Sunday
Morning Bible Study
February
24, 2013
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?
We have begun
working our way through this little letter written by one of Jesus’
half-brothers.
Half-brother? They had the same mother (Mary) but different
fathers (Jesus was God’s Son, Jude was Joseph’s son).
Jude is apparently
the youngest of Mary’s five sons. To
help you remember that he’s the youngest brother …
I mentioned
last week that there are quite a few parallels between Jude and 2Peter. Did any of you read 2Peter? You get extra credit!
We mentioned last week that Jude’s main theme is his concern for the false teachers
that are beginning to crop up in the church.
As Jude begins
to lay out his instruction about false teachers, he starts with a pretty heavy
history lesson.
George
Santayana wrote,
Those who cannot remember the past
are condemned to repeat it.
Jude is going to give us seven historical examples that ought to make us
shudder when it comes to the seriousness of false teachers.
Let’s Read the passage
Jude is going to give us a history
lesson, pointing to things that ought to be warnings to us about these false
teachers. There are going to be seven historical
examples. See if you can identify them
as we read.
(Jud 5–11 NKJV) —5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that
the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed
those who did not believe. 6 And the
angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has
reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great
day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah,
and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given
themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set
forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject
authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. 9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil,
when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a
reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and
whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt
themselves. 11 Woe to them! For
they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for
profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
:5-11 Lessons from
History
:5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord,
having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who
did not believe.
:5 to remind – hupomimnesko – to
cause one to remember, bring to remembrance, recall to mind: to another
Aorist active infinitive
:5 I want – boulomai – to will
deliberately, have a purpose, be minded; of willing as an affection, to desire
Present deponent indicative
:5 you knew – oida – to see; to
know
Perfect active participle
:5 once – hapax – once, one
time; once for all
:5 having saved – sozo – to save,
keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction
Aorist active participle
:5 afterward – deuteros – the
second, the other of two
:5 did not believe – pisteuo – to think
to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in
Aorist active participle
:5 destroyed – apollumi – to
destroy; to kill; metaph. to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell
Aorist active indicative
The words Jude uses for “saved”,
“believe”, and “destroyed” are words that are parallel to spiritual salvation.
:5 destroyed those
who did not believe
Just because God got the people out of Egypt safe didn’t keep them from
being destroyed. They needed to believe.
The History
Many times after having come through the Red Sea, the people complained about how hard
it was living in the wilderness.
They complained about the water.
They complained about the food.
They complained because Moses was spending too much time with God.
The Spies
After the Israelites came out of Egypt, Moses sent twelve spies into the
Promised Land so the people would know what was up ahead of them (Num. 13-14)
They came back reporting on what the Promised Land was like.
It
had lots of benefits – milk and honey, fruit. It also had problems – giants.
(Nu 13:27–28 NKJV) —27 Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you
sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are
strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw
the descendants of Anak there.
When the people heard about the giants, they responded,
(Nu 14:3 NKJV) Why has
the Lord brought us to this land
to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would
it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”
God’s reply to the people’s response was,
(Nu 14:11 NKJV) Then the Lord said to Moses: “How long will these
people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have
performed among them?
As a result, the people who did not “believe” did not make
it into the Promised Land.
(Nu 14: 23 NKJV) they
certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall
any of those who rejected Me see it.
Lesson
1. Believe
The writer of Hebrews records,
(Heb 3:19 NKJV)
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Our eternal salvation
is based on what Jesus did for us.
He died on the cross in order to pay for the sins of the world.
But the whole world isn’t going to be saved, just like the Israelites
coming out of Egypt weren’t all “saved”.
Salvation isn’t just based on what Jesus did, but on you choosing to
believe.
(Jn 3:16 NKJV) For God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.
:6 And the angels
who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved
in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
:6 angels – aggelos – a
messenger, envoy, one who is sent; an angel
:6 did not keep – tereo – to attend
to carefully, take care of; to guard
Aorist active participle
:6 proper domain – arche – beginning,
origin
The old King James reads:
the angels which kept not their first estate
:6 left – apoleipo – to
leave, to leave behind; to desert or forsake
:6 abode – oiketerion – a
dwelling place, habitation
:6 chains – desmon – a band or
bond
:6 everlasting – aidios – eternal,
everlasting
:6 darkness – zophos – darkness,
blackness
:6 He has reserved – tereo – to attend
to carefully, take care of; to guard
Perfect active indicative
Jude uses the same word for
“reserved” that he did for “keep”.
They “did not keep” their proper
place, so God has “kept” them in chains until judgment day.
:6 angels who did
not keep their proper domain
History
We don’t have clear documentation in the Scriptures of these events.
It seems that Jude
is quoting from the apocryphal Book of Enoch
There are some Scriptures that might be speaking about the events that Jude
refers to.
It’s possible
that the angels leaving their “proper domain” might refer to angels cohabiting with humans before the flood of
Noah. (Gen. 6:1-4) I say “might” because
not everyone agrees that this is what it’s talking about.
(Ge 6:1–4 NKJV)
—1 Now it
came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and
daughters were born to them, 2 that the
sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they
took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. 3 And the Lord
said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed
flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 4 There were giants 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.
This might be what Peter is referring to when he wrote,
(2 Pe 2:4–5 NKJV) —4 For if God
did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and
delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did
not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people,
a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly…
If God didn’t spare them, then He knows how to punish the ungodly…
Some have
suggested that the place of imprisonment is the “bottomless pit”, the abyss (abussos),
mentioned in Revelation 9:1-2
(Re 9:1–2 NKJV) —1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from
heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the
pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened
because of the smoke of the pit.
The abyss is where Satan will be bound for 1,000 during the time when
Christ reigns on the earth Rev. 20:1-3)
(Re 20:1–3 NKJV) —1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key
to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the
Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up,
and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the
thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a
little while.
At the end of the 1,000 years, the abyss is opened, Satan has one last
chance to deceive the nations, and then he is tossed into the Lake of Fire for
the rest of eternity. (Rev. 20:10)
(Re 20:10 NKJV) The devil, who
deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and
the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever
and ever.
Lesson
2. Purpose
God created you for a purpose, just like He created the angels for a
purpose.
The evil angels went against God’s purpose for them.
You can think
of the “pie” as your finances, or just all that you have in life, including
your time.
How concerned are you that you are using what God has given you for the
right things?
God did not create you for evil.
God created you for good works – things to do
(Eph 2:10 NKJV) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Have you found your purpose? Are you
giving Him a piece of your pie?
:7 as Sodom and
Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given
themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set
forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
:7 the cities around them
Sodom and Gomorrah weren’t the only
cities destroyed in Lot’s day.
The cities of Admah
and Zeboiim (Deut. 29:23; Hos. 11:8) were also
destroyed.
:7 manner – tropos – a manner,
way, fashion
:7 having given … over to sexual
immorality – ekporneuo – to go a whoring, “give one’s self
over to fornication”
Aorist active participle
:7 gone after – aperchomai – to go
away, depart
Aorist active participle
:7 strange – heteros – the
other, another, other; another: i.e. one not of the same nature, form, class,
kind, different
:7 are set forth – prokeimai – to lie
or be placed before (a person or a thing) or in front of; to set before
Present deponent indicative
:7 example – deigma – a thing
shown; a specimen of anything, example, pattern
:7 eternal – aionios – without
beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be
:7 judgment – dike
– custom, usage; right, just; execution of a sentence, punishment
:7 suffering – hupecho – to hold
under, to put under, place underneath; metaph. to sustain, undergo; suffer
punishment
Present active participle
:7 set forth as an example
All these stories that Jude is
hinting at are examples for us to learn from.
Paul tells us that the stories of
Moses and the Exodus are just like this, examples to pay attention to.
(1 Co 10:6 NKJV) Now these things became
our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they
also lusted.
:7 as Sodom and
Gomorrah
Historical
The story is
found in Genesis 19.
Abraham’s
nephew Lot had been living in the city of Sodom.
God had seen the wickedness going on in Sodom, and was going to destroy the
city.
God sent two angels to pull Lot out of the city before it was destroyed.
(Ge 19:4–5 NLT) —4 But before
they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all
over the city and surrounded the house. 5 They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night
with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”
Lesson
3. Purity
People like to
point out that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was homosexuality, and that
certainly was a part of it.
But the picture
being painted isn’t limited to homosexuality, but all forms of immorality.
We were reading
the other day in Leviticus 18 about the “laws of sexual morality”.
Yes, homosexuality is mentioned in one verse (vs.22) as something horribly wrong, but
it’s just one verse out of thirty, detailing stuff that’s just too strange to
think about like having sex with your mom, or your sister, or animals.
I was asking myself, “Why does God mention all these strange behaviors?”
Answer: Because
people do them.
People will go down one wrong path after another looking
for pleasure.
God designed
you for purity.
It’s like your car – designed
for a special kind of fuel. Most of our
cars are designed for normal, regular gasoline.
But there are other kinds of fuels out there. If you put diesel into your gasoline engine – it will make a
mess. If you put that special E85 biofuel in
your car, it might actually run, for a few miles, and then you are going to have an expensive
mess on your hands.
Sex isn’t
wrong. It’s just designed to operate on one fuel: Marriage.
:8 Likewise also
these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of
dignitaries.
:8 Likewise – homoios –
likewise, equally, in the same way
and – mentoi – but yet, nevertheless, howbeit
:8 dreamers – enupniazomai – to
dream (divinely suggested) dreams; metaph., to be beguiled with sensual images
and carried away to an impious course of conduct
from – enupnion – a dream
from – hupnos – sleep
:8 defile – miaino – to dye
with another color, to stain; to defile, pollute, sully, contaminate, soil
:8 authority – kuriotes –
dominion, power, lordship
from kurios – “lord”
:8 reject – atheteo – to do
away with, to set aside, disregard; to reject, to refuse, to slight
:8 dignitaries – doxa – glory; of
the angels in their exterior brightness
:8 speak evil – blasphemeo – to
speak reproachfully, revile, blaspheme
:8 Likewise
Jude is making
the connection between the false teachers and the historical examples he’s been given.
They defile the
flesh – like Sodom
and Gomorrah
They reject
authority – like the people
coming from Egypt as well as the angels who rebelled
They speak evil
of dignitaries – like
what we’ll see in verse 9
:9 Yet Michael
the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of
Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord
rebuke you!”
:10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they
know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.
:9 Michael – Michael
– “who is like God”
:9 archangel – archaggelos
– archangel, or chief of the angels
:9 the devil – diabolos
– prone to slander, slanderous, accusing falsely; a calumniator, false
accuser, slanderer,
:9 contending – diakrino
– to separate, make a distinction; to oppose, strive with dispute, contend
:9 he disputed – dialegomai
– to converse, discourse with one, argue, discuss
:9 dared not – tolmao
– not to dread or shun through fear
:9 accusation – krisis
– judgment; opinion or decision given concerning anything; sentence of
condemnation, damnatory judgment, condemnation and punishment
:9 bring against – epiphero
– to bring upon, bring forward; to put upon, cast upon, impose
:9 reviling – blasphemia
– slander, detraction, speech injurious, to another’s good name
This is the noun of the word
translated “speak evil” in verse 8.
:9 rebuke – epitimao
– to tax with fault, rebuke, reprove, censure severely
Aorist active optative
:9 he disputed
about the body of Moses
Robertson: Clement of Alex. (Adumb. in Ep. Judae) says that Jude
quoted here the Assumption of Moses,
one of the apocryphal books. Origen says the same thing. Mayor thinks that the
author of the Assumption of Moses
took these words from Zechariah and put them in the mouth of the Archangel
Michael. There is a Latin version of the Assumption.
Some date it as early as b.c. 2, others after a.d. 44.
History
Again, we don’t have a Scriptural account of this incident.
It appears that Jude is quoting from the apocryphal book “The Assumption of Moses”.
We do not believe that this book was an inspired, infallible part of
Scripture, but at the very least this part that Jude quotes is authoritative.
We will just have to take Jude’s word for it.
:10 these – the false teachers
:10 do not know – oida
– to see; to know; knowing by mental perception
:10 speak evil – blasphemeo
– to speak reproachfully, revile, blaspheme
They say bad things about beings
they know nothing about
:10 naturally – phusikos
– in a natural manner, by nature, under the guidance of nature: by the aid
of the bodily senses
:10 they know – epistamai
(“upon” + “to stand”) – to put one’s attention on, fix one’s thoughts on,
to turn one’s self or one’s mind to; to be acquainted with, to understand; a
knowledge obtained by proximity to the thing known
:10 brute – alogos
– destitute of reason; contrary to reason, absurd
:10 beasts – zoon
– a living being; an animal, brute, beast
:10 corrupt – phtheiro
– to corrupt, to destroy
In the opinion of the Jews, the
temple was corrupted or "destroyed" when anyone defiled or in the
slightest degree damaged anything in it, or if its guardians neglected their
duties
:9 The Lord rebuke
you!
Lesson
4. Respect
Jude’s point is that these false teachers aren’t following Michael’s
example of treating even the devil with respect.
We ought to “be
afraid” of the devil.
As one of God’s former cherubim, he is a being of enormous intelligence and power.
Our victory
against the devil comes solely from Jesus.
Jesus gave His disciples authority over demons.
(Lk 10:17–20 NKJV) —17
Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons
are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall
like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give
you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power
of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the
spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written
in heaven.”
You too have authority, but it’s Jesus’ authority.
It’s not up to you.
You cannot handle it on your own.
We ought to learn from Michael’s example and simply reply to demonic forces
with, “The Lord rebuke you!”
When Satan comes knocking on the door, turn to Jesus and say, “Lord, it’s
for You!”
And then we stand behind Jesus and let Him answer the door.
Show respect for Rulers
(1 Pe 2:13–17 NKJV)
—13 Therefore
submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the
king as supreme, 14 or to
governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for
the praise of those who do good. 15 For this
is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of
foolish men— 16 as free, yet not
using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God.
Honor the king.
:11 Woe to them!
For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam
for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
:11 way – hodos – a way; a
course of conduct
:11 they have gone – poreuomai – to
lead over, carry over, transfer; to pursue the journey on which one has
entered, to continue on one’s journey; to lead or order one’s life
Aorist deponent indicative
:11 error – plane
– a wandering, a straying about
:11 for profit – misthos – dues
paid for work; reward: used of the fruit naturally resulting from toils and
endeavors
:11 have run greedily – ekcheo – to pour
out, shed forth
Aorist passive indicative
A metaphor for excessive
indulgence.
It is used in a positive way to
describe God’s love for us:
(Ro 5:5 NKJV) Now hope does not
disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the
Holy Spirit who was given to us.
:11 rebellion – antilogia –
gainsaying, contradiction; opposition, rebellion
:11 perished – apollumi – to
destroy; to kill; metaph. to devote or give over to eternal misery in hell
:11 the way of Cain
Cain was the
first son (Gen. 4) born to Adam and Eve.
Cain had a problem, his younger brother Abel. Cain hated Abel because it seemed that Abel did everything
right, including pleasing God.
In the end, Cain killed his brother Abel.
Lesson
5. Love
John wrote,
(1 Jn 3:11–12 NKJV) —11
For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we
should love one another, 12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his
brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his
brother’s righteous.
The false teachers of Jude’s day were just like Cain, full of hatred.
Are there people you hate?
If you are
giving yourself excuses to hate people, you are in danger.
:11 the error of
Balaam
Balaam was the
fellow (Num. 22-25) who was paid by the king of Moab to put a curse on the
Israelites as they were moving through his country on the way to the Promised
Land.
As Balaam was on his way to pronounce a curse on Israel, God warned Balaam
about what he was going to say.
Peter wrote,
(2 Pe 2:15–16 NKJV)
—15
They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way
of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages
of unrighteousness; 16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a
man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.
Balaam was the
fellow whose donkey turned around and spoke to him. And to make things funnier,
he spoke back to the donkey.
As Balaam tried to conjure up a curse, he kept coming out with blessings on
Israel instead of curses.
The story sounds as if he goes home without getting paid, but if you follow
the story more fully you realize that he eventually found a way to earn his
paycheck.
He came up with the idea of using the young, cute Moabite women to entice
the Israelite men into sexual
immorality, and then bringing God’s judgment on them.
Lesson
6. Generosity
That’s the opposite of “greed”.
The false teachers of Jude are cut out of the same cloth as Balaam.
Balaam’s
motto: Do anything for a buck.
It’s all about the money.
It’s possible you
might make a few bucks if this is your motto, but there’s a very good chance
you will also end up in hell. Paul
wrote,
(1 Ti 6:9–10 NLT) —9 But people
who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and
harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money
is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered
from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
:11 the rebellion
of Korah
Korah
was a man who wanted to be a priest, to be in charge (Num. 16). The problem was, God didn’t want him to be a
priest. God had chosen Aaron to be the
priest.
Korah
organized a rebellion among the Israelites to force his way into the
priesthood.
Moses didn’t know what to do with Korah, and so
God told him to simply make a test and have both Korah
and Aaron offer incense to God. In the
end, Korah was destroyed and Aaron saved the people.
Lesson
7. Submit
As Americans, we have problems with the concept of submitting.
We think it’s simply “American” to rebel against the “man”.
Play “The
Patriot” clip.
The problem
comes when you find that what you might be rebelling against is actually God.
What if God has allowed that difficult boss to be in your life to teach you
some important life lessons?
(1 Pe 2:13–17 NKJV) —13
Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the
Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him
for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.
15 For this is the
will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish
men— 16 as free, yet not
using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people.
Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
Submission is not fun.
Yet it’s a lesson we all need to learn, every single one of us.
Ultimately submitting to others is about developing our
skills of submitting to God.
We’ve seen
seven lessons from history:
Believe, Purpose, Purity, Respect, Love, Generosity, and Submit.
These are the things the false teachers were not.
These are the things we ARE to be.