And the angels who
did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in
everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;
Jude 6
Dear Heavenly
Father, it has been a busy week and I'm late in completing my Bible Study. I can tell when I'm not in your Word. Please help me to focus on the verse tonight. Help me understand what it means and find
application for my life. Thank you Lord
for everything. In Jesus' name I pray,
Amen.
Jude is continuing
to provide actual examples of failures.
Specifically, Jude is talking about apostasy which is abandonment and
renunciation of a religious of political belief. This verse is a continuation of the previous
verse since it starts with "and."
In verse 5, Jude is "reminding" his audience. Jude is telling them something that they
already know but had forgotten or ignored.
Jude is warning of something not to repeat. To bring deeper understanding to today's
text, let's examine some key words and their companion or similar verses.
"Angels"
in the Greek is aggelos which means
messenger, conveying news from God to men, delegate, either human or heavenly,
envoy, given into sin and serve Satan/devil.
This word has as it's root either ago
which is lead, guide, bring or agele
which is flock or herd. Jude is
describing heavenly delegates that have flocked to sin and are following
Satan.
2 Peter 2:4 states
"For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to
hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for
judgment." Matthew 25:4 clarifies
these angels more, "Then He will also say to those on the left hand,
‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil
and his angels." These verses
mirror Jude 6 stating that the devil and his angels are doomed. Revelation 20:2,3, and 10 describe this
judgement further, "He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who
is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him
into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he
should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But
after these things he must be released for a little while. . . . The devil, who
deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and
the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and
ever."
Since Jude is
reminding of historical examples, these angels are already in the bottomless pit. We have to read in Genesis to see
how they got there. Genesis 6:1-4 states
" Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the
earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters
of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all
whom they chose. And the Lord said, 'My Spirit shall not strive with man
forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty
years.' There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when
the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them.
Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown." "Sons of God" in this text are
taken to be fallen angels and the "daughters of men" are descendants
of Adam. Job 1:6 clarifies the
meaning of "sons of God" by stating "Now there was a day when
the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came
among them." With the wickedness of
men and the strange offspring of women and angels, God judged the world with a
flood sending the fallen angels into darkness.
On a side note, this Genesis excerpt seems to indicate how long man can
live - 120 years. The oldest verified
person, Jeanne Calment, lived 122 years.
She is the only person known out of billions who lived to exceed 120
years.
"Keep" in
the Greek is tereo which means stay,
guard, observe, watch over, take care of, attend to carefully, not to throw
away, not to leave. "Domain"
in the Greek is arche which means
positions, authority, designated place of power, ruler, beginning, initial
starting point, priority because ahead of the rest, principalities, first
place. These angels didn't attend to
carefully or guard their designated place of power. They threw it all away for fleeting sin.
"Abode" in
the Greek is oiketerion which means
habitation, body as a dwelling, place for spirit, residence. These angels left the spirit to dwell with
the devil.
"Reserved"
in the Greek is tereo which means
slightly different than when it was used for "keep." In this instance, it means kept intact,
preserve, spiritually guard, hold firmly, to undergo something, he keeps. "Chains" in the Greek is desmos which means imprisonment, bonds,
impediment, infirmity. God holds these
angels firmly in preparation to undergo something in eternal imprisonment.
"Darkness"
in the Greek is zophos which means
murky, appalling gloom, foreboding, apocalyptic, indescribable despair, nether
world, blackness, shrouding like a cloud.
This prison which these angels have chosen to dwell is a bottomless
indescribable absence of hope enveloped in appalling gloom.
"Judgement"
in the Greek is krisis which means
decision, sentence, accusation, positive (righteousness), negative (condemns
sin), verdict (usually negative).
"Great" in the Greek is megas
which means large, in the widest sense, abundant, notable, important, sacred,
prepared on a grand scale.
"Day" in the Greek is hemera
which means the period from sunrise to sunset, without intermission. God will pronounce the angels' negative
verdict on the sacred day of final decision, the day appointed from the
beginning where everyone will be judged.
The angels didn't
stay where they were designated to be.
They left their responsibilities and fled to sin drawn there by Satan
himself. This act of disobedience
condemned them to an everlasting prison shackled to indescribable despair. In that place, they wait for the great day
where they will be cast into the lake of fire and be tormented day and night
forever and ever.
Stay where you
belong, not to the left and not to the right, but in the center of God's
will. Keep your eyes fixed on
Jesus. Hebrews 12:1-2 states
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares
us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God."
And angels who did
not keep their own designated place of power, but abandoned their proper
dwelling place, [these] He has kept in eternal chains under [the thick gloom of
utter] darkness for the judgment of the great day,
Amplified Bible
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