Three Case Studies in Apostasy Text: Jude 1:5-7
Introduction: The Necessity of Remembrance
The book of Jude is a short, sharp, and potent letter. It is a stick of dynamite tossed into the playground of the antinomians. Jude, the brother of James and of our Lord, wanted to write a pleasant letter about our common salvation, but the Holy Spirit compelled him to write something else entirely. He had to write an urgent exhortation, a summons to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Why? Because ravenous wolves had crept into the church unnoticed, men who were turning the grace of our God into a license for sensuality and denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
In our passage today, Jude does not begin with abstract arguments. He does what the Bible does repeatedly. He points us to history. He reminds his readers of things they already know. This is a crucial pastoral strategy. We are forgetful creatures, and our spiritual amnesia is our greatest vulnerability. The path to apostasy is paved with forgotten lessons. So Jude reaches back into the Old Testament and pulls out three historical exhibits of divine judgment. These are not quaint Sunday School stories; they are grim case studies in rebellion and its consequences. He presents the rebellion of Israel in the wilderness, the rebellion of angels in Heaven, and the rebellion of Gentiles on the plains of Sodom. In doing this, he establishes a terrifying and impartial principle: God hates rebellion, and He judges rebels, regardless of their station or previous privileges.
We live in an age that despises history and detests judgment. Our generation wants a God who is a cosmic butler, affirming our choices and cleaning up our messes, but never, ever, bringing down the hammer. But the God of the Bible is not safe; He is good, but He is not safe. He is a consuming fire. And Jude wants us to remember this, not to terrify us into a corner, but to sober us up, to awaken us from our dogmatic slumbers, and to equip us for the fight. These historical examples are not just for the false teachers; they are a warning to us all. They set the stage for the condemnation that Jude is about to unleash, and they remind us that the line between salvation and destruction is the line of faith, a line that must be held.
The Text
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. 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, 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 1:5-7 LSB)
Exhibit A: The Unbelieving Covenant Community (v. 5)
Jude begins with an example from the history of God's own covenant people, Israel.
"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 1:5)
Notice first the startling identification of the agent of salvation and judgment. Jude says it was Jesus who saved the people out of Egypt. This is a profound statement of Christ's pre-existence and His divine identity as the God of the Old Testament. The Angel of the Lord who led Israel through the wilderness, the Rock that followed them, was Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). The God who thundered from Sinai is the same God who was cradled in a manger. This is no different deity. The God of grace and the God of judgment are one and the same Lord Jesus Christ.
The central point here is a severe warning against presuming upon past grace. The entire nation of Israel was "saved" out of Egypt. They all passed through the Red Sea. They all ate the manna. They all drank from the rock. They were all part of the visible, external covenant community. They had a corporate salvation from physical bondage. But this corporate, external salvation did not guarantee their final, personal salvation. What was the variable? Belief. "He subsequently destroyed those who did not believe."
This demolishes any simplistic or sentimental notion of "once saved, always saved" that divorces salvation from persevering faith. The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is a glorious truth, but it means that God preserves His saints in faith and holiness, not that He preserves them regardless of whether they continue in faith. Those who are truly regenerate, those whom God has effectually called, will persevere to the end because God keeps them. But membership in the visible church, baptism, or even experiencing miraculous deliverance is no guarantee. The wilderness generation is the permanent exhibit of a people who were delivered but not delighted, redeemed but not repentant. They saw God's mighty hand part the sea, and then they grumbled about the catering. Their unbelief was not a simple intellectual mistake; it was a deep-seated rebellion against God's leadership and provision. And for it, their carcasses fell in the wilderness. The lesson is stark: covenant privilege does not grant immunity from judgment. In fact, it raises the stakes.
Exhibit B: The Rebellious Angelic Host (v. 6)
From the earth, Jude moves to the heavens, to an even more shocking rebellion.
"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," (Jude 1:6)
If the first example warns against presuming on covenant privilege, this one warns against presuming on positional privilege. These were angels. They dwelt in the immediate presence of God. They had a "domain," a position of authority and glory, and a "proper abode," a habitation assigned to them by God. Yet, they were not content. They "did not keep" their place. They abandoned it.
Jude is likely referring to the event described in Genesis 6, where the "sons of God," celestial beings, abandoned their heavenly station to cohabit with human women. This was a grotesque transgression of the created order, a prideful overreaching of the boundaries God had established. They abandoned their proper role in a lust for a different one. It was a sin of cosmic ambition and perverse desire.
And what was the result? Immediate and severe judgment. God "has kept" them, meaning their judgment is already in effect. They are in "eternal bonds under darkness." They who once dwelt in the light of God's presence are now in chains, in the blackest gloom, awaiting the final "judgment of the great day." There was no second chance, no probationary period. Their high position did not shield them; it made their fall all the more catastrophic. If God did not spare angels who sinned, what makes these false teachers, these arrogant men who strut about in the church, think they will escape? The principle is clear: rebellion against God's established order, no matter how high your station, leads to inescapable judgment.
Exhibit C: The Depraved Gentile Cities (v. 7)
Jude's final example comes from the Gentile world, showing the universal reach of God's law and judgment.
"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 1:7)
Jude connects the sin of Sodom directly to the sin of the fallen angels: "in the same way as these." How so? By "having gone after strange flesh." The angels went after the flesh of human women, a category of being different from their own. The men of Sodom went after the flesh of men, which is a perverse violation of the created order for flesh, and they also lusted after the flesh of the angels who visited Lot, another category entirely. This is the heart of their sin: a rebellion against the goodness of God's created design for sexuality. It is a lust that despises boundaries, that seeks satisfaction outside the beautiful and fruitful confines of marriage between one man and one woman.
Our culture wants to reduce the sin of Sodom to a breach of hospitality, but the Bible is unflinchingly clear. It was "gross sexual immorality" and the pursuit of "strange flesh." And for this, they became a permanent, public "example." The Greek word is deigma, a specimen on public display. The smoking ruins of those cities, covered now by a dead sea, are a perpetual billboard advertising the consequences of high-handed sexual rebellion.
And what is their punishment? They are "undergoing the punishment of eternal fire." The fire that fell from heaven was a temporal judgment, but it was a picture, an appetizer, of the eternal reality. The fire and brimstone were a visible sign of an invisible and everlasting reality. This is not remedial punishment; it is retribution. It is the just and holy wrath of God against unrepentant sin. This is a terrifying thought, and it is meant to be. We are meant to look at the historical reality of Sodom and see a preview of the eschatological reality of hell.
Conclusion: Three Strikes and You're Out
Jude lays out these three examples with methodical force. He covers all the bases: covenant members (Israel), celestial beings (angels), and pagan outsiders (Sodom). No one gets a pass. Unbelief, rebellion against God's order, and sexual perversion are all on a collision course with divine judgment. These are not just historical footnotes; they are standing warnings.
The false teachers Jude was combating were characterized by these very sins. They were insiders who had crept into the covenant community, but their hearts were full of unbelief. They were arrogant, despising authority and abandoning their proper place, just like the angels. And they were licentious, turning God's grace into a cover for their pursuit of strange flesh, just like Sodom.
The warning for us is just as sharp. We must not presume upon our baptism, our church membership, or our Christian heritage. If we do not believe, we will be destroyed alongside the Israelites in the wilderness. We must not rebel against the roles and stations God has assigned us, whether in the church, in the family, or in society. The chains that hold the fallen angels are a testament to how God views such prideful ambition. And we must not, under any circumstances, trifle with sexual sin or entertain the lies of our debauched culture that seek to redefine what God has declared holy and good. Sodom is a perpetual monument to the fact that God's judgment on sexual rebellion is fiery and eternal.
These three historical thunderclaps are meant to awaken us. They are a call to remember, to take heed, and to contend. We contend for the faith by believing what God has said, by submitting to the order He has created, and by pursuing holiness in the fear of the Lord. The alternative is to ignore the examples, to forget the warnings, and to find ourselves added to Jude's list of those who learned about the reality of God's judgment the hard way.