Bible Study Notes On Jude

Bible Text

Notes and Thoughts

1 ¶ Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
2 Mercy unto you, and peace and love be multiplied.
3 ¶ Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it became needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
4 For there are certain men who have crept in unawares, who were foreordained of old for this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who believed not.
6 And the angels who kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great Day--
7 even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, in like manner giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
8 ¶ Likewise also, these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil and disputing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke thee!"
10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not; but what they come to know naturally as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
11 Woe unto them! For they have gone in the way of Cain and have run greedily after the error of Balaam for their reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah.
12 These are spots on your feasts of charity when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear. Clouds they are without water, carried about by winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
13 raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints
15 ¶ to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all who are ungodly among them of all their godless deeds which they have godlessly committed, and of all the harsh speeches which godless sinners have spoken against Him."
16 These are murmurers and complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, giving admiration to men’s persons to gain advantage.
17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,
18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last times who would walk after their own ungodly lusts.
19 These are they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
22 And on some have compassion, making a difference;
23 and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
24 Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
25 to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, now and ever. Amen.

Jude (Judas) was the half brother of Jesus, Mark 6:3. In Acts 1:14 we are told that the brethren of Jesus were part of the prayer group awaiting the Holy Spirit.
Jude wrote the letter to warn of the apostates, (people who have left the teaching) 2 Peter 2:1-3.
v1 Jude refers to the Christian as sanctified (set apart) by God. These are guarded and secure in Jesus Christ.
v2 This sanctification means that a Believer has special blessings of mercy, peace and love, Jude wants these to be multiplied in the Believing readers. See Peace - Rom 5:1. Love - Rom 5:5-8.
v3-4 The problem enemy.
v3 Jude starts out by telling the believer to make sure you know what is happening, do not fall asleep. He wastes no time in identifying the enemy.
v4 Full of deceit, "crept in unawares," steal in without being seen. Some came in with help by the false Christians in the church, Gal 2:4 but Jude was referring to those coming into the fellowship on their own. The true assemblies were falling asleep and not examining, checking the hearts of these people.
These people were out to "turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness," lasciviousness has the meaning of indecency, offensive sexual desires. These people wanted to satisfy their desires and lusts, Gal 5:19; Mark 7:21-22.
Peter’s letters had already warned of the coming false teachers and the teaching which would only lead to loss of spiritual freedom, their teaching was that they had been saved by grace, so could live as they liked, 2 Peter 2:13-19. These people were using the Word of God but twisting (changing) the meaning to confirm their teaching. Today’s groups and cultists do the same, make sure you know God’s Word so you can see the errors.
v4 They were "ungodly," claiming that they had God’s message and belonged to Him, yet denied Jesus His Son and what He had done for them. We must be prepared to stand for our faith, these are not personal enemies but enemies of the Lord, it is the honour and glory of Jesus that is being denied.
v5-7 Jude looks back into the Old Testament for three examples of victory of God over His enemies.
v5 Israel:- How the entire nation was delivered from Egypt by the power of God yet were scared to enter into the promised land, they did not have faith in their God and accept His promise by obeying Him. God cannot accept disobedience and so for forty years the tribe wandered until all those who rejected God had died.
Jude was warning that any who turned away from the grace of God will be open to His punishment.
v6 Fallen Angels:- Jude seems to have associated the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah with the fallen angels and unfortunately some people have used this to develop some strange doctrines about angels, linking them to the title of "Sons of God" in the Old Testament. However it is doubtful that the Holy Spirit would use the name "sons of God" for creations who had turned against God. Also, the use of "even as" in verse 7 does not mean the angels were behaving as those of Sodom and Gomorrah but Jude is giving two events as an example.
Jude tells us that these angels were already "in everlasting darkness until Judgement day," God will punish.
v7 Sodom and Gomorrah are set up as examples and as a warning of what will happen to ungodly people. These two cities were guilty of unnatural sex, with each other and with animals, both condemned by God, Leviticus 18:22-25.
Israel failed due to rebellious unbelief. The angels rebelled against God. Sodom and Gomorrah had unnatural lusts. The result is obvious, all who reject God will be judged.
The fellowship of true believers must watch and pray, be ready to watch all activities in a local church, able to fight off any who are not of God.
v8-16 Characteristics of the Apostates.
The description given by Jude adds to those given by Peter in 2 Peter 2:1ff, the Holy Spirit has led both men to warn us of the danger.
v8-11 Authority of God rejected.
God is always in control of everything which happens, He may chose to let sources of evil to carryout events and action, but ultimately He is in control.
Each of us are subject to the authority of God but the false teachers reject this divine authority.
v8 These people live in a dream world, they believe the lies of Satan, then once they turn to any teaching which increases their position and pride, defile the flesh, living to animal desires, even though it means their rejection of God.
v8,10 "speak evil" has the meaning of blaspheme, though this basically means using the Name of God in a wrong way it also means the person has no respect for God or His Word.
v10 Because of their actions and attitude they corrupt or destroy themselves.
v9 Jude is quoting from a book of the Apocryphal, a book which has not been accepted due to content problems. The point that Jude is making is that the angel Michael showed restraint, respecting the authority given to Satan by God, leaving any authority over Satan to God. An interesting warning to Believers to be careful in how they treat Satan.
However, false teachers have no reverence for any authority.
v11 Gives three examples from the Old Testament of people who have rebelled against the authority of God.
Cain wanted to worship his way and his offering was rejected by God.
Balaam, a true prophet of God, misused his gifts for financial gain, false teachers would do anything for financial gain.
Korah, his followers rejected the leadership of Moses, In rejecting Moses they rejected God, who soon showed who was in control.
v12-16 Hypocrisy.
v12 Jude turns up his condemnation of the false prophets. He turns first to the love-feasts meals eaten as part of the worship services. They were meant to bring a closer fellowship with God. The Gnostics false teachers had corrupted such feasts and turned them into food and drink centered orgies, wild parties, so forgetting worship and fellowship.
"Clouds without water," these false teachers have no care for spiritual things, just blown along without any resistance, carrying nothing of use. They produce no fruit because they are ‘dead trees,’ awaiting the fire of destruction.
v13 These ungodly people are like waves which are blown by the wind, throwing without shame any rubbish they carry onto the beach.
Finally Jude calls them "wandering stars," a pointless and useless existence, just waiting for final and eternal destruction.
v14,15 All we know about Enoch is found in Genesis 5:18-24 and Heb 11:5. Jude identifies him as the "seventh from Adam" showing that Jude is referring to the godly Enoch, who lived a clean life and walked with God.
The quotation Jude gives appears to come from an apocryphal book called The Book of Enoch. It is possible that the initial text by Enoch was warning of the coming flood punishment by God to the evil world as it was at the time. The prophecy could also apply to the final judgement by God. The false teachers were saying that Jesus would never return and therefore God will never judge man. It was this attitude to which Peter was referring in 2 Peter 3:1ff.
v15,16 What does this Enoch prophecy say? Judgement would be on the whole world, and would apply to all who rejected God by their action and word. This punishment will be by the direct hand of God, "the Lord cometh." This judgement will be by God and will be perfect, He has a record of all their deeds, He knows all about a persons actions, heart, words and attitudes. v16 These false teachers are ‘grumblers,’ complainers who make their complaint in a deceitful, secret way. They are out to satisfy their own desires in all they do, and are full of boasting about their actions, hoping to gain power and position by this action.
v17-19 Jude turns back to the readers, to remind them of the words of Jesus through the few chosen apostles, remember what was said by God through Him. They must be prepared and guard against these false teachers and false apostles who will appear and laugh at the teaching of Jesus, Acts 20:30; 2 Peter 3:3; 1 Tim 4:1ff; 2 Tim 3:1ff; 1 John 2:18ff; 1 John 4:1-6. These people think they are special but do not have the Holy Spirit.
v20,21 A pure life starts with sound teaching. Pray to the Holy Spirit for help and guidance, this is opposite to the false teachers in v19. Jude tells us to allow the love of God to control us, looking for that love to take you into eternal life through the Lord Jesus.
v22,23 It appears that Jude is now considering those who have been affected by the teaching of the false teachers, they were probably converted, but were poor in their faith due to lack of teaching, the main targets for these false teachers. Jude wants the fellowship and church leaders to show special love and concern for these people so that they will be worthy followers of the Lord.
v24,35 A well-known benediction is full of spiritual truth for the believer. God is able to protect the believer and does it with joy. He will take us one day to that eternal, perfect life with Him, to see and share His glory. Jesus will have the joy to present His bride before the throne of God.
We have a wise Saviour, full of glory, majesty, authority, power and rule over everything, today and for ever.

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