Those who have become acquainted with the Epistle of Jude will surely be aware of the many strange things we find among its twenty-five inspired verses. For sure, interpreters and preachers find themselves seriously challenged as they navigate the perplexing terrain confronting them in this letter. Among the most difficult portions of this epistle is the reference to the sin of the angels in verse 6:

“And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.”

This brief mention of evil angels and their eternal destiny occurs in the context of three historic examples of divine judgment extracted from the Old Testament:

The sin and judgment of Israel in the wilderness (v. 5)
The sin and judgment of the angels (v. 6)
The sin and judgment of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah (v. 7)

You will notice that these examples are not in chronological order. Rather, they are set forth thematically for maximum impact.

By means of these three examples, Jude is showing that the false teachers, who have “crept in unnoticed” among the Christian brethren (v. 4), will certainly have their day in court before God’s bar of justice. And, as these three accounts make awfully clear, it will not end well for them!

On Sunday, we will begin our exploration of these admittedly difficult verses (vv. 5-7). And as we do, we will seek to draw greater measures of assurance and hope as we serve our Savior and Lord each day.

Let me encourage you to do a little advanced reading and study in preparation for our sermons from this passage.

Read:

The sin and divine judgment of Israel in the wilderness–Numbers 13-14:38

The sin and divine judgment of the angels–Genesis 6:1-4 (1 Peter 3:18-20; 2 Peter 2:1-10)

The sin and divine judgment of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah–Genesis 18:16-19:29