JUDE: WEEK 2 DAY 5

Jude 1:14-15 (& Deut. 33:2; Zech. 14:5; Isaiah 66:15-16)

14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 

My children’s spouses joke that our family has its own language. We say funny words or make references to places and moments that only make sense to us. Is your family like that? Here Jude was definitely referencing something that was super familiar to the Messianic Jews of his day, but is not on most of our readers. 

Jude quotes from something called the Book of Enoch. Now, this is not included in our Bible, and should be looked at more as a historical reference of the Jewish people, but the Jews in Jude’s time would have known it very well. The quote he used actually comes from a passage in the book that quotes several Old Testament passages including Deuteronomy 33:2, Zechariah 14:5, and Isaiah 66:15-16. All of these are talking about the final day of judgement when Jesus Christ returns. 

The warning is both sobering and comforting. For those who have come into the church and not only behaved ungodly, but enticed others to do so too, it is a warning: they will be punished. For those who have worked to keep such false doctrine out of the church, and have tried to protect others from being deceived, it is a comfort and a reminder that God will bring about His perfect justice.