Three Bad Examples

                                                                   

Jude 10-16

When you go verse by verse through a book of the Bible, you are confronted with topics you otherwise might not really want to deal with. Jude himself, in verse 3 said he would have rather wrote about salvation by grace, but this subject is needed. Spiritual villains sneak in churches disguising themselves as men of God, so you have to be ready! The enter in the way of Cain, the murderer of righteous Abel (I John 3:12), but they are murderers of souls with damnable doctrine. They prey on God’s people like Balaam (Numbers 21-25). Men of Moab and Midian approached  Balaam with a proposition  -  curse Israel.  Balak, king of Moab, promised him prestige and honor if he would and Balaam would have done it, but the Lord wouldn't let him. But, Balaam said, stick around, maybe God will change His mind. Balaam was holding out hope for the money. Even though he couldn’t curse Israel, Balaam did what He could to hurt them (Numbers 25:1-3;9; 31:16; Rev 2:14). He tempted and lead Israel to participate in the idolatrous behavior of the world, worshipping false idols, and mingling truth with error. False teachers will harm the sheep for money and gain. But it's not just money, but also power. Core (same as Korah in Numbers 16:1)  gathered famous princes, men of renown rose up against Moses and Aaron. He took God’s promises and used them for his twisted sinful rebellion. “God has made us all equal, and  blessed us equally, who are you to be over us?” Actually, it was God who called Moses as the leader of Israel, and Core rebelled against God’s order.  1 Sam 15:23, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” We live in a time of rebellion, when people no longer heed to authority. They are "spiritual but not religious" meaning they will not listen to any authority other than their own heart. False teachers promote this feeling of autonomy and lead souls in rebellion. God opened up the Earth and Core fell in, and the Earth closed back up. I'm sure he didn't expect that, but people rarely expect or anticipate the judgment of God.

Look at the parallels between Jude 1:4 and 8. The ungodly turn grace into lasciviousness like Balaam. Defile the flesh in sin like Cain and despise dominion and speak evil of dignities like the gainsaying of Core. They are defiled feasts, clouds without water, looking the part, but nothing of substance. They are twice dead fruit trees, without life and without fruit. They rage in rebellion and produce the sea foam of their own shame. They are shooting stars, flashes of light that fade to blackness. Jude gives another Old Testament example to remember, Enoch (Jude 14-16) and his prophesy of old. The Lord is coming. He’s coming with His saints. He coming in judgment. He’s coming to judge the ungodly man of his ungodly deeds and his ungodly words.