God’s Impartial Judgment
“Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire”
(Jude 1:5-7).
The Apostle Jude saw it necessary to remind the church of what the Lord had done for His people in the past. One can tell through his dialect that he was not writing to a group of people who were unfamiliar with their history. On the contrary, he was direct in letting them know that he was quite aware that they knew what the Lord had done for them in freeing their ancestors from the bondage of Egypt. They had been enslaved for four-hundred years, but the Lord showed pity upon them and chose Moses to lead them to freedom. Moses had been God’s spokesman, the lawgiver, the greatest of their leaders, and had spoken with God face-to-face.[1] Unfortunately, their ancestors’ hearts were hardened against the Lord, so Jude recapped the events that took place involving their destruction. The judgment that befell them was of their own doing because they refused to have faith in God alone and chose to worship idols, come against His chosen leaders, murmur, and complain.
The Apostles Peter and Jude paralleled in their letters how even the angels were not exempt from the judgment of God when found to be in disobedience, blasphemy, coveting the position, and challenging the authority of God.[2]
Lucifer cunningly convinced one-third of the angels to become disloyal to God. He had developed pride and allowed his heart to sin. The Bible says: “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon” (Isaiah 14:13). Even though the Lord had created them, the rebel angels chose to be deceived and followed another created being, no more powerful than themselves and unequal in wit and might to their Creator, thus losing their place in Heaven. The Bible speaks of a mighty conflict that manifested in Heaven, resulting in Lucifer and the other rebel angels being defeated and kicked out. The Bible says: “Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven” (Revelation 12:7-8). Therefore, Jude and Peter referenced this event in their letters, thus paralleling the rebellion of false teachers and the abandonment of the fallen angels, both failing to keep their covenant with God.
Jude and Peter wrote that the angels abandoned (εγκαταλειμμένος) their proper dwelling, which in Greek means left behind, desert, and to forsaken.[3] God was their dwelling place in which they were to abide; therefore, they deserted Him and left their proper place. Genesis 6 also tells of the fallen angels (sons of God) having slept with the earthly women to produce abominable giants, otherwise known as the Nephilim. Therefore, due to their disobedience, Jude and Peter described their new dwelling place that was encompassed in darkness and everlasting chains until their judgment day. The Bible says: “ Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!” (1 Corinthians 6:3). Jude’s use of the word everlasting (ἀΐδιος) in Greek means eternal and in English, without end, forever, and for all time. Consequently, the fallen angels can never repent of their sins because the plan of salvation was for the human race and not angelic nor demonic beings.
Peter mentioned in his letter about Noah, and the destruction that the Lord rendered to the earth because of sin. Noah was a preacher of righteousness, but even though he preached for over a hundred years, the people did not listen. They continued in their sins and abominations, so the Lord only spared Noah and the seven others of his family who were not tainted with the practices of the fallen angels but worshiped God. Similarly, there is only going to be a remnant saved at the Lord’s return because most people will not listen to the gospel of truth but prefer to be deceived with fallacies. The Bible says: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it” (Matthew 7:13). The majority found themselves destroyed by the flood in Noah’s day, but the minority who obeyed the Lord were saved.
Sodom and Gomorrah’s sin, along with the surrounding towns’ involvement in sexual immorality and perversion, were echoed in Jude and Peter’s writings to show God’s disdain for iniquity and its eternal punishment. Sexual immorality in Greek is porneia (πορνεία) which means fornication, whoredom, and idolatry. Porneia (πορνεία) is also where the English term pornography is derived. Jude specifically mentioned Sodom and Gomorrah’s sins of sexual immorality and perversion as those that would reap the reward of hellfire, particularly that of homosexuality and other sexual perversions. The Bible says: “Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them’ ”(Genesis 19:4-5). Hence, Jude’s reminder of what God did to these wicked cities only reemphasizes the serious nature of apostasy, rebellion, and the consequences for those who remain unrepentant and unchanged.
In today’s society, sin has been legislated as a civil right. A man can dress as a woman, and it is celebrated on the front cover of magazines, instead of calling it out as sin and evidence of the mentally unstable. A man can parade around in a female navy admiral’s attire, but it is no longer considered as being out of uniform according to military standards. Women can claim to be men, and the world will claim that they were the first man to have a child while pregnant. Children can tell their parents that they want to have a gender change, and the parents will be threatened with legal action and their children taken away from them through the courts if they fail to comply. Teenagers do not have to have parental consent if they want an abortion, and the world shouts it out loud and proud. All that could go wrong is going wrong with this society, but the good news that will remain is that Jesus is coming again. Will you be ready?
[1] J. J. Scott, Jewish Backgrounds of the New Testament (Ada: Baker Academic, 2000), 57.
[2] Kim Papaioannou, "The Sin of the Angels in 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6," Journal of Biblical Literature 140, no. 2 (2021): 391-408, doi:10.1353/jbl.2021.0019.
[3] Bible Hub, "Strong's Greek: 1459. ἐγκαταλείπω (egkataleipó) -- to Leave Behind, I.e. (in a Good Sense) Let Remain over or (in a Bad Sense) Desert," Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages, last modified 2023, https://biblehub.com/greek/1459.htm.
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