As you are well-aware, there are some places in the Word of God where we encounter significant difficulties with interpretation. Some passages are more obscure than others, at least as we seek to get to the meaning of words penned more than two-thousand years ago. What might be problematic for us today was not so difficult for believers in the past. They were much closer to the events recorded in the Bible, not only in terms of time, but also in terms of culture.

One such place of immense interpretive difficulty is found in Jude 1:6. In this verse, Jude provides the second of three examples of God’s righteous judgment upon those who turn away from Him in unbelief, practice moral anarchy, and seek to harm His people. Jude makes a reference to,

“the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling.”

As we read this verse, we have a number of critical questions:

When did this sin happen?

What did this sin consist of?

Are there other Biblical passages that relate to this sin?

What does this account have to do with the danger of false teachers?

What did Jude’s original audience know about this sin, and how did they interpret and apply it?

And perhaps the most pressing question of all is, why should we care about the details of this strange happening?

Well, this is what our sermon will deal with this coming Lord’s Day. I am convinced that since this verse is in Scripture, it is a divinely inspired and timely word for us today. Despite the challenges related to its interpretation, the Spirit of God has included it in the Bible for our edification.

Let’s pray that as we study it together, we will learn more about the Gospel and the grace and victory of our Lord and Savior!