What Jesus' Brother Jude Wanted Us To Know | vv. 14-15, Part 2 | The Oldest Prophet's Releva
In our last installment we saw that the very condemnation that Enoch pronounced against ungodly people was directly attributable to the false teachers in Jude’s day. The obvious implication is that his denouncement stands as relevant for false teachers in our own day.
Today, however, we’re looking at some of the more specific content of Enoch’s message more closely.
For an explanation of Jude's source (i.e. the Book of Enoch) and its validity, see the first post.
In Jude 14–15, Enoch is quoted as saying:
“Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
This is indeed an interesting prophecy, but not one that stands alone in Scripture.
The Apostle Paul, in writing to the persecuted church of Thessalonica, stated that their perseverance and persecution was “evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering,” (2 Thess 1:5) but then goes on to explain what Enoch was undoubtedly prophesying:
“Indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints” (vv. 6–10) (emphasis mine).
The second coming of Jesus Christ is in view, here. This has been the source of Jude’s urgency the entire time. The tenor of his letter is based on what has already been announced by Enoch, explained by Paul and warned about by Peter as we have seen throughout this series.
While “holy ones” can technically refer to both angels and believers, the context here seems to have angels in mind, especially when considering Paul’s explanation. John MacArthur has commented on this passage, saying that “the focus on judgment in Jude 15 seems to favor angels, who are often seen in judgment action. While believers will have a role of judging during the Lord’s earthly kingdom and will return when Christ comes to judge (Rev 19:14), angels are the executioners of God at the second coming of Christ (see Matt 13:39–41; 49–50; 24:29–31; 25:31; 2 Thess 1:7–10).
When the Lord Jesus was explaining His parable of the weeds in Matthew 13, He said in no uncertain terms:
“The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (vv. 38–42) (emphasis mine).
The same explanation was given after telling his parable of the fishing net: “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (vv. 49–50).
With the ultimate second coming of Christ a guaranteed reality, it is an astonishing thing, as Christians, to 1) remember that we were once considered ungodly people who would receive the full fury of Enoch’s prophecy, then 2) realize that this is the exact reason for Christ’s first coming.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (Jn 3:16–17) (emphasis mine).
The first coming of Christ was for salvation, but the second coming of Christ will indeed be anything but. His first arrival saves; His second arrival damns. While many make Jesus out to be an incredible moral teacher and a mere social justice champion, the Scriptures make so clear that He came to seek and save the lost; to reconcile men to God through His death and resurrection. “Repent and believe” was His message.
Even the famous John 3:16–17 passage is immediately followed by, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already” (vs. 18). The same apostle again expresses that “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (vs. 36) (emphasis mine).
So, then, while Enoch labors to warn against the coming judgment of ungodly people, the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is that “at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom 5:6) (emphasis mine).
What does this mean?
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:9–11) (emphasis mine).
This truly is good news for the ungodly. And yet . . . as we have seen in previous posts, we never find any examples of false teachers or heretics in Scripture who actually recant and repent of sin. “These people”—as Jude is so apt to saying—are the ones who are especially marked out by his repudiation.
We’re not talking about the Saul-turned-Paul types who have been converted from false religions, rather those who are purposely acting within the Christian framework as Christian teachers and preachers, yet holding to non-Christian, that is, unbiblical, positions.
Indeed, Hebrews levels with us: “It is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance” (6:4–6).
This refers not to genuine salvation that is lost, rather to those who have learned the intellectual aspect of saving faith and have even experienced the common benefits of Christianity. They have gone through the motions and have finally given it up.
As John later wrote: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1 Jn 2:19).
Jude warns us to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once and for all. He warns us that the ungodly and false teachers of the world will suffer condemnation in Hell and the church must guard itself by discerning them out.
Is Jude’s message over the top or new? Certainly not. And we know this because the same message was given the people by none other than that man who walked right into the presence of God without suffering death—that godly man, Enoch.
In Christ Alone,
Ben
