Past Failures

Introduction: The Challenge of Jude

Welcome to the Well Community Church. I am so glad you’re hanging out with us—those here in person, those joining us at one of our gatherings (especially our rowdies hanging out here tonight at the PM), and those online. I am just so thankful that you’re here.

If you have your Bibles, turn to the book of Jude. While you’re turning there, let me just give an acknowledgment to the fact that when you teach expositionally—which is a fancy way of saying we just teach whatever is next—sometimes it’s really easy. You get a text like “God so loved the world,” and we all think that’s wonderful, we say amen, and then we go grab a bite to eat. And then sometimes you have Jude, verses 5 through 10, which is not so easy.

I want to give you a little heads-up: buckle your seat belts. We are on a bit of a journey as we walk through this text. To be honest, Jude has been avoided here at the Well Community Church for twenty-two years for a reason, and I think it has to do with these specific verses. It is literally one of the most complicated sets of verses that we’ve had to teach together. We will do our best to drop a golden thread throughout and give you some handles to hold on to, but we will cross-reference a little bit more than we normally do. Don’t blame me; blame Jude.

Jude was written by the half-brother of Jesus. He is identified in verse 1 as the bondservant of Jesus Christ. This is significant because, instead of dropping familial ties with Jesus to gain status, he acknowledges the most important thing in his life: that he is a slave of the living God.

In verse 3, he mentions that he initially intended to cover our “common salvation,” which would have been a super encouraging, “let’s all have a hug together” kind of message. And then something happened. He caught word of something occurring in verse 4. These were “certain persons who had crept in unnoticed.” There were false teachers who had snuck into the church. These false teachers were unnamed wolves in sheep’s clothing. According to Jude, they were ungodly and marked out for condemnation because they turned the grace of God into licentiousness.

Licentiousness is this idea of extreme immorality, debauchery, vice—fill in the blank for “awful.” These false teachers were leading people away from God’s will, God’s character, and God’s design, and instead encouraging people to live in pursuit of whatever felt right to them: their flesh and their own indulgence.

The Pattern of Rebellion

This is a problem for numerous reasons. First, it follows the very pattern of sin established all the way back in Genesis 3. When you read Genesis 3, the original sin is not simply doing what God said not to do. It is a rejection of God’s design, a rejection of God’s plan, and a pursuit of what feels right to the individual. In some ways, these false teachers are a chip off the old block.

Second, this teaching distorts the very character of our God. For those of you who might be new to exploring the things of God, there are a couple of things worth noting. The character of our God is holy. He is pure, perfect, righteous, and unchanging. Any teaching that distorts that is a pursuit of licentiousness.

Third, rejecting God’s word and pursuing what feels right disregards the responsibility we have as followers of God to live in keeping with His character. We are called to be holy because our God is holy. We are called to be righteous because He is righteous.

Finally, this false teaching assumes there is no condemnation for disregarding God’s word. It assumes there is grace but no judgment. Yet the Bible is clear: the wages of sin is death. It seems this is exactly what Jude is addressing. To make his point, Jude gives us three Old Testament examples in verses 5 through 7. He assumes we have an understanding of Jewish literature, and he drops these stories in staccato fashion: rebellious Israelites, rebellious angels, and rebellious men.

Example One: The Rebellious Israelites

Let’s start in verse 5.

Jude 1:5 (NASB)

Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.

This is a snapshot of the Exodus journey. If you’re new to the Bible, the book of Genesis tells us about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob has a gaggle of kids, including Joseph, who is sold into slavery and ends up in Egypt. Eventually, a famine hits the land. There is no food at home, but there is a “Costco” in Egypt. The family decides to go to Costco, and who is the guy checking membership cards at the door? It’s their brother Joseph, whom they had forsaken.

They end up being saved in Egypt and survive the famine. But guests, over time, are no longer guests. They became slaves and spent four hundred and thirty years in slavery until God raised up a deliverer named Moses. God brings the plagues, the Red Sea parts, and Moses leads them toward the land promised to Abraham.

God said, “This is my land. I’ve promised it to you. Don’t worry about who is in there; just go take it.” But they sent in spies. Two of them, Joshua and Caleb, said, “If God said it, let’s go take it!” But the others said, “I don’t know, man. There’s a dude in there who looks like he can bench press a lot. There are giants. We’re kind of comfortable out here. Let’s just stay here.” They rejected God’s design and pursued their own comfort. As a consequence, that entire generation wandered in the wilderness for forty years until everyone over the age of twenty died. They had funeral after funeral because of their disobedience.

Example Two: The Rebellious Angels

Jude’s next example is even more intense: rebellious angels. To understand this one, we need to look at Genesis chapter 6. Many are familiar with the story of Noah and the Ark, but what caused the flood?

Genesis 6:1-7 (NASB)

Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the LORD said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’ The Nephilim were 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 on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The LORD said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.’

We have to answer some critical questions here. Who are the “sons of God”? Who are the “daughters of men”? What is a Nephilim? And why was this so wicked that God regretted making man and decided to blot out everything?

There are two primary views. One is that the “sons of God” were godly people and the “daughters of men” were ungodly people, and their intermarrying caused the destruction. But why would that be so heinous that God hits the reset button on the entire planet? The second view, which I believe is the proper one, is that the “sons of God” refers to angels and the “daughters of men” refers to humans. These were angels who rejected God’s boundaries for interacting with humans.

If we let Scripture interpret Scripture, we see this term “sons of God” used in the book of Job to refer to angels.

Job 1:6 (NASB)

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

Job 38:7 (NASB)

When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Furthermore, Peter connects these angels to the flood and a specific place of judgment.

2 Peter 2:4-6 (NASB)

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and [if] He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing [them] to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly [lives] thereafter;

Peter mentions these angels were cast into “hell”—the word is tartaro, meaning a holding place or an abyss. This connects to the New Testament stories of demons begging Jesus not to send them to the “abyss,” and the book of Revelation describing a “bottomless pit.”

Revelation 9:1-3 (NASB)

Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Now, look back at how Jude explains this.

Jude 1:6-7 (NASB)

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, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

These angels rejected God’s design and parameters. The consequence was a global flood where everything that had breath—except those on the boat—died.

Example Three: The Rebellious Men of Sodom

Jude’s third example is rebellious men, specifically the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, settled in Sodom. Eventually, he ended up in leadership at the city gates. That is the tractor beam of sin; it just sucks you in.

Angels visited Abraham and told him they were going to destroy Sodom. Abraham bargained for the city, hoping to save Lot. When the angels arrived in Sodom, Lot invited them into his home for safety. But the men of the city surrounded the house—young and old, from every quarter. This wasn’t just one bad guy; it was the culture of the city. They demanded that Lot bring the visitors out so they could have “relations” with them.

The word for “relations” there is yada. It’s the same word used when Adam had relations with his wife and she conceived. They weren’t asking to go grab a coffee; they wanted sexual relations with these angelic visitors. They rejected God’s character and design to pursue their own flesh. The consequence? The entire city was destroyed by fire. Lot’s wife and his sons-in-law were destroyed. It was a total judgment.

The Marks of the False Teacher

In verse 8, Jude turns his focus back to the false teachers of his own day, showing how they follow these same patterns.

Jude 1:8 (NASB)

Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.

He lists four specific things they are doing. First, they are “dreaming.” They take personal visions or dreams and elevate them above Scripture. They say, “Forget what God said; this was my experience.” Second, they “defile the flesh.” They promote indulgence. If it feels right, do it. Third, they “reject authority.” The word for authority here is Kuriotes, related to Kurios (Lord). They are literally rejecting the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Fourth, they “revile angelic majesties.” In their arrogance, they stand chest-out, raising a fist against God’s heavenly order.

Let me just pause the tape for a second. Do you know of a culture in the history of the world that exalts personal experience over what God says? That promotes fleshly indulgence as the “good life”? That rejects the authority of God’s word and stands in defiance against Him?

This is the Word of God. It is living and active, sharper than a double-edged sword. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching and training. We are reading something Jude wrote two thousand years ago, yet it is as applicable today as the day he put pen to parchment.

Michael and the Power of God

Now we get to verse 9, where Jude drops a quote from a book called the Testament of Moses. This is what we call “pseudepigrapha”—a fancy way of saying someone wrote it in the first century BC but attributed it to Moses. Jude uses this well-known story to make a point about authority.

Jude 1:9 (NASB)

But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’

Here is the contrast: while the false teachers are arrogant and rebellious, Michael the Archangel—who is a very big deal—did not rely on his own power when disputing with the devil. He didn’t stand in his own strength. He said, “The Lord rebuke you.” He deferred to the ultimate authority. If an archangel defers to God’s authority, how much more should these teachers?

Four Truths for Today

So, what can we glean from this strange passage? Let me give you four things to take home.

First, our God is unchanging. His character is perfect, holy, and righteous. Because He is unchanging, His law is unchanging. When He says “do not lie” or “do not commit adultery,” He is communicating His own character. He has a design for life, and life lived according to that design is simply better.

Second, living according to God’s word is wise. Think of God’s design like the grain in a piece of wood. When you live with the grain, life is smoother. When you live against the grain, it’s harder and comes at a price.

Joshua 1:8 (NASB)

’This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

Success and prosperity in the Kingdom are found in keeping His word. It doesn’t mean life is easy—living against the grain is actually what feels “natural” to our sin nature—but His way is the way of wisdom.

Third, living in rebellion comes at a cost. In all three of Jude’s examples, there was a consequence. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. If you replayed the tape of your own life to a time you said, “I’ve got this,” and went against God’s design, you probably paid a price. And you learned a lesson: His way is better.

Fourth, any teaching that diminishes the authority of God’s word must be rejected. We live in a unique time in history. Never before have we had so many messages bombarding our minds—podcasts, blogs, YouTube, social media. It is so easy for wolves in sheep’s clothing to infiltrate and drift us away from obedience toward the pursuit of our flesh. These messages are well-packaged and subtle, but they are disastrous.

Nothing has changed since Jude wrote this. The temptation is still to move away from God’s design. But His way is better. God is calling us to be faithful and say, “I am going to live according to His design.” Even when it’s unnatural for my flesh, I’m going to rely on the Spirit of God in me to do what He has called me to do. Amen?

Closing Prayer

Father, I’m so grateful that we, as the people of God, by Your grace get to live as people who strive to live according to Your design. Jude has captured for us these impactful examples of what life apart from Your design looks like, and we see that there is consequence after consequence.

Could we just draw near to You and Your word? By Your grace, would You help us do what You have called us to do in keeping with Your design? We thank You for the privilege of being on this journey with You and with each other as a community. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.