(Jude 1:1-4) Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,
To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.
3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. 4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
We see another reminder that there will be a judgment day for everyone, including angels. God is just, and will not be afraid to carry out His judgments. God does not give idle threats...
(Jude 1:5-7) Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
This particular group of people were so rebellious that they outright rejected God and any other form of authority. As well, they were so bold to "reviled" angels.
"Revile" is to criticize in an abusive or angrily insulting manner, which clearly shows that these people lacked any understanding about the spiritual realm.
Because even Michael the archangel knows "his place" in all things, and that the Lord has the dominion. Only the Lord is the rightful Judge who determines appropriate discipline and punishment...
(Jude 1:8-13) Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. 9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. 12 These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.
"These men" - these types of rebellious people - were there at this time, and they have been "there" in the past, and they are "here" among us today. And one day, Jesus will come with His angels to rid the earth of evil (at the end of the Tribulation)...
(Jude 1:14-25) It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” 16 These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.
From this we see:
- angels who rebelled (becoming demons) are under darkness until the judgment day (Jude 1:6)
- Michael the archangel disputed with the devil regarding Moses (Jude 1:9)
- Michael the archangel has respect for authority and knows his place, knowing that the Lord has the dominion and is the Judge who determines discipline and punishment (Jude 1:9)
- one day, Jesus will come with His angels to rid the earth of evil at the end of the Tribulation (Jude 1:14-15)
Society has also become very disrespectful of our government's leaders - to the point that - anyone who voted a particular way is deemed "guilty" by association.
In society's latest development, the "Me Too" movement. things have gotten out of hand AT TIMES. Women want to be respected, but SOME resort to being disrespectful to men. If a man dared to say that, he runs the risk of accusations.
Even as a women (who can say, "Me too"), by making that statement, I have been accused of disrespecting what all woman have suffered through, because someone assumed that I had said that ALL women were disrespecting men, and that the ENTIRE movement has gotten out of hand.
But that would be a case in point about the lack of respect for each other. We fail to hear all the words being said, which would be important in order to gain a deeper understanding of each other!
Today's takeaway: there will be all kinds of injustices committed; but as believers, we are to rise above that.
We are to respect and love all people, even the ones who have committed crimes. Note verse 23 below: there will be people whom we should be wary of and stay away from (hating their actions), yet we are still to love them - and take whatever opportunity comes our way to share the gospel message...
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
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