Verse 7 of Jude says that Sodom and Gomorrah, with their sexual immorality and perversion, are examples of "those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire." This is another old Testament reference. Notice that lack of hospitality is not the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah in this passage.
Verse 8 says that "In the same way these dreamers (the condemned people this letter is about) pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. This could apply to Jews who have given up following the law of Moses. (See 2 Peter 2:10)
Verse 9 Talks about the archangel Michael disputing with the devil over the body of Moses. Even Michael, himself a celestial being, did not have the nerve to slander another celestial being. (See 2 Peter 2:10-11) Instead, he said, "The lord rebuke you!" This story is supposed to have come from a document called the Testament of Moses or the Ascension of Moses. However, it bears a remarkable similarity to the first verses of Zechariah 3, where a high priest Joshua (same name as Jesus ) is standing before the angel of the lord (Michael?) and Satan. There Satan is rebuked with the words "The lord rebuke you." Some Wikipedia writer suggests that the word 'Moses' has replaced the word 'Joshua' deliberately, to avoid confusion. You're darn right it would be confusing if Jude said that the devil and Michael argued over the body of Joshua (Jesus). Then this verse would clearly be associated with the high priest Joshua of Zechariah 3, and it might be doubted that the author was referring to the first century Jesus. I can see how that would be a problem for those promoting the first century Jesus guy.
Verse 10 says the godless men don't know what they are talking about, and what they do know does them no good.
Verse 11 says the godless men have taken the way of Cain (murder?), Balaam (greed), and Korah (rebelling against leadership). 2 Peter 2:15 also mentions Balaam.
Verses 12 -13 says the godless men are blemishes at (the jew's? or the christian's ?) love feast. (Echoed in 2 Peter 2:13) They are shepherds who feed only themselves, clouds without rain (see 2Peter 2:17), autumn trees without fruit and uprooted, wild waves, wandering stars with blackest darkness reserved for them (see 2 Peter 2:17 again. Notice how 2 Peter draws many phrases and themes from Jude.)
Verses 14-16 is said to quote directly from the the book of Enoch, "See the lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." (That's four times ungodly.) My study bible says that "the book of Enoch was not canonical does not mean it contained no truth." Can't that be said of any book, fiction and non-fiction? It goes on to say "Nor does Jude's quotation of the book mean he considered it inspired." Then what does it mean?
The book of Enoch was not written by Enoch. The author of the book of Enoch did not even live at the same time Enoch was supposed to have lived. It is fiction.Enoch is most likely a fictional person. How can it be talking about a prophecy that never happened, from a person who may never have lived, and it still be true? My study bible says "Jude uses the quotation to refer to Christ's second coming and to his judgment of the wicked." So? How does that make it true? How is a fictional quote from a fictional man support for anything? It reminds me of "quotes" from famous people found all over the internet today. It seems clear to me that the author of Jude did not consider it fictional at all. He was ignorant of the history of the book of Enoch. We have an advantage over him.
More to come. Because of pressing family matters, The next post will probably be at the end of next week.
Showing posts with label book of Enoch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book of Enoch. Show all posts
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Jude, part 2
You can read the book of Jude here. There are no chapters. I will also be checking each verse against the interlinear Greek. You can do that on bible hub also.
The first section of the letter is labelled "The sin and doom of godless men" in my study bible. Sounds ominous. Jude says he is writing to these nonspecific people because he is worried that godless men who have secretly slipped in among them. In the NIV, these bad people were supposedly written about long ago, but Jude doesn't tell us where or when. The study bible does plenty of speculation, however. Also, if you look at other translations it is not translated as being "written beforehand." Instead it speaks of men who were designated (predestined?) for condemnation long ago. If Jude is written by a Jew to Jews, he might be referring to the Jewish sect known as "the way", later called christianity.
In verse 4, some insiders are accused of changing the grace of god (there's the word grace again) into a license for immorality. They also deny Jesus is the only sovereign and Lord. This sounds very similar to what many christians say about atheists today. "You don't believe in god because you just want to sin." In this case, it would seem that some people in the sect that we would call early christianity did not believe Jesus had any kind of authority over them.
However, if you consider Jude might have been written by a Jew to Jews, not christians, all you have to do is take out the words "Jesus Christ" and verse 4 would still make sense, except it would be talking about god as the sovereign lord. The writer of Jude could very well be telling Jews that just because god has been gracious enough to make them a holy people, doesn't mean they don't have to obey him via the law of Moses.
Verse 5 says "Though you already know all this, (they would know it if they were Jews), I want to remind you that the lord at one time delivered his people (the Hebrews/ancestors of the Jews) out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe." The lord in this verse must be referring to yahweh/god. This would make the previous word lord in verse 4 confusing, if it was referring to Jesus. Are there two lords in this book or one? The ESV fixed the problem by replacing the word lord with Jesus. But even a child in Sunday school could tell you Jesus was not the one who delivered his people out of Egypt.
Verse 6 says, "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great day." This is a unique teaching in the New Testament, found elsewhere only in 2 Peter, another highly disputed text. Scholars have noted similarities in Jude and 2 Peter, and suspect that the 2 Peter author used the Jude text as a reference. 2 Peter is an obviously Christian text. I have come to believe Jude is not. A very interesting tidbit is that this verse appears to draw from a Jewish writing called the book of Enoch. The book of Enoch was written at least 300 years BCE. Part of it tells the story of the supposed fallen angels. It is clear that Jude drew from the book in this verse, but my study bible does not mention that at all. That is an interesting ommission. The author of 2 Peter could also have concievably drawn from the Enoch text. There is no way to know. What is clear from reading the linked articles, is that the concept of fallen angels was a Jewish cultural myth that made its way into mainstream Christianity. Fascinating stuff.
More to come.
The first section of the letter is labelled "The sin and doom of godless men" in my study bible. Sounds ominous. Jude says he is writing to these nonspecific people because he is worried that godless men who have secretly slipped in among them. In the NIV, these bad people were supposedly written about long ago, but Jude doesn't tell us where or when. The study bible does plenty of speculation, however. Also, if you look at other translations it is not translated as being "written beforehand." Instead it speaks of men who were designated (predestined?) for condemnation long ago. If Jude is written by a Jew to Jews, he might be referring to the Jewish sect known as "the way", later called christianity.
In verse 4, some insiders are accused of changing the grace of god (there's the word grace again) into a license for immorality. They also deny Jesus is the only sovereign and Lord. This sounds very similar to what many christians say about atheists today. "You don't believe in god because you just want to sin." In this case, it would seem that some people in the sect that we would call early christianity did not believe Jesus had any kind of authority over them.
However, if you consider Jude might have been written by a Jew to Jews, not christians, all you have to do is take out the words "Jesus Christ" and verse 4 would still make sense, except it would be talking about god as the sovereign lord. The writer of Jude could very well be telling Jews that just because god has been gracious enough to make them a holy people, doesn't mean they don't have to obey him via the law of Moses.
Verse 5 says "Though you already know all this, (they would know it if they were Jews), I want to remind you that the lord at one time delivered his people (the Hebrews/ancestors of the Jews) out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe." The lord in this verse must be referring to yahweh/god. This would make the previous word lord in verse 4 confusing, if it was referring to Jesus. Are there two lords in this book or one? The ESV fixed the problem by replacing the word lord with Jesus. But even a child in Sunday school could tell you Jesus was not the one who delivered his people out of Egypt.
Verse 6 says, "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great day." This is a unique teaching in the New Testament, found elsewhere only in 2 Peter, another highly disputed text. Scholars have noted similarities in Jude and 2 Peter, and suspect that the 2 Peter author used the Jude text as a reference. 2 Peter is an obviously Christian text. I have come to believe Jude is not. A very interesting tidbit is that this verse appears to draw from a Jewish writing called the book of Enoch. The book of Enoch was written at least 300 years BCE. Part of it tells the story of the supposed fallen angels. It is clear that Jude drew from the book in this verse, but my study bible does not mention that at all. That is an interesting ommission. The author of 2 Peter could also have concievably drawn from the Enoch text. There is no way to know. What is clear from reading the linked articles, is that the concept of fallen angels was a Jewish cultural myth that made its way into mainstream Christianity. Fascinating stuff.
More to come.
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