Free Bible Commentary
“Jude 1:14-16”
Categories: Jude“It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’ These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.”
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Jude quotes the inter-testimental portion of the non-inspired apocryphal book known as “1 Enoch” in today’s verses. The Lord’s brother was not claiming this complicated piece of literature was “God-breathed,” but wrote to people who were very familiar with it, and simply wanted to make a point by citing a well-known, secular “prophet” as other inspired authors had done (Titus 1:12). All that we know about the Old Testament figure Enoch is contained in Genesis 5:21-24 and Hebrews 11:5. He most certainly did live “in the seventh generation from Adam” as the Bible and 1 Enoch 60:8 indicates, but anything else accredited to Enoch is speculative at best. He could possibly have made the prophecy quoted in verses 15-16, but even if he did not, it has no bearing on the point Jude was making about false teachers.
Jude is making a very simple claim in his quotation about Enoch, and it is a truthful one that is found elsewhere in the Bible: Jesus will appear with His mighty angels to administer eternal judgement upon the disobedient and ungodly sinners of the world (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). When Jude wrote that Enoch “prophesied” about “these men,” he was not indicating that “the prophet” had these “particular” men exclusively in mind, but that they were included in “all the ungodly” people who would be condemned at the coming of the Lord.
The word “ungodly” really leaps off the page when you read verse 15 as the author repeats if four times in one, short sentence. Ungodly people are those who lack proper reverence for the Almighty Creator who gave them life and affords them all the providential blessings that they possess. The ungodly express the fact that they “do not know God” by their lack of love and reverence for Him, and their absence of the humility required to “obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:8). “These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).
Jude lists some other attributes of ungodly people (not just false teachers) in verse 16 that we must take careful note of. They are often “grumblers” who find ample reason to complain about the things they perceive are not fair or favorable to personal cause. They are “fault-finders” who tend to criticize others for their opinions and short-comings instead of lifting people up and being a part of the solutions to the problems they perceive to exist. Ungodly people are driven by “their own lusts” instead of God’s will for them, which often places them in harms way and difficult situations. They “speak arrogantly” because of their overrated view of themselves, and yet will not hesitate to speak “flattering” words to people if it means “gaining” a personal “advantage” from them or over them.
While we may not be the instinctive, “unreasoning animals” who “defile the flesh and reject authority” (verses 8-10) that Jude says these false teachers were, we can very easily fall into the category of “grumblers” and “fault-finders” if we are not very careful. The Lord’s church needs more virtuous, kind-hearted, respectful, compassion-driven people who are willing to happily serve; and much, much less of the idle, cynical, judgmental people who sit back and point the finger at everything they perceive the actual servants and “doers of the work” are doing wrong.
Please read Jude 1:17-19 for tomorrow.
Have a wonderful day!
-Louie Taylor
