Jude
Before we study the book or
letter of Jude it is a good idea to read all 25 verses in different versions of
the bible, so as to gain a fuller and more complete feel for the text.
NIV – the NIV will be the bible version used for the
study.
Jude 1:1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a
brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the
Father and kept by Jesus Christ:
Jude 1:2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
Jude 1:3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to
write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you
to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
Jude 1:4 For certain men whose condemnation was
written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless
men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny
Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Jude 1:5 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.
Jude 1:6 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.
Jude 1:7 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.
Jude 1:8 In the very same way, these dreamers pollute
their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.
Jude 1:9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was
disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a
slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
Jude 1:10 Yet these men speak abusively against
whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by
instinct, like unreasoning animals--these are the very things that destroy
them.
Jude 1:11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of
Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed
in Korah's rebellion.
Jude 1:12 These men are blemishes at your love feasts,
eating with you without the slightest qualm--shepherds who feed only
themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn
trees, without fruit and uprooted--twice dead.
Jude 1:13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up
their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved
forever.
Jude 1:14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied
about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of
his holy ones
Jude 1:15 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."
Jude 1:16 These men are grumblers and faultfinders;
they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter
others for their own advantage.
Jude 1:17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles
of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.
Jude 1:18 They said to you, "In the last times
there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires."
Jude 1:19 These are the men who divide you, who follow
mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
Jude 1:20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up
in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.
Jude 1:21 Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Jude 1:22 Be merciful to those who doubt;
Jude 1:23 snatch others from the fire and save them;
to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by
corrupted flesh.
Jude 1:24 To him who is able to keep you from falling
and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great
joy--
Jude 1:25 to the only God our Savior be glory,
majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages,
now and forevermore! Amen.
1 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,
to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus
Christ:
2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.
3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you
about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that
you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the
saints.
4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were
long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the
grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus
Christ.
5 Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once
for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt,
subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.
6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned
their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the
judgment of the great day.
7 Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since
they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after
strange flesh, are exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of
eternal fire.
8 Yet in the same manner these men, also by dreaming, defile
the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.
9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil
and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a
railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you."
10 But these men revile the things which they do not understand;
and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these
things they are destroyed.
11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay
they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the
rebellion of Korah.
12 These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts
when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without
water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted;
13 wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam;
wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.
14 And about these also Enoch, {in} the seventh {generation}
from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands
of His holy ones,
15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly
of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all
the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."
16 These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their
{own} lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of {gaining
an} advantage.
17 But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were
spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,
18 that they were saying to you, "In the last time there
shall be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts."
19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded,
devoid of the Spirit.
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy
faith; praying in the Holy Spirit;
21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting;
23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have
mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to
make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,
{be} glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and
forever. Amen.
(NAS)
Jude, a servant of Jesus
Christ, the Messiah, and brother of James, (writes this letter) to those who
are called (chosen), dearly loved by God the Father ([a] and separated, set
apart), and kept for Jesus Christ:
May mercy, soul-peace and
love be multiplied to you.
Beloved, my whole concern
was to write to you in regard to our common salvation. (But) I found it
necessary and was impelled to write you and urgently urgently appeal to and
exhort (you) to contend for the faith which was once for all [b]handed down to
the saints – the faith (which is that sum of Christian belief) which was
delivered [c]verbally to the holy people of God.
For certain men have crept
in stealthily – [d]gaining entrance secretly by a side (door). Their doom was
predicted long ago, (impious, profane) ungodly persons who pervert the grace
(the spiritual blessing and favour) of our God into lawlessness and wantonness
and immorality, and disown and deny our sole Master and Lord, Jesus Christ, the
Messiah, the Anointed One.
Now I want to remind you,
though you were fully informed once for all, that though the Lord (at one time)
delivered a people out of Egypt, He subsequently destroyed those (of them) who
did not believe – who (refused) to adhere to, trust in and rely upon Him.
And angels that did not keep
(care for, guard and hold to) their own first place of power but abandoned
their proper dwelling place, He has reserved in custody in eternal chains
(bonds) under the thick gloom of darkness until the judgement and doom of the
great day.
Just as Sodom and Gomorrah
and the adjacent towns; which likewise gave themselves over to impurity and
indulged in unnatural vice and sensual perversity, are laid out (in plain
sight) as an exhibit of perpetual punishment (to warn) of everlasting fire (the
wicked are sentenced to suffer) [Gen 19].
Nevertheless in like manner
these dreamers, also corrupt the body, scorn and reject authority and
government, and revile and libel and scoff at (heavenly) glories (the glorious
ones).
But when (even) the
archangel Michael, contending with the devil, judicially argued (disputed)
about the body of Moses, he dared not (presume to) bring an abusive
condemnation against him, but (simply) said, The Lord rebuke you! [Zech. 3:2]
But these men revile (scoff
and sneer at) anything they do not happen to be acquainted with and do not
understand; and whatever they do understand physically, (that which they now by
mere instinct) like irrational beasts, by these they corrupt themselves and are
destroyed (perish).
Woe to them! For they have
run riotously in the way of Cain, and have abandoned themselves for the sake of
gain (it offers them) to the error of Balaam, and have perished in rebellion
(like that) of Korah! [Gen. 4:3-8, Num. 22-24; 16]
These are (elements of
danger) hidden reefs in your love feasts, where they boldly feast sumptuously –
carousing together (in your midst) – without scruple providing for themselves
(alone).
They are like clouds without
water, swept along by the winds, trees without fruit at the late autumn
gathering time, twice (doubly) dead, lifeless and plucked out by the roots;
Wild waves of the sea,
flinging up the foam of their own shame and disgrace, wandering stars for whom
the gloom of eternal darkness has been reserved forever.
It was of these people
moreover that Enoch in the seventh (generation) from Adam prophesied when he
said, Behold the Lord comes with Myriads of holy ones – ten thousand of His
saints;
To execute judgement upon
all the impious (unholy ones) of all their ungodly deeds which they have
committed (in such an) ungodly (way), and of all the severe – abusive,
soul-jarring – things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.
These are inveterate
murmurers (grumblers), that complain (of their lot in life), going after their
own desires – controlled by their passions; their talk is boastful and
arrogant, (and they claim to) admire men’s persons and pay people flattering
compliments to gain advantage.
But you must remember,
beloved, the predictions which were made by the apostles (the special
messengers) of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One.
They told you beforehand, In
the last days (in the end time) there will be scoffers – who seek to gratify
their own unholy desires- following their own ungodly passions.
It is these who are
(agitators) setting up distinctions and causing divisions; merely sensual
(creatures) – carnal, worldly-minded people – devoid of the (Holy) Spirit and
destitute of any higher spiritual life.
But you beloved, build
yourselves up (founded) on your most holy faith – make progress, rise like an
edifice higher and higher – praying in the Holy Spirit;
Guard and keep yourselves in
the love of God; expect and patiently wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Messiah, (which will bring you) unto life eternal.
And (refute (so as to)
convict some who dispute with you, and) on some have mercy who waver and doubt.
(Strive to) save others,
snatching (them) out of (the) fire; on others take pity (but) with fear,
loathing even the garments spotted by the flesh and polluted by their
sensuality [Zech. 3:2-4]
Now to Him who is able to
keep you without stumbling, or slipping, or falling and to present (you)
unblemished (blameless and faultless) before the presence of His glory – with
unspeakable, ecstatic delight – in triumphant joy and exultation.
To the one only God, our
Saviour through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory (splendour), majesty, might and
dominion, and power and authority, before all time and now and forever – unto
all ages of eternity Amen- so be it.
It must be remembered that
the NIV is a ‘dynamic equivalent’, which translates a phrase. Whereas the New
American Standard Bible is a literal translation that takes each word
individually. The amplified Version gives not only a literal understanding but
also attempts to clarify shades of meaning that may be concealed.
It is also important to read
one of the paraphrase versions such as the Living Bible or the Message. These
take a phrase and translate it into modern language using the idioms of today
to enhance understanding.
However it must be said that
the more effort taken by translators to bring understanding the greater risk of
them producing a view or an opinion of what scripture says. Therefore, for
serious study we should use each version appropriately and the writer will rely
on the work of others, whose material will be listed in the bibliography, to
discover what Jude was saying to the letters recipients and the influence that
the letter should have in today’s church.
I became fascinated by this
short letter, described by Barclay as “The difficult and neglected letter”[a],
when I read “Keep yourselves in God's love” in my daily bible reading. This
sparked a number of questions and the investigation that is recorded here.
The letter has much to say
to the modern church and addresses much of what we call ‘today’s culture’,
human rights and liberty. It also gives guidance to what the role the church
should play in the 21st century. These 25 verses are packed full of
spiritual insights and principles. The letter revolves around two thoughts one
of us keeping; the other is of us being kept. We see in the letter the
responsibilities and rest we find in God through Christ Jesus.
The author
The author is “Jude, a
servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James”
The authors name is
translated as Jude in most versions of the bible, with only the revised version
using the name Judas. Jude is the
English form of the name Judas (Ioudas), the Greek form of Judah, which
literally means, ”to give thanks, laud, praise”[b]. The anglicanised version of
the name was used to disassociate the writer from Judas Iscariot.
We should ask ourselves
which James is the James spoken of in the verse? Only one James would be so
recognised in the early church as not to need qualification and that is James
the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He was the brother of Jesus as stated in
Galatians by Paul
Gal 1:19 I saw none of
the other apostles--only James, the Lord's brother.
This would mean that Jude
was the youngest half-brother Jesus who was named by Matthew.
Mat 13:55 "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?
We can only wonder at the
relationship between Jude and Jesus, as it was only after the resurrection that
Jude believed.
(John 7:5) For even his
own brothers did not believe in him.
(Acts 1:14) They all
joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother
of Jesus, and with his brothers.
The date
There is much debate about the date attributed to the letter, the
thought being somewhere between 60AD and 90AD.
As we look more closely we
recognise that 2 Peter 2 is based on Jude and it makes more sense that 2 Peter
incorporate Jude as a section than Jude quoting 2 Peter. If correct, and we
know that Peter died around 65AD, then Jude must have been written around 65AD
or earlier. It is also important to remember the story of Domitian the Roman
Emperor had the grandsons of Jude brought before his accused of belonging to
the royal house of David in AD81 -96. The Emperor then questioned them about
the Christ and his Kingdom and when they explained it was a heavenly Kingdom,
he dismissed the charges against them. This points to a date between 60 –65AD.
The origin and
destination
There is no clue in the
letter as to where it was written but some have suggested Egypt or Palestine as
possibilities.
The address of the letter is
so general – “To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father
and kept by Jesus Christ” – that it is possible the letter was intended to be
circulated among the churches. Yet, Jude seems to know the special circumstance
in the church, therefore it could be that Jude was an itinerant or that the
church that was the intended recipient made a copy for circulation.
Purpose
The purpose of the letter
was to warn the church against false teachers that had insidiously infiltrated
the church, introducing new or different teachings.
William Barclay[c] gives an
excellent insight into the heretics and their belief. For that reason the full
text of that section of the book by Barclay is quoted below:
|
THE HERETICS Who were the heretics whom Jude blasts, and what were
their beliefs and what was their way of life? Jude never tells us. He was not
a theologian but, as Moffatt says, "a plain, honest leader of the
church." "He denounces rather than describes" the heresies he
attacks. He does not seek to argue and to refute, for he writes as one
"who knows when round indignation is more telling than argument. But from the letter itself we can deduce
three things about these heretics. (i) They were antinomians. Antinomians have existed in
every age of the church. They are people who pervert grace. Their position is
that the law is dead and they are under grace. The prescriptions of the law
may apply to other people, but they no longer apply to them. They can do
absolutely what they like. Grace is supreme; it can forgive any sin; the more
the sin, the more the opportunities for grace to abound (Romans 6).
The body is of no importance; what matters is the inward heart of man. All things
belong to Christ, and, therefore, all things are theirs. And so for them
there is nothing forbidden. So
Jude's heretics turn the grace of God into an excuse for flagrant immorality
(verse 4); they even practise shameless unnatural vices, as the people of
Sodom did (verse 7). They defile the flesh and think it no sin (verse 8).
They allow their brute instincts to rule their lives (verse 10). With their
sensual ways, they are like to make shipwreck of the love feasts of the
church (verse 12). It is by their own lusts that they direct their lives
(verse 16). MODERN EXAMPLES OF THE ANCIENT HERESY It is a curious and tragic fact of history that the church
has never been entirely free of this antinomianism; and it is natural that it
has flourished most in the ages when the wonder of grace was being
rediscovered. It appeared in the Ranters of the seventeenth century. The
Ranters were pantheists and antinomians. A pantheist believes that God is
everything; literally all things are Christ's, and Christ is the end
of the law. They talked of "Christ within them," and paid no heed
to the church or its ministry, and belittled scripture. One of them called
Bottomley wrote: "It is not safe to go to the Bible to see what others
have spoken and written of the mind of God as to see what God speaks within
me, and to follow the doctrine and leading of it in me." When George Fox
rebuked them for their lewd practices, they answered, "We are
God." This may sound very fine, I but, as John Wesley was to say, it
most often resulted in "a gospel of the flesh." It was their
argument that "swearing, adultery, drunkenness and theft are not sinful
unless the person guilty of them apprehends them to be so." When Fox was
a prisoner at
Charing Cross they came to see him and mightily offended him by calling for
drink and tobacco. They swore terribly and when Fox rebuked them,
justified themselves by saying that Scripture tells us that Abraham, Jacob,
Joseph, Moses, the priests, and the angel all swore. To which Fox replied
that he who was before Abraham commanded, "Swear not at all. "
Richard Baxter said of them, "They conjoined a cursed doctrine of
libertinism, which brought them to all abominable filthiness of life; they
taught ...that God regardeth not the actions of the outward man, but of the
heart; and that to the pure all things are pure (even things forbidden) and so, as allowed by God, they
spoke most hideous words of blasphemy, and many of them committed whoredoms
commonly. ...The horrid villainies of this sect did speedily
extinguish it." Doubtless many of the Ranters were insane; doubtless
some of them were pernicious and deliberate sensualists; but doubtless, too,
some of them were earnest but misguided men, who had misunderstood the
meaning of grace and freedom from the law. Later John Wesley was to have trouble with the
antinomians. He talks of them preaching a gospel of flesh and blood. At
Jenninghall he says "the antinomians had laboured hard in the Devil's
service." At Birmingham he says that "the fierce, unclean, brutish,
blasphemous antinomians" had utterly destroyed the spiritual life of the
congregation. He tells of a certain Roger Ball who insinuated himself into
the life of the congregation at Dublin. At first he seemed to be so
spiritually minded a man that the congregation welcomed him as being
pre-eminently suited for the service and ministry of the church. He showed
himself in time to be "full of guile and of the most abominable errors,
one of which was that a believer had a right to all women." He would not
communicate, for under grace a man must "touch not, taste not, handle
not." He would not preach and abandoned the church services because, he
said, "The dear Lamb is the only preacher." Wesley, deliberately to show the position of these
antinomians, related in his Journal a conversation, which he had with
one of them at Birmingham. It ran as follows. "Do you believe that you
have nothing to do with the law of God?" "I have not; I am not
under the law; I live by faith." "Have you, as living by faith,
aright to everything in the world?" "I have. All is mine, since
Christ is mine." "May you then take anything you will anywhere?
Suppose out of a shop without the consent or knowledge of the owner?"
"I may, if I want, for it is mine. Only I will not give offence."
"Have you aright to all the women in the world?" "Yes, if they
consent." "And is not that a sin?" "Yes, to him who
thinks it is a sin; but not to those whose hearts are free." Repeatedly Wesley had to meet these people, as George Fox
had to meet them. John Bunyan, too, came up against the Ranters who claimed
complete freedom from the moral law and looked with contempt on the ethics of
the stricter Christian. "These would condemn me as legal and dark,
pretending that they only had attained perfection that could do what they
would and not sin." One of them, whom Bunyan knew, "gave himself up
to all manner of filthiness, especially uncleanness...and would laugh at all
exhortations to sobriety. When I laboured to rebuke his wickedness, he would
laugh the more." ' Jude's heretics have existed in every Christian
generation, and, even if they do not go all the way, there are still many who
in their heart of hearts trade upon God's forgiveness .. and make his grace
an excuse to sin. THE DENIAL OF GOD AND OF JESUS CHRIST (ii) Of the antinomianism and blatant immorality of the
heretics whom Jude condemns there is no doubt. The other two faults with
which he charges them are not so obvious in their meaning. He charges them
with, as the Revised Standard Version has it, "denying our only Master
and Lord, Jesus Christ" (verse 4). The closing doxology is to "the
only God," a phrase which occurs again in Romans 16: 27; 1 Timothy
1: 17; 1 Timothy 6: 15. The reiteration of the word only is
significant. If Jude talks about our only Master and Lord and, about
the only God, it is natural to assume that there must have been those
who questioned the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and of God. Can we trace any
such line of thought in the early church and, if so, does it fit in with any
other evidence which hints within the letter itself may supply? As so often in the New Testament, we are again in contact
with that type of thought, which came to be known as Gnosticism. Its basic
idea was that this was a dualistic universe, a universe with two eternal
principles in it. From the beginning of time there had always been spirit and
matter. Spirit was essentially good; matter was essentially evil. Out of this
flawed matter the world was created. Now God is pure spirit and, therefore,
could not possibly handle this essentially evil matter. How then was creation
effected? God put out a series of aeons or emanations; each of these aeons
was farther away from him. At the end of this long chain, remote from God,
there was an aeon who was able to touch matter; and it was this aeon, this
distant and secondary god, who actually created the world. Nor was this all that was in Gnostic thought. As the aeons
in the series grew more distant from God, they grew more ignorant of him; and
also grew more hostile to him. The creating aeon, at the end of the series,
was at once totally ignorant of and totally hostile to God. Having got that length, the Gnostics took another step.
They identified the true God with the God of the New Testament and they
identified the secondary, ignorant and hostile god with the God of the Old
Testament. As they saw it, the God of creation was a different being from the
God of revelation and redemption. Christianity on the other hand believes in
the only God, the one God of creation, providence and redemption. This was the Gnostic explanation of sin. It was because
creation was carried out, in the first place, from evil matter and, in the
second place, by an ignorant god, that sin and suffering and all imperfection
existed. This Gnostic line of thought had one curious, but
perfectly logical, result. If the God of the Old Testament was ignorant of
and hostile to the true God, it must follow that the people whom that
ignorant God hurt were in fact good people. Clearly the hostile God
would be hostile to the people who were the true servants of the true God.
The Gnostics, therefore, so to speak, turned the Old Testament upside down
and regarded its heroes as villains and its villains as heroes. So there was
a sect of these Gnostics called Ophites, because they worshipped the serpent
of Eden; and there were those who regarded Cain and Korah and Balaam as great
heroes. It is these very people whom Jude uses as tragic and terrible
examples of sin. So we may take it that the heretics whom Jude attacks are
Gnostics who denied the oneness of God, who regarded the God of creation as
different from the God of redemption, who saw in the Old Testament God an
ignorant enemy of the true God and who, therefore, turned the Old Testament
upside down to regard its sinners as servants of the true God and its saints
as servants of the hostile God. ' Not only did these heretics deny the
oneness of God, they also denied "our only Master and Lord Jesus
Christ." That is to say, they denied the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. How
does that fit in with the Gnostic ideas so far as they are known to us? We
have seen that, according to Gnostic belief, God put out a series of aeons
between himself and the world. The Gnostics regarded Jesus
Christ as one of these aeons. They
did not regard him as our only Master and Lord; he was only one
among the many who were links between God and man, although he might be the
highest and the closest of all. There is
still one other hint about these heretics in Jude, a hint that also fits
in with what we know about the Gnostics. In verse 19 Jude describes them as
"these who set up divisions." The heretics introduce some kind of
class distinctions within the fellowship of the Church. What were these
distinctions? We have seen that between man and God there stretched an
infinite series of aeons. The aim of man must be to achieve contact with God.
To obtain this his soul must traverse this infinite series of links between
God and man. The Gnostics held that to achieve this a very special and
esoteric knowledge was required. So deep was this knowledge that only very
few could attain to it. The Gnostics, therefore, divided men into two
classes, the pneumatikoi and the psuchikoi. The pneuma was
the spirit of man, that which made him kin to God; and the pneumatikoi were
the spiritual people, the people whose spirits were so highly
developed and intellectual that they were able to climb the long ladder and
reach God. These pneumatikoi, the Gnostics claimed, were so
spiritually and intellectually equipped that they could become as good as
Jesus, Irenaeus says that some of them believed that the pneumatikoi could
become better than Jesus and attain direct union with God. On the other hand, the psuche was simply the
principle of physical life. All things, which live, had psuche; it was
something which man shared with the animal creation and even with growing
plants. The psuchikoi were ordinary people; they had physical life but
their pneuma was undeveloped and they were incapable of ever gaining
the intellectual wisdom, which would enable them to climb the long road to
God. The pneumatikoi were a very small and select minority; the psuchikoi
were the vast majority of ordinary people. It is clear to see that this kind of belief was inevitably
productive of spiritual snobbery and pride. It introduced into the church the
worst kind of class distinction, So, then, the heretics whom Jude attacks were men who
denied the oneness of God and split him into an ignorant creating God and a
truly spiritual God; who denied the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and saw him as
only one of the links between God and man; who erected class distinctions
within the church and limited fellowship with God to the intellectual few. THE DENIAL OF THE ANGELS (iii) It is further implied that these heretics denied and
insulted the angels. It is said they "reject authority, and revile the
glorious ones" (verse 8). The words "authority" and
"glorious ones" describe ranks in the Jewish hierarchy of angels.
Verse 9 is a reference to a story in the Assumption of Moses. It is
there told that Michael was given the task of burying the body of Moses. The
devil tried to stop him and claim the body. Michael made no charge against
the devil and said nothing against him. He said only, "The Lord rebuke
you!" If Michael, the archangel, on such an occasion said nothing
against the prince of evil angels, clearly no man can speak ill of the
angels. The Jewish belief in angels was very elaborate. Every
nation had its protecting angel. Every person, even every child, had its
angel. All the forces of nature, the wind and the sea and the fire and all
the others, were under the control of angels. It could even be said,
"Every blade of grass has its angel." Clearly the heretics attacked
the angels. It is likely that they said that the angels were the servants of
the ignorant and hostile creator God and that a Christian must have nothing
to do with them. We cannot quite be sure what lies behind this, but to all
their other errors the heretics added the despising of the angels; and to
Jude this seemed an evil thing. |
It is interesting that
modern culture is becoming progressively indifferent to the question of truth.
Jude warns about mixing error and truth. Christian truth has never been more
essential than in today’s world of relativism and syncretism, and it is as
vital today that Christians “contend
for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints”, than when the
words were written.
Conclusion
The letter of Jude has
always been accepted as part of the cannon of scripture and as to the
authenticity, the New Unger's Bible Dictionary states, “Hermas, Polycarp, Athenagoras, Theophilus
of Antioch, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, and Eusebius give early attestation
to the authority of the book. Jude is more strongly attested than 2 Peter. This
is somewhat astonishing when one considers its lack of apostolic authorship,
its shortness, its polemic character, and its alleged reference to apocryphal
literature. Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Augustine, Jerome, and other
church Fathers maintained that Jude actually made reference to the Apocrypha.
For this reason many early Fathers rejected it as authentic. Verse 9 was
thought to have been a quotation from the Assumption of Moses and verses 14-15
were supposed to be taken from the book of Enoch. It is possible that Jude
quoted a passage from a known uncanonical book, not by way of endorsement, but
because he used this particular statement as divinely given.”[d]
Therefore as a part of
scripture the strongly attested letter of Jude is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may
be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
We have broken the 25 verses
of the letter into 9 section and we will examine each section in turn before
drawing upon our discoveries to ascertain the lessons that may be learnt by
Christians and the church of today.
1 Salutation (1-2)
2 The Letter’s purpose (3-4)
3 Historical warning (5-7)
4 The False teachers (8-11)
5 A blemish in the church (12-13)
6 Enoch’s prophesy (14-16)
7 Apostolic teaching (17-19)
8 Exhortation to believers (20-23)
9 Doxology (24-25)
Salutation (1-2)
|
Jude 1:1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: Jude 1:2 Mercy,
peace and love be yours in abundance. |
Verse 1
The customary traditions of
writing are observed in the salutation made by Jude. He states whom the letter
is from, whom it is to and a greeting. The way Jude introduces himself says
something of the man, about his character.
(i) The word servant is the
Greek word ‘doulous’ meaning bondservant or slave. The discovery Bible
describes ‘doulous’ as: “to completely and absolutely assign all personal
rights over to the authority and will of another person; to be in a “permanent
relation of servitude to another, his (the slave’s) will altogether swallowed
up in the will of another” (Tench); the permanent surrender of personal rights
in an attitude of total submission”[e]
He could have called Jesus
his brother or at least half brother, made claim to some special relationship
with the Saviour, but Jude in all humility sees himself having only one object
and one distinction in life –to be at the disposal of Jesus for service in his
cause. The greatest glory, which any Christian can attain, is to be of use to
Christ. (Barclay [a])
(ii) The brother of James.
Jude was the youngest of the brothers and James was the leader of the church in
Jerusalem. One can assume that James counted on his brothers for help and
support and it seems that Jude was content to be a behind the scenes worker.
Jude was fulfilled and satisfied in the role in life that God had planned for
him, and like Andrew not resentful of his brother’s success or position. This
kind of contentment comes from knowing who you are in Christ Jesus. It comes
from placing our trust in the one who is able to keep us and living in the love
of God as part of our everyday experience.
Jude had the right sought of
pride, he was proud of being Jesus’ servant, pride the wrong sought emerges at
different times, for instance:
Imagine you do something that
is significant and good and someone else gets the credit for your idea or your
action. We would say well that’s not fair, but humility would say well it
wasn’t really me anyway. Remember (1 Pet 5:6) that God will raise you up at the
right time.
|
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” |
Like wise Jude was a man
whose motives were pure, sometimes people worship God because they think he
will help them with this problem, give them recognition, even promote their
ministry. I am afraid that there are people in the church today who have wrong
motives; they seek to build their ministry and manipulate those around them to
promote them and their ministry. One of the most worrying things someone can
say to you is I am building MY ministry. John the Baptist said "A man can
receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I
said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.'”
When attempting to
manipulate others or trying to build ‘MY’ ministry in a sense we are trying to
be God. Jude is an example of a man who let God be God in his life. Content to
live the life that God had given him to live. Jude is a man who God lifted up
at the right time and is worth listening to, even though he wrote this letter
2000 years ago, his letter is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
Verse 1 also tells us
something of what it means to be a Christian.
a) A Christian is called by God
b) A Christian is loved by God
c) A Christian is kept by Christ
a)The Greek word for call is
‘Kalein’ and it has three interesting usages;
1/
It is the word for summoning a person to office, to duty, to responsibility.
The Christian is summoned to office, duty and responsibility in his service for
Christ.
2/
It is the word summoning a person to a feast or a festival. It is the word of
invitation to some happy event. The Christian is summoned to a joyful feast at
the end of time as the guest of God.
3/
The word is used of a person being summoned to a court so that he may stand
before the judge and give an explanation. Likewise the Christian is called to
stand before the judgement seat of Christ.
b) A Christian is loved by
God, I will say it again, a Christian is loved by God. This fact indicates the
nature of God’s call to mankind. We are called to be loved and to love. We are
called to a task, but that task is a privilege and honour not a burden. We are
also called to judgement but this justice is tempered with love and mercy.
c) A Christian is kept by
Christ. He is the one who promises to never leave us or forsake us; he is the
one who intercedes for us. The Christian is never alone not orphaned or
abandoned, but always carries Christ in his everyday life as his strong tower,
as his shepherd and as his friend.
The new International
Version has a footnote, stating that the word “by” from “kept by Christ” is not
in the original text and that this could be read as either “kept by Christ” or
“kept in Christ” or “kept for Christ”. Any one of these statements could be
justified.
We are kept by Christ and
Jude verses 24-25 gives a sense of this. We can also see this in John 17
The King James Version says “and
preserved in Jesus Christ.” This being preserved or kept in Christ
engenders feelings of security and safety. The verse Colossians 3:3 sets forth
the sense of the Christian being safe in Christ. The idea is that we are in
Christ’s hand safe and secure and that Christ’s hand is hidden, surrounded by
the hands of God the Father, and we are hidden with Christ in God.
We are kept for Christ to be
presented in his glorious presence; we are kept by him for we are safe in him.
(See verses Jude 24 & 25)
BEFORE we
leave this opening passage, William Barclay asks us to think a little more
about this calling of God with which we have been called and to see something
of what it means.
Paul speaks
about being called to be an apostle (Romans 1: 1; 1 Corinthians 1:
1).
|
Rom 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— |
In Greek the
word is apostolos; it comes from the verb apostellein, to send out, and
an apostle is therefore, one who is sent out. That is to say, the
Christian is the ambassador of Christ. He is sent out into the world to speak
for Christ, to act for Christ, to live for Christ. By his life he commends, or
fails to commend, Christ to others.
I wonder how
this aligns with your definition or what you think an apostle is in today’s
Christian world. Obviously there are different degrees and levels of service. I
am sometimes concerned with what we have made it
(ii) Paul speaks about being
called to be saints (Romans 1: 7; 1 Corinthians I: 2).
|
Rom 1:7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. |
The word for saint is
hagios, which is also very commonly translated holy. Its root
idea is difference. The Sabbath is holy because it is different from
other days; God is supremely holy because he is different from men. The Bible
(Greek biblos or book) is different from other books because it is the Holy
Bible. To be called to be a saint is to be called to be different. The
world has its own standards and its own scale of values. The difference for the
Christian is that Christ is the only standard and loyalty to Christ the only
value.
(iii) The
Christian is called according to the purpose of God (Romans 8: 28).
|
Rom 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. |
God has a
plan and purpose for every person who accepts Christ. No Christian can say I
can’t do anything, because God uses our weakness to display his power. We must
decide as children of God whether we will be good sons or not. God has prepared
a task and a purpose for all those he calls, contentment and satisfaction is
working towards the goals that God has set for our lives.
It sets
before a man a great hope (Ephesians 1: 18; 4: 4).
|
Eph 1:18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, |
We have a hope that is
steadfast and certain for Christian hope is faith in the future tense. J.J.
Bonar said, “Bless God that there is in us resurrection life, and that there
awaits us a resurrection morn!”[g]
We have an inheritance, a
glorious inheritance for one day we will be in heaven with Jesus our saviour;
our Lord and our Master; our teacher and our friend; the anointed one of God;
The one and only Son who is God and who loves us. We have a destiny and a
destination. Our future is secure settled and glorious in Christ Jesus
Someone once said, “‘Hope’
is biblical shorthand for unconditional certainty”[g]
Verse 2
It is important to note that
Jude does not use the word grace in his greeting, which is used as part of the
greeting in practically all of the New Testament letters. The word may have
been deliberately left out as the false teachers had corrupted the use of the
word. The words he uses “Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.” is in fact an insight into God’s grace towards us.
The New Unger's Bible
Dictionary defines Mercy as:
(Heb. hesed,
"kindness"; Gk. eleos, "compassion"). "Mercy is a form
of love determined by the state or condition of its objects. Their state is one
of suffering and need, while they may be unworthy or ill-deserving. Mercy is at
once the disposition of love respecting such, and the kindly ministry of love
for their relief" (Miley, Systematic Theology, 1:209-10). Mercy is a
Christian grace and is very strongly urged toward all men (<Matt. 5:7;
23:23; James 3:17>; etc.). [d]
The Mercy that we receive
from God can best be expressed as his kindness and compassion in action not
only to save but also as his intervention in our everyday lives.
The New Unger's Bible
Dictionary defines Peace as: (Heb.
shalom, "peace, health"; Gk. eirene, "unity, concord"). A
term used in different senses in the Scriptures. (1) Frequently with reference
to outward conditions of tranquility and thus of individuals, of communities,
of churches, and of nations (e.g., <Num. 6:26; 1 Sam. 7:14; 1 Kin. 4:24;
Acts 9:31>). (2) Christian unity (e.g., <Eph. 4:3; 1 Thes. 5:13>). (3)
In its deepest application, spiritual peace through restored relations of
harmony with God (e.g., <Isa. 9:6-7; 26:3; Luke 2:14; John 14:27; Acts
10:36; Rom. 1:7; 5:1; Gal. 5:22>; etc.). [d]
Peace then is that quiet
confidence and boldness that allows us to face life’s adversities with
fortitude and a security that breeds well being and joy.
Love; the Greek word used
here is Agape, which William Barclay defines as:
“The real meaning of agape is unconquerable benevolence. If we regard a person with agape, it means that nothing that he can do will make us seek anything but his highest good. Though he injure us and insult us, we will never feel anything but kindness towards him. That quite clearly means that this Christian love is not an emotional thing. This agape is a thing, not only of the emotions, but also of the will. It is the ability to retain unconquerable good will to the unlovely and the unlovable, towards those who do not love us, and even towards those whom we do not like. Agape is that quality of mind and heart which compels a Christian never to feel any bitterness, never to feel any desire for revenge, but always to seek the highest good of every man no matter what he may be.” [f]
God’s love for us is
revealed in Jesus Christ and is his generosity in bestowing his favour upon us
and meeting all our needs.
Be yours in abundance or
multiplied to you = that his mercy and his peace and his love be your everyday
experience as a never-ending and all sufficient supply. The idea of fullness is
at the root of the word used in the passage, but it is more than that it is an
ever-increasing fullness.
God bestows upon us his
mercy, his peace and his love in ever increasing fullness to enable us to be
more like Jesus, not to selfishly enjoy his grace but to share mercy, peace and
love with all mankind.
The Letter’s purpose
(3-4)
|
Jude 1:3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. Jude 1:4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. |
In verse 3 two phrases seem
to leap from the page, first Jude’s intention “I was very eager to write” and second
“I felt I had to write”. He wanted to write about the salvation they had in
common. It is interesting that although God speaks to us and deals with us as
individuals we have a common salvation. We know ourselves that it is pleasant,
exciting and satisfying to discuss the salvation we share and we gain a glimpse
of the writers’ heart in that he would rather talk about the positive things of
life, but was willing to grasp the nettle. He felt he had to write to warn the
church and to put them on their guard against those who would turn Christianity
from a relationship into a religion. Introducing new innovations as though
following ever fad and fashion of the day.
The church today can also be
charged of following the latest craze or fad.
Jude tells them to “contend
for the faith”; to fight for the truth but here we have to recognise that this
is only a small part of what Jude is implying. James Hastings defines the word
as follows:
|
CONTEND. -Generally, contend with in the modern sense of
fight with, as Isaiah 49:25, ‘I will contend with him that Contendeth with
thee’; or 'argue with,' as Acts 11:2,
they that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying.' But in the latter
sense contend is also found without' with,' as Isaiah 57:16, ‘I will not
contend for ever’ (prob. =argue with, accuse, condemn); Job 13:8, ‘will ye
contend for God?' (= argue with others for God, be an advocate for God), Amos
7:4 ‘the Lord God called to contend by fire' ( =argue, and so Micah 6:1 ,
‘contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice '). In
all these passages the Hebrew is: riyb (reeb) In Jude 3, ye
should earnestly c. for the faith’, (epagonizomai) the meaning passes
out of strife or argument into the wider sphere of earnest endeavour; as with
the simple agonizomai., in Luke 13:24 , Strive to enter in at the
strait gate,' and Colossians 4:12 'labouring fervently for you in prayers'
(RV ' always striving for you '), and as Bacon, Essays, 'Let a man
contend, to excel any Competitors of his in Honour.' [h] |
The Greek word for ‘contend’
is the root of our word ‘agony’. Therefore our verse could read, “I felt I had
to write and urge you to earnestly agonise for the faith”. This gives quite a
different perspective as to what Jude meant. There are two thoughts here:
1) The thought of standing for the truth, knowing
scripture and teaching others the truth of the gospel. Opposing false and
erroneous doctrine through the teaching and expounding of sound doctrine. Even
if this stance should lead to death for it is better to die than to deny the
truth.
2) The second is agonising in ones own lifestyle to be
obedient to the truth. Contending for the faith through personal sacrifice and
discipline. For Paul could say “(2 Tim 4:6-7) For I am already being poured
out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have
fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Verse 4 says that “certain
men ………….. have secretly slipped in among you”. Or “crept in unnoticed”. Does
this happen in today’s church that impious men who lack respect, undutiful and
ungodly in their actions are accepted. In answer to the question think how many
times people gossip about their leaders slandering them, argue and cause
dissent, or people who cause division or seek after their own ambitions to the
detriment of others. Ask your self, “do I live up to the standard that Paul
sets out in Romans?”
Romans 12:9 -18 “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil;
cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one
another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual
fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in
prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless
those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who
rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not
be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be
conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in
the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at
peace with everyone.”
The men that Jude talked
about took the grace of God and the freedom that this brings and turned it into
licence to enable themselves to indulge in sin of many kinds. They also denied
the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ many groups do this today.
Children of God deny the deity of Christ
Christian Science deny the deity of Christ
Jehovah’s Witnesses deny
the deity of Christ
Mormons deny the deity of Christ
In his book “a Concise Guide
to Today’s Religions” Josh McDowell [i] says, “No matter what the particular
beliefs of any cult may be, the one common denominator they all possess is a
denial of the biblical teaching on the deity of Jesus Christ.” These cults
often have men who are strong leaders, and who have a powerful and arrogant
belief in themselves. Jude says that such men were infiltrating the church for
their own ends.
Historical warning (5-7)
|
Jude 1:5 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. Jude 1:6 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. Jude 1:7 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. |
Jude makes clear that what
he writes is not some new innovation but truths that the people have already
heard and know but are not applying in their everyday life decisions.
Jude gives three warnings
using the example of the Israelites, Fallen Angels and Sodom and Gomorrah. To
understand the first two warnings we should appreciate that these men were not
enemies of Christianity or the Church but believed them selves to be the
advanced thinkers of the generation, a spiritual elite that were above everyone
else. Men who had no use for words such as submission, accountability and
responsibility
Edwin A. Blum [ j ] writes “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" (taus me pisteusantas ). 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.”
Jude
clearly sets a dividing line between the saved and the unsaved and the ultimate
destiny of the latter.
As
to the fallen Angels, William Barclay gives this insight
“The Jews had a very highly
developed doctrine of angels, the servants of God. In particular the
Jews believed that every nation had its presiding angel. In the Septuagint, the
Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures, Deuteronomy 32: 8 reads,
"When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the sons of
Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of
God." That is to say, to each nation there was an angel.
The Jews believed in a fall
of the angels and much is said about this in the Book of Enoch, which is
so often behind the thought of Jude. In regard to this there were two
lines of tradition.
(i) The first saw the fall
of the angels as due to pride and rebelliousness. That legend gathered
especially round the name of Lucifer, the light-bringer, the son of the
morning. As the Authorized Version has it, Isaiah writes, "How art thou
fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" (Isaiah 14:
12). When the seventy returned from their mission and told Jesus of their
successes, he warned them against pride, "I saw Satan fall like lightning
from heaven" (Luke 10: 18). The idea was that there was civil war
in heaven. The angels rose against God and were cast out; and Lucifer was the
leader of the rebellion.
(ii) The second stream of
tradition finds its scriptural echo in Genesis 6: 1-4. In this
line of thought the angels, attracted by the beauty of mortal women, left
heaven to seduce them and so sinned.”[k]
In this warning the
Judgement against Pride and Lust. These Fallen Angels who left their post and
position disregarding their responsibility are either; “kept in darkness, bound
with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.” Or were cast out of
heaven and were to roam the earth as demonic spirits.
Finally Sodom and Gomorrah,
it would be good to remind ourselves of the story about the two cities from
Genesis 19
(Genesis 19:1-13) The two angels arrived at Sodom in the
evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he
got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. "My lords,"
he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your
feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning."
"No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the
square." But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered
his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they
ate. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of
Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house. They called to Lot,
"Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that
we can have sex with them." Lot went outside to meet them and shut the
door behind him and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.
Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them
out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to
these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof." "Get
out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here
as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than
them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down
the door. But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and
shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young
and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door. The two men said
to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here--sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or
anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we
are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is
so great that he has sent us to destroy it."
Jude says that the men of
these cities were guilty of sexual immorality and perversion (literally; lust
after different flesh) in the same way as the Angels did.
This final warning is a
judgement against sexual immorality, perversion, lust, greed and rebellion
against God’s order. The consequence of these sins is eternal fire.
Jude is very clear in his
warnings but to the readers of his letter who were being reminded of such
things the judgements of history must have been compelling.
Let us list the again what
the warnings were against: Unbelief; pride; lust; greed; sexual immorality;
perversions; rebellion.
It is interesting to note
that although individuals sinned that the judgements were against groups of
people, a nation and cities.
I wonder if you looked at
your town or city, would you find unbelief or pride or lust or greed or sexual
immorality or perversions or rebellion against God’s order. I guess you would,
so why doesn’t God destroy your town or my town. I think Jesus gives us the
answer when he said, “You are the salt of the earth.” You are a preservative of
your community.
The False teachers (8-11)
|
Jude 1:8 In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. Jude 1:9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Jude 1:10 Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals--these are the very things that destroy them. Jude 1:11 Woe to
them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into
Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion. |
In verse 8 Jude calls these
false teachers “Dreamers”. It could be that this refers to pretensions of
prophecy but is more likely to refer to their carnal way of life that causes
them to live in a dream world. Living out every lustful craving and compulsion
to gratify the moment.
The consequence is that:
They pollute their own
bodies (literally “flesh”). What Jude is saying is that when people give way to
their passions of immorality in the name of experiment or exploration, they are
actually damaging themselves. It starts in a small way as in the case of
pornography but gradually becomes more and more extreme. In a sense Jude is
saying if you start to pollute a river, it isn’t long before the life of the
river starts to die off.
They reject authority, which
implies that they reject the Lordship of Jesus Christ in their life. A
rebellion that causes them to ignore and dispute with those that God has placed
over them. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way (Hebrews 13:17) “Obey your leaders and submit to their
authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them
so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no
advantage to you.”
The rejection of godly
authority in the church is a rejection of the Lordship of Christ, for leaders
lead for and on behalf of Jesus himself and must give an account to their
Master.
They slander celestial
beings is the charge brought here, to understand this we must look at the words
‘slander’ and ‘celestial beings’.
The word slander may be
defined as: 1 Libel; malicious lies; calumny. 2. Law Oral defamation.
Verb. To utter maliciously a false report concerning someone [ l
]
The words translated in the
NIV “celestial beings” is defined by W. E. Vine as:
“ ‘doxa’ primarily denotes "an opinion,
estimation, repute"; in the NT, always "good opinion, praise, honor,
glory, an appearance commanding respect, magnificence, excellence,
manifestation of glory"; hence, of angelic powers, in respect of their
state as commanding recognition, "dignities," <2 Pet. 2:10; Jude
8>.” [ m ]
In this then these men were
slandering angels; Jude contrasts their arrogance with the behaviour of the
archangel Michael. Who when challenging Satan himself would not speak
arrogantly, but used scripture.
(Zechariah 3:1-5) “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest
standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to
accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan!
The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick
snatched from the fire?" Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he
stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him,
"Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I
have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." Then I
said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on
his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.”
These men belittle and
criticise things that they do not understand, anything outside of their
experience they discard as worthless and irrelevant. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians
2:14 “The man without the Spirit does
not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually
discerned.”
Therefore they follow their
animal instincts and find satisfaction only in gratifying the flesh.
William Barclay says “The
tragedy is that no man is born without a sense of spiritual things but can lose
that sense until for him the spiritual things cease to exist. A man may lose
any faculty, if he refuses to use it.”
Individual wickedness
We see here individuals who
are chosen out as examples, again three, and Jude pronounces “Woe” over these
men just as Jesus did to the Scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:13). This is a
warning to the false teachers by taking from the Old Testament the three
characters Cain,
Korah and Balaam whom the Gnostic sect
called Ophites regarded as great heroes. Jude uses them as tragic and terrible examples of sin.
Cain, the world’s first
murderer, is seen by many Hebrew thinkers as a cynical, materialistic
unbeliever who didn’t believe in God or in the moral order of the world and
therefore did exactly as he liked.
Balaam is found in Numbers
chapters 22, 23, and 24. He was the prototype of all greedy, money-orientated
ministries and, as Balak tried to bribe him to curse the Israelites, it is
clear it was only his fear of what God would do to him that stopped him
striking a deal with Balak. In Numbers 25 we read that the Israelites were
seduced into worshipping Baal at a place called Peor and that the Lord’s anger
burnt against them. It is in Numbers 31:16 that we read it was Balaam who
advised the Israelites at Peor. “They
were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and were the means of turning the Israelites
away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the Lord's
people.” Balaam is considered to be a covetous false teacher that led others in
sin.
(Revelation 2:14) “Nevertheless, I have a few things against
you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak
to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by
committing sexual immorality.”
Korah, whose story is found
in Numbers 16:1-35, rebelled against the guidance of Moses when the sons of
Aaron and the tribe of Levi were made the priests of the nation. He wanted to
act and to function as a priest and minister before the alter of God and
incited others to follow him. Their argument or case was as follows:
1/ you are no better than anyone else;
2/ everyone in Israel has been chosen of the LORD;
3/ we don't need to obey you, I can do this.
It is amazing to see how Korah twisted the first two
statements - both true - to reach the wrong conclusion with devastating effect
(see the study on the Tabernacle). The altar was the place of sacrifice, and as
Christians it is a place to put to death wrong attitudes, wrong motives and
wrong thoughts, a sacrificing of personal ambitions and desires, just as Christ
gave himself as a sacrifice on the cross for each of us.
So Jude was charging these
men with defying the legitimate authority in the church, and of therefore
preferring to go their own way rather than God’s. Barclay says “We should
remember that if we take certain things which pride incites us to take the
consequences can be disastrous”
These three men were
unbelievers but there are Christians who demonstrate similar traits. Let us
pause for a moment and think:
Cain didn’t believe in God’s
order for the world and therefore did exactly as he liked not considering the
consequences. Often people don’t understand or experience the Lordship of Jesus
Christ in their everyday life. They say I am under grace not under the law, so
I can do whatever I like.
The word ‘submit’ occurs 15
times in the letters to the churches this is an indication of the importance
for us today. However, our society and culture do not recognise the need or the
benefits of living in submission, but rather promotes a humanistic, throwaway
culture where the cry is hear “I have rights” and “I can do what I want”
(Romans 8:7; 10:3; 13:1;
13:5; 1 Corinthians 16:16; Ephesians 5:21; 5:22; 5:24 Colossians 2:20; 3:18;
Hebrews 12:9; 13:17; James 4:7; 1 Peter 2:13; 2:18)
Humanism and human rights is
not the panacea that will solve the present state human beings now find
themselves in. I have included two quotes about humanism that sums up my
thoughts.
“Christians need to
recognise the solemn fact that humanism is not an ally in making the world a
better place in which we live. It is the deadly enemy, for it is a religion
without God and without hope in this world or the next” (L. Nelson Bell) [n]
“Humanism is