Yesterday's Sin Becomes Today's Compromise

Intro: Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. Jude gives these historical examples because the need to contend for the faith never ends.

Historical Examples

Unbelief

Exodus - “I know you know this, but I am going to tell you anyway”

Upon their arrival at Kadesh Barnea, which bordered the Promised Land of Canaan, they sent out twelve spies to survey the land and its people (Numbers 13:18-25). They returned after forty days of exploration. Ten of the spies had a bad report: “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are…All the people we saw were of great size…We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes” (Numbers 13:31-33). Only Joshua and Caleb dissented (Numbers 14:6-7). Believing the report of the ten doubters, the people lost heart and rebelled. They “raised their voices and wept aloud,” grumbling against Moses and Aaron, saying, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?” (Numbers 14:1-2, emphasis added).

Numbers 14:26-38 “And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection. I the LORD have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’ ” Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land, those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the LORD. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.

God said I will give you the land and they, because of fear, didn’t believe him.

Rebellion

Angels

Genesis 6:1-4 “Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 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. 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.” 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.”

2 Peter 2:4 “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;”

These angels were created by God as perfect beings to fill a specific role and they chose to rebel against their creator and purpose.

Depravity

Sodom and Gomorrah

Genesis 18:22-32 “Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?” So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.” And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?” So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.” Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.” Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”

While the story told in Genesis 19 is certainly one surrounding the sin of sexual assault the rest of Scripture makes clear that the overarching sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was homosexuality.

Application

As we consider the historical examples of Jude we must ponder the question, has the world really changed that much?

This world is not our home, nor should we try to make it our home. For the believer this life should just be our attempt to do the most good for God’s glory as we can this side of our heavenly home.

Modern Examples

Dreamers (v. 8)

Jude calls them dreamers probably because they are false prophets using dreams to legitimize their heresy. “God told me in a dream...”

Notice the way the modern examples parallel the old in two ways.

Defile the flesh - depravity

Reject Authority - rebellion

Jude adds this third accusation: “speak evil of dignitaries”

The Greek word “dignitaries” is probably a reference to angelic beings.

What I think Jude is getting at is that they do not take spiritual things seriously.

The Devil is no joke. This leads into Jude’s next example:

Devil (v. 9)

Michael the archangel is described in the Bible, in the books of Daniel, Jude, and Revelation, as a warrior angel who engages in spiritual combat. The word archangel means “angel of the highest rank.” Most angels in the Bible are portrayed as messengers, but Michael is described in all three books as contending, fighting, or standing against evil spirits and principalities (Daniel 10:13; 21; Jude 1:9; Revelation 12:7). We do not have a full picture of any angel, and only two are named in the Bible (Gabriel is the other). Scripture only gives us hints of their movements during human events, but it is safe to say that Michael the archangel is a powerful being.

While this verse has many unanswered questions, like why they were disputing over the body of Moses, the main point of this verse is that Michael the Archangel for all his power was unwilling to rebuke Satan on his own authority. Thus the point is that if Michael takes the Devil that seriously shouldn't we as well?

One mark of immaturity is the inability to take serious things seriously.

Immature people make a joke about everything

Immature people avoid the hard conversations - This leads the final point that Jude makes in this section regarding the judgement of this people.

Destruction (v. 10, 11)

Summary of the world:

They don’t know what they are talking about. (How can they? they do not have the Holy Spirit to illuminate the truth to them.)

They are unrestrained. They act like animals doing whatever feels good.

Woe to them!

This is a phrase used in Scripture to announce impending judgment.

3 Examples:

They have followed the way of Cain. Cain was the prototypical model of one who departed from God’s truth.

They have rushed for profit in error of Balaam. Balaam was that prophet who hired himself out against Israel for money. His name became synonomous with greed.

They will perish is the rebellion of Korah. Korah and his followers rebelled against the authority of Moses and Aaron. As a result God cause the earth to open up and swallow them whole.

What do we do with this information? - Ephesians 5:15-17

Be Circumspect - “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,

Redeem the Time - redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Do God’s Will - Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.