1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,560 Season two of Love in Context podcast welcomes you. Get ready for engaging unscripted conversations 2 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:14,240 with your hosts, Ben and Spencer. Our mission remains unchanged to explore the Bible through 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:19,880 the powerful lens of love. In this new season, we'll embark on a journey together, unearthing 4 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:24,000 fresh insights and gaining deeper understanding of how we can love God and live out our faith 5 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:29,360 in practical ways. So let's dive into this season of Love in Context, where love in the 6 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:38,200 context of the Bible intersect to transform our lives. Little book, big message. Absolutely. 7 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:44,640 Last week we did Obadiah. And so this week we're actually going to be in Jude, which 8 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:49,680 is actually I don't like famously unknown. This this book came out long before the Beatles 9 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:56,320 song. It's true. Yeah, very true. Actually, interesting thing about the book of Jude is 10 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,000 it actually would more accurately be translated both in the Greek and the Hebrew to the book 11 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,400 of Judah. All right. But we'll stick with Jude because that's what everybody's familiar 12 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:15,240 with. Yeah. So the book of Jude is is a very Jewish book. Yes. In that. So Jude is is one 13 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:19,120 of the brothers of Jesus. We initially did not believe him. And when he was like, I'm 14 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:24,680 the son of God and there he's like, yeah, I grew up with you. But turns out when Jesus 15 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:28,600 came back from the dead, it kind of made a big difference. I mean, to be fair, if your 16 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,880 oldest brother said, I'm the son of God. Yeah. What would you say? Hey, you know, that Messiah 17 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:39,080 you've been looking for 500 years. That's me. You'd be like, no. Yeah. Listen, I love 18 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:44,280 your whole water to wine thing. But I'm going to need a little bit more than that before. 19 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:52,000 Yeah. Yeah. And so but after Jesus is resurrected and Pentecost and the church is going, Jude 20 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:57,560 actually becomes like a traveling minister. Yeah. Going throughout the region. But I stress 21 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:03,120 that it's a very Jewish book because Jude is writing to Jews throughout the region. 22 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:08,980 And the references that he's making, he assumes that, you know, have a have a deep knowledge 23 00:02:08,980 --> 00:02:15,120 of Jewish literature and not just Jewish literature, but like from like Torah. But he also quotes 24 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:20,360 from the Book of Enoch and from the Testament of Moses, like literature that would have 25 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:25,960 been very familiar in their time. And it's actually kind of interesting. I don't know 26 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,800 if you've noticed like how similar like 2nd Peter and Jude are. Yeah, like they're very 27 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:33,640 similar books. They are no Peter and Jude were hanging out. And they're like, we should 28 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:38,400 write some letters. And who knows? That's probably it. You can ask them someday. I'll 29 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:42,880 ask them one day. Yeah. If you get there before me, you guys ask them. Yeah, I'm not sure 30 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:52,320 how you'll let me know. Yeah, probably. So we talked about what Jude is not. Yes. Let's 31 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,680 talk about what Jude is not. And then we'll dive into it a little bit. Jude often gets 32 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:04,500 used as a book for us to quote unquote, hunt heresy. It's true. That's actually not fully 33 00:03:04,500 --> 00:03:10,760 what's going on here. Yeah. So oftentimes I've heard people quote Jude being like, well, 34 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:16,760 this, this, this, blah, blah, blah. Like it says this here. This is why we should, you 35 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:20,520 know, do with false teaching. If this person says one thing wrong, they're a false teacher. 36 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:24,520 And it's like, and they use Jude to kind of elevate people to these impossible standard 37 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:28,520 of teaching. Yeah, there's a phrase in June, we'll get to it in here where he talks about 38 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:34,460 contending for your faith. Yeah. And then we that has been misapplied to then means 39 00:03:34,460 --> 00:03:39,000 that you go and you fight. We talked, we've talked about in Christianity. Yeah, we have 40 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:44,240 this militant idea that we go and fight. The problem is in the book of Jude, this letter 41 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:50,360 that he's written, he actually explains how you contend and how you contend is actually 42 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:56,680 a way that you live. And so that's what it's not. So we're going to get in here. Let's 43 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:01,040 just, let's just start at the beginning and just take a look at it. And, and then just 44 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:04,760 have a conversation about what the book of Jude is actually talking about. Yeah. So once 45 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:08,920 again, remember very Jewish book. So if you're hearing Torah, if you're hearing a different 46 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:13,800 quotes, you're supposed to. So starting at the beginning, it says, Jude, a slave of Jesus 47 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:18,880 Christ and a brother of James to those who are called loved by God, the father and kept 48 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:24,120 by Jesus Christ, may mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you. Yep. Okay. That's great 49 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:30,200 opening and should already clue you in that this book is about encouragement. Yes. Right. 50 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:36,000 All right. Dear friends, although I was eager to write to you about our common salvation, 51 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:40,120 I found it necessary to write and extort you to contend for the faith that was delivered 52 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:45,320 to the saints once for all for certain men who were designed designated for this judgment 53 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:49,920 long ago have come in by stealth. They are ungodly turning the grace of our God into 54 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:56,040 promiscuity and denying our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. Okay. That by the way is 55 00:04:56,040 --> 00:05:02,440 the verses, the verses that tend to get really miscued. Yeah. And camping on that for a second, 56 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,760 a lot of times we read this and be like, Oh, well people come into church and they provide 57 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:10,280 false teaching. Yes, it does happen. But the false teaching that he's talking about is 58 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:15,560 the denial of Christ, denial of Christ and sexual promiscuity. Yeah. And that's going 59 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:19,800 to be really important because the, all the examples he's going to be giving have to do 60 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:25,200 with sexual promiscuity. Uh huh. And, uh, and he's using these examples and sometimes 61 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:30,560 he's even like, I would say tilting the story towards that for the point of bringing out 62 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:36,480 this, this issue. So what, what she's not talking to is he's not talking to the people who maybe 63 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:41,920 said a point that was a little off. Right. Right. Because let's be real. I've done that. 64 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:46,840 You've done that. Anytime you're given a platform for, to proclaim the gospel, whether that's 65 00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:52,080 preaching teaching, whatever that is. Yeah. Um, and that's also part of the reason why 66 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,700 James says, Hey, be careful if you say you want to be a teacher. Yeah. And that's also 67 00:05:55,700 --> 00:06:01,120 why we are also called to be gracious with our teachers. Yeah. Right. Um, and so Jude's 68 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:06,460 not talking about that. Yeah. He's not, he's talking about people who have blatantly come 69 00:06:06,460 --> 00:06:13,520 in and been like, do what you want. Christ doesn't work. Right. Right. Yeah. Uh, you 70 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:17,280 know, now that you, now that you're saved, you can do whatever you want, uh, in your 71 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:21,880 relationships with other people. It's totally fine. Cheat on your wife, do all those different 72 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:27,040 things and it's fine. Yeah. No, you know, that's not what's going on. And Jude's like, 73 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:31,120 I was going to write you a, like a longer thing, but I saw this happen and I thought 74 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,680 I should probably address it. Yeah. You're right. Yeah. So like that's the type of stuff 75 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:40,040 Jude's addressing. So moving on. So it says, now I want to remind you though, you know, 76 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:44,640 all of these things, the Lord having first of all saved a people out of Egypt later destroyed 77 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,480 those who did not believe. And he has kept with eternal chains and darkness for the judgment 78 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:53,680 of the great day angels who did not keep their own position, but deserted their proper dwelling. 79 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:58,440 By the way, he's quoting from the book of Enoch. And if you, if you're like, I don't 80 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,380 understand like where this stuff is coming from, you should actually probably at some 81 00:07:01,380 --> 00:07:06,300 point read the book of Enoch. Right. In the same way Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities 82 00:07:06,300 --> 00:07:10,120 around them committed sexual immorality and practice perversions just as they did and 83 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:15,160 serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. Uh, once again, I want to 84 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,920 point out here because I think this verse gets a little too over applied to the sexual 85 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:23,080 misconduct of Sodom and Gomorrah. There are multiple occasions throughout the old Testament 86 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:27,480 that God says that the reason Sodom and Gomorrah had judgment is because of their pride and 87 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:32,000 because they didn't care about the people around them. Yes. Jude is specifically bringing 88 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:37,560 up sexual immorality because he's dealing with sexual immorality and religious leaders. 89 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:43,440 Part of Sodom and Gomorrah is not caring about the people around them. Also led to them doing 90 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:48,880 things like raping and stuff like that. Exactly. Raving and blundering. Very inappropriate. 91 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:53,760 You see that in the story of Lot when they're, when the angels go visit Lot and then the 92 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:57,120 people pound on the door and they're like, send the men out so we can do what we want 93 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:01,280 with them. Yeah. And Lot's like, uh, listen, I don't know if you actually know these are 94 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:07,080 angels. That's probably a bad idea. You know, um, that the sexual immorality is actually 95 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:14,880 a symptom of the cause, which is pride and, um, not being concerned for those around you. 96 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:20,360 Right. So jumping, so moving on to verse eight is, yeah, absolutely. Says in the same way, 97 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:25,120 these people who claimed to have authority from their dreams live in moral lives, defy 98 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:30,760 authority and scoff the supernatural beings. Even Michael, one of the mightiest of angels, 99 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:37,840 uh, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said the Lord rebuke you. This 100 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:43,820 took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses's body. Now, if you're sitting 101 00:08:43,820 --> 00:08:48,000 here and you're like, I don't remember that, that text in the Bible, it's because it's 102 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:53,960 not in the canon. It's in the Testament of Moses. Yep. Yeah. Yep. Um, by the way, can 103 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:58,240 we actually just point out, this is why I'm not super uncomfortable with people reading, 104 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:03,520 uh, like mid rush and things like that. You should be familiar. Yeah. Um, the first thing 105 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:06,600 you should be familiar with is a cannon like this. You should absolutely be familiar with 106 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,760 this. You have to know this and you should know Torah. You should know the gospel. You 107 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:13,520 should know the word of God, but you should also be familiar with the literature around 108 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:18,240 those, those times because, uh, clearly the disciples and the ministers in that time were. 109 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:24,080 Yep. Absolutely. And so, but you also have more references. You have references to aim. 110 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:30,760 You have references to, uh, Michael, you have references to the devil. Uh, and, but back 111 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:35,520 into verse eight, when it talks about this living a moral life, it's talking about people 112 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:39,840 who are claiming to be a live an authority, but live a life that is counter to what their 113 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:44,940 authority represent. Right. The, the implication that like, and, and, and this is with Jesus 114 00:09:44,940 --> 00:09:49,640 and Jude is that the, the more passionately you want to follow God, you show God, you 115 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:55,800 love him by obeying his commands and his commands to, uh, love your neighbor as yourself, to 116 00:09:55,800 --> 00:10:01,960 lay your life down on behalf of others to, uh, live a life devoted to, uh, good relationships, 117 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:08,200 right. Uh, to sexual morality, right. And, uh, like these are the ways that you actually 118 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:11,840 put the kingdom of God on display on a regular basis. But if you claim to be a teacher of 119 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,880 God and you're like, Oh, God doesn't really care about these things. You're not actually 120 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:19,560 doing what he's commanding and therefore you are not actually showing your love for God. 121 00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:23,440 So oftentimes what we do with this verse eight, cause I've heard this one reference a lot 122 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:27,280 is we, we will, we will take it upon ourselves to be judged and be like, okay, well, what 123 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:32,120 does it mean for them to live to claim to have authority and live a moral life? Yeah. 124 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:38,920 Love all this stuff. Right. Um, but then that brings us back. Like let's rewind to Obadiah 125 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:45,040 last week where who's the judge. God is God's judge. And even here, like Jude says, he quotes 126 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:50,200 from yes, from the Testament of Moses. He says Michael, the archangel, right. When in 127 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:55,160 a dispute with the devil over Moses, his body didn't even rebuke him. He said, the Lord 128 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:59,320 rebuke you. Yeah. Because Michael, the archangel, somebody who is very familiar with the spiritual 129 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:06,840 realm recognizes he's not the judge either. Right. So oftentimes we take these verses 130 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,960 and we put ourselves in the seat of judgment, which is not our place. That is the place 131 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:18,480 of the Lord. Our place is view is to be people who follow after Christ and are loving, welcoming, 132 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:24,200 forgiving to those around us. Right. And so here you have the spot where it's like, where 133 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:29,920 Jude's like saying, okay, I recognize that they're living on godly life and they're claiming 134 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:34,920 to be leaders. Here's what Michael did. And then you get to verse 10. Yeah. To verse 10, 135 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:40,040 I actually want to camp on for a second. Yeah, go for it. But these people blaspheming anything 136 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:44,320 they don't understand and what they know by instinct, like unreasonable animals, they 137 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:48,840 destroy themselves with these things. Woe to them for they have traveled in the way 138 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:53,560 of Cain have abandoned themselves to the error of Balaam for profit and have perished in 139 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:58,520 Korah's rebellion. So I love the, I love the statement. He says, uh, these people blaspheme 140 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:03,640 anything they don't understand. Okay. Now we just recently, uh, this season we did the 141 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:09,600 spiritual gifts episode or episodes where we talked about like God, the Holy Spirit 142 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:15,960 does some things that we're not, we don't fully understand. 100%. You know, I mean, 143 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,760 I was talking to somebody that they're like, how do you deal with the fact that like there's 144 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:22,480 so much that you don't understand. I was like, well, God is like the ocean and my consciousness 145 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:27,160 is like a Coke can as like, so there's only so much ocean I can put in that Coke can, 146 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:34,760 you know? And so like, um, there's this invitation and mystery to trust God. Yeah. Right. I mean, 147 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:38,440 that's something we see in like the book of Job. Yeah. When he asked like 70 questions, 148 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:45,200 um, but there is also a tendency and leadership when like, I think coming back to just pastors 149 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:50,960 in general, if you don't know the answer, that's okay. Yeah. You're not God. Yeah. Like 150 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:55,180 it's okay to, I think still think like study and, and out of dedication, but then like, 151 00:12:55,180 --> 00:12:59,520 if you don't understand it, but it's, you see the fruit of the spirit moving in it. 152 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:04,560 Yeah. You gotta be really careful what you stand against. Absolutely. Right. Um, and 153 00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:07,680 then it says here, it says, so they blasting the things they don't understand and what 154 00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:12,160 they do understand by instinct, like unreasonable animals, they destroy themselves with these 155 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,680 things. So they have these ideas and these things that they're really passionate about 156 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:23,080 and they actually use it to go and destroy themselves. Yeah. Holy cow. That is some churches 157 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:27,760 I've been in. Right now. Good people. God is going to move from them. He's got, he got 158 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:32,440 his redeemed redeemed all of our bad stuff. And that's been me at times. Like I have an 159 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:35,840 idea and I'm like, I'm going to pound it, pound it, pound it, pound it. And God's like, 160 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:40,120 you know, you're actually destroying the very thing you're trying to create. Uh huh. Right. 161 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:45,880 I've had those conversations with you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, he says you're traveling 162 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:49,760 in the way of Kane. Like, so what happens with Kane? He literally murders his brother. 163 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:54,720 Yeah. And you're going in the way of Balaam for profit. Now, if you are, remember from 164 00:13:54,720 --> 00:14:02,240 the book of numbers, Balaam is, is basically trying to get paid to curse Israel, but he's 165 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:07,520 unable to, uh huh. Uh, now the interesting thing, uh, referencing Balaam there is Balaam 166 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:16,680 eventually does lead Israel into, yeah. Uh, into chaos through sexual immorality, uh huh. 167 00:14:16,680 --> 00:14:20,200 Which then actually connects right back into this whole idea of what he's talking about 168 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:26,440 with these teachers. Yeah. You know, the reference is one more. Yeah. Which when we say Cora, 169 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:33,240 like who here listening knows who Cora is. Well, if they listened to our episode, they 170 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:38,680 would know because we talked about them and, uh, this is where the whole ground actually 171 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:42,960 like eats some people. Yeah. Right. This is that whole section where we talked about with 172 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:49,960 the budding, um, staff. Yep. Right. And, uh, Cora is upset because they're like, well, 173 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:56,000 doesn't God speak to everybody and literally goes against God's chosen hierarchy and it 174 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:59,720 does not end well. Yeah. And it's not just Cora, but it's actually a bunch of people 175 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:05,080 associated with Cora. Yeah. Right. Mm hmm. Which, um, kind of has like this whole idea 176 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:09,640 of like, it's not just about the individual, but it's actually they're leading a stray 177 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:17,760 big groups of people. Yeah. Right. Yeah. They going on in verse 12. When these people eat 178 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:24,480 with you and your fellowship meals, uh, commemorating the Lord's love, they are like dangerous reefs 179 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:30,600 that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They 180 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:37,760 are like clouds blowing over land giving, uh, without giving any rain reference to Elijah. 181 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:46,440 Uh huh. Uh, they are like trees and autumn that are, that are doubly dead and for they 182 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:53,000 bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. Have we talked on the podcast about 183 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:58,280 this, uh, the whole thing of like guild feasts and, uh, that happened in Roman culture? Uh, 184 00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:03,320 no, because Jude is definitely hinting at this with this whole idea. Like he actually 185 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:07,720 in my translation, it says, uh, those are like ones who are dangerous reefs at your 186 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:12,320 love feasts. Yeah. Right. So, uh, if you are not familiar with the, these guild feasts 187 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:15,960 in Roman culture, you would have these guilds. Let's just say contractors guild and we're 188 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:20,840 in guild and planning guild. That's not real guilt. I'm just making them up. Right. Yeah. 189 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,680 And part of these things, they would have these big parties that you would go to and 190 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:29,520 they, they typically fell into debauchery and sexual immorality and a bunch of different 191 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:35,560 things that you shouldn't be doing. But if you wanted to have any success in the area 192 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:40,120 in your chosen profession, you had to actually go and be a part of these, these feasts. Yeah. 193 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:45,440 Right. Yeah. Do engage in the immorality in order to do that. And in Corinthians and some 194 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:50,520 of the other Paul's letters, he actually addresses this and he's like, you need to be different. 195 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:57,120 Mm hmm. You can't do this. Yeah. Right. You actually have to put a different type of character 196 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:03,520 on display. Yeah. And, uh, Jude is once again echoing this and he's like, he's like, your 197 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:07,140 pastors are basically like going to these love feasts where like it's becoming like 198 00:17:07,140 --> 00:17:11,920 such a, it's like the love feast, the sexual immorality. Yes. Right. So we're not just 199 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:16,960 talking about like some people had maybe made a questionable thing. Like these are like 200 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:23,600 very visual, visual, like things that they're doing. Yeah. Right. Cause Judas, he's like, 201 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:31,020 he's making some pretty potent examples. Yeah, he is. He is. Um, and in, in just verse 12, 202 00:17:31,020 --> 00:17:37,400 he references a number of old Testament things, right? Uh, he references, uh, so one that 203 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:42,720 he references is he references a tree burning no fruit. Mm hmm. You see that multiple times 204 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:47,040 throughout the old Testament. He references cloud blowing over the land without getting 205 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:50,400 in the rain. Right. That's a reference to it. Not bringing it is real for three years 206 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:55,240 because of Elijah. Yep. Right. And he specifically bound the heavens because they weren't obeying 207 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:59,960 the word of God. Yep. They weren't putting on display the kingdom of God. They were not 208 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:04,900 caring for the poor and the widow. Yep. And so then Jude goes on to make some other references. 209 00:18:04,900 --> 00:18:10,160 He says they are like wild waves in the sea, churning up foam for their shameful deeds. 210 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:17,400 They are like wandering stars doomed forever in the black, blackest darkness. Yeah. Right. 211 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,600 Anybody want to take a guess on where those are from? It's actually a reference back to 212 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:25,440 creation. Oh yeah. I guess. Yeah. I could see that. Yeah. I was, I was thinking, trying 213 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:30,600 to go forward and you were going backwards. Yep. Yeah. Yep. Yep. When the Lord like let 214 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:34,680 there be light, put the stars in the sky, moon in the sky. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, it's 215 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:40,640 good because you have this idea like, yeah, yeah. They were literally trying to go backwards. 216 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:46,000 Yep. Yep. It's this idea that they're literally going backwards from where they should be. 217 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,840 And so you have that reference because you actually, if you actually look at it, it's 218 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:55,200 almost chronologically backwards. I do is referencing these things. Right. So, and then 219 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,320 he's in the next verse, he's going to quote from Enoch. Now the book of Enoch is supposed 220 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:04,360 to be of, uh, is, uh, I understand that people have issues with canonization and I'm totally 221 00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:07,760 with you. Like it's totally fine. But the book of Enoch is written from the perspective 222 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:16,040 of the character Enoch, who was, uh, the seventh generation after Abel. Uh, yeah. Seven generations 223 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:20,240 down there's Lamek who is the personification of evil. And there's Enoch who is supposed 224 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:26,080 to be the personification of good seven generations removed. And Enoch says, I'm going to 70 times 225 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:31,480 seven do what came to other people. Yeah. Enoch is so holy that God just like takes 226 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:34,520 him and he was there one day and then he was gone the next because he was walking with 227 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:39,120 God and God took him home. Yeah. So like, it's like this personification. So then Enoch 228 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:44,820 in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied about them. Look, the Lord comes with thousands 229 00:19:44,820 --> 00:19:49,460 of his holy ones to execute judgment on them and to convict them of all their ungodly deeds 230 00:19:49,460 --> 00:19:53,600 that they have done in an ungodly way. And of all the harsh thing ungodly centers has 231 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:59,280 said about him. Yeah. These people are discontented grumblers walking according to their desires. 232 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:05,440 Their mouths utter arrogant words flattering people for their own advantage. Yeah. So he's 233 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:11,860 not very happy with these people. No, not very happy. And for good reason. Yeah. Right. 234 00:20:11,860 --> 00:20:15,500 The hard thing I think when, when I think about the way that this book is used often 235 00:20:15,500 --> 00:20:19,600 to attack other people is that when you actually use this book to attack people, you actually 236 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:26,960 become the very thing Jude is railing against. Yeah. Right. That is not to say that we shouldn't 237 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:30,160 hold each other accountable, that we shouldn't love people, that we shouldn't, but Jude's 238 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:36,540 actually going to conclude in his letter that the way we contend for our faith is going 239 00:20:36,540 --> 00:20:43,520 to be living a different way. But you, my dear friends must remember what the apostle, 240 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:48,600 what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ predicted. They told you that in the last 241 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:53,480 times you would, that there would be scoffers whose purpose in life was to satisfy their 242 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:59,240 own, their ungodly desires. These people are the ones who are creating division among you. 243 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:04,880 They are following natural instincts because they do not have God's spirit in them. But 244 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:12,200 you dear friends must build each other up in your most Holy faith, pray in power, pray 245 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:18,600 in the power of the Holy spirit and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ who will 246 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:28,840 bring eternal life. And this way you will keep yourselves safe in God's love. Yeah. 247 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:32,400 So how do we contend for our faith? I'm going to say it in my translation because I think 248 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:37,120 it's just helpful to hear it a couple of different ways. Yeah. Building yourselves up in your 249 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:42,820 most Holy faith, praying in the Holy spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, expecting 250 00:21:42,820 --> 00:21:51,160 the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. And by the way, have mercy on some who 251 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:58,440 doubt. Yep. Save others by snatching them from the fire on others have mercy in fear, 252 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:04,260 hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. Right? So what is the overall message of Jude? 253 00:22:04,260 --> 00:22:08,760 You can tend by the faith by drawing near to God, praying in the Holy spirit and redeeming 254 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:18,520 people around you. Yeah. In love. Yeah. In love. Yeah. It's so it's so frustrating that 255 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:24,560 this book has been been used to attack people. Yeah. Right. Now what we're not saying is 256 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:30,480 like the behavior that you did addressing 100% needs to be dealt with. Yeah. But you 257 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:34,920 can tend for the faith by living differently than everybody else around you. Yep. By putting 258 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:40,960 God on display in your life and it radically changes the people around you. Yeah. And then 259 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:48,080 Jude ends with this great little little bit. Yes. Where it says now all glory to God who 260 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:55,760 is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you and will bring you a great 261 00:22:55,760 --> 00:23:02,880 joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him. Who alone is God 262 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:09,320 our savior through Christ Jesus our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, authority are his 263 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:18,660 before all time and in the presence and beyond all time. Amen. So you have this exaltation 264 00:23:18,660 --> 00:23:22,600 from Jude saying God's the one who keeps you. He's the one who holds you. He's the one who's 265 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:26,600 done it from from the past. He's the one who's doing it now. He's the one who's going to 266 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:30,680 do it in the future. Right. Right. I was very similar to Obadiah. Yeah. It's almost like 267 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:35,480 the Old Testament has got a new testament. Yeah. And one of the really interesting things 268 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:41,000 about that conclusion is it counteracts 100 percent what the teachers are doing every 269 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:45,640 day. Yeah. Right. Our teachers are being like do what you want. It's fine. God will forgive 270 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:50,560 you. And then and then Jude's saying actually no God's the one who holds us all together. 271 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:54,840 He's the one who draws you in. Yeah. He's done that in the past. He's doing that now. 272 00:23:54,840 --> 00:24:01,400 He's going to do it in the future. Yeah. Yeah. It's this call that says hey when you follow 273 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:05,480 Jesus connecting with him in a relationship is what's going to shape the world around 274 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,840 you. Yeah. And when you connect with him in a relationship things are going to change. 275 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:14,360 Yeah. Right. You're not going to be walking like you can't be in relationship with God 276 00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:20,680 and walking and sexual immorality. Those two things don't mix. Yeah. Right. I think there's 277 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:26,840 a really good you know and so the and he's not dealing with peripheral issues. Right. 278 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:33,400 Where there is is conversation about like just disagreement. We did it. We did an eight week 279 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:38,040 series on women in ministry. Right. This isn't over a disagreement about whether or not women 280 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:48,120 can be pastors. Right. There are teachers who will make this type of verse about something like that. 281 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:55,880 Yeah. And I hope that we would see that what Jude says is the way you contend for your faith 282 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:02,520 is to put God on display to love people well to snatch them from the fire and keep yourself 283 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:08,760 from defilement. Yeah. And these are about serious accusational things. You get about serious 284 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:15,960 mis- they're very compromising the very person of Jesus Christ. The way that you fight that is you 285 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:21,240 put on the character of God. Yep. Boy if only there was an applicable thing for living in 286 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:27,800 America. American Christianity. Right. Right. Right. Or just America in general. 287 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:34,920 Put Jesus on display and watch him change the world. Amen. Yeah. So there we go. Second little 288 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:42,760 book. Big message. It's good stuff. Yep. Until next time. And that's a wrap for today's episode 289 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:47,320 of Love and Context. We hope you enjoyed this engaging conversation and gained valuable insights 290 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:51,640 into the powerful message of love within the Bible. We'd love to hear from you and continue 291 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:56,760 the conversation. Connect with us by sending us your questions, thoughts, and suggestions to 292 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:03,960 loveandcontext at gmail.com. We greatly appreciate your feedback and ideas for future episodes. 293 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:07,800 Stay connected with us on social media for updates, behind the scenes content, 294 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:12,920 and additional resources. You can find us on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook at 295 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:16,280 Love and Context. Don't forget to hit that follow button to stay up to date with the 296 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:21,160 latest episodes and join our growing community. Thank you for being part of the Love and Context 297 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:26,440 family. Remember, love is at the heart of it all. Until next time, keep seeking wisdom, 298 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:38,200 embracing love, and living out your faith in the context of today's world.