Martin Wickens

On Sunday morning we began a series of studies in the letter by Jude. In these posts, I want to share my notes and on occasion, dig a little deeper. In this first post I’ll share a short introduction to the book and the series.

Text: Jude 1-4

Purpose: To introduce the letter of Jude and to encourage believers to contend for the faith with the goal of glorifying God and keeping themselves in the love of Christ.

There are Many Straws Before the Last Straw

On Thursday of last week, I noticed a few bits of straw by the front door of the church. I thought maybe the wind had blown them there and the wind would soon blow them away.

I was busy and had others things to do so I just ignored them and moved on.

Then Sunday morning I noticed a bird had built her nest on the lights above the front door. Below it there was far more than just a few bits of straw, but a whole pile of rejected pieces of building material covered the ground.

A problem I thought I could ignore and that I assumed would solve itself, developed into something bigger. The final straw of that bird’s nest was the last straw for me. I had to take action.

Services would begin soon, and so I did what I could to sweep the evidence of the nest away, but the dirty bird and it’s nest remained. Thankfully, one of our deacons saw the problem also and removed the nest to a safe location.

Error and drifting from God happens in the same way. There are a few signs of a problem, but we ignore them, imagining the problem will just go away.

But the errors take root, we drift further from the truth and God. Before we know it, a whole nest of problems has established itself. We might start trying to hide some of the evidence of the problem, but on day there will be a last straw and something will have to be done.

When Jude set out to write his letter he at first intended on writing of their common salvation. But looking around he could see straws lying on the ground, evidence of problems that had to be resolved. So, as he writes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, on the need to contend for the faith in order to keep themselves in the love of God and so remain useful in God’s service.

As Jude explains his theme of contending for the faith we’re going to view it under 5 headings:

• A Call to Contend
• A Call to Remembrance
• A Call to Discernment
• A Call to Purity
• A Call to Hope

Some Context

It is helpful to consider the context of the letter.

Jude is writing to warn Christians to beware of spiritual contamination by evil men. He does not intend to cause division by introducing doctrine. Doctrine is not divisive. Error divides. It separates from the truth and so causing disunity. The re-enforcement or re-introduction of truth will cause genuine unity.

The letter can initially sound like a letter full of anger, but it actually a letter written out of love (for God, for the truth, and for other believers).

It is no love that allows error to thrive and so send sinners to Hell. Jude knew the stakes were high and so he fights passionately for the truth in order to glorify God, protect the saints, and deliver the Gospel to sinners.

Although short, the book demonstrates a working knowledge of the Old Testament. Jude refers to,

• v5 Israelites (Numbers 13-14)
• v6 Fallen angels (2 Peter 2:4)
• v7 Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18-19)
• v11 Cain (Gen. 4)
• v11 Balaam (Num. 22-24)
• v11 Korah (Num. 16)
• v14 Enoch (Gen. 5:18-24)

You can also see patterns in Jude that reveal something of the mind of Jude. He appears to like order. Notice the triads in the epistle:

• His identity
  • Jude
  • the servant of Christ
  • the brother of James

• His reader’s identity
  • as sanctified
  • preserved,
  • and called

• His prayer of blessing on them
  • Mercy
  • peace
  • and love

• The apostates’ identity
  • defiled the flesh
  • despised dominion
  • and spoke evil of dignitaries

• He had three examples of apostates
  • Cain
  • Balaam
  • and Korah

• He points to the Trinity in verse 20-21

Conclusion

So, with all this in mind I think it is safe to say it was probably written around A.D. 67-68 or as late as A.D. 80. A date in the A.D. 60’s makes sense to me for two reasons. First, there is no mention of the destruction of Jerusalem which occurred in A.D. 70. Second, Gnosticism does not seem to have fully developed. Further, with so many connections with 2 Peter it would make sense they had some connection with each other.

Though short, the letter is orderly, purposeful, loving, Gospel-orientated, and God honoring.

In our next post we’ll review Jude’s introduction to his letter and begin to consider what it means to contend for the faith.