The Epistle of Jude (1) (verses 1-10) In the Greek the writer calls himself Judas, but this was a very common name in New Testament times, and in the New Testament we have a number of them. Judas Iscariot and Judas not Iscariot (John 14:22); also called Judas, a brother of the Lord Jesus (Matt. 13:55); Judas of Galilee (Acts 5:37); Judas of Damascus (Acts 9:11); and Judas Barsabas (Acts 15:22). The writer of our epistle states that he is a 'slave (servant) of Jesus Christ' in the same way as James does (Jas. 1:1), and he adds that he is a brother of James. The present problem is mixed up with the vexed question as to the brethren of the Lord. We do not believe that they were the sons of Alphaeus. They were either the children of Joseph and Mary, or of Joseph by a former wife, or by a levirate marriage, or by adoption. We take it that they are the children of Joseph and Mary in spite of the doctrine of the church of Rome on this matter. It may be asked if this was so, why did Jude state his relationship to his better known brother, James, rather than his human relationship to Christ? The fact is that nowhere in primitive Christian literature is any authority claimed on the basis of nearness of kin to the Lord Jesus Christ. He Himself taught believers that the lowliest among them might rise above the closest of earthly ties (Luke 11:27,28). To be the 'slave' of Jesus Christ was much more than being His actual brother. It may be that the Lord's earthly brothers would shrink from claiming kinship after the flesh with the Lord's glorified body. Of Jude, the writer of this epistle, very little is known and nothing at all of his labours, in spite of traditional statements that he preached in various parts of the world. The authenticity of the epistle was first of all questioned and was one of the disputed books of Eusebius, but it was accepted as genuine and apostolic by Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Oregen and Jerome, and the Muratorian Fragment contains it and it was recognized in the canon of the third Council of Carthage (397 A.D.). One of the outstanding things about this epistle is its likeness to 2 Peter, and this can be seen by comparing Jude 3-18 with 2 Peter 2:1-18. This likeness has led some expositors to say that one was quoting from the other, or at least had the other epistle with him as he wrote. But surely the true Author is the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21), and if He wants something specially emphasized, can He not repeat truth and this by another writer? There has been much debate as to which of these two epistles was written first, and there is little agreement. We think it impossible for anyone to be dogmatic about this. Our own feeling is that 2 Peter was written before Jude, but this is only a personal opinion and no important doctrine is hanging on it. We give first of all the epistle's structure, and careful study will make clear its perfect balance: A 1,2 Benediction B 3 Exhortation, 'Beloved, earnestly contend for faith' C 4 Ungodly men 'of old' D 5 Remembrance, the Lord's acts E 5-16 5-8 3 examples: Israel, angels, Sodom 9,10 Michael the archangel Reference to Satan (unrecorded elsewhere) Judgment 11 3 examples: Cain, Balaam, Korah 14 The Lord and holy myriads Allusion to Satan (unrecorded elsewhere) D 17 Remembrance, the Lord's words C 18,19 Ungodly of 'the last time' B 20-23 Exhortation, 'Beloved, build up on faith' A 24,25 Doxology Another feature of the epistle is its groups of threes, relating to the Lord, the people, and their actions declared therein. We indicate some of them using the New International Version: Verse 1: (1) those who are called; (2) loved by the Father; and (3) kept by Jesus Christ. Verse 2: (1) mercy; (2) peace; and (3) love. Verses 5-7: three instances of God's vengeance on sin: (1) He destroyed unbelievers; (2) the angels that sinned; and (3) Sodom and Gomorrah. Verse 8: the enemies and apostates (1) pollute their own bodies; (2) reject authority; and (3) slander celestial beings. Verse 11: three examples, (1) Cain; (2) Balaam; and (3) Korah. Verses 12,13: the enemies again: (1) their blemishes; (2) they eat with you; and (3) shepherds who only feed themselves. They are like (1) clouds without rain; (2) autumn trees; and (3) wild waves of the sea. Verse 15: the Lord's coming (1) to judge; (2) to convict the ungodly; and (3) their harsh words. Verse 16: (1) they are grumblers and fault-finders; (2) they follow evil; and (3) they boast and flatter others. Verse 18,19: (1) scoffers; (2) those who divide you; and (3) follow their own instincts. Verses 20,21: (1) build yourselves up; (2) pray; and (3) keep yourselves in God's love. Verses 22,23: (1) be merciful to doubters; (2) snatch others from fire; and (3) show mercy to others. Verse 24: To Him Who can (1) keep you from falling; (2) present you faultless; and (3) with great joy. Jude breaks his rule in verse 25 in his wonderful doxology, and ascribes to the only God our Saviour glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is evident that this epistle, though short with only twenty-five verses, is planned with considerable care. The writer does not call himself an apostle, but nevertheless he was an important servant of Christ. It is not possible to give the exact date of the epistle. The probability is that it was written about A.D. 65 to 67. '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: Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance' (verses 1,2 N.I.V.). The N.I.V. gives as a footnote to 'by Jesus Christ', 'for; or in Jesus Christ'. Prepositions are often rich words of doctrine, and there is wondrous truth in each of these renderings which should be pondered by the reader. 'Servant' is the plain word 'slave' in the Greek, but what joyful slavery this is for the Lord Jesus to be Master, 'Whose service is perfect freedom' as the Prayer Book has it. Calling is the first step in salvation and the mighty purpose of God; not only called but kept by or for Jesus Christ. Both are true. This is his first triplet. The writer then gives us his second one - mercy, peace and love to be multiplied (literally). He was the brother of James who figures so prominently in the Acts after the death of James the brother of John. He was one of the 'pillars' of the church at Jerusalem. 'Mercy and peace' occur in the opening greetings of 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and 2 John, but love is added in this epistle. The love of God has existed from the beginning, and still continues. '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 contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints' (verse 3). It is unusual to find the word 'beloved' (A.V.) at the beginning of an epistle, the only other example of this being 3 John 2. The writer has an unpleasing subject to put before them, but before he does so he assures his readers of his deep regard for them and the strong link that he had with them in the 'common salvation' (A.V.). This of course does not mean cheap, but salvation that is shared with all believers. See Titus 1:4 for a similar use of the word 'common'. Jude found it necessary to write to them for the special purpose of warning them against pressing danger which came from the enemies of Truth. He urges them to take a stand against these people. The word in the Greek is a graphic one implying standing over a thing to fight for its defence. They had to learn, like Nehemiah did, to fight as well as build (Neh. 4:16,18). This was to preserve the faith, which means the truth which had been entrusted to them once for all by the Lord through His apostles. This is something that God's children must always realize and hold fast, namely that such truth belongs to God first and foremost, and is always His. He lends it, as it were, to His children to guard and spread abroad in a faithful witness to it. This is what real service to God is all about. 'For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a licence for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord' (verse 4). Jude then begins to warn them of the enemies to the truth that were creeping in by stealth. The A.V. says they were 'before of old ordained to this condemnation', and this sounds as though they were predestined to this, but this is wrong. Prographo means 'to write of beforehand' and in Romans 15:4 they render it correctly, 'written aforetime'. In other words prophets of old had predicted this and these people would slip in secretly as if by a side door. It was this insidious invasion which constituted the necessity for writing this epistle. Satan never rests from seeking to overthrow the purposes of God, and so he comes in as the great deceiver who appears as an 'angel of light' (2 Cor. 11:13,14). Close similarity to 2 Peter begins here and continues to verse 18. These opposers come under God's condemnation and judgment. Note the three-fold description of them: (1) they are ungodly; (2) they pervert God's grace; and (3) they deny Christ, our only Sovereign and Lord. '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. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home o these He has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day' (verses 5,6). Jude now reminds his friends of three Old Testament references to the judgment and punishment of God on those who acted like His enemies. The first is the unbelieving nation of Israel after the Lord's deliverance of them from the cruel bondage of Egypt. The Epistle to the Hebrews graphically describes their failure to enter the promised land of Canaan, and this was due to one thing, unbelief (Heb. 3:17-19). All the adults wandered in the wilderness and died there with the exception of two - Caleb and Joshua, who through their overcoming faith entered in and possessed their inheritance in the land of God's promise. The second example is of the angels that sinned. These are not the angels who fell with Satan, but those of Genesis 6, who left their heavenly home and made alliances with women, producing a race of giants. This is referred to in Genesis 6:4. Moses reminded Israel that the Moabites and Ammonites had dispossessed a people 'tall, as the Anakims; which also were accounted giants' (Deut. 2:10,11). Numbers 13 contains the report of the spies who went to inspect the promised land. They said, 'O we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers' (Num. 13:27-33). The length of the bedstead of Og, king of Bashan, one of the giants, is given in Deuteronomy 3:11 as nine cubits, which is approximately thirteen feet, and the width four cubits, about six feet. In the days of David there were men of giant stature, of whom Goliath was one, and this is accounted for because there was more than one irruption of fallen angels. Genesis 6:4 says 'in those days and also after that'. Some declare that it would be impossible for angels to unite with human beings, but in Genesis 18 and 19 there is an account where angels partook of a meal with Abraham and Sarah (Gen. 18:1-8) and also with Lot (Gen. 19:1-3). If they can do one human act they can probably do others as well. Enough is not revealed in the Scriptures concerning angels to say dogmatically that they could not cohabit with women. Normally, they do not marry (Matt. 22:30), but Genesis chapter 6 does not record the actions of normal angels, but of those who had left their first estate and were in entirely different conditions. 2 Peter 2:4 deals with the same sin of angels and tells us they are now imprisoned and kept in Tartarus in darkness (translated 'hell' in the A.V.), until the great day of judgment. The third example of God's judgment is on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and surrounding towns, Admah and Zeboim (Deut. 29:23): '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' (Jude 7). Much has been written and spoken about hell fire and what this will involve for those who are cast therein. Some may say if we only had an example of what this involves, we should know whether this terrible judgment is speaking literally or figuratively. Jude tells us we have such an example of eternal fire in the destruction by fire of these cities of the plain. He speaks, as other writers of the holy Scriptures, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, so we can be sure he is writing truth, and if we want truth, we must not detract or add to what is revealed here concerning hell. 'In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. 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!" 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' (verses 8- 10). In spite of these warnings, the ungodly opposers persisted in their flagrant sinning. They polluted their bodies and it even affected their dreams. They rejected all authority whether human or divine. They used language against celestial beings, as angels, which even the archangel Michael did not venture to use against Satan. This is the only reference to this act in the Bible. The nearest approach to it is the Targum of Jonathan on Deuteronomy 34:6 which says that Michael was the appointed guardian of Moses' grave. Apparently when the time came for Moses to be raised from the dead to appear on the Mount of Transfiguration with Elijah (Matt. 17:3), Satan, who has the power of death (Heb. 2:14), disputed God's right to do this and came into conflict with the chief angel, Michael. Origen tells us that the source of this is the apocryphal book called The Assumption of Moses, and Jude cites this as though it was well known at the time. Some may have difficulty in accepting anything that comes from apocryphal books, but we must not make the mistake of thinking that every statement in such books must be wrong. They are a mixture of truth and error, but we can be sure that God has not allowed statements that are false to be inserted into His Word of truth. Paul does not hesitate to quote a heathen writer in Titus 1:12. Michael evidently has respect for Satan's original angelic nature. He pronounced no sentence on the devil but left all judgment to God. The words Michael used are 'The Lord rebuke you', and this is like the angel of the Lord rebuking Satan in Zechariah 3:2. STUART ALLEN