as Sodom and
Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given
themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set
forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Jude 7
Dear Heavenly
Father, thank you for all the brave men and women who gave the greatest
sacrifice that the United States could be free.
Please help me to cast aside all my anxieties and know that I'm blessed
without the suffering of previous generations or the rest of the world. Thank you that I can freely worship you and
keep me humble by reminding me that many in the world cannot. Please help me to focus on the passage
tonight to understand You more. In
Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Jude is continuing
to provide actual examples of failures.
Specifically, Jude is talking about abandonment and renunciation of
God. This verse is a continuation of the
verse 5 and 6. 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. As previous stated, Jude is
providing another example that resembles and has the same weight of consequence
as Israel rejecting God after being rescued from Egypt and the fallen angels
who had children with women. To bring
deeper understanding to today's text, let's examine some key words and their
companion or similar verses.
"Sodom" in
the Hebrew is sedom which means burning, scorched, burnt, volcanic or
bituminous (from black viscous hydrocarbons).
"Gomorrah" in the Hebrew is amorah which means submersion
(buried), heap, iniquity. The very names
of the cities announce their judgement, buried in fire. Genesis 19:24 states "Then the Lord
rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the
heavens."
"Similar"
in the Greek is homoios which means
likewise, same way, resembling, equal rank, compare to. Although Sodom and Gomorrah were judged, they
weren't the only cities in the Dead Sea valley overcome with this sin. Deuteronomy 29:23 states "‘The whole
land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor
does any grass grow there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and
Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and His wrath.’" Hosea 11:8 further states "'How can I
give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like
Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy
is stirred.'" Along with Sodom and
Gomorrah were the cities, Admah and Zeboiim.
"Having given
themselves over to sexual immorality " in the Greek is ekporneeuo which means I am guilty of
fornication (sexual intercourse between people not married to each other),
gives oneself up to fornication, gross immorality, a lust that gluts itself,
satisfies itself completely, to go a whoring, to be utterly unchaste. The Greek word is made of ek which is out from within (out of depths of
the source) and porneuo which is to
practice idolatry, immorality. Out of
the depths of their very being, these people practice with no humility gross
idolatry that is focused on sexual sin.
"Gone" in
the Greek is aperchomai which means
depart, go away, return, arrive, follow him as a leader, seek anyone for vile
purposes. "Strange Flesh" in
the Greek is made up of two words: heterous
and sarx. When put together, the words
mean not of the same nature of human body, different than human nature. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah sought for
vile purposes sexual perversion that is against human nature which is how God ordered
the world.
"Suffering"
in the Greek is hupoecho which means
submit, suffer, undergo, hold or put under.
It is composed of two words: Hupo
which means under, about, subordinate, subject to power and Echo which means acknowledge, experience,
possess. This people were subject to
God's power to suffer for their sin which they freely embraced and
acknowledged.
"Vengeance"
in the Greek is dike which means
punishment, judgement, justice, just finding, penalty, judicial decision. "Eternal" in the Greek is aionious which means unending, age-long,
outside-inside-beyond time, time independent, without beginning and without
end, never ceasing. "Fire" in
the Greek is pur which means the heat of
the sun (9940 degree F), lightning, strife, trials, eternal fire, extreme penal
torments, apocalypse. The people of
Sodom and Gomorrah had been judged for their sin. Their penalty were torments of heat greater
than 9940 degrees F that would never cease.
If something
consumes your every waking and sleeping hour and is not done for God or is not
about God, you are immersed in perverse idolatry. Focus on Christ.
just as Sodom and
Gomorrah and the adjacent cities, since they in the same way as these angels
indulged in gross immoral freedom and unnatural vice and sensual perversity.
They are exhibited [in plain sight] as an example in undergoing the punishment
of everlasting fire.
Amplified Bible
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