Three Examples of the Consequences for Unbelief
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 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. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
1. God liberated all people from slavery in Egypt, Exodus 3:6-8, however not all of Israel feared God or were willing to put their trust in God, as witnessed by their refusal to follow Joshua into the promised land. As a result God destroyed those who refused to believe. Deuteronomy 1:34-40
2. In reference to Genesis 6:4, the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them… These angels lusted after the daughters of men and were willing to give up their positions of authority and their home (planets?) to be with the daughters of men. As a result God has bound them until the final day of Judgment.
3. Finally, Jude refers to Genesis 18 & 19, The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
The men of Sodom and Gomorrah ignored the Sovereignty of God, ignoring the Created order and instead lusted after each other and angels. As a result they too were judged by God. Or as Paul observed, “God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” With these three examples Jude wants the church to see the importance of Contending for the Truth. There are real consequences both for individual believers and for the church at large for neglecting to do so. Although liberated from slavery, Israel refused to trust God, constantly falling into lust and rebellion. Angels were willing to give up their angelic positions in their lust after women. Sodom abandoned the natural order and faced God’s judgment.