When God Condemns the Ungodly

False teachers are shooting stars, here today and gone tomorrow. They burn bright for a night and then vanish into the midnight darkness, never to be seen or heard from again. Their history is short lived, leaving a legacy of no real significance.

Because they wander about, these teachers show no consistency or reliability. They promise spiritual light; but they are aimless, erratic, and destined for God’s condemnation, which is described here as “the blackness of darkness” reserved forever. They may fool men, but they do not fool God.

With such terrible character and such a horrible destiny, why would anyone attach themselves to teachers like this? Why would anyone follow such deceivers, such masters of deception? They may sound good, but they show little. Jude instructs us to remember that one’s life reveals one’s heart. False prophets have a heart only for themselves, not for our Savior. This shows in their life and ministry.

JUDE 14-15

In verse 4 Jude says the condemnation of these men was marked out, written about long ago. Verse 14 shows that this marking out goes back to Enoch, the seventh from Adam counting inclusively, who “walked with God; then he was not there because God took him” (Gen 5:24). Hebrews 11:5 informs us, “He did not experience death. . . . For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God.”

Some Bible teachers have tried to tie Enoch’s prophecy in JUDE 14-15 to the birth of his son Methuselah and the timing of the flood. However, it seems clear that Jude quotes the nonbiblical book of 1 Enoch 1:9, affirming the truth of this statement without endorsing the whole of the book as divine or special revelation. Whether the quotation came from the historical Enoch is unclear, though the possibility of the oral transmission of such a prediction is certainly possible. What does Enoch say concerning these false and deceiving teachers?

Prior even to the flood, God made known his verdict concerning false teachers as well as the certainty of his coming at the end of time. Enoch declared, “Look!” Behold! Take notice! “The Lord [Jesus Christ] comes.” It is as if condemnation has already commenced, so sure is its coming. Schreiner says the verb functions as a “prophetic perfect,” meaning it is a certain and settled reality (1, 2 Peter, 472).

The “tens of thousands of his holy ones” refers to the angels. Numerous times in both the Old Testament and the New Testament God is pictured as coming with his angels (cf. Zech 14:5; Matt 16:27; 25:31; 1 Thess 3:13; 2 Thess 1:7).

At this coming, things will be radically different from his first visit to earth. Here he comes to a crown, not a cross. He comes to a throne, not a cradle. He comes to reign, not to die. He comes to judge, not to be judged. The next time he comes will be the last time he comes, and angels will be both his escort and his agents of judgment (v. 15).

Jude is fond of the word “ungodly,” using it four times in this verse. It refers to those who live without reverence and respect for God. They walk in an ungodly manner, with evil deeds, they think in ungodly ways, and they talk with ungodly and harsh words. In works, wisdom (cf. Jas 3:14-16), and words they condemn themselves. No evil action, thought, or word will go unpunished, nor will it be erased from the divine memory (Prov 11:21; Nah 1:3). These men and those like them will have no defense, no retrial, no appeal. As Romans 3:19 says, every mouth will be silenced.

JUDE 16

The lifestyle and dispositions of those Enoch prophesied God would condemn is further explored in verse 16. Emphasis falls on their mouths and the evil desires that direct what flows from their tongues. Again we are reminded the tongue is that organ of the body intimately connected to the heart and its desires.

Speaking harshly against God, his will, and his ways, they grumble and complain (cf. v. 15). Like the Hebrew children in the wilderness, they find fault with God, griping and complaining, accusing him of withholding his best and what they believe they deserve. They are critical and negative, possessing a cloudy disposition with thunderstorms on the horizon. This disposition is like a cancer and is deadly to an effective ministry and a healthy church life. It leaves them always judgmental and without joy.

The source of this negative disposition and attitude was their lust (“their own evil desires,” NIV). Living by the “personal pleasure principle,” they were consumed with what they wanted. Their desires trumped all others’, including God’s.

I read this description and think how different these men are from a simple woman named Emma Lou, who was my mother. As my brother-in-law said at her funeral, I never heard Emma say, “I want . . .” Like the Lord she loves and now sees, she was always putting others ahead of herself, her wants, and her desires—though it may be that her desire was to always put others first! You may know someone like Emma Lou. If you do, these men were the polar opposite!

False teachers mouth great, swelling, “arrogant words.” “They boast about themselves” (NIV). They are big talkers who say more about themselves than about the Word of God. They portray themselves as the hero of every story, giving the appearance of a spiritual superiority. Such teachers find an easy target in the biblically illiterate and theologically immature. They are experts in flattery in order to take financial advantage of the gullible and unsuspecting. In other words, they are good at locating itching ears (2 Tim 4:3-4) and telling people what they want to hear and what makes them feel good. Masters of manipulation, they empty the pockets of others and fill their own. The suffering servant named Jesus is banished to the sidelines.

Some do so on TV. Some do it on the radio or in podcasts. Some do it in a local church. Some do it in a college or seminary. Anywhere and everywhere, any place they can gain a hearing and get an audience, you can be sure these “smooth operators” will show up.

Some liberal theologians and spiritual advisors talk of a “softer” view of God, a God whose vengeance and condemnation have slowly evaporated and disappeared, a God of love but no wrath. Such theologians obviously have not read Jude. Let us not follow in their footsteps. To do so is to walk the path of deception and destruction. It is to come face-to-face with the God who condemns the ungodly—every single one of them.