They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
I like Jude. He doesn’t mince words! The joke line that goes with a passage like today’s is, “So, Jude, tell us how you really feel.”
Ha!
The thing is that Jude isn’t just some guy at work or someone you ran into at a coffee shop (pre-COVID coffee, of course). Jude is someone who, we presume, knows the risen Lord. He may have even been his half-brother.
In today’s passage, Jude describes the ungodly people as “twice dead.” Why? Why twice dead?
A cloud without rain and a tree without fruit are, in an agricultural sense, worthless; dead. A cloud driven by the wind is no good to anybody. A tree uprooted does not grow back. Both are, once again, dead.
Twice dead is to be of no value in this life, and have no hope in the next.
He then adds that they are like waves. How permanent is a wave? Not very.
Wandering stars? Of what use are they? Stars used to be very important for navigation whether you were crossing a desert or the sea. A wandering star would be of no value.
There is a special place, Jude says, reserved for these people. A place with absolutely no light.
Application: Consider the consequences of being ungodly.
Food for Thought: How do the consequences of being ungodly motivate you personally?
I would love to say, tell them about Jesus, but I really believe we should follow previous instructions to avoid them. If we must be around them, follow example of Jesus before Herod, Jesus said nothing.
Ron’s point is interesting. I completely agree. These are not the lost people of the world to whom we are called to share the gospel. I take these people as snakes in the grass looking to sow division, discord and hurt the sheep. They can be unreasonable to deal with and waste time that could be spent in mission and discipleship. To specifically answer your question, this does motivate me to protect the sheep and share with the lost who are also targets of these unscrupulous pretenders.
Thank you, both!
I appreciate your thoughts on this.
When I think about the consequences of thinking or acting like the people Jude describes, it makes me shudder. It also makes me examine my actions. Is there anything I am doing that could be classified as ‘ungodly?’ I certainly hope not! The only antidote I know to falling into that trap is being in the Word and walking in the Spirit. Oh … and fellowship with people like you meet on this blog! 🙂
Good point Jeff. I guess when I think of the people Jude seems to be describing, I am not thinking of the ungodly struggle with sin that every believer deals with. In fact, as I see the people Jude is describing they don’t struggle with sin. They give into it whole heartedly and encourage others down the same path. I may be wrong in my estimation, but I think he is describing people who are false teachers and unscrupulous con artists. In fact, they secretly slip into the church but deny Christ (Jude verse 4 specifically).
Rich,
Do the ungodly struggle with sin? You are on to something there. They may not struggle in the sense that they believe so strongly that their views are right they don’t question themselves. In my experience, however, I would not write them off as unscrupulous or con artists. There may be some of that going on but often it seems that it boils down to an intolerance for self-examination. The people who believe in their own interpretation put themselves above God and above His Word. Many I’ve know are very sincere. Does God make allowances for being sincerely wrong? I don’t know. I do think it interesting that when Jesus talks about hell he describes it as a place where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Those who are weeping appear sorry for being wrong. Those who are gnashing their teeth are angry about being caught out. The con-artist type are the people I envision gnashing their teeth. Those weeping might include the people who sincerely believed they were right even though they were wrong.
Thanks Jeff. I agree. Your view of weeping and gnashing of teeth I believe is spot on. I feel like I may not be communicating my point well though. So, to clarify – I do not see all the ungodly the same. And I guess I am seeing (possibly incorrectly) that Jude is referring specifically to the gnashing of teeth variety based on how he describes them. I don’t think he has in mind every nonbeliever here. And, again, I could be wrong. But I do want to clarify that we are absolutely to love on and share the truth with the unbelieving world. That is our commission.
👍🏻