Tag: Jude

Biblical People: Jude

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 6, 2022

Jude is another name that only appears once in the Bible. It’s the first word in the opening sentence of the letter that bears his name. Though the introduction gives hints as to who Jude is, no one knows for sure.

Jude calls himself a servant of Jesus and a brother of James. One speculation is that Jude is a nickname for Judas, which could make him, along with James, a half-brother to Jesus.

Regardless of who Jude is, he writes a generic letter, not to a church or an individual, but to all who follow Jesus. He blesses them with abundant mercy, peace, and love.

Though he planned to write about their common salvation, instead he writes to encourage them to contend for their faith.

Why is this? Because ungodly people have slipped into Jesus’s church.

What are they doing? They’re turning God’s grace (undeserved favor) into an excuse to act immorally. They claim they can behave however they wish because God will forgive them.

Though immorality covers a range of improper behaviors, it especially refers to sexual issues. In short, these people act out sexually because they claim what they do doesn’t matter.

In addition to their sexual depravity, they also deny that Jesus is their Savior. How they can do this and still assume he’ll forgive them doesn’t make sense. But they advocate it just the same.

To combat this, Jude reminds his friends about the past, urging them to persevere in standing true to their faith in God.

We must guard against improper sexual behavior in the church. And we must guard against people who claim Jesus isn’t the way to salvation.

Where do we draw the line between accepting those who believe differently than we do and standing up against people who try to corrupt our faith?

[Discover more about Jude in Jude 1:1–25.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Tags Biblical Characters, Jude, Old Testament Sinners and Saints

Books of the Bible

Jude

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 27, 2014

The book of Jude was named after it’s author. Jude (Judas), a common name of the day, was most likely a brother of Jesus. (Mark 6:3). It’s written to all followers of Jesus, as opposed to a specific church, as it the case with the other letters (also called epistles) in the Bible.

The book of Jude was written to encourage believers in Jesus to “contend for the faith,” (Jude 1:3). It contains criticism about the character and characteristics of ungodly people who have infiltrated the church.

As such, it offers effective incentive to persevere in following Jesus, not getting side-tracked or distracted.

The concluding section of Jude is the most well-known portion of this short book; it is often given as a blessing (Jude 1:24-25).

Tags Jude

Bible

Ungodly Men in the Church

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 10, 2012

The book of Jude — which I’ve blogged about quite a bit — addresses ungodly men in the church, not those outside the church.

Jude’s key passage is verse 11, where he compares ungodly men in the church to Cain, Balaam, and Korah.

It’s noteworthy that each of these men has an overlooked connection with God, as do ungodly men in the church. Despite this, it’s their failings for which they are noted. But even in these, we may be looking at things too simplistically. Upon deeper consideration:

The way of Cain is not controlling sin.
The error of Balaam is syncretism, that is, mixing religions.
The rebellion of Korah is not a problem with his theology, but in opposing God’s appointed leaders.

These examples give us pause. The ungodly in the church: do not control sin, mix different religious ideas, and oppose God’s leaders.

Given this, we have much to guard against, less we become the very people in the church that Jude warns us against.

Tags Balaam, Cain, Jude, Korah

Bible

The Way of Cain

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 24, 2012

Cain kills Abel because he is jealous, jealous that his brother’s offering to God is accepted and his isn’t.

God knows what Cain is thinking — and urges caution. God directly tells Cain that he must rule over his sinful thoughts, the temptation to do wrong. But Cain doesn’t heed God’s advice and kills his brother.

The resulting murder may have been an act of rage or merely an extreme way of eliminating the competition. But either way, Abel ends up dead and Cain has blood on his hands.

Thousands of years later, when Jude advises followers of Jesus to avoid “the way of Cain,” he might be referring to murder or perhaps jealousy that could lead to murder, but I suspect the warning is for something much more subtle.

I think when Jude says we need to avoid the way of Cain, he means we need to control our thoughts and desires to do wrong — a warning we all need to heed.

[Genesis 4:7 and Jude 1:11]

Tags Abel, Cain, Jude

Bible

More Thoughts on Balaam

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 6, 2011

In reading the story of Balaam, it is difficult to see what he may have done wrong. Indeed, based on this record alone, he seems like an upstanding guy. Therefore, we can only speculate as to what his error might have been.

However, there are several other references to Balaam in the Bible. These all portray him in a negative light. Consider that Balaam:

Practiced divination (and was ultimately killed for doing so).
Taught and advised Israel’s enemies on how to distract them from God and sin against him.
Was willing to do the wrong thing, as long as there was remuneration.
Tried to curse Israel, which God turned it into a blessing. (This would explain why the king gave him three chances to issue a curse and why the king blamed God for Balaam not receiving his promised reward).

This certainly provides a different view of Balaam. Apparently he wasn’t so good after all. As such, he exemplifies an ungodly man within the church, just as Jude said.

[Numbers 22-24, Joshua 13:22, Revelation 2:14, Numbers 31:16, 2 Peter 2:15, Joshua 24:9-10, Deuteronomy 23:4-5]

Tags Balaam, Jude

Bible

Cain, Balaam, and Korah

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 23, 2011

In Jude’s brief exposition of ungodly people in the church, he evokes three Old Testament characters: Cain, Balaam, and Korah. Cain, we know to be a murderer; Balaam, greedy; and Korah, rebellious.

However, it is simplistic to see them merely as evil men, for they also had an air of godliness to them, seeking God or having a connection to him.

It is astonishing, but each of these men did things that were seemingly right and godly. Despite that, the results of their actions went badly awry. The outcome renders them as emblematic of ungodly people in the church.

As we study what they did, we might find that we may be a lot closer to falling into their errors than we would normally dare to think possible.

Carefully consider then, the lives of Cain, Balaam, and Korah.

[Jude 1:11]

Tags Balaam, Cain, Jude, Korah

Bible

The Third Time’s a Charm

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 18, 2011

In Jude’s short letter, he often writes in triads, listing three items or offering three examples. He does this with such regularity that when he deviates from this in verse 12, I thought I had misread the text. Consider the following triplets:

three actions of God: called, loved, and kept (and if you implicitly see the Holy Spirit in doing the calling, then the Trinity is implied here as well: Holy Spirit, Father, and Jesus); verse 1.
three blessings: mercy, peace, and love; verse 2.
three historic warnings: leaving Egypt, deserting angels, and Sodom and Gomorrah; verses 5-7.
three negative actions: pollute their bodies, reject authority, and slander angels; verse 8.
three bad examples: Cain, Balaam, and Korah; verse 11.
five negative allusions: shepherds who feed only themselves, clouds without rain, dead autumn trees, wild waves, wandering stars; verse 12.
three characteristics of ungodly men in the church: cause division, follow natural instincts, and do not have the Spirit; verse 19.
three prescriptions: build up your faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, and stay in God’s love; verses 20-21.
three ways to show mercy: help doubters, save others from destruction, and carefully rescue others without being taken down; verse 22.
three attributes of God: keeps us from falling, presents us without fault, and has great joy; verse 24.
four praises for God: glory, majesty, power, and authority; verse 25.

As someone who also has a propensity of writing in threes, Jude’s style is especially appealing to me.

[Read Jude 1]

Tags Balaam, Cain, desert, Egypt, Father, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jude, Korah

Bible

Biblical References in Jude

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 16, 2011

As covered a few weeks ago, the book of Jude contains three cryptic references to ancient non-biblical texts. In addition, Jude also includes references to biblical accounts.

The first is in verse 6, where Jude mentions angels who abandoned their role and their home. This is likely a nod to Genesis 6:1-4, which talks about the son’s of God marrying the daughters of man.

That is a bit perplexing itself, but at least it is the Bible. (Alternately, some scholars think Jude is referring to an ancient non-biblical text, The Book of Enoch. I opt for Genesis 6.)

Another non-biblical reference is found in verse 17-18. Here Jude cites other apostles who warn that in the last days there will be scoffers who follow ungodly desires.

Although the New Testament of the Bible did not exist at the time of Jude’s writing, he may have been privy to Paul’s and Peter’s letters or more likely, he simply heard them — or heard of them — issuing this warning.

Jude’s words are recorded almost verbatim by Peter in 2 Peter 3:3, as well as being alluded to in 2 Peter 2:1-3. Likewise, Paul, in his letters to Timothy, covers this theme in 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5, and 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

Last, and perhaps most significant, is references to Cain, Balaam, and, Korah, which I will address in future posts.

Jude was certainly well read and well-informed, peppering his letters with many references and illustrations. Though they would have been helpful to his audience then, that is not so much the case today.

Even so, Jude’s central warning to guard against ungodly people in the church is well founded — and timeless.

[Jude 1:6, Genesis 6:1-4, Jude 1:17-18, 2 Peter 3:3, 2 Peter 2:1-3, Timothy references]

Tags Balaam, Cain, Jude, Korah, Paul, Peter, Timothy

Bible

A Servant of Jesus

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 11, 2011

In the post “Who is Jude?” I speculated that Jude might be Jesus’ brother. Aside from that, we only know one other thing about him. Jude views himself simply as “a servant of Jesus.”

Today, in a time when religious people parade their titles and promote their education as if they were badges of godly distinction, someone who calls himself a servant would be shockingly countercultural.

When people introduce themselves as “Reverend,” “Bishop,” “Elder,” “Doctor,” “Prophet,” or my favorite, “Reverend-Doctor” so-and-so I wonder about their motives.

Who are they trying to impress? Others? God? Or maybe it’s a futile attempt to convince themselves they are someone who they truly know they are not.

How refreshing it would be for someone to simply say that he or she is a servant of Jesus. What a great and significant credential it would be, perhaps the best one possible.

I don’t think titles and degrees mean much to Jesus; he is looking for servants. After all, Jesus himself said he came to serve. Shouldn’t we — as his followers — do the same?

[Jude 1:1 and Matthew 20:28]

Tags Jesus, Jude

Bible

Who is Jude?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 9, 2011

In the Bible, there is only one mention of a man named Jude. That lone reference occurs in the opening greeting of the letter that he wrote.

However, Jude is a variation of Judas. Apparently, Judas was a common name two thousand years ago:

Judas Iscariot: who betrayed Jesus
Judas (not Judas Iscariot): another follower of Jesus
Judas son of James
Judas the Galilean
Judas on Straight Street: whose house Saul (Paul) went to after his encounter with God
Judas (called Barsabbas): an early missionary
Judas, a brother of Jesus

We can rule out Judas Iscariot, because he committed suicide before this letter was written, while Judas the Galilean is an historical reference. That leaves five others for possible consideration.

Another clue is that Jude is the brother of James. There are also several James mentioned in the Bible. Do any of those men named Judas have a brother James? The answer is yes. Jesus had four brothers (technically half brothers): James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas.

It is quite possible that Jude is Jesus’ brother. Regardless of who he is, it is his message — warning against ungodly people in the church — that matters.

[Jude 1:1, mentions of Judas, Matthew 13:55]

Tags Jesus, Jude, Paul