introduction
5 Truth cuts both ways
6 Knowing truth doesn’t guarantee obedience to it
7 Ignorance of the truth is no excuses

Introduction

Jude now moves to the main body of teaching which will support the stated reason for this letter which we examined in verses 3-4 which was the exhortation for the Body of Christ to “Contend earnestly for the faith”. This was urgently necessitated due to what Jude described of the fourfold description of these false teachers in verse 4 namely that they were:

Have crept in unnoticed: They were already active in the Church, and the believers weren’t aware of the danger that was already at work in the pulpits.
Ungodly men: They were not to be underestimated as they were as committed to the lies they taught as those who were apostles were committed to the truth.
Who turned the grace of our God into lewdness: Their lies were extremely affective as they appealed to the fleshgiving excuses to remain in bondage top our former life of sin.
And deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ: They were extremely dangerous as their lies came against the very foundation of the believer security. They sought to divert and destroy the believer security and identity in Christ.

Now as we move on, we see the methods these false teachers employed to divert and destroy the believers trust in The Truth! These methods are not new as they are as old as human history, and Jude will show this going all the way back to the beginning as in verse 11 he will bring up “The way of Cain”. The failure of the believers to heed these words of Jude are not due to ignorance instead they are due to willful disobedience, and this isn’t new either. All we need to do is read the pages of our Bible to see the repetition of deception. Paul wrote of this in 1st Corinth 10:11-12 “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the end of the ages have come. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. What I mean by the use of that phrase as these are groups that we can learn from and not individuals. The point of Jude is to cause his readers both then and through this letter us today so that we would not repeat the errors today with regards to the present danger that false teaching holds. If you are inclined to take notes you will find these three examples of their mannerisms as they would want the follower of Christ to forget these three things with regards to truth:

5 Truth cuts both ways: “Saved out of Egypt destroyed because they didn’t believe”: Here the example is taken from the history with regards to Israel “God’s people”. These were the folks that were under the blood of the Passover yet after they were saved by obedience to God’s word at the Passover we see afterward many of them in the wilderness being destroyed because they refused to obey.
6 Knowing truth doesn’t guarantee obedience to it: “Angels did not keep their proper domain…left and are not reserved for judgement” Jude 1:6. In a difficult passage Jude uses this illustration to show that these angels that were in the constant proximity to ALL TRUTH didn’t guarantee obedience to it.
7 Ignorance of the truth is no excuses; “Sodom and Gomorrah…given themselves over…gone after strange flesh..” The final illustration is that of two worldly cities that were ignorant of truth so much so that Lot was sent there to try to bring truth into these wicked cites and there were not 10 righteous and it appears that wickedness had a greater impact upon righteousness then righteousness had upon wickedness.

These warnings cause the reader to understand that such deception from false teachers is not a new phenomenon, nor is it isolated to a specific location, time, or even specific creation. This is an important few verses so the reader will not think that somehow they are immune to this warfare and attack. False teachers have always been around to deceive the faithful away from the truth of the glorious life in Christ. They have always employed the same methods of creeping in unnoticed, perverting the doctrines of grace given lies to keep people in bondage to the fallen nature. And they have always attacked the person and work of Jesus! There is nothing new about people departing from the truth that have appealed tour fallen nature.

Vs. 5 Truth cuts both ways

Vs. 5 The question for the Bible student is, “What is the Holy Spirit through Jude trying to teach us”? The event mentioned first by Jude is the contrast of two events by the same group of people and what that has to say to us believers that can serve as a warning to us about false teachers who have crept in? The same group of people were told the truth of the need to obey God exactly or they would suffer the same experience of those who didn’t have the regular access to the truth the Egyptians. Yet some of them later suffer death when they refuse to obey the word of God. It is our continual obedience to truth that preserves our fellowship with God and the enjoyment of the life in Christ He has given us. The lesson in Exodus is that “the blade of truth cuts both ways”. Truth is NOT a respecter of persons! Furthermore, past obedience doesn’t make present obedience automatic, we will need to continue to obey truth. It seems as though there were some of the Israelites that viewed the blessings of obedience as a once for all guarantee even if they chose to disobey God’s Word and follow after lies. We must NOT fail in our understanding that our transformation has NOT made obedience to God’s Word obsolete, instead it has made it a necessity! There is no doubt that there were those who came forth from the land of Egypt that had a deeper understanding of the work of God in their salvation. So, there was a mixed multitude that came from this obedience that include those that were not convinced of the necessity obey God Word and it these that perished in the wilderness. All those who had escaped the angel of death at the Passover all experienced the same three truths:

They all crossed through the sea
They were all under the cloud by day and fire by night
They all ate the same food and drink provide by God

Thus, the exhortation that peter gave in his 2^nd letter applies here: 3:17 “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked.” The truth obeyed saves; the truth disobeyed destroys!

Vs. 6 Knowing truth doesn’t guarantee obedience to it

Vs. 6 Here the example changes to the very ancient past from the realm of humanity to the angelic realm. Here is what Jude gives us in this passage that we will need to understand in order to heed the warning of this illustration. We are given two clues in this verse as to the timing of this illustration was when:

“Angels 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”

The questions are “When did this angelic apostasy take place?” “Is there anything in scripture on it?” “What lessons does Jude intend the reader of this letter to understand about the illustration?”

There are three views on this verse in Jude:

We are not supposed to know or understand anything more than what Jude provides. In this view of this illustration a person would just repeat what the text provides without any interpretation. “The angels were dissatisfied, wanted a still higher domain that didn’t belong to them, so they left their own. The place God had given them wasn’t grand enough for them, so they sought higher.” There is no attempt to know their sin and placement in everlasting chains under darkness for judgment of the great day. The reader is only supposed to be on guard against this characteristic within false teachers even if we don’t know what exactly it is that we are to be on guard against.
The second explanation of verse 6 is that it refers back to the fall of Lucifer, who became satan. The biblical reference to this is Isa. 14:12-17 and Ezek. 28:12-19 which describes a sin that swept a 1/3 of the angelic realm from their heavenly abode. The problem with this view is that some of the details of this story in Jude agree with this interpretation while clearly others do not. The biggest problem with this interpretation has to do with the second part of this verse and the statement of “He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day”. The problem is that according to Rev. 12:9 and Matt. 10:8 neither satan or his demons are presently bound and that means to use this as the interpretation for this illustration would cause some biblical gymnastics to make it fit.
The final explanation as to the reference that Jude is alluding to comes from Gen 6:4. The Bound angels are in this present condition due to the events of Gen. 6:4 but the problem of accepting this view is that though it best fits the illustration it doesn’t leave todays reader with any better understanding.

To best see why we will need to examine Gen. 6:1-7 and cover the interpretation of the event: “Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 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. 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.” There weregiants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So, the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” A brief examination of this passage reveals the commentary as to the reason for the crumbling of the global society.

Multiplication of people: Vs. 1 describes the first condition that led to the crumbling of the global society. “When men began to multiply on the face of the earth”. At this time humanity due to the global atmospheric conditions at the pre-flood time people lived hundreds and hundreds of years making the global population of close to 10 trillion people. If you were to start with Adam and Eve and increase the population by todays 2% a year and then span that out over the 1,656 years from Adam to the flood that is approximately the number of people that would be on the earth. Also realize that this pre-flood people possessed a common language where thoughts and ideas were freely exchanged, and you can see that this first family of humanity was not prehistoric but extremely advanced. The problem was that they were all “sons of Adam” and as such offspring of those infected by the humanity’s fall from an intimate relationship with God. When society multiplied they did so largely as sinners apart from a relationship with God. In the beginning of this first family of humanity God had warned Cain the first son of Adam and Eve “sin lies at the door and its desire is for you”. What this reminds the reader is that at the root of all moral and social evil is the root of sin which has the only antidote for its effects the blood of Jesus.
Compromise: “and daughters were born to them,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.” Whatever else that can be said about this passage, one thing is certain and that is that societies downfall came about due to compromise.

To understand specifically what the compromise was we will need to answer a few questions related to this passage:

Who are the sons of God?
Who are the daughters of men?
Who are their offspring, “the giants upon the earth” verse 4?

To answer the first question, “Who are the sons of God?”; we will need to realize that there are three views to this:

Sethites: Genesis makes it clear that this line began to call upon the name of the Lord, thus this view assumes that ALL of Seth’s decedents were godly while all of Cain’s were ungodly. The problem with this view is that we know that the godly line intermarried with the ungodly line. Furthermore, this would be impossible because it would mean that all Seth’s descendants would have to have been boys while all of Cain’s were girls’ which is biblically and mathematically impossible. A further problem is that 100% of Adam’s descendants were in the image of fallen man and not God which means all were born sinners.
Children of rulers: Some have chosen to interpret “the sons of God” which is the word “elohim” in its plural form “gods” which in some places can be interpreted “rulers”. In this interpretation the point is to say that theses “sons of God or rulers” were those men from influential homes and they took women from whomever they wanted making offspring in verse 4 that were “mighty men who were of old, men of renown.” The trouble with this interpretation is that the Jewish scribes translated the word into Greek in the singular form and in the three other places the phrase “sons of God” appear the meaning is never rulers as this interpretation suggests.
Demon possessed men: The Hebrew phrase has always been interpreted by the Jewish Scribes as “angels of God” and this fact is further implied in the text of Jude 6. This interpretation is the one that best suits the text, grammar, and Jude 6 in my opinion.

It can also be cross-referenced to 2 Peter 2:4-6 where it appears that the fallen angels of demons left their own habitation of which they have no sexual reproduction and possessed ungodly men who in turn took women sexually who were themselves demon possessed producing an offspring that were genetically altered into giants, or mighty men of renown.

The second question, “Who are the daughters of men?”: The simple interpretation is the best as daughters have been born into families prior to this as the words “and that they were beautiful” implies and without daughters being born there would be no increase in population. What the phrase “and that they were beautiful” tells us is that “the sons of god” were looking at the daughters of men with only the eye to the beautiful ones, classifying the ones that were physically more attractive. They were not examining the “daughters of men” with an eye upon their inward heart and as such they were blinded to the heart of the women and tended to make choices to those that were only attractive outwardly instead of inwardly! The problem with this interpretation is that marriage to ungodly isn’t a good idea but it doesn’t produce genetically altered children or even ones that are more sinful for that matter.

The final question is Who are their offspring, “the giants upon the earth” verse 4?: The word “giants” is a word that has a double meaning in the Hebrew: “Fallen ones” and the “physical stature” of some of the people in the land of Canaan.

Now taking all of this together I come up with the possibility that “demons” left their own habitation of which there was no sexual reproduction and possessed ungodly men who took women that appealed to their flesh and were possibly demon possessed as well that the offspring was genetically altered into giants, or mighty men of renown. The purpose of this seems to be to prevent the redemptive plan according to 2 Peter 2:5 and was the reason for the flood as humanity was polluted by this genetically altered humanity. All of this difficult interpretation leads me to see Jude’s point which is; that following false teachers leads to the pollution of God’s Word and leads people away from their only redemption the blood of Christ.

Jude 1:7

“Progression of false teachers”

Introduction
7 Ignorance of the truth is no excuses

Introduction

First let’s do a quick review as there was much to unpack in the last lesson. All of this teaching is in the section that is the main body of teaching. Jude’s focus in this section was broader as he presented “three truths about truth” in these illustrations. To do this Jude pulled from three different groups or “corporate departures” from truth. Each of them is different from the others and all illustrate why the reader of this letter need to be very diligent to contend for the faith:

5 Israelites “Truth cuts both ways: The example is taken from the history with regards to Israel who all were under the blood of the Passover yet after they were saved by obedience to God’s Word at the Passover but afterward many of them in the wilderness were destroyed because they refused to obey.
6 Fallen angelic Knowing truth doesn’t guarantee obedience to it: The fallen angels are the second example in a difficult passage that Jude uses to illustrate that these fallen angels were in the constant proximity to ALL TRUTH and yet that proximity didn’t guarantee obedience to it.

We will now move on to the last of these three and the:

7 Residents of Sodom and Gomorrah Ignorance of the truth is no excuses; “Sodom and Gomorrah…given themselves over…gone after strange flesh..” The final illustration is that of two worldly cities that were ignorant of truth so much so that Lot was sent there to try to bring truth into these wicked cites and there were not 10 righteous and it appears that wickedness had a greater impact upon righteousness then righteousness had upon wickedness.

Vs. 7 Ignorance of the truth is no excuses

Vs. 7 The third corporate example must have been a rather humbling one for the church to receive. I can only imagine what it was like for believers to receive instruction from the example of Sodom and Gomorrah found in Genesis 13-19. The context of this is found at the end of the 6^th verse where Jude wrote of the fallen angel’s judgment of being “for the judgment of the great day”; then Jude writes in verse 7 “as Sodom and Gomorrah”. There appears to be two things that are being linked in the illustration with fallen:

First, it is clear that their final judgment is something both the rebellious angels and the rebellious inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah share, even though the exact manner of that judgment differs:

The fallen angels are “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for judgment of the great days”.
The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah are going to “suffer the vengeance of eternal fire.”

The second thing these two illustrations have in common is the manner in which their rebellion manifested as both went after “strange flesh”. This is more visible in the Greek then it is in the translation but as I mentioned previously it is what further clarifies the biblical reference of verse 6 of Jude with the Genesis 6:1-7 passage. For instance, notice the phrase “similar manner to these” in verse 7 as the similarity between these two illustrations are NOT upon the cites of Sodom and Gomorrah but that of the “going after strange flesh”. The Greek word for “strange” means of a “different kind” which clarifies the interpretation of the Genesis 6:1-7 as the fallen angel’s rebellion was fornication with a different kind than what they were created with. They were in some way having sex with women of the human race and that is why I believe that this involved demonic possession of men as angels do not procreate according to the words of Jesus in Matt 22:30.

With that said the question we need to ask is what biblical examples can the church learn from Sodom and Gomorrah? I believe that that Jude will points out four lessons we can learn from the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah as it relates to false teachers:

4 Their practice “They turn the grace of God into lewdness”
8 Their attitude “They defile the flesh”
10 Their nature “They like brute beasts corrupt themselves”
16 Their appetites “They walk according to their own lusts”

A quick scan of the Bible will allow the student to see the connection with Sodom and Gomorrah and the apostasy in last days. Jesus spoke of it in Luke 17:28-30 saying, “Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot” The conditions of that time and the time of the apostasy will be similar. It is for this reason that Jesus used these two fallen cites as an illustration and why it is beneficial for us to look at this story in greater detail. To do so we will need some basic information specifically “the setting and timing of the story found in Genesis 13-19.” One of the dangers of knowing a story as well as most do in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is that we fail to dig deeper. The first clue we have is found in Jesus’ words concerning the great apostasy just prior to His second coming when he used two historical references to paint a picture of the setting and timing. Again, we need only go back to that passage of Luke 17:28-30 and look at verse 27 as Jesus places these two historical events next to each other… “They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” Here we are given an interesting truth with regards to these two historical events and that is that they were connected! What we need to realize is that the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were not ignorant of truth, they were disobedient to it! I present two facts that support this position:

God’s revelation of His holy character was not unknown to that generation as we assume that it took Lot to bring the truth to them and then the angels to rescue Lot. The chronological history the Bible sheds light on this as from the time of Noah and the destruction of the world except for 8 people preserved in the ark was only 450 years. In those 450 years the world had already began to repopulate and all of those that lived in Sodom and Gomorrah were direct descendants of those 8. In fact, we can deduce that Shem, Noah’s middle son who was born when Noah was 503 would still be walking upon the earth for another 50 years at the time of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The people who lived in those two cites had recent history of what happens when as society has as its core “every intent of the thoughts of their heart only evil continually.” Gen. 6:5. Shem was 98 when the flood started and 100 when his first-born son Arphaxad was born according to scripture. Shem was there when his younger brother Ham uncovered their father, Noah. Shem saw the repatriation of the land and witnessed that sin lay at the door of this early family. This could have spoken of the destruction of the first civilization and warned the growing population of continued disobedience.
The second fact that supports this reality is found in the commentary of Ezekiel in 16:49-50. It is Ezekiel’s words that we find out that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was not what we naturally assumed as Ezekiel writes, “Look this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: she and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before me.” The reality is that sexual immorality was only the by-product of what Ezekiel writes about. Sodom and Gomorrah became what Paul warned about in his letter to the Romans in 1:18-32 where he writes that men who once knew God failed to glorify Him, and they became vain in their reasoning and that left hearts foolish and darkened.

The seduction of Sodom and Gomorrah must not be underestimated in light of our fallen flesh as we can see it’s lure to even a righteous man such as Lot.

13:10 Here we see that given the confusion Lot “Lifted his eyes and saw the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere…. like the garden of the Lord…like the land of Egypt.” Clearly Sodom and Gomorrah had an attraction to the flesh, but I also see that it also caused a confusion between what the Lord offered and what the world offered as Lor describes it as like the garden of the Lord…like the land of Egypt and those are two very different things!
Gen 13:11 Next, we see the choice of Lot, “Then Lot chose FOR HIMESELF all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. “and they separated from each other” Lot’s choice appealed to his flesh and the lust of his eyes, but the choice came at the price of separation from Abraham the man of God to pursue the things of the flesh.
13:12 Next, we see Lot’s further progression towards Sodom and Gomorrah as we read that “Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom”. Here we see that the seduction of these cities was drawing Lot further and further into their grasp.
19:1 Finally we see Lot “Sitting in the gate of the city” as he has become a leader in a community ruled by the flesh.

What can we learn from Lord as it relates to the illustration?

First, when God’s Word is neglected and resisted it won’t be long before it is rejected. And this darkness will lead to our blindness to truth.
Second, Lot’s slide began when he didn’t understand the grace of God. Progression towards sin is always a result the setting aside of the grace of God.

Lot chose to live a life of the border (a borderline life) that was as close as to the wickedness in the world while trying all the time to have one foot in God’s kingdom. But his life proves that if we choose to live with one foot in the world we will never be able to maintain one foot in the kingdom of God! Furthermore, we look at the outcome of his choice as we see what Lot lost by this choice:

19:19 He lost his friends when he tried to stand for righteousness after living a compromised life.
19:14 He lost his testimony as his witness seemed to be a joke to those he tried to speak to.
19:26 He lost his wife as she turned into salt as she was gazing back with fondness at the life lost if Sodom.
19:31-38 He lost his family as his daughters proved that it easier to leave Sodom and Gomorrah than it is to have Sodom and Gomorrah leave you.

In the illustration of Sodom and Gomorrah we see that the ignorance was not only of the truth but also of our own fallen nature… no wonder that Jude started this section with the exhortation of “I want to remind you, though you once knew this”!