Men Bible Study - Jude 1:5

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Jude 1:5, “Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered His people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.”

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 recounts three examples of those who turned away from God to reap their just punishment. In this verse, Jude reminds his readers about what happened after the Lord rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. In their mass exodus from Egypt, God’s people were accompanied by many non-Israelites (Exodus 12:37–38). During their journey through the desert, on their way to the Promised Land, a rebellious number of them caused Israel to complain about the Lord's provision of manna: a food from heaven. By complaining, they showed they did not believe in the Lord or in His ability to provide for their needs. They even voiced their regret that they had left Egypt and desired to return there!

2. Psalm 78:32 tells us that in spite of all God's mighty works on behalf of the people in the desert, "they still sinned, they did not believe." Later, these complainers rejected the Lord's command to enter the Promised Land. As a result of their unbelief, Numbers 14 and Hebrews 3:16–19 tell us the Lord wiped out all the complainers – they died in the desert instead of entering the Promised Land.

3. Similarly, the apostates of Jude's day had heard the truth, had seen God save souls, and yet they refused to believe. Hebrews 3:7–12 reinforces Jude’s warning: "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put Me to the test and saw My works for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, "They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways." As I swore in my wrath, "They shall not enter my rest." Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.' "

Application:

Brothers, we can be sure that each of us will stand before God the Father on Judgment Day. In Revelation we read what God spoke to the seven churches about remaining steadfast in the faith, staying away from all kinds of evil, and guarding against apathy. Accepting Jesus as Lord with our lips is relatively simple and many who do so sincerely are like the seeds which fall upon shallow in the Parable of the Sower. They hear God’s invitation with excitement but lacking any real (deep) relationship with Him, they spiritually wither. Although they may go through the motions and deceive others in church or in life – just like many of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day – they will not fool God and will be sadly disappointed when they come to the Master’s throne to be judged.

May we never lose sight of Jude’s warning, never taking our valuable salvation for granted. Let’s continue to take our relationship with our Lord seriously, learning from His Word, speaking with Him through prayer, and hearing what the Holy Spirit reveals to us through the interaction of His Word and real life.