Jude 5 5Now I want to remind you, although you have known all things, that the Lord, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
Jude next gives three examples of things “written long ago” (verse 4) from Israel’s history that illustrate the problem and solution for his readers. Each of these examples serves as a warning to those who turn away from God and follow the way of self and the flesh. The readers should have already known these are stories, or at least the key point they make. The connection between their situation and what happened long ago should be clear enough. They knew the truth of the shared salvation that had been passed down through the apostles and other “saints” (verse 3).
The first example comes from the story of Israel’s escape from Egypt and the people’s rebellion against God in in Numbers 14:1–38; 26:64-65. A difficult textual variant appears in this verse in reference to Lord. A significant number of ancient manuscripts have “Jesus” instead of Lord (kyrios). However, a strong case can be made based on manuscript evidence and theological reasoning that Jude originally wrote Lord. The Greek word kyrios most often refers to Jesus in the New Testament, but not exclusively. Jude could simply be referring to how God rescued Israel from Egypt, and so Jude is not making any significant Christological claim. If he meant “Jesus,” he could be writing figuratively and using Egypt to represent slavery to sin. Perhaps the ungodly people had tried to use the Old Testament in a way that distorted the story, and Jude was trying to correct that.
This verse warns all who remain in sin and reject the orthodox message of salvation through Jesus Christ, who is not only the savior but also the judge. Unbelief and rejection of him will have consequences. This recalls what Jesus said in John 3:18: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Jude sets out the choice clearly right at the beginning of this short letter. How we respond to Jesus determines everything. It appears that the readers may have forgotten some of the fundamentals of their faith because they knew all this at one time but had been fooled by false teachers. We must also be vigilant in our study of the truth that is found in Jesus.