Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Jude 1:5

"Now I desire to put you in remembrance, though ye know all things once for all, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not." — Jude 1:5 (ASV)

As Peter did in 2 Peter 1:12, Jude states that his readers already know what he is about to say but that he will remind them of it. So he gives them three examples of the Lord’s judgments: on the unbelievers at the time of the Exodus, on the fallen angels, and on Sodom and Gomorrah. In each instance the objects of judgment are notable rebels against the Lord.

The first example is that of Israel, who experienced the great display of God’s grace in the Exodus, saw and heard his revelation at Sinai, and received his care in the wilderness; yet a number of them disbelieved and rebelled. Obviously this is not an instance of people being saved and then losing their salvation. Jude describes the rebels as “those who did not believe.” The Israelites were physically delivered from bondage, not by their faith as a nation, but by God’s covenant love and mercy. The warning in this judgment is against unbelief and rebellion.