Jude 8-16
When we left Jude’s letter last week, Jude had just given three examples from the past showing how God, specifically Jesus, had dealt with false teachers. Jesus destroyed, kept in eternal chains in eternal darkness, and punished with eternal fire. We looked at how these are contradictory things, and therefore, we are not supposed to try and build a picture of what Hell looks like from them. Instead, the point is that Jesus dealt with them.
Jude now shifts attention to the modern (from his perspective) day false teachers. In verse 8, he says that these people rely on their dreams. It is hard to prove someone is wrong when they use a direct word from God as their justification. In a culture that has grown up with this kind of thinking, and now they are being exposed to something new in Christianity, it makes sense that they would be taken in by people claiming to have had a dream from God.
This still happens a lot today, even in this country. The Pentecostal movement is full of people who claim to have had a dream or vision from God. Just recently, we had the man who had a vision from God that Jesus was going to return in September. In case you missed it, Jesus did not return.
But many believed him because he claimed to have a vision from God. Being a Baptist, and not a Pentecostal, I do believe that most of the people who claim to have a dream or a vision did have one. That may be surprising to some because Baptists are more known to be what’s called cessationists, ones who believe the spiritual gifts have ceased. I am not a cessationist. I do believe that most of these people have had a dream or a vision; I am just not convinced that the dream or vision is from God.
The people in Jude’s day claimed they had dreams that they took as all the authority they needed. That is why he says they reject authority. They also defiled the flesh, which likely speaks of adultery or other immoral behavior. Finally, these dreams allowed them, in their minds, to slander the glorious ones.
We looked at this same idea in 2 Peter. The idea is that they speak against what angels and other heavenly beings may declare, but then they go further and personally insult and slander these holy beings.
Then, in verse 9, we have one of the strangest stories in the Bible. Where in the world does Jude get this story about Michael and the devil arguing about Moses’ body, and what does this have to do with anything?
This story is believed to come from a book titled Testament of Moses. It was a first century AD book that we do not have any copies of. The story itself might even be older than that book. The simple truth is we don’t know. What we know is it is included here and therefore must be true if we hold to the inspiration of Scripture.
This story confuses a lot of people because it seems to come from nowhere and how would we know what happens in the heavenly realms. What we really need to ask ourselves in situations like this is what is important in this story in light of what the author is trying to tell us.
The important information is not that Michael and the devil had an argument before God. This was most likely one of many disagreements they would have had. The point is that Michael, the glorious, or holy, one, does not resort to the same tactics that the false teachers do. Michael is not going to throw insults at the devil, nor is he going to pass judgment and condemnation. Instead, Michael says, “the Lord rebuke you.”
In doing so, Michael has not let the devils lies go unchallenged, but has turned the entire matter over to God to judge as He pleases. Michael understands that he really cannot offer any further information or proof of the devils lies that God does not already know.
In returning to the present false teachers in verse 10, Jude points out that they blaspheme anything they do not understand and instead speak authoritatively about things they have no idea about. In that way they act like irrational animals. Whatever they want to be true is true to them.
Woe to them because they have gone the way of Cain, Balaam, and Korah. All three of these are Old Testament examples of people who acted out of ignorance. Cain thought his sacrifice was better than his brothers, but God rejected it. Balaam put money first, and Korah’s rebellion was about pride and insubordination.
Jude is saying do not follow after these examples. Instead, look to how Michael acted and behaved while in the presence of the devil himself.
The problem in these communities is that these false teachers were invited to the love feasts even though they showed no reverence. This is likely referring to their holy communion gatherings and we know from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that people participated in those with selfish desires. These were meant to be holy days and unholy people are participating in an unacceptable manner. As Paul instructed, we must first examine ourselves to ensure we are participating with the right mindset.
Jude then gives some vivid descriptions of how they behave. The point of these is that they offer nothing of value for anyone else, but are only concerned with their own welfare. As a result, they are all agents of death instead of life.
In verse 14, we have another strange thing in this letter. Jude quotes from a book called 1 Enoch. It is believed that 1 Enoch was written in the 1st Century BC. Clearly, it was not written by Enoch and was not included in the canon of Scripture. Jude is not giving credence to everything written in 1 Enoch, but is recognizing that this one part, where it prophesied the second coming of Jesus, was in fact from God.
While books like 1 Enoch are not in the Bible, they can be helpful in understanding how Jewish people understood the world and things that are in the Bible. While not everything in them is true, we must not then reject everything as false.
Jude quotes this to offer yet another example of how Jesus is going to ultimately judge the wicked for all the ungodly acts they have done and all the ungodly things they have said. But pay attention to verse 15 here. Notice who is the recipient of these ungodly acts and ungodly words. It is not the people in the church, but it is Jesus Himself who they speak against.
This is an important lesson to understand. Even when others speak against you because of your faith in Jesus, it is not really directed at you, but at Jesus. This frees us from having to respond in kind, because, as Jude is going to great lengths to stress, Jesus will judge them fully and completely when He returns.
These false teachers are discontented grumblers, they live for themselves, and speak to gain advantage for themselves. I think Jude’s point here is you are free to ignore them. Nothing they say matters so don’t give them an audience. Certainly don’t listen and follow them. They are only going to lead you down the wrong path. Trust that Jesus is going to set everything right in His time and in His way.