JUDE 1: Introduction

Transcription

1 JUDE 1:11-13 Introduction In v. 11, Jude uses three more Old Testament examples to illustrate the rebellion of the false teachers. He speaks of the way of Cain, the error of Balaam and the rebellion of Korah. What is common about these notorious examples is that they all describe individuals that have a perverted understanding of right and wrong and thereby lead other people astray via deceit and treachery. Jude's previous examples were all general examples to expose the unbelief and sinfulness of the apostates. Now Jude gives three specific examples that confirm that the apostates are false teachers and expose their true nature. Jude has only gotten warmed up in his expose of false teachers and he does not let up on describing the character traits of the false teachers. In vv he uses a series of colorful metaphors or word-pictures to portray the dangerous character traits of the false teachers. In so doing, he graphically reveals both their pathetic state and deceitful nature. With few words, he destroys their authority and credibility. All four of these metaphors correspond to regions of the physical world: (a) clouds correspond to the sky; (b) trees correspond to the earth; (c) waves correspond to the seas and (d) stars correspond to the heavens. In these verses Jude again is paralleling Peter s warning in 2 Peter 2:2. Verses 11 THREE SPECIFIC EXAMPLES EXPOSING THE TRAITS OF FALSE TEACHERS [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.] In this verse and the ones following, Jude is paralleling Peter s warning to Christians and condemnation of false teachers in 2 Pet. 2:1-22. He begins by saying Woe to them? which is the Greek word ouai [oo-ah-ee]; Hebrew owy [o -ee] and is used by Jesus in His judgment of the Pharisees in Matthew 23. It is also used to describe the last three TRUMPET JUDGMENTS in the book of Revelation {ref. Rev. 8:13}. It is a term that means alas there is no hope. As is Jude s custom he now uses three examples of individuals found in the Old Testament to illustrate the false teachers disobedience, rebellion and unbelief. The Way of Cain First, Jude compares the false teachers to Cain. Cain, of course was the first murderer, killing his own brother Abel {Gen. 4:1-15}. Heb. 11:4 portrays him as the opposite of the man of faith. In Jewish tradition, Cain is portrayed as a selfish, materialistic and cynical individual, the archetypical, sinner who by his example taught others to sin. The Jewish historian Josephus writes that Cain was a corrupting influence to others: He became their instructor in evil practices [Josephus. Antiquities. i:61]. 1

2 In the Jewish Targums 1, in discussing Gen. 4:8; Now Cain talked with Abel his brother., Cain is made to say, There is no judgment, no judge, no world to come; no reward will be given to the righteous, and no destruction will be inflicted on the wicked. This is the basis of antinomianism. An early church theologian, IRENAEUS 2, mentions 3 a second-century sect who called themselves Cainites. They regarded the God of the Old Testament as responsible for the evil in the world, and so they esteemed those who resisted him as heroes, e.g., Cain, Esau, Korah (Against Heresies). Hence, Cain has a wicked heart and he defies both God and God s righteousness. One who takes the attitude of Cain does what he likes, when he likes to do it. Therefore, Cain is the perfect prototype of the false teacher. Likewise, these false teachers have taken the way of Cain [i.e., refusing to come to God on His terms approaching God through a blood sacrifice] in that they also rebelled against God s authority and standard of righteousness [they denied the sovereign God and the Lord Jesus Christ and rejected authority; vv.4, 8]. In so doing these false teachers murder, in a sense, believers by separating them from the love and blessing of God through the perversion of truth and instructing believers to sin. As Jude states in v.4; these false teachers are.ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into a license to sin and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Balaam s Error Secondly, the false teachers are compared with the ERROR of Balaam whose story appears in Num The Bible actually speaks of three aspects of Balaam; (a) the WAY of Balaam {2 Pet. 2:15}, (b) the ERROR of Balaam {v.11} and (c) the DOCTRINE of Balaam {Rev. 2:14, in the context of the 3rd letter to the church in Pergamos}. The Greek word translated error is the word planē, literally meaning to wander or stray implying away from the right path. In the New Testament, planē always refers to deceit in morals and religion {ref. Matt. 27:64; Rom. 1:27; Eph. 4:14; 2 Thess. 2:11 where the word planē is translated deception, perversion deceitful and delusion, respectively}. Note that the English word planet [ wandering star ] is derived from the Greek word planē. 1 Targum refers to any of the Aramaic translations, more or less literal, of portions of the Old Testament used in the synagogues of Palestine and Babylonia. When, after the Babylonian Captivity in the 6th century BC, Aramaic replaced Hebrew as the generally spoken language, it became necessary to explain the meaning of readings from the Scriptures. Only a small portion of the many oral Targums that were produced survived. Among these are the originally Judean Targum known as the Targum Onkelos; three late and incomplete Targums, the so-called Jerusalem Targums, on the Pentateuch; the Judean Targum on the Prophets; later fragments of another paraphrase of the Prophets; and Targums on Psalms, Job, Proverbs, the five so-called megillahs (Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Esther, Ecclesiastes), Chronicles, and the deuterocanonical additions to Esther. 2 Irenaeus (~ AD) was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul [Lyons, France], then a part of the Roman Empire. He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology. He was a student of Polycarp, who in turn was a disciple of the apostle John. 3 Adversus Haereses or Against Heresies (~180 AD) is Irenaeus' best-known book. In that book is also a detailed attack on Gnosticism, which was then a serious threat to the Church, and especially on the system of the Gnostic Valentinus. 2

3 Balaam, a trafficker in sorcery, was hired by Balak, the king of Moab, to curse Israel. But Balaam refuse to do this because God would not let him curse Israel. Instead, he blesses them three times and appears to lose out on the honor and money he was to be paid. However, eventually the lure of monetary gain becomes too strong for him to resist {Num. 22:7; Deut. 23:4} and so he hatches a plot to anger the LORD against His people a different way through sexual immorality. Although God would not allow him to curse Israel, Balaam does lead Israel astray. Specifically, Num. 25:1-3; 31:16 tells us how he did this. Apparently, Balaam tells the Israelites, whom he had tried to curse three times that they were so firmly located in the favor of God that nothing could affect their standing with him. Therefore, they could sin without fear of punishment. Specifically, they could have sexual relations with Moabite women. Thus, Balaam led Israel into the sin of sexual immorality and this eventually led to idolatry because the Moabites were worshippers of Baal. In Rev. 2:14, Balaam becomes a byword for antinomianism:.because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus, even though Balaam could not curse them, he was successful in leading Israel into sexual immorality [WITH MOABITE WOMEN] and idolatry [BAAL WORSHIP]. Balaam soon perished, he was later killed by the Israelites upon their entering the Promised Land {Josh. 13:22}. The false teachers to which Jude refers are like the ERROR OF BALAAM in that they are out for profit [ run greedily for profit ; v.11] they lead others into immorality, the DOCTRINE OF BALAAM {vv.4, 6-7, 18-19}, they boast of prophetic dreams and visions {v.8} and they encourage apostasy, the WAY OF BALAAM {vv.4, 16}. Compare 2 Pet. 2:15-19 and Rev. 2: Therefore, these false teachers are steeped in deceitful practices and perversion for profit. But also like Balaam, these false teachers will perish 4. The error of Balaam is to resist God s clear and direct will and instead find a way to pervert or circumvent it. Korah s Rebellion Thirdly, the false teachers are compared with Korah, notorious for inciting rebellion against Moses and Aaron {ref. Numbers 16:1-3; 16-33}. He had no respect for the authority that the LORD had imputed to Moses and Aaron and questioned why they should be the ones in charge. Like Korah, these false teachers have no regard for God s Laws and they defy authority {v.8}, both the authority of God and the authority that God has delegated to the leaders of the Church. Such defiance will not go unpunished! Korah and those allied with him perished in a very frightening way the earth opened up and they, with their households and all their property were swallowed alive into it {ref. Num. 16:31-35}. The rest, 250 men, were consumed by fire in front of the altar in the Tabernacle. All three individuals [Cain, Balaam and Korah] in rebellion against God encouraged others to sin and all three met with ruin. 4 Some of the inter-testamental literature specifically mentions that Cain and Balaam will be denied a place in the world to come. But they will ultimately perish in the LAKE OF FIRE burning with brimstone. 3

4 Verses THE DECEIT OF FALSE TEACHERS IS GRAPHICALLY EXPOSED [12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; 13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.] These [Gk. houtoi] is being used in a derogatory way these guys ; perhaps we can think of it as losers or pretenders. Jude has already been told us that these (a) are ungodly {v.4}, (b) turn the grace of God into a license to sin {v.4}, (c) deny the Sovereign God the LORD Jesus Christ {v.4}, (d) defile the flesh, reject authority and (e) speak evil of heavenly glories {v.8}. Jude may be using a play-on-words here since the Greek word translated spots here is [4694 spilas (spee-las')] which refers to a ledge or reef of rock in the sea. It is the only time this word is used in the New Testament and is very appropriately used. There is another Greek word very close to this one [4696 spilos (spee-los )] and it is the word for stain or blemish. So, in an associated sense, these men are polluting the love feasts. Jude is saying that these false teachers; are deceptively harmless. They are like dangerous rocks or a reef that lies just below the surface of the water, which is unseen, but which can easily wreck a ship. The application is to the ship of one s faith. In regards to this, Paul writes Timothy:..keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. 1 Tim. 1:19 The love feast [ agape feast] is probably a reference to a fellowship meal held in a housechurch and where Lord s Supper [Holy Communion] would be celebrated. The meal would have been shared by Christians from all classes of society. Jesus instituted this practice, which originated from the Passover meal He and the disciples were celebrating. The unleavened bread and new wine were given new meaning in the crucified body and shed blood of Christ Jesus on the cross. For example, refer to Luke 22:7-20. Apparently, these false teachers were attending the Lord Supper fellowship meals and making a mockery out of it because of their behavior and unbelief they also may have been promoting their false doctrines and ungodly behavior. Thus, they were like an unseen reef or rock under the surface of the water waiting to cause someone a shipwreck. They attend the communion supper but they are not what they appear to be they are wolves in sheep s clothing. Jesus says this about these kind of men; Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Matt 23:27-28 These false teachers apparently had no fear or shame they were eating together with believers without the slightest qualm that they were doing anything wrong. This is consistent with what Jude has already told us about them; they reject authority including that of Heaven {v.8}. Note that the Greek word translated feeding or serving in v.12 [4165 poimainontes ], refers to a shepherd tending to his sheep; this includes nurturing, protecting and feeding them. 4

5 But these false teachers are also false shepherds who behave in the opposite manner, attending first and foremost to their own needs and ignoring those of their flock. Thus, Jude describes the false teachers as shepherds who feed only themselves. In other words, they are only concerned with their own self-interests and disregarded the spiritually devastating effects of their actions and words. Evidently, these kind of false shepherds who take advantage of others and exploit religion for gain have been around for a long time and they are graphically described in Ezekiel 34:2-10: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the fat, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. The rest of Ezekiel 34 goes on to describe God himself as the True Shepherd and how He will personally provide for them. Jesus also describes these as hireling shepherds (a) who do not own the sheep, (b) see a wolf coming and abandon the sheep [thus the sheep are scattered] and (c) do this because they do not really care about the sheep {ref. John 10:12-13}. The false teachers to which Jude refers claim leadership status, but they are only out for their own gain while they allow believers to remain uncared for, to spiritually languish unprotected and unfed. Their attitude and behavior at these love feasts was not unlike that which Paul describes in his letter to the church at Corinth {ref. 1 Cor. 11:20-34}. At the church in Corinth the fellowship meal associated with the Lord s Supper had been reduced to a time of selfish pride, gluttony, drunkenness and disparity: Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. 1 Cor. 11:

6 Now Jude describes these false teachers in rapid fire fashion and uses four metaphors from the created world to graphically illustrate his points. 1 st Metaphor: Jude s first metaphor relates to the atmosphere. He states that the false teachers are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind. This is a reference to Prov. 25:14; Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give. In other words, although these false teachers may promise spiritual refreshment, they fail to deliver. They are like those clouds that are observed during times of drought, which appear to be an answer to prayer, to fulfill the hope and expectation is that they will bring the much needed rain to end the drought, but instead, they are like clouds that just pass by overhead without producing the rain needed to relieve the parched landscape. They promise spiritual refreshment but leave behind nothing but disappointment, leaving believers to languish in a dry and barren existence. They are blown along by the wind indicating that they are carried away with their own empty words they are full of hot air! In other words, they have no real direction, there is no Godly insight directing them, unguided spiritually, but instead are moved and directed by their own unpredictable passions, fancies and vanity. At this point it is beneficial to mention that Paul reminds believers of the purpose in God giving good teachers to the Church and then exhorts them not to be fooled by these kinds of men and in Eph. 4:14-15 when he says, that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head Christ.. James warns believers against becoming like-minded to these false teachers and the resulting consequences: If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:5-8 Since these men can provide no refreshment and are spiritually unguided, their teaching is worthless. Jude s warning is especially timely to present-day Bible scholars. So-called Biblical scholars such as members of the Jesus Seminar Project 5 purport to be enlightened, but actually do not know what they are talking about. In the words of Rom. 1:22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools. 2 nd Metaphor. Jude s second metaphor relates to the botany, specifically, fruit-tree farming. These false teachers/prophets lack any spiritual fruit in their lives. They are autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted twice dead. In other words, although these men have had time to produce fruit they are spiritually barren. 5 This project consisted of several liberal Bible scholars who analyzed the Gospel accounts and had the audacity to decide (a) which words Jesus actually spoke, (b) which words attributed to Him by others and (c) which words He never spoke by voting by putting colored stones (indicating which it was) into a sack. Their authority was only their own knowledge and reasoning. Very few of Jesus words were actually marked as those that He actually spoke. 6

7 The Greek word rendered late autumn [ fthinopoorina (5352)] occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It means, properly, autumnal and the expression here is describing the trees of autumn, that is, trees which have no leaves or fruit. These trees are useless as far as providing that which is nutritious and satisfies hunger. Here Jude is reminding us of the contrast between the naked trees of autumn and those which bloom in spring and have dense foliage of summer. [ Twice dead ] This may be either a reference to the fact that they are like trees which have neither bloomed or produced fruit in two seasons or possibly a reference to the fact that they started out as spiritually dead (as we all do) but are doubly dead after accepting and believing in false doctrine. Compare Jesus words in describing the Pharisees; Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Matt 23:15 Peter describes the false teachers this way: For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns to his own vomit," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire. 2 Pet. 2:20-22 But the encouragement to a true believer is, But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul {Heb. 10:39}. [Plucked up by the roots] Because these men are twice dead and totally dry, they are not even cut down but are able to be pulled out by the roots by a gardener [possibly to make room for a tree that does bear fruit]. The LORD will judge and eventually remove false teachers. Jude has actually given us the natural progression of things in the biological realm and used it as an illustration to tell us what will happen to these false teachers. First, the tree has no fruit or leaves; it appears as it does in late autumn. Though it looks dead, it is expected to sprout new leaves in the spring. However, spring comes and there is no life in the tree, it does not sprout new leaves because it is really dead twice dead. The summer comes and there is no fruit and autumn comes again and the tree looks the same as it did last autumn. Now there is nothing left but to pull it up by the roots and replace it with a live tree that will bear fruit in its season. Barnes says in his commentary, Alas! how many professors of religion are there, and how many religious teachers, who answer to this description! These men are not unlike the fig tree of Jesus parable in Luke 13:6-9: Then he told this parable: A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil? Sir, the man replied, leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down. These men are either apparently clueless about or consciously think they can ignore Jesus teaching in Matt. 7:20; By their fruits you will know them. 7

8 3 rd Metaphor. Jude s third metaphor relates to the ocean, specifically, the waves washing up onto a beach. He describes false teachers as wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame. In other words, they are undisciplined and uncontrolled. Jude here references Isa. 57:20. But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. The teachings of the apostates are like the debris and rubbish that washes up upon a beach. 4 th Metaphor. Jude s fourth and final metaphor relates to the Universe, specifically, the planets rotating around the sun. The false teachers are like wandering stars. The Greek here is planētai derived from planē which literally means to wander and is oftentimes translated error {ref. Matt. 27:64; Rom. 1:27; Eph. 4:14; 1 Thess. 2:3; 2 Thess. 2:11; James 5:20; 2 Pet. 2:18; 3:17; 1 John 4:6} The false teachers have wandered from the truth and strayed from the correct path of God s righteousness. When Jude speaks of wandering stars he is actually using metaphorical language to describe fallen angels. The false teachers are doomed just as surely as are the fallen angels. [..for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever] Here Jude is saying that these false teachers will suffer the same fate as the rebellious angels, which he has already mentioned in v.6. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.. And also as Jesus described this place of judgment [Gehenna = LAKE OF FIRE] in Matt. 25:30: And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The false teachers are doomed just as surely as are the fallen angels {ref. Rev. 12:9; 2 Pet. 2:4} For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to Tartaroos and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.. In the end these men will be destroyed because of their rejection of the truth and rebellion against God their ultimate fate is described in Rev. 21:8. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. Thus, Jude teaches us that those who rebel against God and teach and prophesy falsely will be severely dealt with. Anyone who handles the Word of God would do right by contemplating the horrible consequences of consciously teaching false doctrine! QUESTIONS 1. Why is false teaching so dangerous? What are the consequences of false teaching when it enters into the church? 2. What are some present-day examples of false teaching that are on par with the type of apostasy that Jude is addressing? 8

9 Bibliography (1) New Unger's Bible Dictionary, Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (2) Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament, Cook Communications Ministries; Copyright 1983, (3) Barnes Notes, (4) Vincent s Word Studies of the New Testament, Hendrickson Publishers, Copyright (5) Wycliffe Bible Commentary, edited by Charles F. Pfeiffer, Everett F. Harrison, Moody Publishers, Copyright (6) Jude Commentary, Dr. Wilfred Graves, Ph.D., M.Div., Copyright