Jesus saved a people out of the land of Egypt
Mon, 29 May, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day– 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
Who saved the people of Israel, leading them of the bondage of Egypt? Jude tells us it was Jesus.
What do we learn from this?
Although the word Trinity is not in scripture, the concept of the Trinity is found all through scripture. For example, in today’s passage, the work of God in freeing Israel from the Egyptian bondage is attributed to Jesus. Jesus Christ was born as a human hundreds of years after the Exodus. But He pre-existed His human incarnation. As the Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son was present and active in the Exodus, so that it is appropriate for Jude to write that Jesus saved a people out of the land of Egypt.
(There are some manuscripts that instead of saying although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved say although you fully knew it, that the Lord who once saved. Thus some argue that Jesus in this passage is incorrect, and this passage does not teach the Trinity. Nevertheless, the doctrine of the Trinity is all through scripture, and the doctrine does not hang on this passage alone.)
Where is Christ in this passage?
Jesus Christ saved a people out of Egypt and destroyed those who did not believe. He is currently keeping the fallen angels in chains until the judgment day. He is in control of the nations, and He will judge the angels and the people.
Jesus Christ is ruling now. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is bringing everything into submission to His rule. And He will return again to judge the nations, the angles and the people at the judgment of the great day.
