Sermon Tone Analysis

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Sunday August 7, 2022

www.wenstrom.org

Jude Series: Jude 6-The Judgment of the Sons of God in Genesis 6:2 and 4

Lesson # 10

Jude 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.

(NIV)

Now, as we noted, Jude 6 describes the actions of these fallen angels of Satan as those “who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling.”

(NIV)

There is an emphatic contrast between these two descriptions of these fallen angels who possessed the bodies of unregenerate men during antediluvian period and procreated with women.

Namely, it is between these angels residing in their own sphere of activity and abandoning this sphere of activity or dimension of their habitation which was ordained by God for the angels.

The noun archē, “positions of authority” speaks of the sphere of angelic activity, which some of the angels of Satan left during the antediluvian period by possessing the bodies of unregenerate men in order to have sex with unregenerate women.

This was an attempt by Satan to prevent the incarnation of the Son of God by corrupting the behavior of the human race so much so that God would have to destroy the entire human race and thus prevent the Son of God from becoming a human being.

This word archē does not pertain to the sphere of authority of these angels since Satan and the fallen angels do have authority over all of sinful humanity as a result of the fall Adam and the Women in the Garden of Eden.

This is also supported by the fact that Satan is the god of this world according to 2 Corinthians 4:4 and the leader of this rebellion against God by a third of His angels according to Revelation 12:4.

Furthermore, Satan and his angels have power over all of unregenerate humanity according to 1 John 5:19.

Thus, these fallen angels who possessed the bodies of men in order to have sex with unregenerate women during the antediluvian period were not departing from their sphere of authority over these women.

But rather they were in fact departing from their sphere of activity which prohibited them from possessing the bodies of men in order to experience sex with these women.

The noun oikētērion (οἰκητήριον), “dwelling” speaks of the dimension in which the angels conduct their activities and which dimension cannot be seen by human beings unless God permits.

Furthermore, the verb apoleipō (ἀπολείπω), “abandoned” pertains to giving up something with the intent of never claiming it again.

Therefore, it is expressing the idea that some of the fallen angels led by Satan during the antediluvian period “abandoned” their place of habitation or dimension of habitation in the sense that they departed from it with no intention of returning.

Jude 6 asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ “had kept” these fallen angels of the antediluvian period “in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.” (NIV)

This assertion describes not only the present incarceration of these fallen angels of the antediluvian period but also their future judgment at the Great White Throne Judgement (Rev.

20:11-15).

The noun desmos (δεσμός), “chains” is not literal but rather they are metaphorical or figurative since a literal chain cannot restrain an angel like it can a human since the former are not restricted by matter of any type.

Rather these fallen angels are restrained by the fact that they are placed in darkness without any light and angels need light to function.

This is supported by the prepositional phrase hypo zophon (ὑπὸ ζόφον), “in darkness,” which expresses the idea of being under the control of total supernatural darkness.

Furthermore, after Satan’s fall, the Lord placed the earth and the entire time, matter space continuum under total supernatural darkness as the judgment for Satan’s rebellion against Him (Is.

14:12-14; Ezek.

28:11-19).

This is why Genesis 1:2 describes the earth as shrouded in darkness since before the creation of mankind, it was the abode of Satan and the angels whose rebellion began on planet earth (cf.

Ezek.

28:11-19; Is. 14:12-14).

“Darkness” engulfed the earth and expresses the absence of God as a result of His judgment upon the earth.

Throughout Scripture when the earth is covered in darkness it speaks of God’s judgment and furthermore, when the earth is flooded it always speaks of God’s judgment throughout Scripture.

Darkness in the Bible is associated with evil and the kingdom of darkness and darkness is symbolic of evil.

The description of earth as an empty desolation and having darkness over the surface of the ocean depths paints a very negative picture and this picture is not one of blessing, but of cursing instead.

We would expect that when God creates there would be light and life but this is not described in Genesis 1:2.

God did not create the earth to be an empty desolation but it became that because of God’s judgment of the angels in eternity past before mankind was created.

Therefore, this prepositional phrase hypo zophon (ὑπὸ ζόφον), “in darkness” is expressing the idea that the fallen angels who rebelled against God during the antediluvian period are kept for the Great White Throne Judgment by means of eternal chains “under subjection to” or “under the control” of darkness.

The noun hemera (ἡμέρα), “day” is not only the judgment of the fallen angels of Satan of Genesis 6 but also every fallen angel and Satan.

The adjective megas (μέγας), “great” pertains to something which is remarkable or out of the ordinary in degree, magnitude or effect and pertains to being above standard in intensity.

It indicates that this judgment of the fallen angels is above all judgments that God has exercised throughout human and angelic history since it is the final judgment of every unregenerate human being and fallen angel.

Like Jude 6, 1 Peter 3:18-20 and 2 Peter 2:4 also describe the present imprisonment of these fallen angels of the antediluvian period and identifies the name of the place of their incarceration.

1 Peter 3:18 Because Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh but by being made alive in the spirit.

3:19 In it he went and preached to the spirits in prison, 3:20 after they were disobedient long ago when God patiently waited in the days of Noah as an ark was being constructed.

In the ark a few, that is eight souls, were delivered through water.

(NET)

In verse 19, the phrase “the spirits in prison” refers to these fallen angels of Genesis 6:2 and 4 and Jude 6.

This is clearly indicated by the fact that this rebellion is associated with the flood judgment in the days of Noah.

2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned but threw them into hell and locked them up in chains in utter darkness, to be kept until the judgment, 2:5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, when God brought a flood on an ungodly world.

(NET)

In verse 4, “threw them into hell” is translating the verb tartaroō (ταρταρόω), which means “to imprison in Tartarus.”

Therefore, the fallen angels described in Genesis 6:2 and 4 as “the sons of God” and whose rebellion is described in Jude 6 are now presently imprisoned in a place called “Tartarus.”

Like Jude 6, 2 Peter 2:4 describes these angels as being restrained in total supernatural darkness until their sentence to experience eternal condemnation is executed at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev.

20:11-15).

“The Judgment” in 2 Peter 2:4 and the expression “for the purpose of executing the judgment during the great day” (Lecturer’s translation) in Jude 6 both refer to the Great White Throne Judgment.

Revelation 20:10 teaches that the fallen angels of Genesis 6:2, 4, who are mentioned in 1 Peter 3:18-20, 2 Peter 2:4-5 and Jude 6 will remain imprisoned in Tartarus until their sentence of experiencing eternal condemnation in the lake of fire is executed at the end of human history.

Jude 6 would be a firm reminder to the Christian community in Judaea that their rebellious unregenerate countrymen who called themselves “Zealots” and were rebelling against the authority of the Roman Empire over Judaea would receive the same fate as the rebellious angels in the days of Noah.

The reader must remember that this authority of the Roman government over Judea was ordained by God as revealed in the prophecies of Daniel which was ordained by God according to the contents of Daniel 2, 7; 9:24-27 and 11.

These passages all describe the times of the Gentiles when the Jews would be subject to the Gentile powers in contrast to the millennial reign of Christ when the situation will be reversed.

Furthermore, in Romans 13:1-7, the apostle Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit reminded the Christian community in Rome that they must submit to the Roman civil authorities which were ordained by God.

The apostle Peter did the same when teaching the Jewish Christian community throughout the Roman Empire in 1 Peter 2:13-14.