Hi everyone, welcome to our daily devotionals. Today and tomorrow, we’ll be looking at a one-chapter book of the Bible – Jude, or more accurately pronounced Judah or Judas (not to be confused with Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus).
Before we dive into the passage, I’d like to share a little bit about Jude. Jude was one of Jesus’ four brothers. None of the brothers followed Jesus before his death. But afterwards, they saw him alive from the dead and then became his disciples, and they became leaders and missionaries in the first Jewish-Christian communities. Jude was known as a traveling teacher and missionary.
We don’t know which specific church community he wrote to. His writing assumes a deep knowledge of the Hebrews scriptures as well as other popular Jewish literature. So it was most likely written to Christ-believing Jews. And Jude had become aware of a crisis concerning this church. Let’s take a look at the first 16 verses together.
[1] Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
[2] May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
[3] Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. [4] For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
[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. [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—[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.
[8] Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. [9] But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” [10] But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. [11] Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. [12] These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; [13] wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
[14] It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, [15] to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” [16] These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
Jude had become aware of a crisis concerning this church, namely the issue of false teachers entering into the church community and leading many astray from Christ. They were distorting God’s grace as a license to sin and they rejected the authority of Jesus.
Judah reminds the church that there is a divine justice that will surely occur to those who rebel against God’s authority and dwell in unrepentant sin. He gives 3 Old Testament examples:
- First is the example of Israel’s wilderness rebellion from Numbers 14. It’s interesting how he says that Jesus will enact this justice, just as He did when he saved Israel out of the land of Egypt. This shows us that Jesus, in his eternal divine nature, was active in the world from the beginning of creation, long before his incarnation. This Jesus who saved Israel out of the land of Egypt, also destroyed those who did not believe.
- The second example is of the rebellious angels from 1 Enoch and Genesis 6. These angels rebelled against God’s authority and were kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.
- And third is the men of Sodom and Gomorrah from Genesis 19. These men indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire.
Just like we see in these 3 Old Testament examples, these false teachers also lived in rebellion and sin. Verse 8 says that these people, these false teachers, relied on their own dreams, defiled the flesh, rejected authority, blasphemed the glorious ones.”
He goes on in verse 11 to say that these false teachers are like 3 other Old Testament examples: Cain (Genesis 4), Balaam (Number 22-25; 30:16), and Korah’s rebellion (Number 16). All three of them were discontent and dissatisfied with life and so they rebelled against God, acted out in greed by seeking selfish gain at any cost. And Jude is saying that these false teachers are just like them.
Verses 12-13 continue on to explain what the false teachers are like. They’re deceptive like “hidden reefs” that will suddenly destroy ships that come too close. They’re greedy and selfish like “shepherds [who feed] themselves”. They’re not useful as they’re intended to, like clouds that give no water, trees that bear no fruit, and stars that wander and do not gives their light. And they’re destructive like wild waves of the sea.
In verses 14-15, Jude reminds the church about an ancient warning from 1 Enoch 1: “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
THE END IS NEAR! The Lord is coming to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him. He speaks out, in verse 16, against the “grumblers, malcontents, [those who follow] their own sinful desires, loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.”
This is the judgment that Jude reminds the church of. Presumably, the false teachers would have heard this letter as well, rebuking them. But Jude also wrote this letter to warn the church of these wolves in sheep’s clothing. Do not follow their teachings. Do not rebel against God’s authority and dwell in unrepentant sin. Don’t dwell in ungodliness and sexual immorality. Receive these words and turn to the Lord in holy submission, lest you also follow in their footsteps, waiting to receive the promised judgment from the Lord as many before us have.
