Jude Series: Jude 4-The First Five Descriptions of the Jewish Zealots

Jude 3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. (NIV)

The concessive clause in Jude 3 indicates that Jude initially had determined to teach and remind the Christian community in Judaea regarding their so great salvation which was accomplished through Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the Father’s right hand.

However, he felt compelled to exhort and encourage them through the contents of this epistle to exert intense effort on behalf of the Christian faith.

The contents of Jude 4-23 make clear that he felt the need to shift gears because those whom he describes in these verses posed a serious threat to the Christian community in Judaea.

Now, Jude 4 asserts that certain people have surreptitiously joined the meetings of the Christian communities in Judaea with evil intent.

This verse goes on to describe these individuals by asserting that they were written about long ago beforehand with regards to the same type of judgment which is described in Jude 5-16.

This verse then states that they are ungodly and that they were exchanging experiencing the grace of God for practicing criminal behavior.

Lastly, Jude 4 asserts that these individuals were refusing to follow the one and only Master, namely the Lord Jesus Christ.

So therefore, Jude 4 is actually presenting a five-fold description of these individuals whom Jude asserts pose a threat to the recipients of this epistle which the contents of this epistle indicate were the Christian community in Judaea.

The first description of these Jewish Zealots in Jude 4 presents the reason for the concessive clause in Jude 3.

This would indicate that Jude was compelled to write for the purpose of exhorting and encouraging the members of the Christian community in Judaea to make it their habit of exerting intense effort for their own benefit on behalf of the faith “because” certain people had joined them surreptitiously with evil intent.

When Jude asserts that these Jewish Zealots joined the meetings of the Christian community in Judaea surreptitiously with evil intent, he does not mean that they were not seen entering these meetings but rather, it means that their motivation for joining these meetings was unknown to those in this community.

As we noted, Jude 4 asserts that certain people have surreptitiously joined the meetings of the Christian communities in Judaea with evil intent and then it goes on to describe these individuals as having been written about long ago beforehand with regards to the same type of judgment which is described in Jude 5-16.

This second description of these Zealots is pointing ahead to Jude 5-16 since Jude 4 speaks of God’s judgment and Jude 5-13 provide examples from the past in which God judged those who rebelled against Him.

Also, Jude 14-16 provides a prophetic example of those who will be judged in the future by the Lord Jesus Christ at His Second Advent for rebelling against Him.

These examples are now recorded in both the Old Testament Scriptures and a non-canonical work, namely 1 Enoch.

Secondly, Jude 14-16 predicts that Jesus Christ at His Second Advent will judge every unrepentant, unregenerate person on the earth at His Second Advent for rebelling against Him.

Now, there is still a problem with interpreting this second description of these Jewish Zealots in Jude’s day and age in the first century A.D. because these Jewish Zealots obviously did not live during Old Testament times.

Thus, they were not judged in the ancient past along with the Old Testament examples Jude provides in Jude 5-11 of individuals who were judged by God in Old Testament times for rebelling against Him.

Secondly, these Jewish Zealots would not live to see the events which will take place at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ when He will judge every unrepentant, unregenerate human being on the earth for their rebellion against Him, which is mentioned in Jude 14-16.

They all died in the first century.

Furthermore, the Holy Spirit, who inspired Jude to write these statements in Jude 14-16, would through His omniscience know that these Jewish Zealots would not live long enough to experience the events connected to the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

These Jewish Zealots long ago were written about beforehand in both the Old Testament Scriptures and the non-canonical work, 1 Enoch with regards to the same type of judgement that is described in Jude 5-16.

In other words, these Jewish Zealots would be judged for their rebellion against God “just like” those who rebelled against God in the past as recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures and the non-canonical work, 1 Enoch.

Correspondingly, they would be judged for their rebellion against the Lord “just like” those who will be judged in the future by Jesus Christ at His Second Advent for rebelling against Him as recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures and the non-canonical work, 1 Enoch.

Thus, all these individuals from the past and those who will rebel against God in the future are just like the Jewish Zealots in Jude’s day and age in the first century A.D.

Therefore, the statements in Jude 5-11 would indicate that these Jewish Zealots are “like” those who were judged for their rebellion against God as recorded in the Old Testament and in 1 Enoch.

In other words, these Jewish Zealots living in Jude’s day and age in the first century A.D. “belonged to the same category of individuals” who were judged by God in the ancient past for rebelling against Him.

Correspondingly, the statements in Jude 14-16 would indicate that the judgment of these Jewish Zealots would be “like” those who will be judged by the Lord Jesus Christ at His Second Advent for their rebellion against Him as recorded in the Old Testament and in 1 Enoch.

In other words, these Jewish Zealots “belonged to the same category of individuals” who will be judged by Jesus Christ at His Second Advent for rebelling against Him.

Therefore, even though Jude does not explicitly say that these Jewish Zealots were “like” those who rebelled against God in the past as well as those who will be judged by the Lord at His Second Advent, it is clearly implied.

Again, the Holy Spirit would not have Jude write that these Jewish Zealots would be judged by Jesus Christ at His Second Advent when He knows through His omniscience that this will not be the case.

Like every unrepentant, unregenerate person in human history, they will ultimately experience eternal condemnation at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11-15).

These Zealots are described with the noun asebēs, “ungodly” which constitutes the third description of these individuals and indicates that they were unregenerate.

The noun asebēs also means a lack of interest in the things of God and a behavior and lifestyle consistent with such an irreverent attitude and pertains to violating divine standards and living as if God did not exist and with no regard for Him.

The fourth description of these Zealots in Jude 4 asserts that they were exchanging experiencing the grace of God for practicing criminal behavior.

The noun charis, “grace” refers to the Father’s grace policy towards every member of the human race and refers to God’s policy of imputing unmerited blessings to the sinner who He declares justified through faith in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.

The sinner first experiences the grace of God at the moment of their justification when the Father declares them justified through faith in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.

The noun aselgeia, “practicing criminal behavior” pertains to unrestrained, self-indulgent criminal activity.

Jude 11-13 describes these individuals’ ungodly character, which manifested itself in criminal activity related to rebelling against the Roman civil authorities which were ordained by God (cf. Rom. 13:1-7), which in turn manifested itself in rebelling against God who the latter served.

The fifth and final description of these Jewish Zealots in Jude 4 asserts that they were refusing to follow the one and only Master, namely the Lord Jesus Christ.

It presents the result of the fourth description of them which we noted asserts that they were exchanging experiencing the grace of God for experiencing criminal behavior.

Therefore, this would indicate that these Jewish Zealots were exchanging experiencing the grace of God for practicing criminal behavior “with the result that” they were refusing to follow the one and only Master, namely the Lord Jesus Christ.

Each of these three terms despotēs, “Sovereign,” kurios, “Lord,” Iēsous, “Jesus” and Christos, “Christ” indicate that these Zealots were not only rejecting the incarnate Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth as their Sovereign ruler or king but also they were rejecting Him as being God and the Jewish Messiah and Savior.