Jude, verse-by-verse
Session 2 | Jude 4-7
Jude 3-4 | The Current Situation
Verse 3 -- see session 1
Verse 4 -
“name names," but left it with certain men. No doubt they were very real and well known.
These men crept in unawaresπαρεισδύω [pareisduo], for which we have no English equivalent. The compound word is, in its etymology, to come along into the sunset“cover of darkness" that is only necessary because they are not what they claim to be.
the men were of old ordainedπάλαι [palai] is translated of old. The English paleontology comes from this word. It is important to recognize that the word doesn't have to mean ages ago but can be a former time in the individual's lifetime. For example, see Mark 15:44, in which the word is used in a situation that could not have been more than a few hours old.
The men were before...ordainedπρογράφω [prographo]. This is not the typical word for ordination (which is "to set one in a certain position"). This is also not a phrase that can be used in defense of the Reformed doctrine that all things are pre-ordained. The word is pro (beforehand) and grapho (written). See Rom. 15:4 and Eph. 3:3. In the normal meaning of words, this simply says, "others have previously written about these men and sentenced them to condemnation." Condemnation is from the Greek word κρίμα, [krima] from which we get the English word crime.
There were two crimes of these men. First, they turned God's grace into lasciviousness“until he shocks public decency." (See Lightfoot's commentary on Galatians 5:19). Certainly, by the time Paul wrote 1 Corinthians (mid-50's), there was fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles by the Jewish congregation at Corinth (1 Cor. 5:1).
The grace of our God that these men turned into lasciviousness was likely the grace of God not destroying Israel immediately on the death of Jesus (Lk. 23:34) or at the rejection of Stephen's message (Acts 7:60).
The second crime was denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Clearly the early assembly had understood Jesus as the Lord God (from the earliest date). Yet some had crept in and begun denying this.
Jude 5-7“Certain Men"
Verse 5 --
Jude wants to remind the faithful Jews about the destruction that came upon them that believed not in the days of the Exodus.
Without rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15), one could apply this verse to the Christian life and conclude that at least some people were previously saved and then destroyed. Before one makes a determination that a person can lose their salvation, he/she should ask, "What kind of salvation did the Lord give to the people out of the land of Egypt?" However, since that "salvation" was not an eternal-life salvation, one should not make a comparison with the eternal-life salvation we experience by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul also spoke about these who were afterward destroyed in 1 Corinthians 10:1-5.
The only application that can be drawn here is that for which Jude is trying to draw it. God once destroyed Jewish men who rejected Him, and He can do so again.
Verse 6 --
As in the first example (v. 5), Jude now mentions angels were once in their wonderful heavenly home, but left their own habitation and today are reserved in everlasting chains.
Of course, this begs the question of the identity of these angels. First, the angels could be the fallen angels who aligned with Satan. The problem with this view is that, presumably, the demons are not currently kept in everlasting chains. Second, the angels could be the "sons of God" in Genesis 6 who created the Nephilim. Compare 2 Peter 2:4. In my opinion, this is the better of the two interpretations.
An interesting side-bar comes up here. Since the Lord hath reserved these angels, can we connect this with 2 Thessalonians 2:6 in which the future antichrist is said to be currently withheld that he might be revealed in his time“alive but not well." But could it be that the future Antichrist is reserved...under darkness in the same darkness that holds these angels?
Jude's purpose of this illustration is to show that if God can destroy the unbelievers in the wilderness (v. 5), and imprison the angels which kept not their first estate (v. 6), then He can certainly handle these certain men crept in unawares (v. 4) also.
Verse 7 --
Jude brings up a third illustration, that of Sodom and Gomorrha and the cities about them.
The other known "cities of the plain" were Admah and Zeboim. These, along with Sodom, Gomorrah and Bela (Zoar) made up the "Battle of the five Kings" in Genesis 14 and all but Bela are mentioned as destroyed by God in Deuteronomy 29:23. In Genesis 19:20-23 we are told that Lot begged to escape to Bela because it was just a little city, and the name of Bela was changed to Zoar (which means "little"). Concerning Israel, the Lord cries, "How shall I make thee as Admah...as Zeboim?" in Hosea 11:8.
The citizens of Sodom and Gomorrha are compared to the angels which kept not their first estate in that both were going after strange flesh for fornication.
The word for strange is ἕτερος [heteros], used 99 times in the New Testament and only here translated strange. It is literally "other" but specifically, "other of a different kind." The question is, "How can the citizens of Sodom be described by the word heteros in regard to their sexuality?" I believe that this speaks specifically of the incident with Lot when he was visited by angels and the men of the city desired sexual relations with those angels, who were a heteros kind of flesh. It seems that the angels first came to have relations with strange flesh and then the men of the city followed suit.
These cities suffered a temporal fire that is small in comparison to the vengeance of eternal fire their inhabitants experience today. These words speak against any ideas of universal salvation or temporal punishment.
Note: The King James Bible uses the Hebrew spelling Gomorrah in the Old Testament and the Greek spelling Gomorrha in the New Testament.
