The marvelous epistle of Jude was written by Jude, the half-brother of our Lord (Matthew 13:55) and brother of James, the writer of the epistle of James. This interesting epistle was written against the backdrop of false teachers who were so prevalent in Jude’s day. These false teachers had made their inroads into the church!
The wonderful book of Jude may be viewed as follows: I. The Prevalence of False Teachers Vv. 1-4; II. The Prevailing Problem of False Teachers, and God’s Past Judgment of Rebellion Vv. 5-16; III. A Pressing Defense Against False Teachers Vv. 17-25.
II. The Prevailing Problem of False Teachers,
and God’s Past Judgment of Rebellion Vv. 5-16
Having informed his readers of what happened to unbelievers, Jude will rehearse three historical examples of unbelief that God certainly judged. The first of these, in verse 5, was the unbelieving generation that emerged from Egypt. They were God’s favored people who had witnessed God’s power in the plagues on Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the guidance of the fiery pillar in the wilderness. They had been fed sufficiently by the Lord, clothed, and healed of fatal afflictions; in addition, they had seen the glory of God hovering over Mount Sinai. Despite witnessing God’s marvelous acts, they remained unfaithful, drew back, and failed to conquer Canaan (Hebrews 3:16-19).
In verse 6, Jude’s second historical example of apostates whom God destroyed involved “the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation.” These angels mentioned here rebelled against God’s authority and the positions to which He had assigned them. There is no doubt that these angels were the ones who followed Satan in his revolt against God (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Revelation 12:7-9). Because of their disobedience, God has kept them “in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”
A portion of the fallen angels are being confined by God until “the judgment of the great day. The reference to “the judgment of the great day” will occur after the Millennium, when Satan will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10; Matthew 25:41). Jude’s point is “God will certainly judge all rebels.”
In verse 7, Jude’s third historical example is “Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them.” They were guilty of giving themselves over to fornication and going after “strange flesh.” The Sodom and Gomorrah example would portray those who live immorally, having perverted desires. The account of these cities’ destruction is found in Genesis chapter 19. Sodom and Gomorrah and nearby cities were punished with a rain of fire and brimstone (Genesis 19:24-25).
The dreamers described in verse 8 would also incur God’s rod of punishment. Jude described these false teachers as dreamers because they had been deluded by Satan (II Corinthians 4:4; II Timothy 3:13). These dreamers were charged with defiling the flesh by their immoral living, rejecting authority in their unwillingness to follow Christ’s teachings, and slandering celestial beings. The three perverted actions exhibited by them denoted their inner depravity (Romans 1:24; 26-27; Ephesians 4:19), callous insubordination, and spiritual blasphemy. They only thought that their ways would bring satisfaction.
According to Jewish tradition, in verse 9, Jude recalled an incident in which Michael, the archangel, was dispatched to bury Moses’ body; however, the devil, claiming his right to bury it, also argued with the angel. Although Michael was powerful and had authority, he did not dare dispute with Satan, for he committed the matter to God, saying, “The Lord rebuke you.” This incident showed that the teachers Jude spoke of had no respect for authority or angels. Although the apostates were guilty of slandering celestial beings, as seen in verse 8, Michael, a chief angelic being, would not slander Satan, the chief of the fallen angels!
Regarding the evil men spoken of by Jude in verse 10, they spoke evil of things about which they had no knowledge: “They are without spiritual sense, and so spiritual things are beyond them, and when these are brought to them they are treated with disdain and scorn.” The knowledge these evil men possessed was more like the unreasoning instinct of an animal and would ultimately destroy them. Their dependence upon knowledge gained only by brute sense leads to sure destruction.
Jude announced a woe in verse 11 to the apostates who erred in three respects, mentioning that: (a) they have taken the way of Cain in promoting their own way of worshipping; (b) they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error who sought monetary gain in his error (II Peter 2:15-16; Numbers 22:21-31); (c) they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion who revolted against the authority of Moses and Aaron.
The examples of rebellion cited were judge; likewise, the men of whom Jude spoke rebelled against God’s authority and as a result would be destroyed truly. The apostates of verse 12, had invaded the love feasts in the local assemblies, defiling the sanctity of the occasion. This love feast was the fellowship meal eaten in conjunction with the Lord’s Supper (I Corinthians’ 11:17-34). Instead of feeding the flock as faithful pastors and teachers should (I Peter 5:1-3), these false proclaimers were “feeding themselves without fear” (v. 12). They were using God’s people for their own advantage.
Using vivid pictures to describe these false teachers, Jude said that they were like clouds without rain, promising much but giving nothing. They were like dead trees, having no fruit to offer. Besides being fruitless, they were rootless, “twice dead, plucked up by the roots (v. 12). In verse 13, these false teachers were like “raging waves” of the sea, raging back and forth but producing nothing that edifies. What they produced was only shame. They were also depicted as being wandering stars that move across the sky, shining briefly and soon vanishing without producing light or giving direction. These impostors will certainly be judged for their unfruitful deeds!
In verses 14-15, Jude referred to a prophetic affirmation of Enoch that pointed to the glorious return of Christ to the earth with thousands upon thousands of His angels (holy angels) when His purpose will be to judge everyone (II Thess. 1:7-10), especially ungodly humanity. Jude related a fourfold description of the apostates, saying: (a) they were grumblers and fault-finders who saw others’ failures but saw no flaws in themselves; (b) they followed their own evil desires lustfully; (c) they bragged about themselves; (d) they flattered others, gaining favor only when it was to their own evil advantage to do so.
May God Bless!
Dr. Johnny Calvin Smith
