-5-
God Will Have the Last Word.
In the previous chapter we looked at three instances in which the justice of God brought about severe, even catastrophic measures taken by God to ‘clean up’ a situation.
When God’s people, Israel, were travelling to the land God promised them through Abraham, as difficulties and hardships occurred, some were prone to criticize, complain and turn back in their hearts to Egypt. The extreme misery and deprivation of their slavery was all but forgotten. They were saying things like, “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. (Numbers 11.5 ESV)
We read about the occasion when God removed 24,000 people from his ‘church’ in the wilderness. They had allowed the ways of the world into their church experience, and in so doing defiled God’s ‘bride-to-be’.
We also talked about God’s removing a dark blot of selfish dishonesty out of the the early New Testament church. Ananias and Saphira, motivated by fear and uncertainty, questioned the wisdom of ‘having all things in common’, perhaps also motivated by greed, and opting for the security of having a ‘nest egg’ on which to rely if all of this went wrong, they lied to Peter (actually lied to God) and God removed them from his church.
Perverse angels were cast down to the pit, chained up and are awaiting judgment. The extreme sinfulness of man was judged and washed away in the global flood.
Jude gave us the example of the destruction of Sodom. A Godly man and his family had moved into a sinfully perverse neighborhood. They had no supporting ‘church family’ to help them stay on course. The values of the people around them had a great effect on their Godly morals.
Peter tells us that God turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)--
So in the case of Lot and his family, God did not take the worldliness out of his life … He took him out of the worldliness.
Peter reminds us that … the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. (2Peter 2 6-9)
And the Apostle Paul reminds us that Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Eph 5:25-27)
God wants His church to be pure and clean. It is sobering to realize that churches under persecution are generally much closer to God and walking a ‘cleaner walk’ than those who are not facing trials. They are much more dedicated and resolute to stand for their faith. While none of us wants persecution, we should all want a pure, spotless church.
John, the writer of the Revelation, records a ‘letter’ that Jesus sent to the church of Laodicea. Here is that letter.
14 ¶ "Then write this to the angel of the Church in Laodicea: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation:
15 I know what you have done, and that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish that you were either cold or hot!
16 But since you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I intend to spit you out of my mouth!
17 While you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and there is nothing that I need’, you have no eyes to see that you are wretched, pitiable, poverty-stricken, blind and naked.
18 My advice to you is to buy from me that gold which is refined in the furnace so that you may be rich, and white garments to wear so that you may hide the shame of your nakedness, and salve to put on your eyes to make you see.
19 All those whom I love, I correct and discipline. Therefore, shake off your complacency and repent.
(Revelation 3:14-19 Philips T.)
Jesus is actually advising them to step into the arena of persecution. This is what his reference to ‘buying gold which is refined in the fire’ really means. This tells us that it is obviously possible to avoid persecution and enjoy ‘the good life’, while other churches and Christians are taking a stand for Christ and suffering for it.
This ‘letter’ that we just read is one of seven. Out of the seven churches that were located in fairly close proximity to one another, this is the only one in which the members are saying, I am rich, I have prospered, and there is nothing that I need.
How is that possible when all of the other churches in that area were struggling and facing opposition? I think the answer is not all that complicated. I believe it is possible to live self-protected lives, to not take an open stand for Jesus and and to enjoy the pleasures of the world.
Moses made a conscious decision regarding the rest of his life. He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, Heb 11:25.
Jesus was asking the Laodiceans to do that very thing. He is advising us to do the same thing. How much better is it for us to voluntarily choose to draw near to God, than for God to bring suffering into our lives in order to bring us closer to Himself?
In Daniel ‘s prophecy of the last days he writes, Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. Da 12:10
Many shall purify themselves, ... this will be a step of faith for many Christians who have not been taking an open stand for Jesus. Many will die for their faith. But they will arrive in heaven having ‘purified themselves.’ How do we know this? Here is the report from heaven: ... So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Re 7:14
The clean, white robes represent clean, holy living and faithfulness of Christians. Revelation 19 tells us this: 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Jude now refers to those men who have crept into the church, teaching us that the grace of God covers all sin, that we will not have to face it at the judgment, so Christian living is just to expect and enjoy blessings and not suffering. And because suffering in various degrees comes to those who are committed to Christ, here is what they are implying, … “Commitment is not important and it can take away your ‘joy’ that God wants you to have in life, so take the easy path of pleasure and joy.”
I am sure that they used a subtle approach, and that is what made it so dangerous. These were holding teaching positions in the churches so that is why Jude is so strong in his warning and exposure of these false teachers.
Here is how Jude puts it in verse 12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear:
But lets go back to verse 8. In just the same way (as Sodom and Gomorrah) these dreamers defile the body, discard authority, and deride the majesties.
They are all about freedom and enjoyment. Their imaginations (dreams) bring them into more and more selfish pleasures. The discarding of authority can mean that they are critical of earthly governments, but more likely it means despising or discarding ‘authority’ of the church and/or church leaders. They do not want to place themselves into a place accountability. At that time in church history, Jerusalem was the home of the Apostles, and they were known as the authority. I believe that these men were finding ways to teach against the authority of the Apostles.
Here is verse 8 in the NKJV: Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.
Jude is referring to their ‘boldness’ when they criticize leaders, leaders in the church and leaders of countries. Jude says that they are very bold … and that even the angels who have to deal with the Devil directly are very careful of the language that they use. He gives this example; 9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
It is not that Michael is showing respect to the devil. He is showing respect to God by not taking on an arrogant attitude. In humility Michael addressed the devil.
We don’t know very much about what Jude just called our attention to by mentioning the body of Moses, but here is what we read in Deuteronomy 34.
5 ¶ So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
6 And He (the Lord) buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day.
7 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished.
Obviously someone besides Moses finished writing Deuteronomy for him. But all that is recorded here, is that the Lord buried him.
Jude gives us a bit more insight. He shows us that God buried Moses by using Michael, the arch-angel, to do the actual burying. But for some reason, the devil wanted the body. Why? It could be, that in a general sense, Satan receives pleasure in seeing corruption. Perhaps he gets some satisfaction out of seeing the effects of his having tempted Eve all those years ago.
Or maybe it is something bigger. How much of the ‘plan of God’ is Satan aware of? And does he attempt to ‘thwart’ God’s plans? I think he most certainly tries to ruin God’s plans. From the very beginning of time Jesus was intending to one day meet with Moses and Elijah on the hilltop in the presence of three of His disciples.
This means that it entirely possible that God did something to the bodies of both these men so that they could appear with glorified bodies on the mount of transfiguration. We know that we will not have glorified bodies until after the rapture of believers. So it looks like these two were a ‘first-fruits’ of that.
But even having said that, Jesus’ body was ‘transfigured’ first, and then Moses and Elijah.
So while we are not entirely sure of what Jude means here, we do recognise that several people have not died in the ‘normal’ sense. God was involved with the body of Moses. God took Elijah up in a whirlwind. God took Enoch from this earth.
What does all that mean and what is the significance? We likely will not know until later, but what we want to learn from Jude is, that it is unwise to speak arrogantly in the presence of God. 10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.
God is going to deal with them. And, as I have already pointed out , Jude is not praying for their salvation. No, instead he says, 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
Three examples; Cain, Balaam, and Korah.
Cain went out from the presence of God. He obviously believed there was a God. After all, God talked to him audibly. But yet the scripture says, Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Ge 4:16
These are incredibly sad words. We have no record at all that Cain ever repented, changed his mind and apologized to God. He went away from the presence of God. He did not want God in his life. And here Jude is saying that these false teachers are doing exactly the same thing. They do not like authority and so they push God out of their lives. The really dangerous thing about it is, they don’t want to APPEAR to have done that. They want to appear as Christian evangelists and teachers. But what they are teaching is all about what you can get out of following their wonderful message of free grace. It is not about submitting to the authority of God.
Jude says they have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit,
Balaam was a ‘prophet for hire’. He was not an Israelite. He used a version of ‘sorcery’. He was being hired to curse Israel. God knew his intentions and talked to him multiple times before Balaam actually arrived on the scene to do the cursing. God made it very clear to him that he was to bless Israel ...not curse them.
But even as Balaam was travelling, God knew his heart. God knew that Balaam was about to ignore everything that God had told him. So God talked to him again on the road.
Numbers 22:20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you — that you shall do.”
21 So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.
22 ¶ Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the LORD took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
23 Now the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road.
24 Then the Angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side.
25 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again.
26 Then the Angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
27 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
28 Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”
29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”
30 So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.”
31 Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face.
32 And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me.
33 “The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.”
34 And Balaam said to the Angel of the LORD, “I have sinned,
There are a couple of things about this account that are a little confusing to me. God’s last words were, ‘Go, but say this and this etc.’ And yet here, it almost seems as though God changed His mind and says, ‘I am still upset that you are going at all!’ But that is not at all what God is like, so I am not sure what happened there.
Balaam did eventually arrive there and told the king, the one that was hiring him to curse Israel, that God appeared to him in the night and told him that he is not allowed to curse Israel.
The king urges him to try it anyway. He sets up an altar and all the trimmings so that Balaam would receive ‘a word of cursing’ from the spirits that he could then use to pronounce a curse over Israel. Nothing came. The kings sets up another place, and then another. Exasperated the kings says … instead of cursing them, you blessed them! How could you do that? Balaam explains that he just couldn’t help it. The words ‘just came out’.
We don’t know how much money the king promised Balaam, but it must have been substantial. These preachers that Jude is condemning are preaching for money. They tell people what they really like to hear. That results in even more money.
The way of Cain, the greed of Balaam, and now the story of Korah.
This account serves to bring home the solemn truth that God is just and also the fact that God is not to be trifled with.
Korah was a first cousin of the brothers, Moses and Aaron. From the very beginning he was opposed to Aaron being appointed as high priest over Israel. He felt that he was being passed over. Jealousy prompted him to oppose Moses by saying that the decisions that Moses were making were based on Moses’ own whim and not on the words of God.
Moses took this criticism seriously and called on Korah and his 250 supporters to each fill a censor with fire and offer incense upon it before the Lord at the tabernacle door the next day. Dathan and Abiram, troublemakers ever since leaving Egypt, were also a part of the group.
At the entrance to the tabernacle the next morning, Moses was going to seek an answer from God that would convince Korah that Moses was indeed God’s man.
God did respond, as Moses hoped. The pillar of cloud that was always above the tabernacle during the daylight hours, came down and encased the entire tabernacle in heavy cloud. Then He spoke. At first God spoke in anger and told Moses and Aarron to step aside so that He could destroy all of Israel in one quick action.
Moses quickly fell on his face and begged God not to destroy the nation, who for the most part had no part in this rebellion.
God relented and instructed Moses and Aarron to go out into the open area next to Korah’s tent. Korah, Dathon and Abiram all went and stood in the doorways of their tents.
Then God instructed Moses to tell all of the regular Israelites who were gathering to see what was going on … tell them to move. Get out of the way. Especially get away from these three tents.
The people moved and God opened up a huge crack in the earth and the three families fell into it, and then it closed up after they fell in.
So, basically, as Korah opposed Moses, he was opposing God. God does not stand for disrespect. Paul tells us in Galatians, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a mans sows, that also shall he reap”.
Korah made some very stupid and wrong choices to stand in opposition to God’s man. Jude is describing men who have been doing the same thing. They have been opposing the authority of God’s leaders. Will the earth open up and swallow them? Probably not. But God will most certainly take care of them.
These men start out right. Cain started out right. But jealousy destroyed him. Korah could have served God, but jealousy destroyed him. Balaam had a gift of prophecy, but the lure of financial gain took over.
These men likely were jealous of others and grasped for fame and riches. Then they justified their actions by criticizing authority and preaching their own free, cheap grace message … and God was not pleased.
Does any of this sound familiar? Does it still go on today? The answer is, yes. Whether you are seeing it or not, the fact that this type of preacher will multiply at the end of this age is clearly taught and predicted in scripture. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13)
These evil men were already present in Jude’s day. In the next section Jude’s anger seems to boil over. It seems as though, if he could, he would bring the judgment of God on them immediately. But everything is not always what it seems. Jude has more to say about them, and about the evil men who will multiply in the last days. And he has more to say about their final end.
For now we will leave this section with the secure knowledge that evil men have been here through the ages, and God dealt with it then and he will take care of evil men in the future. Meanwhile, we must do everything in our own power to defend the faith and make ourselves available to bring people to Jesus for salvation.
When God’s people, Israel, were travelling to the land God promised them through Abraham, as difficulties and hardships occurred, some were prone to criticize, complain and turn back in their hearts to Egypt. The extreme misery and deprivation of their slavery was all but forgotten. They were saying things like, “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. (Numbers 11.5 ESV)
We read about the occasion when God removed 24,000 people from his ‘church’ in the wilderness. They had allowed the ways of the world into their church experience, and in so doing defiled God’s ‘bride-to-be’.
We also talked about God’s removing a dark blot of selfish dishonesty out of the the early New Testament church. Ananias and Saphira, motivated by fear and uncertainty, questioned the wisdom of ‘having all things in common’, perhaps also motivated by greed, and opting for the security of having a ‘nest egg’ on which to rely if all of this went wrong, they lied to Peter (actually lied to God) and God removed them from his church.
Perverse angels were cast down to the pit, chained up and are awaiting judgment. The extreme sinfulness of man was judged and washed away in the global flood.
Jude gave us the example of the destruction of Sodom. A Godly man and his family had moved into a sinfully perverse neighborhood. They had no supporting ‘church family’ to help them stay on course. The values of the people around them had a great effect on their Godly morals.
Peter tells us that God turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)--
So in the case of Lot and his family, God did not take the worldliness out of his life … He took him out of the worldliness.
Peter reminds us that … the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. (2Peter 2 6-9)
And the Apostle Paul reminds us that Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Eph 5:25-27)
God wants His church to be pure and clean. It is sobering to realize that churches under persecution are generally much closer to God and walking a ‘cleaner walk’ than those who are not facing trials. They are much more dedicated and resolute to stand for their faith. While none of us wants persecution, we should all want a pure, spotless church.
John, the writer of the Revelation, records a ‘letter’ that Jesus sent to the church of Laodicea. Here is that letter.
14 ¶ "Then write this to the angel of the Church in Laodicea: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation:
15 I know what you have done, and that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish that you were either cold or hot!
16 But since you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I intend to spit you out of my mouth!
17 While you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and there is nothing that I need’, you have no eyes to see that you are wretched, pitiable, poverty-stricken, blind and naked.
18 My advice to you is to buy from me that gold which is refined in the furnace so that you may be rich, and white garments to wear so that you may hide the shame of your nakedness, and salve to put on your eyes to make you see.
19 All those whom I love, I correct and discipline. Therefore, shake off your complacency and repent.
(Revelation 3:14-19 Philips T.)
Jesus is actually advising them to step into the arena of persecution. This is what his reference to ‘buying gold which is refined in the fire’ really means. This tells us that it is obviously possible to avoid persecution and enjoy ‘the good life’, while other churches and Christians are taking a stand for Christ and suffering for it.
This ‘letter’ that we just read is one of seven. Out of the seven churches that were located in fairly close proximity to one another, this is the only one in which the members are saying, I am rich, I have prospered, and there is nothing that I need.
How is that possible when all of the other churches in that area were struggling and facing opposition? I think the answer is not all that complicated. I believe it is possible to live self-protected lives, to not take an open stand for Jesus and and to enjoy the pleasures of the world.
Moses made a conscious decision regarding the rest of his life. He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, Heb 11:25.
Jesus was asking the Laodiceans to do that very thing. He is advising us to do the same thing. How much better is it for us to voluntarily choose to draw near to God, than for God to bring suffering into our lives in order to bring us closer to Himself?
In Daniel ‘s prophecy of the last days he writes, Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. Da 12:10
Many shall purify themselves, ... this will be a step of faith for many Christians who have not been taking an open stand for Jesus. Many will die for their faith. But they will arrive in heaven having ‘purified themselves.’ How do we know this? Here is the report from heaven: ... So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Re 7:14
The clean, white robes represent clean, holy living and faithfulness of Christians. Revelation 19 tells us this: 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Jude now refers to those men who have crept into the church, teaching us that the grace of God covers all sin, that we will not have to face it at the judgment, so Christian living is just to expect and enjoy blessings and not suffering. And because suffering in various degrees comes to those who are committed to Christ, here is what they are implying, … “Commitment is not important and it can take away your ‘joy’ that God wants you to have in life, so take the easy path of pleasure and joy.”
I am sure that they used a subtle approach, and that is what made it so dangerous. These were holding teaching positions in the churches so that is why Jude is so strong in his warning and exposure of these false teachers.
Here is how Jude puts it in verse 12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear:
But lets go back to verse 8. In just the same way (as Sodom and Gomorrah) these dreamers defile the body, discard authority, and deride the majesties.
They are all about freedom and enjoyment. Their imaginations (dreams) bring them into more and more selfish pleasures. The discarding of authority can mean that they are critical of earthly governments, but more likely it means despising or discarding ‘authority’ of the church and/or church leaders. They do not want to place themselves into a place accountability. At that time in church history, Jerusalem was the home of the Apostles, and they were known as the authority. I believe that these men were finding ways to teach against the authority of the Apostles.
Here is verse 8 in the NKJV: Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.
Jude is referring to their ‘boldness’ when they criticize leaders, leaders in the church and leaders of countries. Jude says that they are very bold … and that even the angels who have to deal with the Devil directly are very careful of the language that they use. He gives this example; 9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
It is not that Michael is showing respect to the devil. He is showing respect to God by not taking on an arrogant attitude. In humility Michael addressed the devil.
We don’t know very much about what Jude just called our attention to by mentioning the body of Moses, but here is what we read in Deuteronomy 34.
5 ¶ So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
6 And He (the Lord) buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day.
7 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished.
Obviously someone besides Moses finished writing Deuteronomy for him. But all that is recorded here, is that the Lord buried him.
Jude gives us a bit more insight. He shows us that God buried Moses by using Michael, the arch-angel, to do the actual burying. But for some reason, the devil wanted the body. Why? It could be, that in a general sense, Satan receives pleasure in seeing corruption. Perhaps he gets some satisfaction out of seeing the effects of his having tempted Eve all those years ago.
Or maybe it is something bigger. How much of the ‘plan of God’ is Satan aware of? And does he attempt to ‘thwart’ God’s plans? I think he most certainly tries to ruin God’s plans. From the very beginning of time Jesus was intending to one day meet with Moses and Elijah on the hilltop in the presence of three of His disciples.
This means that it entirely possible that God did something to the bodies of both these men so that they could appear with glorified bodies on the mount of transfiguration. We know that we will not have glorified bodies until after the rapture of believers. So it looks like these two were a ‘first-fruits’ of that.
But even having said that, Jesus’ body was ‘transfigured’ first, and then Moses and Elijah.
So while we are not entirely sure of what Jude means here, we do recognise that several people have not died in the ‘normal’ sense. God was involved with the body of Moses. God took Elijah up in a whirlwind. God took Enoch from this earth.
What does all that mean and what is the significance? We likely will not know until later, but what we want to learn from Jude is, that it is unwise to speak arrogantly in the presence of God. 10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.
God is going to deal with them. And, as I have already pointed out , Jude is not praying for their salvation. No, instead he says, 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
Three examples; Cain, Balaam, and Korah.
Cain went out from the presence of God. He obviously believed there was a God. After all, God talked to him audibly. But yet the scripture says, Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Ge 4:16
These are incredibly sad words. We have no record at all that Cain ever repented, changed his mind and apologized to God. He went away from the presence of God. He did not want God in his life. And here Jude is saying that these false teachers are doing exactly the same thing. They do not like authority and so they push God out of their lives. The really dangerous thing about it is, they don’t want to APPEAR to have done that. They want to appear as Christian evangelists and teachers. But what they are teaching is all about what you can get out of following their wonderful message of free grace. It is not about submitting to the authority of God.
Jude says they have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit,
Balaam was a ‘prophet for hire’. He was not an Israelite. He used a version of ‘sorcery’. He was being hired to curse Israel. God knew his intentions and talked to him multiple times before Balaam actually arrived on the scene to do the cursing. God made it very clear to him that he was to bless Israel ...not curse them.
But even as Balaam was travelling, God knew his heart. God knew that Balaam was about to ignore everything that God had told him. So God talked to him again on the road.
Numbers 22:20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you — that you shall do.”
21 So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.
22 ¶ Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the LORD took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
23 Now the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road.
24 Then the Angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side.
25 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again.
26 Then the Angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
27 And when the donkey saw the Angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
28 Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”
29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”
30 So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.”
31 Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the LORD standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face.
32 And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me.
33 “The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.”
34 And Balaam said to the Angel of the LORD, “I have sinned,
There are a couple of things about this account that are a little confusing to me. God’s last words were, ‘Go, but say this and this etc.’ And yet here, it almost seems as though God changed His mind and says, ‘I am still upset that you are going at all!’ But that is not at all what God is like, so I am not sure what happened there.
Balaam did eventually arrive there and told the king, the one that was hiring him to curse Israel, that God appeared to him in the night and told him that he is not allowed to curse Israel.
The king urges him to try it anyway. He sets up an altar and all the trimmings so that Balaam would receive ‘a word of cursing’ from the spirits that he could then use to pronounce a curse over Israel. Nothing came. The kings sets up another place, and then another. Exasperated the kings says … instead of cursing them, you blessed them! How could you do that? Balaam explains that he just couldn’t help it. The words ‘just came out’.
We don’t know how much money the king promised Balaam, but it must have been substantial. These preachers that Jude is condemning are preaching for money. They tell people what they really like to hear. That results in even more money.
The way of Cain, the greed of Balaam, and now the story of Korah.
This account serves to bring home the solemn truth that God is just and also the fact that God is not to be trifled with.
Korah was a first cousin of the brothers, Moses and Aaron. From the very beginning he was opposed to Aaron being appointed as high priest over Israel. He felt that he was being passed over. Jealousy prompted him to oppose Moses by saying that the decisions that Moses were making were based on Moses’ own whim and not on the words of God.
Moses took this criticism seriously and called on Korah and his 250 supporters to each fill a censor with fire and offer incense upon it before the Lord at the tabernacle door the next day. Dathan and Abiram, troublemakers ever since leaving Egypt, were also a part of the group.
At the entrance to the tabernacle the next morning, Moses was going to seek an answer from God that would convince Korah that Moses was indeed God’s man.
God did respond, as Moses hoped. The pillar of cloud that was always above the tabernacle during the daylight hours, came down and encased the entire tabernacle in heavy cloud. Then He spoke. At first God spoke in anger and told Moses and Aarron to step aside so that He could destroy all of Israel in one quick action.
Moses quickly fell on his face and begged God not to destroy the nation, who for the most part had no part in this rebellion.
God relented and instructed Moses and Aarron to go out into the open area next to Korah’s tent. Korah, Dathon and Abiram all went and stood in the doorways of their tents.
Then God instructed Moses to tell all of the regular Israelites who were gathering to see what was going on … tell them to move. Get out of the way. Especially get away from these three tents.
The people moved and God opened up a huge crack in the earth and the three families fell into it, and then it closed up after they fell in.
So, basically, as Korah opposed Moses, he was opposing God. God does not stand for disrespect. Paul tells us in Galatians, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a mans sows, that also shall he reap”.
Korah made some very stupid and wrong choices to stand in opposition to God’s man. Jude is describing men who have been doing the same thing. They have been opposing the authority of God’s leaders. Will the earth open up and swallow them? Probably not. But God will most certainly take care of them.
These men start out right. Cain started out right. But jealousy destroyed him. Korah could have served God, but jealousy destroyed him. Balaam had a gift of prophecy, but the lure of financial gain took over.
These men likely were jealous of others and grasped for fame and riches. Then they justified their actions by criticizing authority and preaching their own free, cheap grace message … and God was not pleased.
Does any of this sound familiar? Does it still go on today? The answer is, yes. Whether you are seeing it or not, the fact that this type of preacher will multiply at the end of this age is clearly taught and predicted in scripture. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13)
These evil men were already present in Jude’s day. In the next section Jude’s anger seems to boil over. It seems as though, if he could, he would bring the judgment of God on them immediately. But everything is not always what it seems. Jude has more to say about them, and about the evil men who will multiply in the last days. And he has more to say about their final end.
For now we will leave this section with the secure knowledge that evil men have been here through the ages, and God dealt with it then and he will take care of evil men in the future. Meanwhile, we must do everything in our own power to defend the faith and make ourselves available to bring people to Jesus for salvation.