Jude: Unbelievers Then and Now

Jude 5-8

Though he is not writing about salvation specifically, Jude cannot help but differentiate between the just and the unjust. There are only two categories of people on earth. What does it mean to be "just" or "unjust"? I like this definition. "Just" means "just as though I had never sinned". Notice that it does not say, "I have never sinned". Jesus makes us as though we had never sinned. The only thing required to be "unjust" is to remain in our natural state. It is those that Jude speaks of in our passage today.

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"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. 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; 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. Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignities."

Jude 5-8

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Jude does a quick contrast with those who are God's people, and those who are not. He begins with Israel's removal (exodus) from Egypt. Nationally they pictured the spiritually redeemed. God removed them from Egypt before He brought about His judgment upon the people. When the plagues were poured out on Egypt, there is a distinction made between "Egypt" and "Goshen" (Exodus 8:22; 9:6). When the firstborn was killed, the blood separated the Hebrews from the Egyptians. Finally, when Israel left, the Egyptians pursued. God brought Israel safely to the other shore of the sea, then the sea crashed down on the Egyptians, killing all of them. The wicked face judgment that the just do not.

Next, Jude tells us about some sinful angels. There is a lot of speculation about which angels he is speaking of and what exactly they did. I'm not going to get into that. What we need to focus on today is that these angelic beings rebelled against God. For that, they were, and will continue to be, judged. They will be cast into the Lake of Fire along with Satan (Matthew 25:41). Angels will be judged for sin as well.

The last of this trio is Sodom and Gomorrah. Jude emphasizes two points in this category. First, the sin of these people was sexual in nature. There was fornication and homosexuality. They also criticized that which was good (speak evil of dignities). These people lived to serve their own sexual desires regardless of what God had ordained. Because of their unrepentant sin, God brought down judgment upon them. These cities were burned with fire from God.

When you look at the world today, we are no different from these groups that were judged. The Egyptians attacked God's people. Today, Christians are martyred in greater numbers than at any other period in history. The group of angels spoken of rebelled against God. There are more people who claim to be atheists or "nones" today than at any other period in history. They say they do not need God. They claim to rule their own lives. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for their active LGBTQ community. Today, homosexuality and all the different categories that fall under its banner are forced upon us at every turn. We are watching as corporations are committing financial suicide because they believe it to be more advantageous to lose money than to lose points on their Corporate Equality Index score. Target, Bud Light, and even Chick-fil-A have ostracized themselves from their customers for the sake of this score.

This is what Jude said in verse 8. Judgment is coming, and this world will have to answer for rebelling against God. If you, reader, are not a Christian, God is saying through Jude that He has already given us examples to prove He will judge sin. If you are a Christian, we are being told that God removes His people from the scene before He judges people. In other words, God is righteous in His judgment. He will only judge those who are in their sins. Those people who rejected the payment for their sins that was offered from God's own Son on the cross will be judged. They do not have to be. It is not God's will that any should perish (II Peter 3:9), but He leaves the decision up to us.

Father, thank You for being a righteous God. You do not leave Your people to face the same judgment as the unrighteous. I pray that if anyone reads this and they have not been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, they would heed the warning given in this scripture.