Commentary - Jude 5-7

Bird's-eye view

In this dense and powerful passage, Jude, the brother of our Lord, lays down his foundational argument against the apostates who have crept into the church. His method is straightforward: he reaches back into the shared memory of God's people and pulls out three historical examples of catastrophic judgment. This is not abstract theology; it is history with teeth. The purpose is to remind his readers, who already know these stories, that God's salvation and God's judgment are two sides of the same coin. He demonstrates that a privileged position, a past deliverance, or even an angelic nature provides no immunity from wrath when rebellion and unbelief take root. The three examples, Israel in the wilderness, the fallen angels, and the cities of the plain, serve as permanent, terrifying exhibits of what happens when creatures defy the created order and covenantal boundaries established by God. The warning is stark: if God did not spare them, do not imagine He will spare you.

The logic is cumulative and devastating. He moves from the judgment of God's chosen people to the judgment of celestial beings, and then to the judgment of pagan cities infamous for their perversion. In each case, the sin is a form of apostasy, a turning away from a revealed standard. For Israel, it was unbelief after salvation. For the angels, it was abandoning their proper domain. For Sodom, it was going after "strange flesh." Jude connects these disparate events to show a consistent pattern in God's righteous dealings. The false teachers in the church are not innovators in rebellion; they are simply the latest iteration of an ancient pride, and their end will be just as certain and just as fiery.

Outline

Context In Jude

These verses form the evidentiary backbone of Jude's entire letter. He has just stated his purpose in verse 3, which was to urge his readers to "contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints." Why? Because, as he says in verse 4, certain men have crept in unnoticed, ungodly people who turn the grace of God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Having identified the threat, Jude immediately pivots in verse 5 to provide the historical and theological warrant for why these men are so dangerous and why their condemnation is not idle. These three examples of judgment are not random; they are carefully selected to prefigure the sins of the false teachers, which Jude will go on to describe in more detail. Their unbelief, their rebellion against authority, and their sexual immorality are all mirrored in these ancient events. Thus, verses 5-7 are the foundation upon which the rest of his polemic is built.

Key Issues

Apostasy Then and Now

Jude begins his argument by reminding his audience of things they already know. This is a common pastoral technique. He is not introducing novelties, but rather stirring up their pure minds by way of remembrance. The danger facing the church was not from an external enemy, but from a corruption within. Certain men had slipped in, and their doctrine was a toxic cocktail of antinomianism, a denial of Christ's authority disguised by a veneer of spirituality. They were turning grace into a license to party.

To combat this, Jude doesn't engage in philosophical debate. He points to the scoreboard of history. He says, in effect, "You think God's grace is a soft pillow for you to indulge your sins on? Let me tell you about the last group that thought their privileged status gave them a pass." His examples are chosen to dismantle any false sense of security. God's people, angels, entire cities, none were exempt when they turned from their appointed place. This is a crucial lesson for the modern church, which is often tempted to believe that because we are under grace, the Old Testament stories of wrath are somehow irrelevant. Jude argues the exact opposite. They are not just relevant; they are exhibited examples, set forth for our instruction.

Verse by Verse Commentary

5 Now I want to remind you, though you know all things, that Jesus, having once saved a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.

Jude begins with a pastoral touch, acknowledging that his readers are not ignorant. But some truths are so foundational they need to be polished and placed back on the mantle. The first exhibit is Israel's wilderness apostasy. Notice the stunning Christocentric reading of the Old Testament. Some manuscripts say "the Lord," but the better and harder reading is "Jesus." Jude, like Paul, understood that the Rock that followed Israel was Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). The pre-incarnate Son of God was the agent of both salvation and judgment for Old Covenant Israel. He once saved a people, a glorious act of redemption. But this initial salvation did not guarantee final salvation for every individual. When that same saved people turned to unbelief, grumbling, and idolatry, that same Jesus subsequently destroyed them. The salvation was corporate, out of Egypt. The destruction was individual, in the wilderness. This is a thunderous blow against any notion of cheap grace or "once saved, always safe regardless of what you do." A genuine covenant connection that is not salvific in the end is a terrifying reality. These people were truly saved from Egypt, but their unbelief kept them out of the promised land. The false teachers Jude is confronting are on the same trajectory.

6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,

From unfaithful men, Jude moves to rebellious angels, upping the ante considerably. If even celestial beings who dwelt in the presence of God are not immune to judgment, what hope does an arrogant false teacher have? Their sin is described in two ways. First, they did not keep their own domain. The word for domain is arche, which means "first principle" or "rule." They were not content with the authority and position God had assigned them. Second, they abandoned their proper abode. This was not a simple change of address. The word for abode, oiketerion, is used by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 to refer to our resurrection bodies. The implication here is that these angels, in an act of cosmic rebellion, forsook their spiritual state for a physical one in order to meddle in the affairs of mankind, a clear reference to the "sons of God" in Genesis 6. For this profound violation of the created order, their judgment is severe. They are kept in eternal bonds under darkness. This is not their final punishment, but a holding cell, a spiritual death row, as they await the final judgment of the great day. The warning is clear: rebellion against God's established order, no matter how high your station, leads to chains and darkness.

7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, having indulged in the same way as these in gross sexual immorality and having gone after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

Jude now links the sin of the angels directly to the infamous sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. The key phrase is in the same way as these. In what way? The cities of the plain sinned in the same manner as the rebellious angels. They gave themselves over to two things: gross sexual immorality and going after strange flesh. The first is a general term for all sexual sin. The second is the specific link to the angels. The men of Sodom wanted to have relations with the angelic visitors to Lot. This was a desire for an unnatural union, a crossing of boundaries between the human and the angelic. This is precisely what the angels of Genesis 6 did, crossing the boundary from the other direction. They went after the "daughters of men," which was strange flesh for them. The Sodomites went after the angels, which was strange flesh for them. Both are examples of a profound rebellion against the created order, a lust for that which God has forbidden. And their judgment is a public spectacle. They are exhibited as an example. The fiery destruction of their cities, a historical event, serves as a visible, tangible picture of the punishment of eternal fire. The fire that fell from the sky was temporal, but it is an ongoing, permanent example of the reality of the eternal fire that awaits all who follow their path.

Application

Jude's message is as bracingly relevant today as it was in the first century. The spirit of the apostates is alive and well. It is the spirit that whispers, "Did God really say?" It is the spirit that wants to redefine the boundaries God has set for our good. It is the spirit that uses the language of grace to excuse the practice of sin.

First, we must take to heart the warning against apostasy. Being part of the visible church, having been baptized, having experienced a past deliverance is no grounds for ultimate security if it is not accompanied by persevering faith. God saved a whole generation out of Egypt and then carpeted the desert with their bones. We must not be high-minded, but fear. Our assurance is not in our past experience, but in our present clinging to Christ.

Second, we must recognize the gravity of rebelling against God's created order. The angels fell because they were not content with their station. Sodom fell because it lusted after what was unnatural. Our generation is awash in this same rebellion, particularly in the realm of sexuality. We are told that all boundaries are oppressive and that our desires are self-validating. Jude tells us this is the path to "strange flesh," and that path leads to fiery judgment. We must contend for the biblical definition of male and female, of marriage, and of sexual purity, not because we are prudes, but because we love our neighbors and do not want to see them consumed by the fire.

Finally, we must remember that judgment is real. Our God is a consuming fire. The stories of the wilderness, the chained angels, and the smoking ruins of Sodom are not fables to frighten children. They are historical markers set up by God to warn us off the path of destruction. The false teachers of Jude's day were mockers, and mockers abound today. But God is not mocked. What a man sows, he will also reap. The only escape from this coming judgment is to flee to the one who bore the judgment for us. Jesus Christ, who destroyed the unbelievers in the wilderness, is the same Jesus who on the cross absorbed the full measure of God's eternal fire so that all who believe in Him might be saved from it.