Deeper Commentary
:1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those that
are called; beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ-
"Called" is better "sanctified" (AV). This sanctification is by the work
of the Holy Spirit gift in human hearts (Rom. 15:16; 1 Cor. 6:11). That
sanctification is by association with "the name of the Lord Jesus, and by
the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11). Here as there, we have Father, Son
and Spirit associated. These three entities often occur together, and
baptism associates us with each of them (Mt. 28:19). The error and
blasphemy of the doctrine of the Trinity is in the relationship it claims
between the three, and in claiming the Holy Spirit to be a personal God.
The doctrine as it stands is seriously wrong, as I have argued throughout
The Real Christ. But clearly there is a 'trinity' with a small 't',
as God, the Lord Jesus and the Spirit are mentioned together many times in
the New Testament, both directly together and also the three ideas occur
together. Jude 1 is an example. "God the Father" and the Lord Jesus are
mentioned along with the sanctifying and 'keeping' work of the Spirit. We
are to 'keep' the Lord's ways and commandments, and yet He keeps us by the
Spirit. "They have kept Your word... keep [s.w.] [them] by Your own
Name... I kept them in Your Name... keep them from the evil" (Jn. 17).
Jude will conclude by glorying in the fact that the Lord is able to keep
us from falling in spiritual terms (:24). 2 Peter 2 had predicted that
there was going to be an arising of false teachers amongst the Jewish
believers whom he had baptized. Jude is full of allusion to 2 Peter, and
speaks as if that falling away and arising of mass false teaching had
arisen by his time. And yet Jude still writes to the very weak believers
as if the Spirit is still active within them and seeking to preserve them
unto salvation. We too can only assume the salvation of others and their
status "in Christ"; for we cannot condemn them.
Jude, Peter And Corinth
A case can be made that the letters of Peter and Jude were also written to
Corinth. Peter visited Corinth, presumably focusing his preaching on the
Jewish community, and perhaps he was writing his letters specifically to
the Jewish house churches there (1 Cor. 1:12; 3:22; 9:5). The same
concerns are apparent as in Paul's letters to Corinth: The need to
distinguish between spiritual and unspiritual persons who despised others
(Jude 19 = 1 Cor. 2:6 - 3:4; 8:1-3); those who perverted liberty into
licence (Jude 4 = 1 Cor. 6:12; 10:23), becoming slaves of sensuality (Jude
8,10,16,23 = 1 Cor. 6:9-20; 2 Cor. 12:21); some eating and drinking
abusively at the love feast (Jude 12 = 1 Cor. 11:17-33); refusing the
authority of their elders (Jude 8,11 = 1 Cor. 4:8-13; 9:1-12); and both
Peter and Paul warn Corinth of the danger of worldly wisdom. Peter's
reminder to them about the authority of Paul is very understandable in
this case. However, the point of all this is to observe the tenderness of
Peter and Jude in writing to the Corinthians ["my beloved..."], whilst at
the same time warning them of the awesome judgment which there behaviour
was preparing for them. It was the same passionate love for Christ's weak
brethren which Paul showed them.
:2 Mercy to you and peace and love be multiplied- Jude like Paul
and Peter really believed that this wish that others would experience the
fruit of the Spirit in their lives would come about.
:3 Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write to you of our
common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, urging you to
contend earnestly for the faith which was delivered once and for all to
his saints- Jude gives the impression that he sat down to write a
positive missive of encouragement concerning the great salvation he and
his readers had in common, but changed course to warn them to defend the
faith. We see here a window onto the meaning of Divine inspiration; the
will of the writer is not completely obliterated, but rather was worked
with by the Spirit.
The Bible speaks of “the faith”, “the Gospel”, as a set of doctrines, a
deposit of truth which has been delivered to the believer (Eph. 4:4–6) –
“the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3 ASV).
That truth cannot be added to nor subtracted from, as the Bible itself
makes clear – especially in the appeals of Paul and Peter to maintain the
purity of the one faith. This means that a vitally true doctrine cannot
become ‘added’ to that body of truth. Jaroslav Pelikan correctly
reflected: “What can it mean for a doctrine to ‘become’ part of the
Catholic faith, which is, by definition, universal both in space and in
time?”.
We note that the "saints" are the 'sanctified ones' of :1; the same word
is used.
:4 For there are certain people who have crept in secretly, who long
ago were designated for condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of
our God into a license for immorality, and who deny our only Master and
Lord, Jesus Christ- This parallels rejecting Jesus as Master and Lord
with rejecting His moral demands. If He truly is Lord and Master, we
simply won’t live the immoral life which Jude criticizes. The warnings of
2 Peter 2 about these men had now come true. The language of creeping in
secretly suggests a conscious program of infiltration; the same group are
spoken of in Gal. 2:4 as being Judaist false teachers. 2 Peter 2 was
addressed to Jewish converts, perhaps those Peter had baptized at
Pentecost who were now refugees in Asia; so we can assume that it was to
this same group that Jude was writing, seeing he uses 2 Peter 2 so
consciously. These Judaists were actually appealing to the lusts of the
flesh by allowing gross immorality, justified by a tokenistic obedience to
some Jewish traditions. This is why in several of the New Testament
epistles addressed to Gentiles, there is warning against the Judaizers.
The opportunity to continue in sexual immorality whilst ostensibly having
justification by works was very attractive to them. This explains why in
Corinth, Ephesus, Thyatira and elsewhere there is evidence that the church
meetings were a time of sexual immorality, using prostitutes as part of
the worship in the same way as they were used in the surrounding religious
cults.
:5 Now I desire to have you remember (as you know all things already)
that the Lord having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward
destroyed them that did not believe- Israel were therefore “saved”
from Egypt, as all those who are baptised are “saved” from sin. If one of
those Israelites had been asked, “Are you saved?” their response could
have been, “Yes”, but this would not mean that they would ultimately
be saved. Salvation was a status, but the believers had to abide in it.
Baptism, passing through the Red Sea (1 Cor. 10:1,2), was no guarantee of
ultimate salvation. It seems that the false teachers were justifying
sexual immorality (:4) on the basis of some 'once saved always saved'
teaching.
:6- see on 2 Pet. 2:4.
And the angels which did not keep to their own domain, who left their
proper abode, He has kept in everlasting bonds, under darkness, to the
judgment of the great day- The simple point was
that although judgment had been passed upon these individuals, it had not
yet been executed in practice. But this was no reason to think that it
would not be. The false teachers seemed to be arguing that future judgment
for sin was not going to happen; see on :5.
There seems to be the implication in Heb. 9:23 that the Lord's sacrifice
somehow cleansed the Angels. We have to emphasize that there were no
sinful Angels in Haven at the time of Christ's sacrifice, and probably
never have been. However, we have to bear in mind that "His Angels He
charged with folly" (Job 4:18); "The Heavens are not clean in His sight"
(Job 15:15), and also the possibility that the "Angels that sinned" (Jude
6; 2 Peter 2:4) were actual Angels before the present creation. This was a
view supported by John Thomas; the fact that there are such strong
connections between these Angels and the princes associated with Korah's
rebellion does not mean that his view is necessarily wrong.
Jude's other historical examples are capable of being interpreted with
reference to more than one past incident, not all of which are recorded in
Scripture. Thus the dispute about the body of Moses (Jude 9) could refer
to the Samaritans disputing about the people of Israel or Joshua the High
Priest (see Zech. 3), or it could refer equally to Michael the Archangel,
the Angel of Israel, who buried Moses body, disputing with a group of
Israelites who wanted to have Moses' body travelling with them, as those
of Joseph and the patriarchs did (Acts 7:15,16 RV). Similarly Jude 14
talks of an incident concerning Enoch which is not detailed in the Bible
(cp. Jannes and Jambres in 2 Tim. 3:8 too).
Thus there is no reason why "the Angels which kept not their first estate"
of Jude and 2 Peter should not refer to "Angels that sinned" before
creation as well as to Korah's company of Num. 16. Psalm 103 is praise for
God's forgiveness and mercy to sin. David concludes it by asking the
Angels especially to praise God for this (Ps. 103:19-21)- which would be
fitting if they too had benefited in the past from God's mercy towards
sin. The fact that the Angels had crowns when they are symbolized by
the elders in Rev. 4:10 suggests that they had won them through overcoming
some kind of tribulation. See on 1 Cor. 6:3; Heb. 9:23.
:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them, these gave
themselves over to fornication and went after strange flesh. Such are
given as an example. All of them suffered the punishment of eternal fire-
Jude warns the believers that Sodom’s punishment was what awaited those of
the new Israel who threw off their responsibilities. In passing, it should
be noted that all Jude's examples of Divine punishment involve people who
were responsible to God, by reason of knowing His ways. Is Sodom an
exception? Perhaps Lot's witness to them made them responsible? The
argument of the false teachers appears to have been that future judgment
would not come for sin, and having been baptized, they were permanently
saved (see on :5 and :6). The "fornication" being practiced amongst the
Christian converts was on the basis of religious, spiritual arguments; see
on :4. But judgment comes, and Sodom is cited as an example.
"Eternal fire" is symbolic for complete destruction, as in Jer. 7:27.
There is no fire burning in Sodom now; but the consequence of the
condemnation they received was eternal.
:8- see on Zech. 3:1,2.
Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak
evil of dignitaries-
The authority rejected by the false prophets was that of the true
prophets, who were speaking God's word in truth. They were "dreamers" in
that they claimed to have had Divine revelation in dreams. But their
message was awful- the paradox of 'defiling the flesh' is used, a kind of
tautology to express how bad they were. The parallel in 2 Pet. 2:10 [see
note there] suggests that the "dignitaries" they slandered were local
civil authorities, and the example quoted in :9 concerns these too. It
would seem that the immorality these false teachers were advocating was so
gross that it was even against the local laws. This is how far we can go
if we accept the false idea that we are saved whatever our future
behaviour; and that God is not a God of judgment. This is the power of
ideas; we cannot assume these issues are merely academic. What happened to
the 'Christians' to whom Jude wrote is a prime example of where the power
of wrong ideas can lead.
:9 But Michael the archangel, when contending with the Devil in dispute
about the body of Moses, does not bring against him a reviling accusation,
but said: The Lord rebuke you- As noted on 2 Pet. 2:10, the slander of
human "dignitaries" was wrong even in its style, because the archangel
Michael was at best 'polite' in rebuking the representatives of the local
authorities who were resisting the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The
implication is that the Angels speak in a soft, gentle way- they do not
dare bring a "railing accusation" against the men they operate upon.
Similarly the wilderness Angel that gave the Law and pronounced the
blessings and curses upon Israel did not do so in a matter of fact 'obey
or perish' tone of voice; He "pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness
of the land of Egypt", as He will plead with them to repent in the last
days too (Ez. 20:36). The Angel spoke to Moses "as a man speaketh to his
friend" (Ex. 33:11)- i.e. in a relaxed, friendly way. It should be
remembered that it was in this tone of voice that the "fiery Law" of Moses
was given, rather than in a harsh, judgmental way as is often thought.
Similarly Eliphaz had a vision in which he "heard a still voice" (Job
4:16, AV mg.); most visions being associated with Angels, it seems fair to
assume this was an Angel's voice- as was the "still small voice" Elijah
heard? (1 Kings 19:12).
Jude 9 gives guidance about how to deal with slander and attacks from
false brethren. Jude alludes to the well known Jewish legend, The
Testament Of Moses. In it, the ‘devil’ slanders Moses, accusing him of
having murdered the Egyptian and therefore being worthy of condemnation,
and tries to drag Moses’ body down to punishment. Jude points out that in
the story, the Angel Michael doesn’t indulge in justification but rather
says that “the Lord rebuke thee”. And may this be our pattern.
Michael the Archangel’s disputing with the Devil about the body of Moses
could refer to the Angel that led Israel through the wilderness contending
with a group of disaffected Jews. There is no implication that “the Devil”
here is an angel; rather does it refer to a group of human opponents whom
Angels were against. Seeing that it is stressed that all the Angels are
united in doing God’s will and are all obedient to Him (Ps. 103:19–21;
148:2; Heb. 1:14), it is not possible for there to be an argument in
heaven between angels. Remember that the phrases “Devil” and “Satan” can
be used about ordinary men. This Devil is concerned with the body of Moses
not the so–called “immortal soul” of men (which is not Biblical teaching
anyway). There are many similarities between Jude and 2 Peter 2. Jude 9
has a parallel in 2 Peter 2:11: “Whereas angels, which are greater in
power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the
Lord”. Peter’s equivalent of “the Devil” is “them” – implying that the
Devil in Jude 9 is not an individual, personal being, but a group of
people. 2 Peter 2:10–12 clearly indicates that the “them” was a group of
men. As with Jude 6, this verse is in the context of Jude 5 – “I will
therefore put you in remembrance”. Jude is therefore reminding them of
incidents in Israel’s history from which they should learn lessons. Thus
Jude 9 must be a reference to an historical incident recorded in
Scripture. There is no such incident concerning an angel called the Devil
arguing with another angel. Michael the Archangel asked God to rebuke, or
“forbid”, the Devil. If there is a super–human person, power or agency,
called the Devil causing men to sin and creating trouble, then there is no
evidence that he was ever effectively forbidden, seeing that sin and
disaster are progressively increasing.
The reference to the Devil here is incidental. The purpose of the passage
is to show that angels speak in a gentle, humble way, even about people
they know are in the wrong. They do not show personal vindictiveness, but
say “The Lord rebuke you”. The Judaizers “speak evil of dignities;
yet Michael... durst not bring against him (the Devil) a railing
accusation”, i.e. he did not resort to bitter speaking as they did.
Similarly Ex. 33:9–11 says that the angel spoke to Moses “face to face, as
a man speaketh unto his friend”, i.e. In a relaxed, friendly way. It
should be remembered that it was with this voice that the “fiery law” of
Moses was given by the angel, not in a harsh manner, as can be wrongly
inferred from some parts of the narrative. Similarly the “still, small
voice” that Elijah heard was probably the quiet, unassuming voice of an
angel (1 Kings 19:12 cp. Job 4:16).
There are so many points of contact between this verse and Zechariah 3:1,2
that that chapter must surely provide an historical background to the
verse, which would be appreciated by Jude’s readers: “And he shewed me
Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan
standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan,
The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem
rebuke thee; is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?”.
The most evident similarities are:
|
Zechariah 3
|
Jude |
|
The angel of the Lord |
Michael the archangel |
|
Satan |
The Devil |
|
The Lord rebuke thee |
The Lord rebuke thee |
|
A brand plucked out of the fire (vv. 1,2). |
Pulling them out of the fire (vv. 9,23). |
The context in Zechariah 3 was that of the restoration of the Jews to
Jerusalem from Babylon under Ezra and Nehemiah. They were trying to
rebuild the temple and re-establish a system of worship there. However,
“the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and
troubled them in building” (Ezra 4:4), i.e. they acted as Satan /
adversaries to the Jews. They are actually called “the adversaries of
Judah” in Ezra 4:1. They wrote “an accusation against the (new)
inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem” to the king of Persia (Ezra 4:6). The
Hebrew word for “accusation” is related to that translated “Satan”.
Zechariah 3:8 clearly tells us that the characters of verses 1 and 2 are
“men of sign” (A.V. margin), i.e. we have to interpret them. So the satans
– the adversaries – stood before the angel along with Joshua the High
Priest, who “was clothed with filthy garments” (:3) – without a mitre on
his head (:5 implies).
The implication is that the inhabitants of the land, the Satan, were
complaining to God, manifested in the angel, that the new Jewish high
priest was not really valid, as he did not wear the proper clothes (they
had probably been lost during the captivity). The angel tells Satan, “The
Lord rebuke thee”, and proceeds to clothe Joshua with a set of priestly
clothes and a mitre (:4,5), thus showing God’s acceptance of him. The
inference behind the complaint was that God had not really chosen
Jerusalem for the Jews to rebuild, and that therefore they were going
ahead with their plans without God behind them. But the angel says that
“the Lord...hath chosen Jerusalem”, in the same way as He had chosen
Joshua to be high priest. Thus Joshua represented Jerusalem. “Is not this
a brand plucked out of the fire?” the angel asks Satan concerning
Jerusalem. This is quoted in Jude 23 concerning saving repentant sinners.
Thus the angel is in effect saying, “Jerusalem has repented, therefore I
have plucked them out of the fire of judgment and destruction; you should
not therefore be implying that Jerusalem and the Jews are so sinful that
they cannot be restored to their land with Me behind them”.
Jude says that the dispute between the angel and the Devil – those opposed
to the rebuilding of the temple – was “about the body of Moses”. This
phrase can therefore either refer to the Jewish people generally, in the
same way as the Christian church is “the body of Christ” (1 Cor. 12:27)
because we look to him for guidance, rather than being in the “body of
sin” (Rom. 6:6) because we follow sin, or to Joshua the high priest.
Joshua was the “body of Moses” in the sense that “body” can be a figure of
speech for a “slave”, e.g. Revelation 18:13; Hebrews 10:5; Psalm 40:6; and
Exodus 21:2–6, and Romans 6:6 where having a “body of sin” probably means
being a “slave of sin”. The High Priest was thus the slave of Moses.
Another suggestion it that the “body of Moses” was Moses’ literal Body;
Michael the archangel was the angel of Israel (Dan. 12:1) who led them
through the wilderness in the cloud and fire (Ex. 23:20–21). The dispute
may have been between the angel and a group of Jews – “the Devil” – who
wanted to take the body of Moses with them. But the angel had buried
Moses’ body and would not tell anyone where it was (Dt. 34:6). Remember
that the body of Joseph was carried up into Canaan by the Jews (Josh.
24:32) as were the bodies of Jacob and the twelve patriarchs from Egypt
(Acts 7:15–16 R.V..); and we know that the bodies of the kings of Israel
were used in wrong worship rituals (Ez. 43:7); it is to be expected,
therefore, that some of the Jews would also want to take the body of
Moses, their great leader, with them. The Jews laid great store by having
the remains of their leaders physically with them – they are condemned for
keeping the corpses of their kings in the temple (Ez. 43:7–9).
:10 But these revile whatever things they do not see with their eyes or
cannot examine naturally. They are like the beasts without reason. In
these things are they destroyed- The path of Cain involved reviling
what he did not understand (Jude 10,11). He didn’t understand, or didn’t
let himself understand, the principles of sacrifice, and so he reviled his
brother and God’s commands, he became a true child of the Biblical Devil –
because he refused to spiritually 'see' / understand. Their destruction
[the same word is used about condemnation at the last day] was ongoing;
they were destroying / condemning themselves by their behaviour. They were
completely closed to any higher, spiritual reasoning- like animals. "See"
is the word for 'understanding'. They used abusive language and had a
belligerent attitude because they chose to be without understanding. They
reviled "dignitaries" and "authority"; they were so drunk on their own
power that they considered themselves above all civil and ecclesial
authority. They were so sensual that they were blind to anything beyond
that which they could "examine naturally", what was visibly in front of
them. And the essence of this error is to be seen in those who reject God
and His moral teaching because they say that the evidence for Him cannot
be examined naturally, by direct impact upon their own eyes and ears.
:11 Woe to them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in
the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah-
Cain, Balaam and Korah represent a heady mix of lust for money, power and
sex. I mention "sex" because this was the method used by Balaam to entice
Israel to sin so that they would fall, and thereby he could receive the
promised "hire" from Balak. Those men were all within the community of
God's people in Old Testament times. The past tense "perished" implies
they had already been condemned; but that condemnation was still going to
be ministered to them at the last day. They were the living dead, already
"perished". Balaam "ran" for reward, so wanting to do Balak's will in
order to receive the promised "hire"; and the Angel and donkey tried to
arrest him in his headlong rush. He paid no attention, just as the efforts
of Jude and Peter to arrest the madness of these men were not being
heeded.
The condemned amongst the first century ecclesias "cast themselves away
through the error of Balaam" (Jude 11 RVmg.)- and yet it is the Lord who
will "cast away" the bad fish in the last day. Yet those He casts away
have in fact cast themselves away. Those who lay in wait for others to
kill them "lay wait for their own blood, they lurk privily for their own
lives" (Prov. 1:11,18). There is a direct relationship, in God's
judgment, between how we treat others and what will happen to us.
:12 These are they who are hidden rocks in your love-feasts when they
feast with you, shepherds that without fear feed themselves- These
people were present at the breaking of bread meetings, and were in fact
the shepherds of the flock. They were leaders of the church. They had no
fear of future judgment, and they were solely after their own
gratification; in this context the parallel 2 Pet. 2:14 says that their
eyes were full of adultery. They clearly had a sexual agenda, and that
agenda was realized at the "love-feasts", which in Corinth and Ephesus had
been turned into orgies after the pattern of the surrounding religious
cults. "Hidden rocks" can also be translated "spots" and this is alluded
to in the final encouragement that the Lord through His Spirit is able to
preserve His true bride "spotless". This is quite something, given the
context. Sincere individuals living under such abusive and insincere
shepherds could still be preserved by the Lord, such is the power of the
Spirit. Bad environment, even spiritually, doesn't preclude the Lord
acting to preserve His own. And clearly enough, if members of these
churches were preserved "spotless", without spot, then there is no such
thing as guilt by association, somehow acquired by belonging to an
apostate church.
Clouds without water, carried along by winds-
They appeared to be full of rain / water, a symbol
of teaching. But they never dispensed any, and were as if carried along on
an endless path to nowhere.
Autumn leaves without fruit-
Harvest time had come, but there was just an appearance of leaves, but no
fruit. The Lord had cursed the Jewish fig tree exactly because of this.
This is another indication that the false teachers in view were Jewish.
Twice dead, plucked up by the roots- 2 Peter 2 and Jude have so often stressed that
these men had already been given their condemnation, although the
execution of it was yet to come. They would experience "the second death";
we all die once, but those who know God's truth and refuse it shall be
resurrected, condemned and thus will die a "second death". But by status,
this is how these men already were. They had already been plucked up by
the roots- a metaphor used in Mk. 11:20 for the judgment of apostate
Israel, but a quotation from Dan. 7:8 about the plucking up by the roots
of Gentile powers. These Judaists were effectively Gentiles and would be
judged as them.
:13 Wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame- "Shame" is
the language of the condemned at the last day. They were proudly
displaying their condemnation. They were as the wicked of Is. 57:20, a
restless sea. Stability and peace, which are fruits of the Spirit and
arise from the firm anchor of having the Kingdom hope, were far from them.
The indulgence of lust doesn't lead to a happy life, but to this endless
restlessness, a sense of movement but going nowhere.
Wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved
forever- As noted above, they
are "wandering" because of the way the flesh ever seeks new fulfilment.
The stability of knowing the eternal love of the Lord Jesus and the
certainty of future salvation are unknown to such people. "Blackness of
darkness" seems a tautology, as was 'even defiling the flesh' in :8;
language struggles to adequately deliver the sense of utter tragedy
arising from the depth of such utter depravity. Eternal death is
blackness, night, utter nothingness with no order. Compared to the
infinite activity of the Spirit, eternally.
:14 And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying:
Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of His holy ones- Jude speaks
about the false teachers of the first century. He recalls how Enoch had
spoken of how the wicked of his day were destroyed in the flood: “Behold
the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment”
(Jude 14,15 RV). I suggested on Gen. 8:1 that these "holy ones" were
Angels who actually brought about the flood. The Lord's coming with the
Angels at the last day will be an even greater fulfilment of this. And yet
Jude says that “To these also [i.e. the first century false teachers]
Enoch… prophesied” (Jude 14 RV). Enoch’s words were primarily addressed to
his own generation, but his words ought to be taken as speaking directly
to the first century apostates. In similar vein, the Lord said that
Isaiah’s words to his generation were prophesy “of you” in the first
century. The idea seems to be that Jude's prophesy of their condemnation
was to be seen as the equivalent of Enoch's condemnation of the immoral
false believers of his age in the lead up to the flood.
But there may be a double meaning here. For there was a popular first
century BC ‘Book of Enoch’.
A rather detailed argument – and yet a very powerful one – that Angels
don’t sin is actually provided by considering the passages in 2 Peter 2
and Jude which are used by some to prove that Angels sin. We have here
what we meet many times in Holy Scripture – a series of allusions to a
contemporary, uninspired, popular piece of literature in order to show
that it is in fact wrong. This point may easily be lost on us, reading as
we do from our distance from the original context. It’s been observed that
there are many allusions to the popular first century BC ‘Book of Enoch’
in 2 Peter and Jude. This book claimed that 200 Angels were expelled from
Heaven and then married beautiful women on earth. Peter and Jude allude to
it in order to show how wrong it is. In the Book of Enoch, it is claimed
that the righteous Angel Michael brings accusation against the 200
supposedly rebellious Angels. But this is specifically alluded to and
corrected by Peter and Jude. In the table below are some of the allusions:
|
Jude |
Book of Enoch |
|
“Enoch the Seventh from Adam prophesied” Jude 14 |
Enoch 60:8 |
|
“dry springs” Jude 12 |
Enoch 48:1,96:6 dried up fountains |
|
“waterless clouds” Jude 12 |
Enoch 18:5,41:4–5,100:11–12 |
|
“reserved for blackest darkness” Jude 13 |
Enoch 21:3 “darkness shall be their dwelling” Enoch 46:6 |
|
“trees without fruit” Jude 12 |
Enoch 80:3 |
|
“plucked up” Jude 13 |
Enoch 83:4 |
|
“raging waves” Jude 12 |
Enoch 101:3–5 |
|
‘See the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy
ones to judge everyone and convict the ungodly of all the ungodly
acts they have done’.” (Jude 14–15) |
“See the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy
ones to judge everyone and convict the ungodly of all the ungodly
acts they have done” (Enoch 1:9) |
|
“reserved unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude 6) |
Reserved unto the day of sorrow Enoch 45:2 |
Peter consciously contradicts this by stressing that “angels do not
bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the
Lord” (2 Pet. 2:11), and Jude is even more specific by saying that this is
true of Michael the Archangel (Jude 9). According to the Book of Enoch,
the man Enoch judges the sinful Angels, but 2 Peter 3 warns that actually
Angels will come with Lord Jesus in order to judge men. We can now
understand why Peter claims that “bold and arrogant these men (the false
teachers) are not afraid to slander celestial beings” (2 Pet. 2:10) – i.e.
the Angels. The Book of Enoch slandered Angels by claiming 200 of them
sinned. As Jude 8 puts it, the false teachers “reject authority and
slander celestial beings”. The idea that the 200 Angels had sexual
encounters with enticing women was therefore a slander. We need to reflect
on the implications of all this – for claiming that Angels sin is actually
spoken of by Peter and Jude as if it is serious blasphemy. Those early
Christians were returning to their earlier Jewish and Pagan beliefs, which
according to 2 Pet. 2:22 is to be seen as a dog returning to its vomit.
This is how serious the issue is.
It should be noted that the Book of Enoch and other such writings are
frequently alluded to in the Apocalypse – again, to deconstruct them and
show a first century readership the real meaning of the terms used
in the popular uninspired literature of the time. Thus the descriptions of
the Heavenly “Son of man” in Enoch 47:3–7 are alluded to in the
description of the Lord Jesus in Rev. 1:15–17 (This and many other such
allusions are to be found tabulated in Hugh Schonfield, The Original
New Testament: Revelation (London: Firethorn Press, 1985)).
:15 To execute judgment upon all and to convict all the ungodly of all
their works of ungodliness which they have done in an ungodly way, and of
all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him- The
judgment of the Lord's second coming will not be a simple destruction of
the wicked. Through the condemnation / judgment process, they will be
convicted of all their sins, including all their hard words they spoke
against the Lord. Such is the Lord's knowledge that words spoken by men in
this life will be quoted back to them at judgment. By their words will men
be justified and condemned (Mt. 12:37); see on Mt. 12:36; Lk. 13:28.
Num. 32:23 prophesied of Israel in their time of condemnation: "You will
be sensible of your sin when evil overtakes you" (LXX). Truly has Ez. 6:9
prophesied of the rejected: "They shall loathe themselves for their evils
which they have committed in all their abominations". Jude 15 would even
suggest that the purpose of judgment being executed is to convict the
rejected of all their ungodly deeds and hard words. Through
realising their condemnation they will realize in awful detail exactly
why this had to be. Our own self-examination now will be stimulated by
realising the depth to which we deserve condemnation, even though
by grace we are saved rather than condemned.
:16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their lusts-
"Murmuring" is the word used of how the Jews murmured against the Lord
Jesus (Lk. 5:30; Jn. 6:41,43; 1 Cor. 10:10). The murmuring and complaining
by the false teachers was presumably in slander of the faithful teachers.
And the terms of course recall Israel in the wilderness, ever murmuring
and complaining against Moses and God. They should have been walking after
the Spirit, but instead the lusts of the flesh controlled them.
(And their mouth speaks great swelling words), showing respect of persons
for the sake of personal advantage- This alludes to how they were false teachers, speaking words which like
leaven swelled up into great things. We recall how leaven was used as
symbolic of the teaching of the Pharisees. The Greek could be translated
the other way around, as if they got people to respect their persons for
the sake of personal advantage. They had seized the podium for the
indulgence of their own lusts- see on :12. Their teachings were ultimately
in order to empower their own self indulgence regarding wealth, power and
sex. As noted on :15, these people would be judged at the last day for
their words; and those words included the words they were teaching. Hence
James warns us to not rush to be teachers, for those who speak the most
words [especially publicly] risk the greater condemnation (James 3:1).
:17 But you, beloved, remember the words which have been spoken
previously by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ- The faithful
minority in these churches were not to listen to the swelling words of the
false teachers (:16) but rather to remember the words of the true
prophets, the Lord's apostles. "Remember" is appropriate to illiterate
folk who would only have had the memory of the inspired, spoken words to
go on. Maybe the implication is that Jude's readership were initially
those of 2 Peter 2, who were the Jews whom Peter had baptized after their
hearing the words of the Lord's apostles at Pentecost.
:18 How they said to you: In the last time there shall be mockers,
walking after their own ungodly lusts- Warning of the great falling
away had been a major part of the initial teaching which these converts
had received. The records of these warnings appear to have been greatly
abbreviated in the Acts transcripts of the apostolic addresses. Clearly
there was follow up instruction given after baptism. The mockers were
credible enough to become the apparent shepherds and teachers in the
congregations to whom Jude was writing. The mocking may have therefore
been quite subtle; but the Spirit through Jude exposed it for what it was.
The same Greek words for "ungodly lusts" are found in Tit. 2:11,12- it was
a denial of God's grace which led to living in such lusts. And the
Judaizers had rejected that grace for a form of legalism which allowed
them to indulge their own lusts.
:19 These are they who make divisions, sensual, having not the Spirit-
Being divisive is the supreme testament to the lack of the Spirit; for the
Spirit unites. Each heart that has received the gift of the Spirit and
allowed it free reign will naturally unite with others who are led by the
same Spirit. This is what "the unity of the Spirit" is all about (Eph.
4:3). Division is a work of the flesh (Gal. 5:20); unity is a fruit of the
Spirit. It's as simple as that. Those who are divisive lack the Spirit. We
need to each enshrine the principle that we will never, ever divide from
those for whom Christ died, His body. If we do, we have not the Spirit and
are mere religionists. These people are "sensual", seeing things in
natural terms, of the flesh, and without the Spirit. This same kind of
language is found in :10 [see notes there]. To divide from others is the
natural, animal like way. To unite is counter-instinctive, if we live in
the flesh. Unity is of the Spirit. And the natural man cannot receive
spiritual things which are spiritually discerned- unless he has the Spirit
and is no longer seeking to view life in material, visible, concrete,
rational terms (1 Cor. 2:14). The Greek for "make divisions" here means
literally to draw a boundary. The Lord Jesus was fundamentally open; He
drew no boundaries of exclusion from His table and fellowship. It was men
who themselves decided whether to come near to Him or not. All the
angst about where to draw fellowship boundaries is really arguing
about where to draw lines in the sand. The Lord was fundamentally open
rather than closed. And as clearly stated here, such drawing of boundaries
is not the way of His Spirit.
:20 But you, beloved, build up yourselves in your most holy faith-
The antidote to all the awful behaviour listed so far is to be built up in
the Spirit. The Lord builds us up, edifying us by His Spirit; but we need
to respond by doing our part in being open to His work within us. The
ideas of holiness and "the faith" recall the opening of the letter; the
believers were being made holy by the Spirit, and were to defend the
faith. Spiritual growth was on the basis of the basic Gospel they
believed, "the faith".
Praying in the Holy Spirit-
We receive the gift of the Spirit in our hearts at baptism, but we are to
allow this Spirit to teach us and take over our thinking and action. The
Spirit in view is the Spirit or mind of the Lord Jesus; it is His
psychological entrance into us. This explains the encouragement to pray in
or by the Spirit (Rom. 8:26; Eph. 6:18). The contrast is with those who
did not have the Spirit (:19).
Who we are as persons is effectively our prayer and plea to God. This
conception of prayer explains why often weeping, crying, waiting,
meditating etc. are spoken of as "prayer" , although there was no specific
verbalizing of requests (Ps. 5:1,2; 6:8; 18:1,2,3,6; 40:1; 42:8; 64:1
Heb.; 65:1,2; 66:17-20; Zech. 8:22). The association between prayer and
weeping is especially common: 1 Sam. 1:10; Ps. 39:12; 55:1,2; Jn.
11:41,42; Heb. 5:7, especially in the Lord's life and the Messianic
Psalms. "The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard
my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer" (Ps. 6:8,9) crystallizes
the point. Desire is also seen as effectively praying for something
(Rom. 10:1; Col. 1:9; 2 Cor. 9:14). Weeping, desiring, waiting, meditating
etc. are all acts of the mind, or 'spirit' in Biblical terminology. There
is therefore a big association between our spirit or state of mind, and
prayer. The spirit (disposition) of Christ which we have received leads us
to pray "Abba, Father" (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). "Praying in the holy
spirit" (Jude 20) is to be seen in this context. Prayer is part of the
atmosphere of spiritual life, not something hived off and separate- it
is an expression of our spirit. Thus there are verses which speak of many
daily prayers as being just one prayer (Ps. 86:3,6; 88:1,2); prayer is a
way / spirit of life, not something specific which occurs for a matter of
minutes each day. The commands to "pray without ceasing" simply can't be
literally obeyed (1 Thess. 5:17). "Watch and pray always" in the
last days likewise connects prayer with watchfulness, which is an
attitude of mind rather than something done on specific occasions. This is
not to say that prayer in no sense refers to formal, specific
prayer. Evidently it does, but it is only a verbal crystallization of our
general spirit of life.
:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our
Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life- The work of the Spirit in keeping
us in Christ must be responded to by our freewill efforts to likewise keep
or remain in Him. We are to 'keep' the Lord's ways and commandments, and
yet He keeps us by the Spirit. "They have kept Your word... keep [s.w.]
[them] by Your own Name... I kept them in Your Name... keep them from the
evil" (Jn. 17). Jude will conclude by glorying in the fact that the Lord
is able to keep us from falling in spiritual terms (:24). We are
"looking", in utter confidence, to receive mercy and eternal life at the
Lord's return. The parallel in 2 Peter is "looking for... the coming of
the day of God" (2 Pet. 3:12). This again suggests that we should be able
to be certain that if we die now or the Lord returns now, we will
certainly be saved. But we must "keep" or abide in that status.
Jude 20,21 exhorts us: “building up yourselves... keep yourselves in the
love of God”. The use of the plural ‘yourselves’ rather than a singular
‘thyself’ suggests that we are to understand this as meaning that we
should build up our community, keep each other in the love of God. Jude
had begun by exalting that we are “sanctified by God the Father, and
preserved [s.w. “keep yourselves”] [by God] in Jesus Christ”. His
conclusion is that we are kept / preserved by God in Christ insofar as
we, the ministers of Christ, keep / preserve each other. The
Greek for ‘building up’ occurs in Eph. 4:16: “From [Christ] the whole body
fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth,
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh
increase [builds up] of the body unto the edifying of itself in love”.
The body builds itself up, if each part contributes. If they don’t,
then there is no building up. Using the same figure, 1 Cor. 3:10-14 speak
of us building up God’s house, the believers, on the foundation of Christ.
And we will be judged for the quality of what is built- our final judgment
will be a reflection of the quality of our brethren, in that their
spirituality is partly determined by our efforts for them. But Col. 2:4
uses the same word to say that we are built up “in [Christ]... as
[according as] ye have been taught... beware lest any man spoil you
[through false teaching]. The life of fellowship with our brethren in
Christ is what builds us up, if we teach each other the right things. But
false teaching means that the house of believers will not be built up.
This would have been especially so in ecclesias of largely illiterate
members. The point is, we are all builders, each part has something to
contribute, and the doing of every ecclesial service must be consciously
to the end of building up one another.
:22 On those who are in doubt have mercy- As noted on :21, these
commands are collective, and they were the more necessary because the
shepherds of the congregation were self-seeking and apostate. All the
faithful members had to therefore take responsibility for the flock. It is
seen as trendy to admit "doubt" about spiritual things; but "doubt" here
requires "mercy". It should not be the case. The work of the Spirit
convicts and convinces so that doubt regarding the basic existence and
saving power of God in Christ is not in doubt. We can hardly have the sure
Hope which the Gospel speaks of if we have such doubts. The AV adds:
"Making a difference". The context has spoken of those without any
conscience who were abusing the flock and bent on indulging their own
lusts through the abuse of others. The "difference" was presumably between
these types and those who were weak and needed compassion shown to their
moral weaknesses.
:23 And others save, snatching them out of the fire; and on some, have
mercy with fear, hating even the underclothing stained by the flesh-
This continues the allusion to Zechariah 3 noted on :9. The Angel just
about decided in favour of saving Jerusalem out of the 'fire' of eternal
punishment (cp. Jer. 17:27) for her sins- He had "compassion, making a
difference" (Jude 22). The "garment spotted by the flesh" must connect
with the "filthy garments" worn by Joshua as he came into the Angel's
presence.
Likewise an Angel had pulled Lot from the fire (Jude 7)- in this sense,
Jude seems to suggest, we can do God’s work for him. Likewise we must
“make a difference” concerning some, just as the Angels “contended” [s.w.]
for men (Jude 9 cp. 22). The fire of condemnation at the judgment is in a
sense already kindled, as the Lord Himself had taught (Lk. 12:49). The
weak brother condemns himself by his way of life, and falls into
condemnation even now, before the judgment (James 5:12; 1 Tim. 3:6; Tit.
3:11). We see this, and have the power in some cases to save the brother
by pulling him out of that fire of condemnation. Surely the point is that
we can save our brother from condemnation at judgment day by what we do
for him now. See on Rom. 12:20.
The "fear" we are to show is perhaps in realizing that the process of
saving these people from out of the fire risks our falling into it; to
save someone you have to get close to them. And these people were already
condemned, in the fire of Gehenna, as it were. Their clothing was
blemished, in contrast to how we are to appear "without blemish" at
judgment day (:24). The Lord will keep us from stumbling, however (:24).
Jude has several times expressed the idea that the false teachers were so
bad that they were condemned already, as it were already in the Gehenna
fire. But the faithful remnant could even save some of them, at least
potentially. To pull someone out of eternal condemnation is one of the
most significant things we can do with our lives. But this can only be
achieved by coming close to them in association.
:24- see on Eph. 1:4.
Now to him that is able to guard you from stumbling- God can withhold men from sinning (Gen. 20:6), and
His Son can keep us from falling (Jude 24), keeping [s.w.] us from evil (2
Thess. 3:3). This preservation unto salvation is the work of His Spirit in
our hearts. It is for this that we pray when we ask in the Lord's prayer
to be 'delivered from evil'. We of course must play our part in 'keeping'
the faith. But we are empowered to do so by the Spirit- hence Timothy is
challenged to "keep [s.w.] that which was given to you, by the Holy Spirit
which dwells within us" (2 Tim. 1:14). The strong similarities between
Jude and 2 Peter 2 continue on this point too; for the same word is used
of how God saved or kept / guarded Noah (2 Pet. 2:5), whilst condemning
the world around him for their sin. This 'keeping' refers therefore to
God's keeping of Noah spiritually, from falling into the sins of those
around him. If his literal salvation from death by drowning was in view, a
different verb would have been used.
And to set you before the presence of His glory without blemish in
exceeding joy- It is only the Lord
Jesus who is "without blemish", the perfect Paschal lamb (Heb. 9:14; 1
Pet. 1:19). There are repeated encouragements that we shall be likewise
"without blemish" before Him at the last day (Rev. 14:5), as we are now
(Eph. 1:4; 5:27; Col. 1:22). But this is only true because of His
righteousness being imputed to us, by grace through faith. This status
should bring "exceeding joy" both now (1 Pet. 1:8) and in the last day (1
Pet. 4:13). We shall enter into the joy of our Lord (Mt. 25:21). His joy
is above that of all His brethren (Heb. 1:9 s.w.), and yet all that is
true of Him shall be true of us.
The idea of "blemish" has been common in 2 Pet. 2 and Jude. The false
teachers and wicked shepherds were blemishes upon the church (:12; 2 Pet.
2:13); some were already under condemnation, with their clothes "spotted
by the flesh" (:23). Yet the faithful remnant would be preserved without
blemish in that they were clothed in the Lord's righteousness.
When all this is finally realized, we shall be awed at the Lord's grace,
feeling with those of the parable that we have not done all the wonderful
things counted to us. Our amazement and incomprehension at the judgment is
brought out in 2 Thess. 1:10, which speaks of the saints 'admiring' Christ
in that day, using a Greek word meaning 'to marvel at in incomprehension'.
This praise will be on account of our being "presented faultless" before
the judgment (Jude 24). The Greek for "presented" is the same word
translated "stood" in Lk. 21:36, showing that our angel is able to stand
us up in the august presence of the Lord, only by reason of our faults
having been totally covered by Christ's imputed righteousness. Col. 1:22
has a similar message: "...to present you holy and unblameable and
unreproveable (Gk. 'free from accusation') in his sight". This freedom
from accusation explains why none of our bad deeds will be mentioned to us
then. One wonders if Paul's appearance before the judgment seat in Acts 25
is described as it is in order to help us imagine this; he has no
accusers, and therefore can be acquitted. The idea of being presented
faultless before the glorious presence of a monarch was well known in the
ancient world. Esther and Daniel's friends had a person assigned to
present them faultless before the monarch; and it is the Lord Jesus
through the work of His Spirit who can present us faultless before
Himself. Our beauty is truly in the eyes of our beholder. He is both the
ultimate monarch, and also the one who prepared us for the presentation
before Him.
:25 To the only God, our Saviour through Jesus Christ our Lord, be
glory, majesty, dominion and power, before all time, and now and for
always in the future. Amen- The Roman proconsuls were to be called
“Saviour”. But for Christians, there was only one Saviour, the Lord
Jesus. The Caesars were frequently called "Saviour"- Josephus thus
addressed Vespasian. Hence the radical import of the way that Jude 25
calls the Lord Jesus our only Saviour. ‘Caesar is Lord’ was the cry
of the Roman empire. Pliny wrote that he considered refusal to make the
customary gesture to the emperor’s statue to be a criminal act punishable
by death. But “To us there is but one Lord, Jesus” the Christ, i.e. Jesus
the Messiah of the despised, weird Jewish race.
Note that God's purpose with us began "before all time"; not just from
"the beginning". We were part of His "eternal purpose" in Christ (Eph.
3:11). Our calling and foreknowledge was not just from some 'beginning',
but 'before' that; we were always in God's mind, and He existed with that
mind from eternity.
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