Jude 1:8-16

Jude 1:8-16

In scripture we are less likely to find “hell, fire, and damnation” lessons than we are to find lessons and warnings about evil men. This passage is a description of the evil men who had made their way into the church. For us there is a great danger that we will look at this page and imagine that it is a warning for others. It is not. It is a two-phase warning for us. First, we must be on guard about allowing these kinds of people to influence the church. Second, we must not become these people.

These people are every bit as evil as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jude lists three behaviors and then expands on these in reverse order: defile the flesh, reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. First, let us consider what it means to revile angelic majesty. This is a most idiomatic passage. But rather than focus on angelic roles and battles that they may have fought, let us look at the application. In verse 10 we see that these men act as authorities on matters they do not understand. It seems that we are expected to have an opinion on everything. With the rise of social media, everyone offers an opinion, oftentimes about things of which they know nothing. This has crept into the church. We become aggressive advocates of things, even those things of which we are ignorant. There is a great danger when we become the deadly combination of arrogance and ignorance.

This combination often expresses itself in rejecting authority. Jude gives us examples of Cain, Balaam, and Korah. The combination of arrogance and ignorance is the perfect seedbed for a selfish agenda to take root. These types of men are not altruistically driven.

In fact, they are moved by their desires that will defile flesh. Such men will destroy the love feast, i.e., the fellowship of the church centered around the Lord's table. They are, in fact, useless in terms of practical help, while they bring up the evil from their own depths. Any church that allows these kinds of people in will be ruined; at best the church will close, at worst it will become a source of poison that will spread.

Jude describes their ruin using the literature of the day, a popular reference to Enoch. We each must ask, “Is the description in verse 16 a description of me?” We must guard and protect the church, but we must also take care to watch our own soul. The behaviors of wicked men are well within each of us and each of our churches, small groups, and fellowships. May the Lord have mercy on us.

“Lord, help me live a life that is both orthodox in doctrine and holy in behavior. AMEN”