God has supreme authority, and Saul was not sparing anyone in pursuit of conversion or mercy. He was sparing animals in pursuit of greed and pride, as well as fear of his own soldiers’ opinion of him.

The book of Jude is heavy. There is so much packed into one page of reading. In the end, the awareness of the spiritual battle raging around us can seem overwhelming, even scary. We don’t want to leave this book on edge, seeing a false prophet behind every corner, but that is not the call of the book either. The call of the letter is to be alert. We are to be aware, actively living out our faith. Jesus is able to protect and keep us from stumbling. When we actively remain in relationship with Jesus, He will continue to give us wisdom and strength, and the reminder that we are loved by God. 

Quite a few years ago we did a devotional series called Short and Sweet. In it we studied the shortest books of the Bible, and compared the lessons learned in them to some common tales we had heard as children. We compared the lessons of Jude, to those of Little Red Riding Hood. In the children’s story, Little Red encounters a wolf. She knows she is not supposed to talk to him, but she does anyway. He seems nice, and he says the right things, but inside he is only hoping to feed his own viscous appetite, and destroy Little Red in the process.

It is so fun to learn something new, isn’t it? I love a good book, reel, podcast, or anything that teaches me a new trick, or some fun tidbit that may be good for nothing but a game of trivia.

When Paul and Silas came to them with the good news about Jesus they were very eager to hear it. However, every time Paul spoke, they met and poured over the Scriptures to make sure everything he said lined up with what they had already been taught through the Word of God. At that time, the Scriptures they were using would be, for us, now what makes up our Old Testament. As they compared Paul’s teaching to God’s revealed Word, they were thrilled to see it was true!