Jude 6-The Implications of the Judgment of the Fallen Angels of Genesis 6.2 and 4
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday May 19, 2022
Jude Series: Jude 6-The Implications of the Judgement of the Fallen Angels of Genesis 6:2 and 4
Lesson # 25
Jude 5 Now, I am prompted to desire to cause each and every one of you to be reminded (even though each of you are possessing a thorough knowledge about each of these examples) that Jesus, sometime after having delivered the people out from the land that is Egypt, destroyed those who would not believe. 6 Correspondingly, He is keeping by means of eternal chains under the control of total supernatural darkness for the purpose of executing the judgment during the great day of those who entered into the state of not keeping their own sphere of activity but in fact abandoned their own place of habitation. (Lecturer’s translation)
As we noted in our study of Jude 5, this verse marks a transition in the body of this letter.
Specifically, it is marking a transition from the identification of the purpose of the epistle in Jude 3-4 to Jude 5-7, which presents three examples of a group of individuals that God judged in the Old Testament for their rebellion against Him.
The first of these examples appears in Jude 5 which speaks of the Lord disciplining unrepentant, apostate members of the Exodus generation who rebelled against Him by not trusting Him even after He delivered them from the bondage of slavery in the land of Egypt.
The second is found in Jude 6 and is the fallen angels of the antediluvian period who rebelled against the Lord by possessing the bodies of men in order to have sex with unregenerate women which resulted in the birth of the Nephilim and the resultant proliferation in the world as a result of these individuals.
The third and final example appears in Jude 7 and is the Lord judging the unrepentant, unregenerate citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah who rebelled against Him by their immoral and unethical behavior.
The contents of Jude 6 are closely related to the concept taught in Jude 5, which we noted asserts that sometime after He delivered the Exodus generation out from the land of Egypt, the Lord Jesus Christ destroyed them as a result of their unrepentant unbelief, which manifested their rebellion against Him.
Jude 6 asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ is keeping by means of eternal chains under the control of total supernatural darkness for the purpose of executing the judgement during the great day against those angels who entered into the state of not keeping their own sphere of activity but rather in fact abandoned their own place of habitation.
Therefore, the concept, which is taught in both Jude 5 and 6 is that the Lord judges those who unrepentantly rebel against Him and therefore, this is the correspondence between these two verses.
Now, Jude 6 is properly interpreted by comparing its contents with the contents of Genesis 6:1-8, 2 Peter 2:4-5 as well as 1 Peter 1:18-20.
This is indicated by the fact that each of these three passages discuss the actions of fallen angels in relation to the judgment of the world-wide flood during the days of Noah.
The period from the fall of Adam to the flood of Noah is called by theologians, “the antediluvian” period.
Secondly, there is a connection between Jude 6 and Genesis 6:1-8 as well as connection between Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4-5.
This is indicated by the fact that the condemnation of the angels described in Jude 6 is fitting in light the actions of “the sons of God” and the Nephilim in Genesis 6:1-8.
Thirdly, like 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6 describes these angels as presently chained under the control of total supernatural darkness and kept incarcerated until the day that their sentence of experiencing eternal condemnation is executed at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:10-15).
Therefore, Genesis 6:1-8, 1 Peter 3:18-20, 2 Peter 2:4-5 and Jude 6 are all speaking about a rebellion of some of Satan’s fallen angels during the antediluvian period.
Altogether, these four passages give us the identity of these angels and when in history they rebelled against the Lord and their present place of incarceration as well as the execution of their sentence of eternal condemnation at the Great White Throne Judgment.
Now, as we noted there is a connection between Jude 6 and Genesis 6:1-8 because the condemnation of the angels described in the former is fitting in light the actions of “the sons of God” and the Nephilim in the latter.
Therefore, like Genesis 6:1-8, Jude 6 describes the rebellious actions of these fallen angels.
In fact, Jude 6 interprets the contents of Genesis 6:2, which asserts that “the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.” (NET)
Jude 6 describes that these actions of “the sons of God” as that of “entering into the state of not keeping their own sphere of activity but rather in fact they abandoned their own place of habitation” (Lecturer’s translation)
Interestingly, Jude 6 employs the verb tēreō (τηρέω) twice.
The first time it appears it is negated by the negative particle me (μή).
Jude uses the word twice in this verse in order to form a play on words in order to emphasize that the punishment of these fallen angels who sin and current incarceration is described in Genesis 6:1-8, 1 Peter 3:18-20, 2 Peter 2:4-5 and Jude 6 fits the sin they committed against God.
In other words, their punishment corresponds to their sin.
Richard Bauckham writes “One reason for Jude’s use of τηρεῖν, ‘to keep,’ here is to make a grim play on words with μὴ τηρήσαντας (“did not keep”) in the first part of the verse. Since the angels have not kept their position, the Lord now keeps them chained. This is an example of the common practice of describing a sin and its judgment in corresponding terms, so that the punishment fits the crime (lex talionis; cf., e.g., 1 Cor 3:17; Rev 16:6). τηρεῖν seems to be one of Jude’s catchwords (cf. vv 1, 13, 21). The angels contrast with faithful Christians who should keep their position in God’s love (v 21) and whom God keeps safe, not for judgment but for salvation at the Last Day (v 1). Such plays on the word are not unlikely, since τηρεῖν, a common word in early Christian (especially Johannine) vocabulary, is similarly played on elsewhere (John 17:6, 11–12; Rev 3:10).”
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.
Herbert Bateman IV writes “Once again, as a national Judaean insurgence against Rome led by a few Zealots was gaining momentum in order to reestablish the kingdom of Israel, was Jude intending for his readers to ponder their place in Roman society? ‘To keep one’s proper station in society,’ says Gene Green, ‘was a high value during the era when Jude wrote. In a stratified society where status and position were marked by both clothing and positions in banquets and the theater, the accusation that these beings had moved outside their proper sphere or realm would have been understood as a transgression without the need for any further mention of their sin.’ This is a significant cultural reality for Judaeans to ponder. They would have been aware of people in the past that either revolted or spoke ill against Rome and/or leaders only to face imprisonment equivalent to that of eternal chains (e.g., Aristobulus in Rome, Ant. 14.123; Herod Agrippa in Rome, J.W. 1.181). Rebellion against Rome was reckoned as criminal behavior (immoral behavior, ἀσέλγειαν, aselgeian) subject to incarceration. Thus the Zealot revolt against Rome was a rejection of God’s desired placement of Judaea within the Roman Empire and counter to other apostolic expectations of all Christians who were Roman subjects (Rom 13:1–7; 1 Pet 2:13–15). Similarly, Jude’s point is when angels disregarded God’s desire for them to reside in heaven, God punished them with divine restraints in a place of total darkness until a final judgment day. Jude concludes his historical memory of rebellion with Gentile urbanites who rejected God’s marital expectations.”