This is the eighth lesson in a series of lessons on the book of Jude. In this lesson I do an exposition of Jude 1:5.
Watch the video or scroll down to read a transcript.
Transcript:
Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. This is the eighth lesson in a series of lessons on the book of Jude. In this lesson I’m going to look at verse five.
In the first lesson I talked about why Jude was written and why it’s in the Bible. Essentially, Jude recognized that people had crept into the church who were turning the grace of God into sensuality and denying Jesus. He wrote to address those issues.
For the purposes of this series of lessons, I’ve divided Jude into five sections. The first section is the introduction. The second section reminds us that Jesus is a judge. The third section is where Jude described the problem he was addressing. The fourth section is where Jude stated how Christians should respond to this. And the fifth section is the conclusion.
In this lesson I’m going to start looking at the second section, which is verses five through seven. Specifically, in this lesson I’ll look at verse five.
Before I get into that, let’s talk about why Jude pointed out that Jesus is a judge. If you remember, in verse four, we saw why Jude wrote the book of Jude.
Jude 4 For certain people crept in secretly, those who were long ago designated into this judgment, ungodly people turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.
Jude recognized that certain people had crept into the church secretly and were turning the grace of God into sensuality. In other words, they were taking advantage of God’s grace. They were abusing God’s grace. They more or less had the mentality that since God is gracious and has forgiven us our sins, that means there aren’t consequences for sin, and we can get away with a lot of things. Jude wrote to address that.
In this section where Jude wrote about Jesus being a judge, he used three illustrations. He talked about the Exodus. He talked about angels. He also talked about Sodom and Gomorrah. In this lesson, I’m going to look at verse five, which tells us about the Exodus.
Let’s start reading at verse three. Verse three and four is where Jude stated why he wrote the book. In verse five we’ll see Jude talking about Jesus as a judge.
Jude 3 Beloveds, making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you urging you to contend for the faith which has been delivered over once for all to the saints.
Jude 4 For certain people crept in secretly, those who were long ago designated into this judgment, ungodly people turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.
Jude 5 Now I want to remind you, you who know all things once for all, that Jesus, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.
Let’s break this first down. First, Jude said he wanted to remind. The pronoun you refers to the people to whom he was writing. He wasn’t telling them something new. He was reminding them of something.
He pointed out that they know all things once for all. Jude stated he was talking about Jesus. And he reminded his readers that Jesus had saved a people out of the land of Egypt. However, even though he saved those people, he subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.
Notice the contrast. On the one hand, Jesus saved a people. On the other hand, he destroyed some of the ones that he saved out of the land of Egypt. He destroyed the ones who did not believe.
Let’s go to the Old Testament and read about God saving a people out of the land of Egypt.
Ex. 12:29 Now it came about at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle.
Ex. 12:30 Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead.
Ex. 12:31 Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the LORD, as you have said. 32 “Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.”
What we see here is Jesus saving a people out of the land of Egypt. God brought the plagues upon the Egyptians, and through that He forced them to release the Israelites, so that the Israelites could get out of slavery and leave the land of Egypt.
After the Israelites went out of Egypt, they went to Mount Sinai. They received the Mosaic Law. Then they were supposed to go to the Promised Land.
Num. 13:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses saying, 2 “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel;
Moses did that. He sent spies and they came back with a report. Then we read the following.
Num. 13:30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.”
Caleb was saying they should go up, but 10 of the 12 spies who went with him said they were not able to go up.
Num. 14:2 All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!
Num. 14:11 The LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?
Notice the word believe. The Lord’s central complaint to Moses was that the people did not believe Him, despite all the signs that He had performed in their midst.
Num. 14:22 “Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, 23 shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it.
Num. 14:28 “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; 29 your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me.
We see that Jesus subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.
Jude 5 Now I want to remind you, you who know all things once for all, that Jesus, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.
Notice the last word in Jude 5 is believe. In the book of Numbers, we saw that God told Moses He would destroy the Israelites who did not believe Him. Jude 5 states that Jesus subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.
Again, there’s a contrast here. On the one hand, Jesus saved a people out of the land of Egypt. On the other hand, He subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.
There’s a lesson for us in this. Even though Jesus saves and even though Jesus is full of grace, He can and will destroy people who do wrong and who sin. Jude used this illustration as a rebuttal to the people who were turning the grace of God into sensuality. Yes, God is gracious. He is full of grace. However, that doesn’t mean there are no consequences for sin. There are consequences for sin. What Jude was pointing out by referring to the Exodus is that Jesus has demonstrated throughout history, a willingness and ability to punish and destroy those who do not believe and those who sin.
The lesson for us out of this is that Jesus both saves and destroys. Yes, Jesus is gracious and full of grace, but that does not mean there are not consequences for sin. There are consequences for sin, and we need to live our lives accordingly.
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