God gave me the idea to create this post on the book of Jude because of it's relevance in today's world with so much false and misleading doctrine that is out there. Since this book is only one chapter I am going to do a verse by verse breakdown to better help you understand the book. This book is often skipped by many Christians probably because of its proximity to the Book of The Revelation.
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:
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 earnestly 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 crept 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.
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.
17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." 19 These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
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— 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.
Since verses 1&2 are introduction, I will skip those. Verse 3 is where the meat begins. I'd like to focus on the phrase 'earnestly contend'. To "contend earnestly for" (epagonizesthai) is an
expressive compound infinitive which appears only here in
the New Testament. The simple form of the verb
(agonizomai), which appears as 'agonize' in its English
form, was commonly used in connection with the Greek
stadium to denote a strenuous struggle to overcome an opponent, as in a wrestling match. It was also used more generally of any conflict, contest, debate, or lawsuit. Involved is the thought of the expenditure of all one's energy in order to prevail. This unique compound verb pictures a person taking his or her stand on top of something an adversary desires to take away, and fighting to defend and retain it. This is sort of like when we were kids we used to play "king of the hill" and others would try to knock us off the hill.
We need to diligently contend for the faith we believe in, namely the one and only true Gospel that Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures, he was buried, and rose again on the third day according to the scriptures. (See 1 Corinthian 15:3-4)
Verse 4:
The verb "crept in", from the Greek (pareisedusan), indicates a
secret, stealthy, and subtle insinuation of something evil
into a society or a situation." The Apostle Paul makes this same warning in the Epistle of Galatians 2:4 "And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage)"
The same idea of false people sneaking into the church was told by Jesus in the parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13:24-30 "24 Another parable he told them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where did the tares come from?
28 He said unto them, An enemy has done this. The servants said unto him, Do you want us to go gather them up?
29 But he said, No; lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."
Notice verse 25 says "while men slept". May I say there are far too many Christians in the church today who are asleep. They are not on their guard and may not recognize someone bringing in false teachings (especially if the false teaching is somewhat close to the true teaching). We need to wake up and contend for our faith!!
Verses 5-7
Here Jude mentions three groups of rebellious, unbelievers. He starts out with the Israelites in the wilderness who did not believe God's promise to sustain them into the Promised Land. Then Jude mentions the group of angels who left their privileged position near God only to incur God's wrath. This is how Lucifer, Son of The Morning, became Satan, The Prince of Darkness. (see Isaiah 14). Jude is also making the warning that if the highest beings known in creation were subject to judgment, how much more will sinful man be subject to judgment and God's wrath.
Lastly, verse 7 mentions how God deals with those who practice immorality and sexual perversion which the false teacher's in Jude's day evidently felt liberated to do. There is a slippery slope that some slide down when they reach the ultimate sin of unbelief. Apostasy has it's roots in unbelief. Unbelief leads to rebellion against God and His revealed truth which leads to immorality. These steps may be traced in our own times. Liberalism, whether in politics or theology, is a very scary thing.
Verses 8 - 11
Here Jude pinpoints three errors from the previous verses and is accusing the false teachers of all three: lust (v.7), rebellion (v.5), and irreverence (v.6). He uses the word "dreamers" when describing them. I believe this is a reference that goes all the way back to Genesis 6:5 where the Bible states "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." I believe the word dreamers and the reference to evil imaginations of the heart are synonymous.
Verse 9 is an interesting passage and without the proper background can seem to not be all that relevant to the surrounding passages. However, there are a few lessons to learn from this passage. Michael the Archangel did not rebuke Satan directly, he told Satan "The Lord rebuke you". This is a good lesson to learn when fighting spiritual warfare. The battle belongs to the Lord, not to us. We are not to rebuke Satan directly. Our duty is to submit to God, resist (not rebuke) the devil, and he will flee. (James 4:7).
The deeper question someone might have is why would there be a dispute over Moses' body in the first place. If you do not know the answer to this question then this passage loses a lot of significance. In order to understand why Moses' body is so important is to look into the Book of Revelation where it talks about two witnesses who will preach and reach 144,000 Jewish Men during the Great Tribulation who will, in turn, evangelize across the earth and reach millions for Christ. Look at Revelation 11:3-6 "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands that stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.
These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have
power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want." From the powers described of preventing rain and turning water to blood as well as bringing plaques, it could only be referring to the two men in the Old Testament who had those powers... Elijah and Moses. Elijah was caught up to Heaven and did not die physically so his body is preserved to come back to earth. However, Moses died physically before entering the promised land so his body is being preserved by God especially for this future event. Satan would like nothing more than to be able to get to Moses body and destroy it to prevent this future evangelism (just as Satan attempted to thwart the blood line that led to Christ).
Verses 10 and 11 are speaking about the lost, evil people who are in stark contrast to believers. While we are to not rebuke, these people rebuke on steroids unjustly. They are ignorant of the things of God so therefore they speak abusively against the things they do not understand. Education is costly, but ignorance is far more costly. Ignorance of God's Word and embracing Jesus as your personal savior is not only costly, it is eternally deadly. Jude describes these people not as acting like humans, but as acting like unreasoning or wild animals. It is never good for anyone to have the Bible say "Woe to them"!
Verses 12-16 go into a little more detail in describing these "Woe" people who follow the way of Baa lam. They are described as clouds without rain, blown by the wind, trees without fruit, and twice dead. This is in stark contrast to the words used to describe the righteous in the Bible. Look at Psalm 1:1-4
1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Instead of clouds without rain and fruitless trees, we are described as trees planted by streams of water with much fruit.
Also look at the phrase "being blown around by the wind" in verse 12 of Jude. Contrast that with the verse in Ephesians 4:14 "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming." Paul is saying the same thing here as Jude is and that is to not be a spiritual infant, know the Word of God, so that we will not be tossed to and fro.
The last part of Jude 12 has an interesting term "twice dead". Someone may look at that and think, "how can you die twice". The answer to that is simple, everyone who is born on this earth will die physically (unless Jesus comes back before then) so we all die once. The difference is that the unbelievers will also die a 2nd time which is a spiritual death and then be cast into the lake of fire. The Book of Revelation says in 21:8 "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone:
which is the second death."
In contrast, Revelation 2:11 "He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches; He that overcomes
shall not be hurt of the second death." and Revelation 20:6 "Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such
the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."
Verses 17-23 are a call for believers to persevere and stay strong in the faith. The Bible talks about their being scoffers and unsound doctrine in the last days. This occurs in 2 Peter 3:3 "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts." and also in 2 Timothy 4:2-5 "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry."
Not only do these with unsound doctrine cause the danger of teaching others falsely, Jude says these are the very types that will try to divide a church body. They rely on their natural instincts but do not have the Holy Spirit in them. The Epistle of James references this in chapter 3:13-18 "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.
Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, nonspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
There are 3 main groups of people we should reach out to in Jude 22and 23. In verse 22, Jude says we should be merciful to those in doubt (the unsaved world). When given the opportunity, we should make every attempt to win them for Christ. In verse 23, Jude says we should reach out to those who have already been led astray by the false teachers in an attempt to lovingly bring them back to sound doctrine and right fellowship with God. We should not just abandon them.
In the case of those whom heresy has completely swept away, we should have pity on them rather than condemning them without compassion. Moreover we should regard them with fear, not fear of being infected by physical contact with them, but fear of falling under God's displeasure and discipline if we embrace their error. We should avoid any contact with these people because of the corrupting influence they can have on us through their words and actions. Two examples of this in scripture can be found in 1 Cor. 5:9-11 "I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat." and 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 "If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother."
The word "clothing" used at the end of verse 23 stands for those things affected by contact with fleshly behavior such as personal habits and practices, speech, companions, etc. Scripture often uses the words clothing or garments as symbols of what other people see, namely, our conduct. An example of this can be found in Revelation 16:15 "Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed." Obviously, this is symbolic. It is not talking about literally being naked or without clothes. It is referring to those who hold to the faith and are found to be true believers, not the false teachers who will be exposed at the judgment.
The last few verses of Jude are known as the Doxology. Verse 24 says to Him who is able to keep you from falling. This is a reference to Jesus Christ. We are to be confident in the Lord and His ability to keep us safe and faithful.
Hebrews 7:25 "Therefore He (Jesus) is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because he always lives to intercede for them."
Hebrews 2:18 "Because He Himself (Jesus Christ) suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted."
To wrap things up we should take away 3 main ideas from this little book of Jude:
1) We should remember that the Bible foretold of false teaching that would come in the latter days and not be troubled by it. It merely confirms the divine inspiration of the Bible.
2) We should devote ourselves to our own spiritual growth. The best way to guard ourselves against false teaching is to have a solid foundation of the proper doctrinal teaching in the Bible.
3) We should not shun those who have errored in the faith by the influence of these false teachers. We should lovingly bring them back to repentance of their ways and back to the solid foundation of the Word of God.
