The Demonic Confinement of Jude 6

This entry is part 15 of 20 in the series Spiritual Realms

No term is associated with this text other than a description:  “kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.”

Jude 1:5-7 (NIV)
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home–these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

The book of Jude writes about false teachers who have snuck into the church without notice bringing godless doctrines to congregations.

The immediate context of Jude 6, the reference in question, is an establishment of God’s faithfulness to bring judgment on those who corrupt his plans.

Later in the text, Jude references the book of Enoch:

Jude 1:14-15 (NIV)
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

·         The book of Enoch is not scripture.  It is a pseudepigraphal book of historical Jewish reference, but which was not canonized into the Bible.

o   However, Jude’s quotation of Enoch indicates that the subject matter he quotes is authoritative.  Just as when another biblical author quotes another historical book, the quoted subject matter is considered authoritative due to the author’s use of it in the canonized scripture.

o   Here, Jude quotes Enoch 2, a chapter which contains one verse only.  This verse is quoted fully by Jude in verses 14-15.

§  A continued reading of Enoch indicates the crimes which Jude speaks of.  They are the very same crimes he noted in verse 6: 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home–these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.

·         Enoch catalogues that angels, chose human wives, had children by them which were giants.  These giants consumed the earth and were taught every type of evil, sorcery and warfare.

·         Enoch then details the following:

o   The son of Lamech (Noah) is told that a flood will consume and destroy the earth because of the acts of the demons

o     The demons are cast into a place of darkness until the final judgment, at which time they will be cast into eternal fire

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Deductions

·         Demonic angels who committed a specific act of disobedience are cast into this place

·         This place is a place of confinement until the last judgment, where these demons are held “for judgment on the great Day.”

o   This place is referenced as a punishment in accordance with a quote from Enoch, which details a specific act of angelic disobedience:  the procreation between human women and demons

·         This place includes bondage with chains: “bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.”

Conclusions

·         This place is one and the same as Tartarus of 2 Peter 2:4

o   It is a place of confinement for the whole of history, until the final judgment

o   Those confined there are angelic in nature

o   This confinement is due to a particularly evil act

o   This confinement includes being bound within, by chains or locked room (dungeon)

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