Jesus is God

Jude reads as follows:

Jud 1:5 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.
Jud 1:6 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--
Jud 1:7 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.

Am I understanding this passage correctly in concluding that Jesus in a divine role was actively involved in leading the Jews out of captivity in ancient Egypt and in punishing the Israelites in the Wilderness for refusing to go into Canaan?

I don't know what version you're quoting from. I wouldn't build on it. The KJV has "the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt..."

The KJV uses not the word "Jesus" but the word kurios, which means Lord. However I think it is safe to say that it is speaking of Christ. People opposed to the idea would argue against it though I am sure. Verse 4 ends on the name Jesus Christ, so I guess contextually yes, he is saying Christ. But I am not positive if you were using this to debate with a cultist, that they would acknowledge the validity of it.

Jude uses "Lord" in verse 4 for Jesus and so it is very right I believe that the Lord in verse 5 also applies to Jesus. In fact, in verse 4, Jude uses another Greek word for Lord God as referring to the Father and then 'kurios' in verse 4 for Jesus which kurios is also used in verse 5 as pointed out by AlreadyMind' post.

My question is this Why wouldn't Christ have played a role in leading the Israelites? He was/is an active part of the Eternal Godhead. He is the Alpha Omega, Beginning and End I believe that Christ played an active role in creating out world as well.

mguldner: I agree with you. I have also heard many people talk as if the God of the OT "changed" in someway by what Jesus accomplished on the Cross ( ie God of Grace versus God of Law ) I find the fact that Jesus is the same yesterday ( OT God ) and today consistently wonderful.

Well Matthew, the issue and onus in verses 5-7 is not necessarily intended to be a prooftext for the divinity of Christ. It is to learn the lesson of God's judgment against people and angels whom have caused a defense of the gospel, and a warning against the treachery of turning Gods grace into lewdness. I see no problem in saying that Jesus as Lord did and oversaw those things, I am only trying to say that is not explicitly what the context is trying to put forth.

There are far stronger passages to establish the deity of Christ, and by default, cause us to see all things in the OT through that lens.

For the record, I do believe that Jesus was, as you put forth...leading the Israelites. It is just tenuous to use this as a Trinitarian proof-text, though it does have those shadows in it :)

Note:

I would completely defer to a Greek scholar here as well. I know how to use a concordance, but that is about as far as it goes!

I gotta admit, I have meditated on this little epistle more than any other in the bible over the years, and the thought of introducing Christology to those few verses never really struck me before as Whyme put forth. The implications really are rather staggering when you look at it that way. Jesus really is the same yesterday today and forever. And though many pay lip service to that, there still are barriers in our minds often times that prevent us from seeing things explicitly that way. The captain of our salvation's vesture is saturated in the blood of Edom...

AlreadyMind....agree with you completely. There is some kind of barrier there for me as well. It's almost as if I had subconsciously assumed and read the OT as if Christ created the universe but went into waiting until the incarnation ( with the exception of a few notable theophanies ).

If Jude 5 is read as a reference to Christ, then the ensuing verses speak of Him as well including the chaining of the rebellious angels after the Fall. Amazing.

Before I had similar revelation reading the OT was rather boring but then BAM it came to life and then it became a venture for me to find Christ in the OT stories instead of just reading about Him in the New testament. :)