Jude 1-4

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:

2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

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. 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 1-4:  Identification, Salutation, and Purpose.

Jude 1 – Identification was discussed in lesson 1.  In addressing his readers, Jude shows the sovereignty of God and the centrality of Christ.

Jude 3 – Jude lovingly appeals to these Christians to recall their common salvation.  The Greek word “hapax” – once for all – (Heb 6:4-6; Heb 10:1-2 & 1 Peter 3:18) shows the finality of the revelation of God in Christ in redemptive history.  It is the fixed, non-repeatable point of our faith.  The revelation was delivered to the saints and accomplished its goal.

Jude 4 – Ungodly people unknowingly intruded into the church. 

They have four charges against them:  1) They entered secretly.  2) They were previously appointed to condemnation.  3) They are ungodly.  4) They deny Christ as Master and Lord.  They disbelieve what Christ testified about Himself.

Jude 5-16

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. 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. 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.

8 In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. 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!"   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.

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.

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. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 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." 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 5-16:  Admonitions Against False Teachers.

Jude 5 – Again the Greek word “hapax” is used – here referring to the reader’s knowledge of the Gospel.  A person’s profession of faith does not establish him as righteous before God.  The (saved) Israelites were delivered out of Egypt but then were destroyed in the wilderness due to unbelief.

Jude 6 – Here Jude uses fallen angels as a further example of falling away from God after being saved.  He uses the book of Enoch, which talks more about fallen angels, to make his point (original Bible text – Gen 6:1-4).

Jude 7 – He now concludes by using Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:24-25) to re-enforce his point.  These cities are used throughout Scripture as examples of divine judgment executed by fire. Their fate is the fate of all believers who do not persevere in righteousness.

Jude 8 – Irreverence is the chief sin of the ungodly persons in verse 4.  Speculation says that dignitaries may mean the Christian leaders.

Jude 9 – Jude uses the story of Michael and the devil to amplify his plea for reverence.  He is pointing out that Michael showed restraint in his dealing with the devil, whereas the false teachers exhibit no reverence for any authority.  By citing from this book and the book of Enoch, Jude is not claiming them to have canonical status.  He is merely bringing a specific point out by using a relevant example.  These references caused great delay in the acceptance of Jude’s epistle as inspired Holy Scripture.

Jude 10 – Jude makes a very strong statement against the Gnostic teachers.  They put down what they don’t understand and whatever they think they know is not known by any spiritual enlightenment.  They possess only irrational animal instincts, and this type of knowledge leads only to destruction.

Jude 11 – He again uses a triad of historical examples.  Cain is typical of unrighteousness – Balaam models a spirit of deceit and covetousness – Korah is used as an example of rebellion against God’s appointed authority.  These kinds of sin undermine the spiritual health of the whole church and destroy those who practice them.

Jude 12 – Jude switches to natural examples from the previous Biblical examples to reinforce his point of their condemnation.  A) Love feasts: meals eaten as part of a worship service intended to enrich the believer’s Christian fellowship and strengthen their union with Christ.  B) Waterless clouds:  These false teachers carried no spiritual burden and were blown along without purpose.  Autumn is the harvest time, but these have no fruit and are doubly dead and destined for destruction.

Jude 13 – These waves are the kind that churn up that disgusting brown, thick foam and litter the seashore with their refuse.  They not only carry future condemnation with them but present shame as well.  Jude then uses wandering stars as his final example.  Theirs is a pointless, useless existence that will end in eternal oblivion.

Jude 14,15 – Here’s where Jude gets himself in trouble as he quotes from the apocryphal Enoch and then ascribes this prophecy to Enoch of Genesis 5.  Since there is no Biblical account of any prophecy of Enoch from Genesis, Jude is either giving canonical credence to the apocryphal Enoch or making an obvious mistake.  It did appear that Jude was referring to the apocryphal Enoch and, in fact, was quoting from Enoch 60:8 in identifying Enoch in his epistle.  Jude doesn’t quote a specific prophecy of Enoch but rather refers to Enoch’s prophecies in general.  There is Scriptural support accompanying the prophecies mentioned in Enoch such as Matt 25:31-46.

Jude 16 – Jude wraps up his feelings about these false teachers by not only telling of their certain doom but also by describing their character.  They are grumblers, murmurers, complainers; they are malcontents, guided by their passions; they are noisy boasters trying to secure gain, flattering people for their own advantage.