Jude is a brief letter addressed to some Christian congregation that was experiencing a problem in the first century. Jude introduces himself as a “slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James.” Being a brother of James, he was therefore also a brother of Jesus, but his deference to Jesus’ majesty is apparent: he is brother to James, but slave to Jesus Christ.
James knew this congregation and wanted to address a serious issue within the church. There is a traditional view of the letter’s occasion, which I explain in what follows, and there is a more recent view expounded fully in Herb Bateman’s recent Jude commentary.
The Situation of Jude’s Church
Jude was in the midst of writing a different letter to his congregation regarding their “common salvation,” when he must have received news of false teachers who had infiltrated his community.[1] He says certain men had “crept in unnoticed,” and that these men were designated long ago for “this condemnation” (v. 4). Jude never says directly what “this condemnation” refers to, but it probably refers to a judgment corresponding to the judgment of the following examples to which Jude refers. He calls these false teachers “ungodly men, who change the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (v. 5). Because of these false teachers infiltrating the church, Jude “found it necessary to write to you, appealing to contend for the faith that was delivered once for all to the saints” (v. 3).
When Jude says these men were designated long ago, he probably refers to the teaching in the OT and in the Second Temple period regarding an end-time persecution that God’s people would undergo, which would include false teachers.[2] These false teachers would come to persuade believers to abandon truth and rebel against God. These false teachers are also foretold by Jesus (Matt 24:23-25), and described by John as “antichrists” (1 John 2:18) and “false prophets” (4:1).
The False Teachers in Jude
Jude tells us much about these false teachers, although the description is rather condemning. He compares them to rebellious Israel at Kadesh Barnea (v. 5; see Num 13-14), to the rebellious angels (v. 6), and to the rebellious citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah (v. 7). These groups committed rebellion against, respectively, God’s leadership, God’s cosmic order, and God’s natural order or natural law (I owe this insight to a paper by Herb Bateman).
He says “these” also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones” (v. 8). His derogatory way of referring throughout the letter to the false teachers as “these” is a way for Jude to communicate that they are not even worthy of being named.
Jude then contrasts them with the archangel Michael, who did not “pronounce a blasphemous judgment” on Satan when they were disputing about the body of Moses; rather, Michael said, “the Lord rebuke you” (v. 9). This incident was probably recorded in the Second Temple Jewish work entitled the Assumption of Moses, although we cannot be sure since most of the document has been destroyed in the process of transmission.
In contrast to Michael, “these also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones” (v. 8). The reference to defiling the flesh adds to the references to sexual immorality, having already mentioned changing the grace of God into sensuality (v. 4) and having compared them to Sodom and Gomorrah.
Jude further says that “‘these’ blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively” (v. 10). This is probably another reference to their blasphemous teaching and their sexual license. Just as unreasoning animals by instinct exercise their sexual passions, so also these teachers were doing so and teaching Jude’s church to accept such behavior.
Jude then makes three further comparisons from the OT. “They walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion” (v. 11). These are serious charges; Cain murdered his brother and was judged by God, Balaam died (perhaps by God’s judgment) in battle, and God judged Korah by swallowing him up in the earth (Num 16).
Not only were these false teachers spreading false doctrine, but they were apparently accepted by Jude’s church and elevated to a leadership status in the church. Verse 12 says they are “hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear,” referring to their participation in the Lord’s Supper. It seems they have become leaders in the church because Jude calls them “shepherds feeding themselves” (v. 12), which utilizes imagery from Ezekiel 34:2-8. Ezekiel spoke of Israel’s faithless and worthless leaders as shepherds who only feed themselves rather than the flock of Israel. Jude compares the false teachers in his church to these faithless leaders of Israel.
Thus, “these” had worked themselves into the leadership of the church, probably because “their mouths speak pompously, showing favoritism to gain favor” (v. 16). However, the comparison of “these” with the faithless shepherds of Israel implies that God will judge them just as he judged the faithless shepherds of Israel (Ezek 34:10). They are “waterless clouds, swept along by winds,” referring to their empty promises (v. 12). They are “fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted,” referring to their lack of bearing fruit, thereby implying that they should be cut down (v. 12).
Lastly, Jude points out that these men were predicted by “the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 17). This probably refers to verbal predictions passed on through oral instruction to the churches—instruction based on the OT prophecies and their notoriety in the Second Temple period. This oral instruction taught, “in the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions” (v. 18). “These” cause divisions, are worldly people, and, most importantly, do not possess the Spirit of God.
Jude’s Exhortation to Perseverance
Despite these false teachers, Jude encourages his congregation to keep themselves in the love of God. In order to do so, they should do three things. First, they should build themselves up in their most holy faith (v. 20). Second, they should continue praying in the Holy Spirit (v. 20). Third, they should wait for the mercy of Christ that leads to eternal life (v. 21). Furthermore, they should attempt to save those who have not already reached the point of denying their Lord and Master, thereby rebelling against God like their OT counterparts.
Jude ends his letter with a glorious “doxology,” a composed word of praise to God. “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (v. 24-25). Jude has confidence that it is God who will uphold the faithful, guard them from false teaching, and keep their hearts true so they do not rebel against God. He is also confident that the sacrifice of Christ has sanctified them and has enabled them to stand before God blameless on the final day of judgment.
And as throughout the rest of the NT, we see the concept of the kingdom of God. Although Jude does not use the word kingdom, he ascribes to God all “glory, majesty, dominion, and authority,” words which stand synonymous to “kingdom” in various OT texts (e.g., Dan 4:36; 5:18; 7:14). Thus, Jude’s letter concludes by ascribing all power to God, the King. Jude’s letter provides us one more snapshot of first-century Jewish Christians attempting to live holy lives in the kingdom of God.
To continue studying Jude in depth and support this thematic analysis, join us in our Jude Greek Reading Videos and we’ll translate Jude with you from Greek one verse at a time.
Notes
[1] Verse 3 should be translated, “while I was making haste to write to you concerning our common salvation,” rather than something like “although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation” (ESV).
[2] An end-time persecution is mentioned in Deut 4:30; 31:29; Ezek 38:14-16; Dan 7:21, 23, 25; 8:17-26; 11:28-12:13; 4Q169 frgs. 3-4, 2:2; frgs. 3-4, 3:3-5; CD-A 1:12-19; Sib. Or. 5:447-482; 4 Ezra 8:50; etc. False teaching is said to be part of this persecution in Dan 7:25; 8:25 and in other Second Temple sources (G. K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New [Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011], 111, 124-26, 187-224). According to John, there is one anti-Christ who is the climactic persecutor of the church (whoever or whatever that may be), but during the church age he is already at work through his false teachers, whom John calls “antichrists” (1 John 2:18; see also 4:1).
