Three Minute Bible

May 15, 2020May 16, 2020

Jude 1: 17-19 — The Big Red Flag

But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

In 2 Peter 3: 3 Peter writes, “Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.” (NIV) The way Jude tells it this must have been common knowledge with the apostles. The “last times” are here and so are the scoffers.

May 14, 2020May 15, 2020

Jude 1: 16c — Strange Reflection

A glass ball reflects a strange image of a beach.

…they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

Jude wraps up his description of the ungodly with this final clue. What is it about boasting and flattery that has drawn Jude’s attention?

In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul writes:

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. (Romans 12:3)

May 13, 2020May 14, 2020

Jude 1: 16b — The Face of Jesus

A photo of a statue of Jesus gazing out over the horizon.

…they follow their own evil desires…

Jude is almost done with his description of those who pollute and dilute the Body of Christ. It is as if Jude is looking into the face of Jesus himself, and in that face he sees the purity that Jesus wants for his church.

Let’s join Jude and imagine what the Body of Christ could be like.

May 12, 2020May 12, 2020

Jude 1: 16a — On Guard

These people are grumblers and faultfinders…

With deft strokes, Jude is painting a picture of what the ungodly look like. I find it interesting that he does not call out specific people he might be thinking of. Yet, I can also see a reason for this. From God’s perspective, Jude is not being asked to write to a specific church or even a specific age of the church. Instead, the Holy Spirit has commissioned him to write a description for all time.

Jude’s letter is a fitting penultimate chapter for God’s love letter to his people. From beginning to end, the entire Bible is about two things; Jesus Christ and the difference between what is godly and what is ungodly. Jude’s letter paints a picture of what to look for.

May 11, 2020May 12, 2020

Jude 1: 14b — Enoch’s Prophecy

several piles of gold coins each larger than the last.

See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

I am a little out of my depth when we get the End Times Prophecy department. Pr. Rich is the expert in that area as far as I am concerned. So outside of taking a contextual look at Enoch’s prophecy, let’s take a specific look at this passage and see what we can learn.

First, Jude is using a source of information on this topic that is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. This is new information about Enoch.

May 10, 2020May 11, 2020

Happy Mother’s Day!

A mother swan carries two babies on her back.

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. — Exodus 20: 12

As I gaze over the landscape of Scripture in my mind’s eye, mothers are everywhere. From Eve, the mother of us all, to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Everywhere in Scripture are stories about mothers and the influence they have on history. One of my favorite mothers is told about in the book of Ruth.

Naomi is enduring. She travels with her husband and two sons to a foreign land because of a famine. While there both of her sons take wives from the Moabites who live there. Then tragedy strikes. Naomi’s husband dies. He is followed in death by their two sons. Naomi is left alone.

May 9, 2020October 9, 2020

Jude 1: 14a — A Faithful Walk

Silhouette of an old man and dog walking.

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them…

One of the most amazing aspects of the Bible is the amount of detail it contains about the past. Of course, whether or not you believe this information depends on your view of the Bible.

As I have mentioned before, my personal view is that God exists. God created everything there is, and if God wanted to get a book published He could. If he did, it would be exactly the way He wanted to it be.

May 8, 2020May 9, 2020

Jude 1: 12b-13 — Twice Dead

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?

May 7, 2020May 8, 2020

Jude 1: 12b — Tossed Sheep

…shepherds who feed only themselves.

Many years ago a young man from a small town went to study at the university. Unsure of what to do with his life, he studied a wide variety of topics. In his sophomore year, a campus ministry group that focused on college-age men discovered him. This group took him under their wing and counted him as one of their own until one day when they found out he was interested in religion.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise to them. He had all the signs; a passion for God’s Word, a love of Truth, and a hunger to know more. Thinking of the university as a place to learn he had taken a world religion class and found it very interesting.

May 6, 2020May 8, 2020

Jude 1: 12A — Food

A small glass of wine and bread against a black background.

These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—

What is a “love feast?” Who eats there? Why should anyone have qualms about it?

Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11, is a great resource on this question. He describes in detail what the love feast is, who and how to eat it, and why it should be taken very seriously.

What is it?