The Book of Jude, by Lane Rogers

Remember that this is the fulfillment of the prophecies of 2nd Peter Chapter 2. In 2nd Peter, the verb tenses are in future tense. In Jude the verb tenses are present tense.

OUTLINE

I. The Salutation (1-2)

II. The Reason for the Letter (3-4)

III. The Warnings against False teachers (5-16)

1. Examples of Judgment from History (5-7)

2. The description and doom of the false teachers (8-13)

3. Enoch's prophecy of the Coming Judgment (14-16)

IV. The Exhortation to the Believers (17-23)

V. The Doxology (24-25)


1Jude, 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: May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.




I. The Salutation vv. 1-2.

A. The letter begins with a self introduction. Simply "Jude." There are eight different persons in the biblical text who are possibilities, but the process of elimination only leaves, Jude the Brother of Jesus (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3).

B. Jude is a dulos, literally a slave of Jesus Christ.

C. The "James" (Iakobos) mentioned here is probably the Lord's brother. See Jos. Antiq. XX, 200 [ix.1].

  1. The readers are the "kletois" the "called" 2nd Thess. 2:14.

  2. Second, they are “loved by God.” (tois en theo patri egapemenois) beloved in God the Father.

D. Mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance. Typical introduction. Mercy is God's compassion, peace is His gift of confidence,and love is His generosity in granting us our status.


The Reason For the Letter vv. 3-4

3Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. 4For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.


A. Jude says they are "beloved"

1. This letter was written to make a statement about the Faith.

2. "The salvation we share" or our common salvation, is the "One Lord, One Hope, and One baptism, of Eph. chapter 4. They had a common method of salvation, and not a different one.

3. "I felt I had to write." Jude was compelled to write.

4. His readers are to epagonizesthai. To "struggle" for the faith.

5. The "Faith" is a body of truth that in the early church took a definite form, (see Acts 2:38; next, Acts 2:42). The faith (a body of truth) became clearer as time passed.

6. This "faith" has been entrusted once and for all (hapax) to the saints. Therefore, the Christian faith cannot be changed, its truths are not negotiable. This conviction does not belong to Jude alone. See Gal. 1:6-9 and 2nd John 9.

B. Verse 4 - Here is why I am writing. "Ungodly men have slipped in (crept in unaware).

1. These men were condemned long ago (as all wicked people are).

2. These men are "impious."

a. They exploit the grace of God for sexual immorality.

b. They deny Christ (not told how). See Titus 1:16.


5Now 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. 6And 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, 7just 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.




The Warning Against the False Teachers


Verse 5 - As in II Peter 1:12, Jude says that his readers already know what he is going to say but he wants to remind them again.

1. I want to remind you what happened to the unbelievers during the Exodus from Egypt.

2. I want to remind you about those fallen angles spoken of in II Peter chapter Two.

3. I want to remind you what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah.

a. The Calvinistic nightmare. These people were saved (NASB) (they were delivered from Egypt, NIV), they rebelled, and then fell from grace. (Need to read the NIV junk translation on this. It is almost criminal behavior).

b. verse 6 - The fallen angels. (See Luke 10:18 and Rev. 12:7-9).

c. Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah were punished for chasing after "strange or different" flesh. i.e. homosexuality.

d. The fate of Sodom and Gomorrah will be the fate of the false teachers.


The Description and Doom of the False Teachers (vv. 8-13)

8Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. 9But 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!" 10But 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. 11Woe 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. 12These are the men 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; 13wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.


Verse 8 - Jude now links the examples of God's judgment (vv. 5-7) to the false teachers who he calls dreamers.

1. These false teachers pollute their own bodies as in Sodom and Gomorrah.

2. They reject Jesus by their behavior.

3. The slander Celestial beings.

Verse 9 - Michael the archangel.

1. There was a struggle over the body of Moses, according to oral tradition and others. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Didymus of Alexandria. But, Jude is quoting from the apocryphal book of The Assumption of Moses, which only small parts have survived.

a. The devil it seems, has the right to the body of Moses since Moses committed murder (Ex. 2:12). The Devil also considers himself the Lord of the Earth.

b. Michael is mentioned in Revelation 12:7; and 1st Thess. 4:16 (the voice of the archangel. Also in Daniel 10: 13, 21 and 12:1).

c. The point of course that these human false teachers are doing things that Michael will not even do (make accusations).

Verse 10- "Yet these men." Show contempt.

1. They speak evil of things they know nothing about.

2. They do have knowledge but at a base level.

3. They are like unreasoning animals, and will be destroyed.

Verse 11 - Three More Examples from the OT. Jude promises "Woe"


1. The false teachers have taken the way of "Cain." Cain's way was walking without faith (Heb. 11:4) and Cain's way led to hatred and murder (1st John 3:12-13).

2. They have fallen into "Balaam's error. Prototype for greed and taught false religion and immorality. Numbers 31:16-19. They are wholly consumed by the love of money.

3. Numbers 16: 1-35 - They have been destroyed in Korahs rebellion. About 250 people rebelled against the authority of Moses. These false teachers will met the same end.

Verse 12-13. Jude now gives six figures to describe these people.

1. "Blemishes at your love feasts." Should not be  a love feast. There is no love for anything except money.

2. "Shepherds" who feed on themselves. Verse 12 - poimaninotes (Shepherding) Were these Elders of the church taking advantage of their position?

3. Like clouds that promise rain but are waterless. They are nothing but wind.

4. Like fruit in late autumn. (Long past harvest). Amos basket of smelling summer fruits.

5. The "restless sea." For ancient man the sea was often deadly.

6. "Wandering Star." An unpredictable star that is of no help for navigation.

Enoch's Prophecy of Coming Judgment! 14-16

14It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, 15to 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." 16These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering

people for the sake of gaining an advantage.


Verse 14- Enoch walked with God and God carried him away (Gen. 5:24) In the Bible he is not specifically called the "seventh from Adam" but in Genesis 5 and 1st Chronicles 1:1-3, he is the seventh in order.

1. However, Jude is not quoting from the Bible here. He is quoting from The Book of Enoch also called the The Ethiopic book of Enoch. A work highly respected by Jews and many Christians.

2. Jude does not call this work Scripture. Paul also quoted from non-biblical sources; see Acts 17:28 and 1st Corinthians 15:33 (Menander) and also in Titus 1:12 where Paul quotes Epimendies .

Verses 15-16 - The stress is on "all." Jude finds Enoch's prophecy a good summary of divine judgment on "all ungodly."

-16- These false teachers are grumblers. Same word used in 1st Cor. 10: 10 related to the murmuring in the wilderness.

-16- They are "faultfinders." Habitual complaining.

-16- They "follow their own desires." Reject authority.

-16- They "boast about themselves."

-16- They "honor faces for the sake of advantage.


Keep Yourselves in the Love of God 17-23

17But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18that they were saying to you, "In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts." 19These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. 20But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 22And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 23save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.




Verses 17-18 -We move from denunciation to love. "But, Dear Friends." It is time to remember, what Peter said back in II Peter Chapter 2. What is going on in the church now was predicted by Peter (II Peter Chapter 2).

Verse 19 - One more diatribe against the false teachers.

1. "men who divide you." based on the next verse they were being divided by "spiritual and not so spiritual."

2. Psychikos literally, soulish, psychic. These teachers were Gnostics who claiming to have a special knowledge. You can tell by the way they live (they do not have the spirit) they are false.

3. They do not have the "spirit" because there is no definite article. However, could be the Holy Spirit.

Verses 20-21. Once again, we are writing the "beloved."

1. Build yourselves up in the Holy Faith. The orthodox body of truth from the apostles. It is "most holy" because the Spirit gave it concerning "God's Holy Servant." Acts 4:27.

2. We are to be a "praying people." Pray in the Holy Spirit." See Romans 8:26-27.

3. Keep ourselves in God's love. v.21. Those who reject the commands of Jesus reject God's love. John 15:10.

4. Keep our attention on "the mercy of our Lord Jesus," that brings us to Eternal life. Remember, we are debtors, we owe all to Jesus.

Verses 22-23.

1. The first command, to show mercy on the doubting or those hesitating. The teachings of the false teachers have caused some to doubt.

2. The second group must be dealt with immediately. We are to snatch those in error from the fire.

3. The third group of people are really defiled ones. Their very clothing is corrupt, meaning anything that comes near them is corrupt..


The Doxology

24Now 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, 25to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, the glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.



Verse 24- I think the message may have been depressing so now we have a note of encouragement.


Verse 25- A description of the Godhead.