Men Bible Study - Jude 1:6

Jude 1:6, “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home – these He has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.”

Interesting points:

1. Building on the previous verse about godless men who have infiltrated the church and insist on changing the grace of God into a license to sin, Jude expounds on the second of three examples of those who turned away from God to reap their just punishment. In this verse, Jude refers to angels that rebelled against God's authority. They left their assigned roles and abandoned Heaven.

2. This event probably builds on non-Biblical references (such as the writings of Enoch) and is also briefly mentioned in Isaiah 14:12–21 and Ezekiel 28:12–19 referring to the rebellion in heaven that Satan led against God in the dawn of human history where he led as many as one third of the angels from their abode in heaven. Apparently, Satan and these angels were not content with the positions of authority God had assigned them. As they wanted greater authority, they rebelled against God.

3. Some scholars cite rebellious angels, called "sons of God" in Genesis 6:2 who cohabited with "the daughters of man" giving birth the Nephilim, translated as "fallen ones," or "giants".

4. The non-biblical book (writings) of Enoch describes several instances of God's judgment against fallen angels. At any rate, Jude uses their example to point out that God even punished rebellious spiritual beings, chaining them in a place of darkness, where they await sentencing (as also recorded in 2 Peter 2:4) – most likely sharing the fate of Satan, who is consigned to eternal punishment in the lake of burning sulfur, as written in Revelation 20:7–10.

Application:

Brothers, what another sobering verse that reminds us that God rightly deals harshly with spiritual rebellion! Given the very dear cost in redeeming us from our sin, this makes sense. God’s grace and our salvation through the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ absolutely must not be changed into a “license for immorality” – the conscious decision to live in sin.

The decision to turn away from God, His ways and His purpose for us will have eternal consequences. Given the severity He dealt with the angels – who knew Him intimately, having been in His presence – we are forewarned that our eternal, unshakable, holy God will deal with us in kind! This short span on earth we call life is limited and our decisions have eternal consequences.

May we approach our faith deliberately, honoring God with our priorities, choices and entire being!