JUDE GIVES A HISTORY LESSON
(Verses 11-16)
In order to explain what he is saying, Jude now brings in some incidents from Jewish history to find parallels to the evil men of his own day.
VERSE 11:
“Woe unto them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.”
From history Jude now calls up three examples of notorious sinners.
1. The example of Cain.
A. He was the first murderer.
B. He was the first false worshiper.
2. The example of Balaam
He was the first to teach Israel to sin.
A. He was covetous and sold his ministry.
B. He brought Baal worship into Israel.
3. The example of Korah.
He rebelled against God’s man (Moses).
“Woe unto them!”
Literally: “Woe to them.”
The denunciation of woes, common in the Lord Jesus’ ministry, is found only here, and in the Revelation, in all the rest of the New Testament. A “woe” in the Bible is a curse or judgment being pronounced. This may be considered as a prediction of what would befall them. The Greek word (ouai) that is rendered as “woe” may also be rendered as “horror, disaster, calamity.” Elsewhere in the N.T. this word has also been rendered as, “alas.” Peter also pronounced these of whom Jude is speaking as “cursed children” (II Pet. 2:14).
“For they have gone in the way of Cain,”
Literally: “Because they went the way of Cain”
Cain was the original apostate and the first murderer. He wanted a bloodless religion. God had from the first decreed that the sacrifice to Him was to be an offering of blood, but Cain had the attitude of, “I’ll do it my way.” Instead of bringing to God a blood offering, he instead brought an offering of the crops which he had grown. As was to be expected, God rejected Cain’s offering because, “without shedding of blood is no remission” for sin (Heb. 9:22). From the very beginning of sin in the Garden of Eden this has been the case. God did accept the offering of Cain’s brother, Abel, because it was a blood offering. This caused Cain to be jealous of and to hate his brother, and to eventually kill him, making Cain not only the first apostate but also the first murderer.
That is, the way of the murderer: the root of whose sin was hatred and envy of the godly, as it is also the sin of these seducers. They are haters of their brethren, and they that are such are murderers, if only within their hearts; and by their false doctrine they corrupt and destroy the souls of the people around them.
Those who have “gone the way of Cain” are those apostate or heretical preachers who still preach a bloodless approach to God. They are those who say that “God is too merciful to condemn anyone to hell.” But it is not God who condemns these sinners, it is the sinners them-selves who condemn them to hell because they refuse to approach God in the one and only way that He has decreed: through the blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward,”
Literally: “and gave themselves up to the error of Balaam for reward”
The Greek word for “ran greedily” (ekechuthêsan), literally means “they were poured out in streams;” the Greek (planêi) for “error” may also mean “deception.” Meaning they are “poured out,” or that they “rush tumultuously” on an object; that is, that they give themselves up to something. The idea here is, that they had let go of all restraint, and that they rushed headlong to any course of life that promised gain or profit.
“For they have gone in the way of Cain; which was a way of envy, for Cain envied the acceptance of his brother's gift, and that notice which the Lord took of him; so these men envied the gifts bestowed on Christ's faithful ministers, and the success that attended their labours, and the honour that was put upon them by Christ, and that was given them by the churches; which shows, that they were destitute of grace, and particularly of the grace of charity, or love, which envies not, and that they were in an unregenerate estate, and upon the brink of ruin and destruction. Moreover, the way of Cain was a way of hatred, and murder of his brother, which his envy led him to; so these men hated the brethren, persecuted them unto death, as well as were guilty of the murder of the souls of men, by their false doctrine: to which may be added, as another of Cain's ways, in consequence of the former, absence from the presence of God, or the place of his worship; so these men separated themselves, and went out from the churches, forsook the assembling together with them, and so might expect Cain's punishment, to be driven from the face of God; yea, to be bid go as cursed into everlasting burnings.”—Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
For the sake of gain they corrupt the Word of God and refine away its meaning to suit their own ideas, and let it down so as to suit the passions of their greed. This was also true of the Nicolaitans, who taught most impure doctrines, and followed the most self-aggrandizement of practices. Reckless of what it costs–the loss of God's favor and heaven–they rush on after gain like Balaam did
“and perished in the gainsaying of Core.”.
Literally: “and perished in the gainsaying of Korah”
PERISH: (apollumi)–They perish, or rather, they will perish.
The result is so certain, that Jude speaks of it as if it were already done. The thought, seems to have lain in his mind in this manner: he thinks of them as having the same character as Korah, and then at once thinks of them as destroyed in the same manner, or as if it were already done. They are identified with him in their character and doom. The word rendered “perish” (apollumi) is often used to denote future punishment, (Matthew 10:28, 39; 18:14; Mark 1:24; Luke 13:3, 5; John 3:15-16; 10:28; II Peter 3:9).
GAINSAY: (antilologiai)-–In the practice of “gainsaying” like Korah. Literally: “contradiction.”
“Gainsaying” like that of Korah; referring to his speaking against Moses in the revolutionary opposition which he headed. These libertines, like Korah; treated sacred matters and the preachers of the Word of God with contempt.
The sin of Korah was that he rebelled against the guidance of Moses when the sons of Aaron and the tribe of Levi were made the priests of the nation Korah wished to exercise a function to which he had no right. Korah stands for the man who refuses to accept authority and reaches out for things which he has no right to have. Jude here is charging his opponents with defying the authority of the church, and of preferring their own way in contradiction to the way of God. Keep in mind that when we read of Korah perishing for gainsaying, we read also of these perishing in like manner through the same: for the same seed bears the same harvest.
“The term which is very fitly rendered "gainsaying" by the English Version here (“contradiction” in the Rhemish Version; “treason” in Tyndale, Cranmer, and the Geneva) denotes properly an opposition expressing itself in words. It is, therefore, aptly applied to the rebellion of Korah and his company, who “gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you,” etc. (Numbers 16:3). The analogy between the two cases, consequently, is limited by some to the assertion of an unregulated liberty, the assumption of a self-invented holiness, or the adoption of a worship which was alien to God. It lies in the broader idea of a contemptuous and determined assertion of self against divinely appointed ordinances.”—Pulpit Commentary
VERSES 12-16: THE PICTURE OF WICKED MEN
Jude now gives a three-fold description of the ungodly, corresponding to the three examples just given. The divisions are clearly marked, each section beginning with “These are.”
VERSE 12:
“These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds {they are} without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.”
It appears that these unholy and impure people still continued to have fellowship (at least outwardly) with the Church! It is probable that their power and influence in that place had swallowed up, or even set aside, the power and authority of the real ministers of Christ. This is a common case when worldly, time-serving men get into the local churches. Jude now sets out to describe these seducers by using several examples and metaphors.
“These are spots in your feasts of charity,”
Literally: “They are rocky reefs in your love feasts”
Jude commences to describe such people as “hidden rocks” that threaten to wreck the churches Love Feasts. These were those who at the feasts who revel with their own cliques without having any qualms about it. They really have no feelings or responsibility to anyone but themselves.
SPOTS: (spilades)–here the Greek word which elsewhere, in secular writers, means “rocks,” namely, on which the Christian love-feasts were in danger of being shipwrecked. Sunken rocks, exposing to destruction the voyager that comes upon them
LOVE FEASTS: (agapais)–These were in use in the primitive Church till the middle of the fourth century, when, by the council of Laodicea, they were prohibited to be held in the Churches after having been abused, they then fell into disuse.
In the early Church, the richer members of the Church made an occasional general feast, at which all the members could attend, and the poor and the rich ate together. The fatherless, the widows, and the strangers were invited to these feasts, and their eating together was a proof of their love to each other. This is why they were called love feasts. But they were never considered as the Lord's Supper, nor any substitute for it. The Gnostics made it worse, so that the love-feasts were discontinued.
“feeding themselves without fear;”
Literally: “feeding themselves without fear”
Jude says such people are like “rocks,” or “submerged reefs” in the love-feasts. This shows the infamy of them as they were being a blemish and scandal to their Christian assemblies by their feeding without fear either of offending either God or man. What they really care about is the pampering of themselves, not the feeding of or fellowshipping with the believers. They were eating, not to suffice nature, but to pamper appetite. It seems the provision was abundant, and they ate to gluttony and riot. It was this which brought the love feasts into disrepute in the Church, and was the means of their being at last wholly laid aside.
“Feeding themselves without fear” goes better with “feasting with you;” but the Greek admits either rendering. They were “feeding themselves” instead of the poorer members of the flock; whereas feeding the poor was one great object of the love-feasts. “Feeding themselves” in the Greek literally means, “pasturing themselves” instead of waiting to be tended by the shepherds ( the pastors).
“clouds {they are} without water, carried about of winds;”
Literally: “waterless clouds, being carried about by winds”
Jude says these people are like waterrless clouds promising rain, but not yielding any; they make a show of having much knowledge, but not really having any; and they are blown about (as clouds by the wind) from one vanity to another. The apostle Peter has his own description of these people (II Pet. 1:17-19):
“These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the midst of darkness is reserved forever.
“For when they speak great swelling {words} of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, {through much} wantonness, those that were clean escaped from then who live in error.
“While they promise liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.”
They promise fertilizing showers of instruction and edification, but yield nothing, or make a show of what they have not. The “clouds” here take the place of the “wells” of II Peter 2:17. A comparable O.T. verse is found in Provrbs 25:14–“Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain”. Men look in the hot climate of the East to the cloud as giving promise of the rain from heaven. It is a bitter disappointment when it passes away leaving the earth as hard and unrefreshed as before. Likewise, men would look in vain to these false teachers, shifting alike in their movements and their teaching, borne to and fro by “every wind of doctrine” (comp. Eph. 4:14), for any spiritual refreshment. These empty, volatile men disappoint the expectation of the Church and do it no service.
“trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit”
Literally: “autumn trees without fruit”
Jude goes on to describe these people as being without fruit, either of Gospel doctrine, or of Gospel holiness and righteousness; nor did they make any true converts, for they cannot do so. One cannot give out what one has not first taken in themselves. What Jude is comparing these people to are autumn trees which ought to be full of fruit, and yet are without fruit. He may even be referring back to the barren fig-tree which Jesus encountered and cursed because of its barrenness (Mark. 11:13-14).
The idea of uselessness and unfruitfulness, which was expressed in the previous figure, is repeated, but in a more absolute form, in this new figure. The late autumn is not the time, from the Eastern point of view, for the putting forth of fruit. The tree then becomes bare, barren, leafless. So is it with these men. Nor is it only that they have no fruit to show. The capacity of fruitfulness is extinct within them.
“twice dead, plucked up by the roots”
Literally: “having died twice, having been plucked up by the roots”
Meaning first dead when they cast their leaves in autumn, and seem to be dead during the winter, but they revive again in spring; second dead when they are “plucked up by the roots.” So these apostates, who are already dead in unbelief, and then by profession and baptism raised from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, but now having again become dead again by apostasy, and so are now hopelessly dead. Peter describes this them this way:
“For if after they had escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them that the beginning.
“For it had been better for them not to had known the way of righteousness, than after they had known{it} to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
“But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, ‘The dog {is} turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire” (II Peter 2:20-22).
TWICE DEAD: (dis apothanonta)–First, naturally and practically dead in sin, from which they had been revived by the preaching and grace of the Gospel. Secondly, dead by backsliding or apostasy from the true faith, by which they lost the grace they had before received; and now likely to continue in that death, because plucked up from the roots, their roots of faith and love being no longer fixed in Christ Jesus. Perhaps the aorist is taken here for the future: They WILL BE plucked up from the roots-God will exterminate them from the earth.
VERSE 13:
“Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”
“Raging waves of “the sea, foaming out their own shame;”
Literally: “wild waves of the sea foaming up their shames”
Jude not goes on to give us a picture of these evil men. He describes them as wild sea waves that are frothing out their own shameless deeds. Isaiah used this same description: “The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt” (Isa, 57:20). Jude is saying that these apostates are like the sea during a storm, when the waves turn to mountainous size and the breakers thunderously batter the shore. At such times the great seas stir up from their bottoms great rolls of muddy, stinking sediment, and deposit it on the beaches. This is how Jude sees them: as being proud and arrogant boasters, headstrong, unruly, and ferocious men who sweep into their dominion the souls of the simple and unlearned, and leave nothing behind them that was not indicative of their error, turbulence, and impurity.
These apostates are really unstable in their doctrine, and totally unstable and furious in their tempers and manners; and they display no control over their passions. By their wicked and outrageous behavior, even among their disciples, they show their own filthiness to their own disgrace.
Because of their swelling pride and vanity Jude describes them as great foaming, storm ridden waves. This alone shows that they had never received the Doctrine of Grace in truth. As for their being describes as “foaming out their shame,” this is displayed by their own wrathful words, frothy and obscene language, and filthy doctrines. Such descriptive words expresse the issue of their noisy and blustering ministry, which ends in uncleanness, shame, emptiness, and ruin,
“wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”
Literally: “wandering stars for whom blackness of darkness has been kept to the age.”
Jude now changes his description of these evil men. He now describes them as wandering stars that are kept in the abyss of darkness for their disobedience. That is, stars which have no fixed position, but roam about. Instead of moving on in a regular orbit, as lights to the world, they burst forth on the world like erratic comets, or meteors with a strange glare, but they are doomed to fall back again into the blackness. The Greek word (planêtai) rendered “wandering” is that from which we have derived the word “planet.” It properly means, “one who wanders about; a wanderer”; and was given by the ancients to planets because they seemed to wander about the heavens, now forward and now backward among the ether stars, without any fixed laws of motion.
They are called “stars”, because they have the appearance of such; they seem to blaze for a while in seeming light, zeal, and warmth, and in fame and reputation; and they are “wandering” stars at that. They seem to display fiery gliding and running stars as they wander about from house-to-house, as well as from one-nation-to-another. They are never settled in their principles, nor on any point in religion; and they wander after their own carnal lusts, and cause others to do likewise. The fate of these wandering stars is typical of the fate of a man who disobeys God’s commandments and takes his own way.
VERSES 14-15: THESE VERSES REALLY GO TOGETHER AS ONE COMPLETE TOPIC
VERSE 14:
“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints.”
“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam”
Literally: “And the seventh from Adam, Enoch”
Jude now changes his theme and again speaks of an event that is not recorded in the O.T. or anywhere else in the Bible. First Jude identifies the Enoch he was talking about–the one who was the seventh generation from Adam, to distinguish him from the Enoch who was the son of Cain. His line of descent is: Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahaleel, Jared, Enoch.
“Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints.”
Literally: “Behold, the Lord came with myriads of His holy ones”
After describing the sin of the seducers in the former verses, Jude now declares the certainty of their destruction; assuring us that Enoch of old, by the spirit of prophecy, did foretell the sins of such persons, and their condemnation also at the general judgment upon the ungodly in general, and on such as speak contumeliously of him and his in particular.
This is the very first prophecy ever given by a man in the Bible, and it is quite a perplexing prophecy. Many expositors believe that Jude may have taken this from the “Book of Enoch” (Enoch 1:9) which was a popular book in the time of Jesus and Jude. Enoch, who was pre-Flood (before the Great Flood of Noah’s day),–millennia (thousands of years) before there were even any Jews; even over a millennium before the birth of Abraham–is giving a prophecy of the Second Coming of Christ. Notice I did not say a prophecy of the First Coming (when Jesus was born and lived on earth) but I said a prophecy of His Second Coming. But there are even more surprises concerning Enoch. This is not even the first prophecy that he ever gave.
THE FIRST PROPHECY OF ENOCH
Enoch’s first prophecy was given in the very name that he gave his son–Methuselah. We find that in Gen. 5:22-27. Basically, the name of Methuselah means, “when he dies, it shall be sent” referring to judgment.
1. The word “meth” means, “to die.” This word is used over 100 times in the O.T., and eight times in Gen, chapter 5.
2. The word, “shelach”“ means, “to send forth.”
This word is used some 60 times in the O.T. and is always used in the sense of, “sends forth–famine, fire, judgment or pestilence.”
Put these two words “meth” and “selach” and you get, “When he dies it shall be sent.” This was the prophecy that Enoch gave when he named his son.
THE WALKS OF ENOCH
In Gen. 5:22 we find, “Enoch walked with God” after he “begat Methuselah.” This tells us that he got some sort of inspiration from God about a coming judgment upon the earth. It seems that this inspiration of coming judgment so effected Enoch that he began his walking with God. Also, notice that verse 21 tells us that he was 65 years old when he sired Methuselah. In verse 24 we are told that Enoch walked with God until he was taken (“translated”–Heb. 11:5) at the age of 365 years. Please notice that there are 300 years difference between these two verses. In fact, Gen. 5:22 say, “Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years.”
THE SECOND PROPHECY OF ENOCH
“Behold, the Lord came with myriads of His holy ones” is the correct rendering of this phrase in Jude verse 14. Note that it literally says, “the Lord came with myriads…” Prophecy regards the future as certain as if it were past. The question now arises as, “who are these holy ones” that will be accompanying the Lord? Part of this question is answered in Matt. 25:31–“…the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him…” So right here we see that when Christ returns these myriads of His holy ones are His angels, which themselves are unnumbered. But is that all that will be included in this myriad? The answer is NO! He will also have with Him the believers who have gone on to heaven before.
WHO WILL ACCOMPANY THE LORD?
“When Christ, {Who is} our life shall appear, then shall ye also (you believers) appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4).
“To the end He may stablish your hearts, unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints” (I Thess. 3:13).
VERSE 15: WHY CHRIST WILL COME
“To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard {speeches} which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
THE PURPOSE OF THE LORD’S COMING
“To execute judgment upon all,”
Literally: “To do judgment against all”
“to do justice” (poiêsai krisin)
And what is the purpose of His coming? It is to bring Judgment! A general judgment. In His Olivet Discourse of Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus was speaking of His coming judgment upon the world and humanity. In Luke 10:14 we read: “And it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.” The Greek word here that is rendered as “judgment” is krisis (Eng. crisis).
“But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment (i.e., day of krisis—crisis) and perdition of ungodly men” (II Pet. 3:7).–Judgment of the unsaved.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath (present tense) everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (literally: krisis—Eng. crisis) but is (present tense) passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).
In this phrase, ““To execute judgment upon all,” it may be rendered to literally say, “to do krisis (crisis) upon all.”
“to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds”
Literally: “to convict all the ungodly of them concerning their ungodly works”
TO CONVINCE: (exelegxai)–To convict all ungodly men of their ungodly deeds. Do not forget that this was originally spoken to the antediluvians and Enoch is looking beyond the Flood and on to the Second Coming of the Lord to destroy that world was the thing spoken of in this prophecy or declaration. But as God had threatened this, it required no direct inspiration to foretell it.
WHO WILL BE JUDGED?
“all the ungodly of them”
ALL: (pantas)–This simply means all unbelievers. The Holy Spirit has enlarged upon this in scores of passages throughout the Bible. Every person, whether living or dead, will be judged.
“I charge {thee} therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, Who shall judge the quick (living) and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom” (II Tim. 4:1).
“And before Him shall be gathered all nations” (Matt. 25:32).
“He cometh to judge the earth” (Psa. 96:13).
“Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about” (Joel 3:12).
UNGODLY: (asebeis )–This means everything that is against God and His holiness.
Although ungodly men are primarily in view here, the fallen angels mentioned in verse 6, as well as all other evil angels, will also be judged in that great and terrible day.
“And it shall come to pass in that day, {that} the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones…” (Isaiah 24:21).
“And behold, they (demons) cried out, saying, ‘What have we to do with Thee Jesus, thou Son of God? Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?'” (Matt. 8:29).
“…when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels.
“In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the Presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (II Thess. 1:7-9).
One company after another of fallen creatureswill be tried and condemned. In Rev. 20:11-15 we see described the latter judgment and conviction of the ungodly dead. In that time God’s books will be opened, and the dead will be judged, “out of those things which are written in the books, according to their works.” Their sentence will be for them being cast into the Lake of Fire. There will be no “Court of Appeal” from their sentencing. The saddest words that anyone, human or angelic being, can ever hear from the Lord will be, “I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:23).
WHAT WILL HE JUDGE?
“all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard {speeches}”
Literally: “all their ungodly works which they ungodly did, and concerning all the hard things ungodly sinners spoke”.
That is, of all their wicked actions and words. This is the common thread and doctrine of the Bible, that all the wicked actions and words of men will be called into judgment. But there is much confusion about this theme.
Please understand that this judging DOES NOT include we who are of the Church because we will already have been judged in heaven. Remember that we will be accompanying Christ when He returns to earth. The Church was translated from the earth some seven years before this, and we will have been judged by Christ at the Judgment Seat of Christ, the BEMA Seat where we will be judged, and receive our rewards for our service to Christ after we were saved. Our sins have already been washed away by the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
VERSE 16: DESCRIPTION OF THOSE BEING JUDGED
“These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling {words },
Jude now gives us three last characteristics of these evil men.
“These are murmurers, complainers”
Literally: “These are murmurers, complainer”
MURMURERS: (gongustês)–This word describes the discontented voices of the murmurers and is the same as that used in the Greek translation of the O.T., the LXX (Septuagint), for the murmurings of the Israelites against Moses (Exodus 15:24; 17:3; Numbers 14:29).
Jude mentions the sin of murmuring first because it may be the worst and most common of the three sins listed. In secret they mutter against God's ordinances and ministers in Church and state–“speak evil of dignities.” Discontented with, and always complaining of, their lot and present condition; because they had not as much as they desired, they murmured against God, as if they had nothing; The Israelites constantly “murmured” against Moses and his leadership. In John 6:41 we read, “The Jews murmured at Him, because He said, ‘I am the Bread which came down from heaven.”
They were murmuring against Jesus even though He had revealed that they would never again hunger if they received Him. They murmured against Him although He offered everlasting life to them. Murmuring is no sin of minor importance but murmuring against God and His ministers is the ancient sign of apostasy; the very hallmark of apostasy. Where murmuring exists it reveals actual unbelief.
COMPLAINERS: (mempsimoiros)–This Greek word is made up of two other Greek words: mempesthai, which means “to blame,” and moira, which means, “one’s allotted fate or life.”
A mempsimoiros was a man who was forever grumbling about life in general. Here we have the picture of a man who can find something to grumble about in any situation. He can find some fault with the best of bargains, the kindest of deeds, the most complete of successes and the richest of good fortune. They are never satisfied with their lot–“And {when} the people complained, it displeased the LORD and the LORD heard {it} and His anger was kinded; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed {them that were} in the uttermost parts of the camp” (Nu 11:1). There are few people more unpopular than chronic grumblers and all such might do well to remember that such grumbling is in its own way an insult to God.
“walking after their own lusts;”
Literally: “going according to their lusts”
Jude now gives us his third and last description of these evil men; a description he has used before; that their conduct is governed by their sensual desires.
LUSTS: (epithumias)-–Self-control and self-discipline are totally unknown to such, and morality and all rules of morality are really a burden and nuisance to them. They know nothing about honor and duty and they have no desire to either serve neither do they have any sense of responsibility for their actions.
Such were prophesied to be one of the marks of these Last Days–“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts” (II Pet. 3:3). It may well be that the reason for of their murmuring and complaining is the restless insatiability of their desires.
“Their mouth speaketh great swelling {words }, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.””
Literally: “their mouths speak proud things, admiring faces for the sake of gain”
Simply speaking, Jude is saying they speak with pride and arrogance yet at the same time they will pander to the great if they think they can gain anything from doing so. Jude’s opponents are glorifiers of themselves and at the same time flatterers of others. It seems their descendants are populating the church today.
Such people are paying court to the corrupt, the rich, and the “great”, to further their own selfish designs. Pride, covetousness, and sensuality have always been the besetting sins of false teachers of religion: and they have flattered the wicked, the rich, and the great, to obtain means for their own selfish gratification. Holy men of old have always opposed them, pointed out their errors, and foretold their certain destruction if they continue in their sin. Holy men of today will continue to do so.