In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He [Jesus Christ -Yeshua]
was in the beginning with God.
JUDE
The book of Jude is the eighth of the eight
general epistles. Like
James, Jude is the half-brother of Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary
after the birth of Jesus. Jude is the younger brother of James. He
addressed his letter to Christians in general but it is unknown where
Jude wrote the epistle. Neither can a specific date be determined
regarding the time of his writing. The earliest date is estimated after
Peter’s second epistle because Peter warned of the coming
apostate
teachers while Jude described them as already having infiltrated the
church. Like the epistles of John, Jude’s letter was probably written
prior to Christian persecution near the end of Emperor Domitian’s reign in AD
96. This brackets the range of possible dates for the writing of Jude
between AD 67 and AD 96.
Jude immediately established the reason for writing to his beloved in
Jesus Christ, the Messiah. False teachers had embedded themselves within the church. They
denied Christ and perverted God’s grace by living as they
pleased without constraints. Jude exhorted his brethren to contend
earnestly for the faith originally presented to them. He reminded them
how God had destroyed unbelievers in the past for their wickedness
including His people after having delivered them out of Egypt.
Jude also reminded them of how Enoch prophesied that the Lord would
come with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment on the
ungodly. This in reference to the Day of the Lord at the end times when
Christ will return to earth the second time to judge
the nations. Jude told the saints to remember the words of the apostles;
there would be mockers in the last days walking in their own lust. He
finally closed his letter by encouraging believers to build up their
faith and pray in the spirit.
Jude verses 1-4: Jude’s purpose for his letter to the saints
Jude verses 5-13: God’s past judgment on the wicked; characteristics
of false teachers
Jude verses 14-25: Future judgment on the wicked; instructions to
believers; closing statements