Now what Jude does next is appeal to three Old Testament accounts. He uses these three for two purposes. First, he is going to illustrate irreverence, impurity, and insubordination in the people. And secondly, he is going to illustrate judgment, or condemnation by God, that came in each case. Don’t worry, Jude says. You mark them, identify them, but know that God can sort out the true from the false, and knows what to do with people who use His name for their own gain.

II. The Illustration of the False Teachers

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.

Jude’s first illustration is Israel. Having been delivered from the world power of Egypt, having passed through the Red Sea, having experienced so much deliverance, some Israelites were judged by God. Who were these? Well, there were several situations. The first was at the worship of the Golden Calf, where three thousand died. A second was when a rebellion took place under Korah, where 15,000 died. A third was when Israel committed immorality with Moabites, and 24,000 died. A fourth was when the people murmured about their bread and water, and God sent snakes, and many people died. And finally, when the ten spies brought back a fearful report, most of Israel wanted to turn back in unbelief. That entire generation, perhaps two-thirds of the population, everyone over age twenty, died in the next forty years.

Now all of these people had experienced a deliverance. They had experienced physical salvation. They were circumcised and counted part of the community of Israel. But God was able to distinguish between believers and unbelievers. In every one of those cases, the people were irreverent, insubordinate, and in the situation with the Golden Calf and the women of Moab, they were also impure.

But God knew the Israel within Israel. He could tell who was His and who was not. And whether it was the Earth opening up, or snakes, or a plague, or natural causes, God could distinguish believers from unbelievers. He could do that then, and He can do that today.

The second illustration moves from Israel to angels.

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;

This is one of those verses where Jude assumes his original readers were familiar with something that his later readers would not be. Because we don’t immediately recognize what he is talking about when speaking of angels who did not keep their proper domain and left their own abode.

Our best guess is that Jude is referring to an incident in Genesis 6.

Genesis 6:1 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 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.

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.”

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Now, Genesis 6 is notorious for differences in interpretation. But I am one of those who believes the sons of God here refers to angels, as it does in Job. Certain fallen angels, it seems, chose to cohabit with human women, and their offspring seems to have been superhuman, wicked men. Now it is true that Jesus says the angels do not marry in heaven. But firstly, Jesus was referring to marriage in answer to a question about how we will be related to one another in the eternal state. He was not saying angels are without gender, or that they have no power to take physical form and procreate.

Just as the angels accompanying God to visit Abraham, and to go into Sodom were able to eat and drink, and were tangible enough for the men of Sodom to lust after, so we can believe that fallen angels were able to take form and do this. I believe this for three reasons:

• First Jude’s words seem to support this. It says they left their proper domain, which means their allotted rule, the place meant for angels, and they abandoned their own dwelling. That sounds a lot like angels leaving the realms that are meant for them, leaving what they are supposed to control, and entering the human domain, and taking on a physical form.
• Second, Jude is going to in a few verses quote from the book of Enoch. The book of Enoch is a Jewish book written probably around 200 B.C. It is not inspired, but it records what was undoubtedly a certain amount of truths passed on by oral tradition. In Enoch, this is exactly the account, that certain fallen angels left their abode, came down to Earth, committed these sins and others, and were eventually chained up. I think Jude seems to expect his readers are familiar with this book, and so it is likely that he is referring to that. And since Jude is inspired, but Enoch is not, and since Jude seems to be taking that account as true, I believe that’s strong evidence that this interpretation of Genesis 6 is correct.
• Third, the notion of spirit beings having been among us and taken physical form and cohabited and ruled is found in the vast majority of ancient mythology and folklore. When the myths are that widespread, and you have something like it in Scripture explaining the truth, it seems plausible and probable that this is what happened.

And once again, we have an illustration of irreverence, impurity, and insubordination. These angels did not fear God enough to keep to their domain, they were filled with sensual impurity, and they were insubordinate to God’s commands.

Jude’s main point though, is that these particular angels faced a particular judgment. They are not free to roam, they are not operating as the other principalities and powers are. These ones are chained up, under darkness, waiting for that great day of judgment.

Once again, even among the angels, God can make the distinction. Even the position of being an angel is not ‘safe’ if one apostatizes. If you abandon your place, leave your domain, deny your Lord and Master, God will judge you.

Jude’s third illustration happened in between the Flood and the time of Israel.

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.

God has made an example of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities. Their fiery judgment has become a permanent example of God’s willingness to judge evildoers. What did they do? The sins of Sodom are well known. Jude says they gave themselves over to sexual immorality. The word in the original means a lust that gluts itself on its lust, a greedy, insatiable gorging on sin. They turned to follow after strange flesh, which may mean their desire for the angels, but it more than likely references their homosexuality.

Here are a people who were irreverent – they had no respect for the God they knew existed. Not far from them was Salem, where Melchizedek made known the true God. Lot lived among them and told them, but they had no fear of God. They were manifestly impure. And likewise they were insubordinate.

But God was once again able to make the distinction between evildoers.

and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly;

and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked

(for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)–

then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,

and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority (2 Pet. 2:6-10)

Apostates are warned here of a terrifying judgment. Increasing severity – first physical death, second, chains of darkness, third, eternal fire.

Three illustrations of people who were seemingly in a good place – within Israel, among the angels, within Canaan, but who were judged by God.

Is Jude trying to teach us that if we do not hold to the faith we will lose our salvation? It might look like that at first glance from the first two examples of Israel and the angels. But when we look at this third group, we realize that as God told Abraham, he would not destroy it for ten righteous people. No one in that city except for Lot was a true believer, who then lost his salvation.

Instead, what Scripture teaches is the real danger of apostasy: thinking you are a believer, and then turning away from the faith, either in doctrine or in life. That turning away, or falling away is not losing something you had. That would mean there are some people walking around this world who were once forgiven by God, and now have been unforgiven, who once were justified, and now have been unjustified.

No, it means it is possible to be part of the group, the way all the Israelites were together, the way the angels were a group, the way Sodom contained Lot, and never truly come to Christ. It is possible that someone here has heard the Gospel but never surrendered to Christ, never opened his or her heart to receive the Son of God. You can be in the group, but in the end turn away from the light from the faith.

If you are truly in Christ, then what will be true in your life is the good works of faithfulness to the end. You will keep yourself in the love of God, and God will keep you from falling. Good works are not necessary for salvation, but they are necessary for vindication – proving that the salvation was true to begin with.

God’s airport scanner for apostates and spiritual terrorists is this: let God’s people identify those irreverent, impure and insubordinate false teachers. But make no mistake, God’s final judgment will catch every last one. That’s God’s department, and when next you feel false teaching is winning the day, remember these verses. God knows who are His, and who are not. He can sort it out and He will.