Duelling With Jude v.7

v.7 “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.”

A favourite story of my teachers back when I was in school was the boy who cried wolf. It wasn't aimed specifically at me, I promise, but thinking back it does highlight the natural tendency within all of us to deceive – or tell lies, to put it more bluntly.

Jude 7 highlights the horrific consequences of deceiving ourselves, firstly, and then of deceiving others, concerning judgement for sin.

Jude has been building his case against the false teachers and their teaching regarding sin. In verses 1 and 2 we noted Jude’s propensity for using triplets. Here we see how skilfully he uses them in building such a strong argument against this false teaching, as he uses real Old Testament events to draw upon to put forward his case.

In v.5 we saw that God judges the ungrateful and unbelieving. In v.6 we saw that God judges the proud and rebellious. Finally, in v.7 we see that God judges the sexual immoral. The key point to note here is that this sinful immorality was indulged in because judgement for that sin was denied. Despite this denial, judgement came.

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is well known, and its finale plays out in Genesis 19. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and family, had at first moved to near the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, before succumbing to its sinful allure and moving into the city of Sodom itself.

God then reveals to Abraham that He plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah due to its continued extravagant depravity. Abraham pleads for the lives of Lot and his family, and in response God sends angels to retrieve them from the city of Sodom before it is destroyed. Lot and his two daughters were saved, although Lot’s wife turned back toward Sodom and was turned into a pillar of salt.

Sodom and Gomorrah were both destroyed by fire and brimstone.

The lesson is clear. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for their wickedness, having continued to indulge in it in denial of the threat of any kind of judgement for that wickedness. Lot and family, foolishly, were content to live within that wickedness. They were saved by the skin of their teeth, although Lot’s wife’s heart was shown to have tragically become entangled with the wickedness of Sodom.

It can be amusing to watch young children play hide and seek where the hiding child closes their eyes upon the presumption that if they can’t see the seeker, then the seeker cannot see them.

It is heart-breaking to see how, based upon the same premise as the young child, so many people’s belief regarding judgement consists of, “Well, if I tell myself there is no judgement then there will be no judgement for me.”

Satan may be the great deceiver, and the father of lies (John 8:44), but our natural, sinful hearts are not too far behind.

Ephesians 4:22 highlights how our natural selves will do whatever it takes to get us to sin, including deceiving ourselves. We become completely corrupted by the deceitful lusts found within our own hearts.

We must understand that we do this to ourselves! It is our hearts! Our flesh! Us! Our hearts are “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9).

We can run from believing in judgement all we want, being happy to deceive ourselves, but the lesson we learn from Sodom and Gomorrah is that judgement will come. It will find us and when it does there will be nowhere to run or hide.

Jesus quotes from Hosea 10:8 when speaking of judgement, telling of the horrifying scene for those whom judgement has caught up to, of their harrowing and desperate pleas for the mountains to fall down upon them rather than having to face their impending damnation (Luke 23:30).

Sin should not be toyed with. We are doing no more than deceive ourselves if we tell ourselves it is okay.

Think of the people of Sodom, and of Lot, his wife and family, and ask yourself which side of salvation you are truly on. There was little noticeable difference in how they all looked at the time judgement came, except that Lot finally fled from sin before it was too late.

Lot’s wife perhaps leaves us with the starkest lesson of all. Her heart became so entangled with sin that even when she knew she needed to flee her heart would just not allow her to.

We also mustn’t forget how, in Genesis 18, Abraham interceded with God on behalf of Lot and his family. He prayerfully (and quite boldly) begged and pleaded for their rescue.

Abraham’s prayerful intercession was used by God to bring His sovereign will to pass. In the light of such an important issue, please also consider your own place in prayerful intercession for those within the covenant community and their battles against sin and temptation – as well as for those still without the covenant community – that they would find the mercy of God and flee from any and all entanglements with sin.