Warning!
JUDE 1: 1-25
(December 8th)
There are times when we can "turn on a dime." We have thought or felt a certain way about something for a long time, then in just a moment, our minds and feelings are changed. Perhaps it is politics, or maybe you change your opinion about someone. Maybe you have always that higher education is important, until the moment you decide it isn't. It could be that you never thought you would adopt another person's child until the moment the opportunity was placed before you. There are so many things that we can change our minds about.
Jude focused on one such change of mind, and heart. His letter concentrated on those who had turned away from the truth of the gospel and bought into the false teachings. The term for this undoing is apostasy.
Jude was James's brother and the half-brother of Jesus. How cool is that?? He wrote to remind these people that God would put harsh judgment on those who walked away from their faith. He warned against these Gnostic teachers. Gnostics opposed two of the basic components of Christianity ... the incarnation of Jesus and the call to Christian ethics. Jude wanted to oppose those false teachings and encourage the truth, in belief and in behavior. He reminded them of what happened to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were filled with immoral behavior and sexual perversion.
These false believers lived such lives of immorality. They defied all authority and scoffed at anything supernatural. They claimed they could control their dreams. (Wish I could)
Jude mentions Michael in verse 9, "But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you!'" (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses' body.)
We see the death of Moses recorded in Deuteronomy 34. Jude was most likely referencing an ancient book called The Assumption of Moses, which stated that Moses was taken immediately into the presence of God when he died. Enoch and Elijah were also taken into God's presence, only before they died. It was Moses and Elijah that appeared with Jesus at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9).
Jude advised them to beware of having these Gnostics eat with them at their fellowship meals commemorating the Lord's love. When the early church celebrated the Lord's Supper, they ate a complete meal before taking Communion. This meal, the "love feast", was designed as a sacred time of fellowship to prepare the heart for Communion. Having the Gnostics join in the love feasts put a stain on what should have been a time of holy celebration.
As Jude states, these false teachers are no surprise. Enoch had prophesied about them long ago. He said they would be grumblers and complainers, selfish in their quest to satisfy their own desires, braggers, and manipulators. The apostles had already foretold that there would be scoffers and people who created division in the last times.
But all was not lost. Jude had faith that the believers could heed this warning and overcome by building up and supporting each other in the faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, and by waiting on the Lord. They should also show mercy to those who had faith that was wavering, rescuing them from the claws of the false teachers, and doing all of this with great caution.
Jude wrote this letter as a warning to the believers of that day. It is also a warning to us as we walk through our lives in this current culture. Hold fast to others who believe. Pray for each other. Trust in God. And be watchful of those who might be slipping into the evils of the world. Grab them and pull them back into the faith, giving them strength when weakness is consuming them.
May we all heed the warning!