Epistles Part 6

Epistles

E 06 Jude 8-11
December 11, 2016
Part 6

NKJ Jude 1:8
Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

These compare with 3 implicit accusations found originally in Enoch 1.9, being referenced by Jude in verses 14-15...

Let’s first go forward to verses 14 & 15 in the Epistle of Jude, to his reference to a prophecy given by Enoch prior to the Great Flood event.

NKJ Jude 1:14-15
Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, "to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly
way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

ungodly deeds committed among the ungodly

committed in an ungodly manner( attitude)

ungodly speech( blasphemies) spoken against the Lord

[deeds, manner, speech]

As you can see, Jude captures the implied meaning of Enoch 1.9 and makes it a more explicit statement.

Enoch 1.7-9
1.7 And the earth will sink, and everything that is on the earth will be destroyed, and there will be judgment upon all, and upon all the righteous. 1.8 But for the righteous: He will make peace, and He will keep safe the Chosen, and mercy will be upon them. They will all belong to God,
and will prosper and be blessed, and the light of God will shine on them.
1.9 And behold! He comes with ten thousand Holy Ones; to execute judgment upon them and to destroy the impious, and to contend with all flesh concerning everything that the sinners and the impious have done and wrought against Him.

Now, let’s put the two statements, Jude and Enoch, together on one slide in order to make a direct comparison of them.

NKJ Jude 1:14-15
14 ... "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints,
15 "to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly
way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

Enoch 1.9
And behold! He comes with ten thousand Holy Ones; to execute judgment upon them and to destroy the impious, and to contend with all flesh concerning everything that the sinners and the impious have done and wrought against Him.

Now, we’ll take a closer look at two words from the NKJ translation that need clarification.

NKJ Jude 1:8
Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

these dreamers- One possibility is that they relied on their dreams, and by trusting in them for guidance, they were easily led astray.

This is the same as following subjective experiences that have not been tested whether from God or otherwise. Failing to make such tests often lead many into disobeying God’s written Word.

Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

of dignitaries- The implication that this is a reference to leaders in the church or community needs to be taken up a notch or a hundred.

The Greek word is “glorious ones,” and refers in this context to angelic beings in the abstract; that is, glorious entities in heaven in general, including angels, the Godhead Trinity, and God’s heavenly consul.

According to a highly capable commentator on this Epistle, Joseph Mayor, the immediate reference is to angelic beings, whom these false teachers had been blaspheming directly; and by doing so were blaspheming God indirectly; because they had been perpetrating the false doctrine that the angels had created the world, and that, in opposition to the will of the true God.

The following verses then point out the brazenness of these blaspheming spiritual spies who were active at both defiling the physical and the spiritual authority of God’s consecrated order on earth.

So, here is a comprehensive translation of Jude verse 8.

COMPREHENSIVE Jude 1:8
In the same manner [CH-amazingly], in spite of the common knowledge that they knew about the fate of the three groups just mentioned, these dreaming-like characters acting in their own self-interest [middle], seemingly oblivious to God’s truth, on one hand, are continually defiling flesh in the abstract and in its various forms, and on the other hand, they habitually despise lordship authority in the abstract and in its various forms, and furthermore they press on in their blasphemy, speaking evil things about angelic beings in the abstract, including glorious entities of heaven and the glory of the true God.

NKJ Jude 1:9
Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses [ref.], dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

This event is not in the OT, and whatever story Jude is referring to has been lost to history.

At any rate, Michael knew not to pronounce a sentence of condemnation on the devil, but to leave that to Christ’s authority.

The closest example we have is in Deuteronomy and Zechariah…

NKJ Deuteronomy 34:5-6
4 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
5 And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day.

NKJ Zechariah 3:1-2
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.
2 And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!...

COMPREHENSIVE Jude 1:9
Yet Michael, namely the archangel [emphasis], when he was taking an issue to the devil (deed) in behalf of the Lord [middle], after having a lengthy dispute with him in behalf of the Lord [middle], concerning the body of Moses, he had absolutely not dared to pronounce a blasphemous judgment upon the devil (manner), but to the contrary [CH-contrary to expectation] he said, “I wish the Lord would act to bring a rebuke to you.” (speech)

NKJ Jude 1:10
But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.

COMPREHENSIVE Jude 1:10
But [CH-amazingly] these guys, on one hand, habitually blaspheme (speech) against those things of which they have absolutely no Holy Spirit-given spiritual insight, but [CH-more amazingly] in the manner (manner) of animals without rationality, the things of which they understand in their own ability [middle] by natural instinct, by these things ruin comes upon them (deed).

NKJ Jude 1:11
Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

COMPREHENSIVE Jude 1:11
Woe to them! Because Cain’s greedy manner of conducting his life had been imputed to them rendering them ‘greed personified,’ and Balaam’s delusion of greed has overcome them in manner as if having been poured out upon them like the outward sweeping movement of a
great crowd, and Korah’s hostile rebellious greed has brought them to a fate of final ruin that is an already settled matter.

Here is another 3-fold witness pertaining to one type of unrighteousness; namely that of greed.

You might be wondering how the idea of greed could be the unifying motivational factor among these three biblical examples used by Jude.

In a biblical sense, greed is defined by or characterized by one’s dissatisfaction with the place they occupied, and so they each engaged in rebellion against God in their individual ways, greedily seeking selfish gain at any cost.

The war-cry of the greedy might be, “Hey, that’s not fair!” or “That should be mine instead?”

Many will be surprised on the Day of Judgment when they discover that it was just as the Word of God says; only the righteousness of Christ is able to save you.All men are sinners and no one can save himself. God is just, so He must punish sin; but He is also merciful, moreover gracious, and offers His Son as the perfect sacrifice in order to purchase a place for you in heaven, which He offers to you as the free gift of eternal life.

Jesus is God Incarnate

In order to pay the debt of our sins, He came from Heaven, having been sent by the Father, where He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father even unto the shameful death upon the cross in order to pay the debt of your sins.This gift must be received by faith, believing that Jesus’ perfect life and Cross Work was His complete and necessary Atonement for your sins, in your behalf.Faith is a gift that comes by the Power of God the Holy Spirit working in a person’s innermost being. The Holy Spirit has the authority and power to quicken your dead spirit, to make it come to life. If you have not done so before this moment, ask Jesus to forgive you your sins, tell Him you’ve stop trying to be your own savior, and ask Him to come into your life right now, and to give you eternal life. Then, in faith believing, thank Him for the gift that He is giving you, the one He paid for in full in your place, in Jesus’ name,AMEN