Yesterday, 06:27 PM
John's second and third letters are brief summaries of what he wrote in his first epistle, addressed to a couple of people noted for helping itinerant preachers take the gospel to new mission fields.
Chronology: Paul was executed in roughly 65-66 AD. Peter wrote his letters from Rome and was also executed a short time later. In 70 AD, a Jewish revolt in Jerusalem brought a swift Roman response that destroyed Herod's Temple. Christians who fled that event largely gathered in and around Ephesus, turning it into the new hub of Christian religion. The other members of the original Twelve Disciples traveled far away or were executed, leaving John as the elder there in Ephesus. His letters were written around 85 AD. Jude wrote his letter some while before John's to an unknown audience that was almost certainly dominated by Hebrew Christians. He identifies himself as James' younger brother, which made him half-brother to the Christ he proclaimed as Lord.
We thus get a picture of how the heresies John faced developed during the early explosion of Christianity in Ephesus and the surrounding region. Jude's focus is on the early Gnostics. Jude had rather written something else, but this cult was a serious threat to following Christ. He says they had infiltrated the community to which he writes.
They had twisted the gospel of grace into an excuse for libertine self-indulgence and denial of Christ. Jude's first comment is that these men were predestined to damnation from the start, never part of the Elect. They will meet their doom, but Jude wants to give context as to why the churches must endure their presence for a time.
First example: We notice that Jude uses terminology that makes a lot of later western church folks a little uncomfortable because he cites Hebrew mystical imagery that was common during the Second Temple period and plugs in his Lord as the Messiah to which that theology pointed. Many English translations leave out the reference to Christ being present during the Exodus. It was not Jesus the man, but rather an earlier manifestation of God's Word that appeared in the Exodus, leading the nation out of bondage. And this same Word of God was the standard of judgment that called for the destruction of those who rebelled against God's order of things for leadership in the wilderness.
Second example: Jehovah's elohim staff also rebelled and invaded the mortal realm, getting personally involved in mortal human existence. They were forced to remain in this realm in the Abyss as part of their punishment, until the Day of Judgment.
Third example: The men of Sodom and Gomorrah (along with three smaller cities nearby) transgressed the limits God had set for them and went all out, trying to engage in degrading ritual sex with angels. Their punishment was fire raining from the sky, turning the whole area into a smoking grave.
These Gnostics also transgressed the boundaries in the same way as the cultists of Sodom and Gomorrah did, rejecting the created order of authority, even to the point of cursing the elohim. Even the archangel Michael knew better than that, but spoke only in echoes of what God had already said. The Gnostics don't even have a clue what they are talking about, but arrogantly transgress the boundaries. They rejected the place God made for them and wasted the gift of human faculties, living by brute animal instincts with no moral restraints. That kind of lifestyle carried its own doom sooner or later.
They had joined in the sins of Cain, and of Balaam, and the rebellion of Korah. It's quite a challenge to describe the depth of depravity to which they had sunk, sneaking in to the church love feasts to selfishly gorge themselves. They boasted of powers and wisdom, but were like clouds without rain, trees without fruit, stinking foamy wild waves of the sea, and stars that moved out of constellations. God was saving up special wrath for them.
Jude refers to the oral lore about Enoch, who prophesied before the days of Noah that wrath was coming for all the people who embraced the lies of the rebellious elohim. These pre-Flood idiots even dared to insult God directly, complaining about how He would not let them sate their foul lusts. It's the same sin the Gnostics were engaged in during Jude's days. We would call them psychopaths.
Jesus had warned such people would appear after His Ascension, seeking to mislead the Elect and destroy the unity in churches. Jude recommends that his audience do the work of Christ, having mercy on those who struggled with their faith, teaching them to distrust the flesh and keep it under the discipline of the Spirit. This is how we carry out the Law of Christ.
Chronology: Paul was executed in roughly 65-66 AD. Peter wrote his letters from Rome and was also executed a short time later. In 70 AD, a Jewish revolt in Jerusalem brought a swift Roman response that destroyed Herod's Temple. Christians who fled that event largely gathered in and around Ephesus, turning it into the new hub of Christian religion. The other members of the original Twelve Disciples traveled far away or were executed, leaving John as the elder there in Ephesus. His letters were written around 85 AD. Jude wrote his letter some while before John's to an unknown audience that was almost certainly dominated by Hebrew Christians. He identifies himself as James' younger brother, which made him half-brother to the Christ he proclaimed as Lord.
We thus get a picture of how the heresies John faced developed during the early explosion of Christianity in Ephesus and the surrounding region. Jude's focus is on the early Gnostics. Jude had rather written something else, but this cult was a serious threat to following Christ. He says they had infiltrated the community to which he writes.
They had twisted the gospel of grace into an excuse for libertine self-indulgence and denial of Christ. Jude's first comment is that these men were predestined to damnation from the start, never part of the Elect. They will meet their doom, but Jude wants to give context as to why the churches must endure their presence for a time.
First example: We notice that Jude uses terminology that makes a lot of later western church folks a little uncomfortable because he cites Hebrew mystical imagery that was common during the Second Temple period and plugs in his Lord as the Messiah to which that theology pointed. Many English translations leave out the reference to Christ being present during the Exodus. It was not Jesus the man, but rather an earlier manifestation of God's Word that appeared in the Exodus, leading the nation out of bondage. And this same Word of God was the standard of judgment that called for the destruction of those who rebelled against God's order of things for leadership in the wilderness.
Second example: Jehovah's elohim staff also rebelled and invaded the mortal realm, getting personally involved in mortal human existence. They were forced to remain in this realm in the Abyss as part of their punishment, until the Day of Judgment.
Third example: The men of Sodom and Gomorrah (along with three smaller cities nearby) transgressed the limits God had set for them and went all out, trying to engage in degrading ritual sex with angels. Their punishment was fire raining from the sky, turning the whole area into a smoking grave.
These Gnostics also transgressed the boundaries in the same way as the cultists of Sodom and Gomorrah did, rejecting the created order of authority, even to the point of cursing the elohim. Even the archangel Michael knew better than that, but spoke only in echoes of what God had already said. The Gnostics don't even have a clue what they are talking about, but arrogantly transgress the boundaries. They rejected the place God made for them and wasted the gift of human faculties, living by brute animal instincts with no moral restraints. That kind of lifestyle carried its own doom sooner or later.
They had joined in the sins of Cain, and of Balaam, and the rebellion of Korah. It's quite a challenge to describe the depth of depravity to which they had sunk, sneaking in to the church love feasts to selfishly gorge themselves. They boasted of powers and wisdom, but were like clouds without rain, trees without fruit, stinking foamy wild waves of the sea, and stars that moved out of constellations. God was saving up special wrath for them.
Jude refers to the oral lore about Enoch, who prophesied before the days of Noah that wrath was coming for all the people who embraced the lies of the rebellious elohim. These pre-Flood idiots even dared to insult God directly, complaining about how He would not let them sate their foul lusts. It's the same sin the Gnostics were engaged in during Jude's days. We would call them psychopaths.
Jesus had warned such people would appear after His Ascension, seeking to mislead the Elect and destroy the unity in churches. Jude recommends that his audience do the work of Christ, having mercy on those who struggled with their faith, teaching them to distrust the flesh and keep it under the discipline of the Spirit. This is how we carry out the Law of Christ.