Jude Introduction Part 2 (Doctrinal Bible Church in Huntsville, AL)

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Sunday July 10, 2022

Jude Series: Introduction Part 2

Lesson # 2

The author of the epistle of Jude identifies himself with the expression, “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.” (NIV)

The name Ioudas (Ἰούδας), “Jude” is translated as “Judah,” “Judas” or “Jude” depending on the person to whom reference is made.

It was a very common Jewish name held in honor because of its namesake, Judah, one of the twelve sons of Israel.

Judah was the son of Jacob and Leah (Gen. 29:35) and his name means “I will praise the Lord.”

Now, the Jude who identifies himself in Jude 1 as the brother of James must be the brother of James who wrote one of the letters which appears in the Greek New Testament which bears his name and is an apostle of Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18; 1 Cor. 15:7; Gal. 1:19; 2:9, 12).

Consequently, James and Jude were half-brothers of Jesus (cf. Matt. 13:35; Mark 6:3).

Many scholars and expositors of the epistle of Jude view this letter as a “pseudonymous” work.

The term “pseudonymity” refers to the practice of publishing one’s writings under a revered person’s name.

However, the epistle of Jude is not a “pseudonymous” letter since this practice was frowned upon by the early church.

In fact, the apostles like Paul would guarantee the authenticity of their letters to protect against forgeries or someone posing as them in a letter. (cf. 2 Thess. 3:17-18; Gal.; Col. 4:18).

Furthermore, Jude identifies himself as the author of this letter, which bears his name and there is no evidence whatsoever that this epistle is written by someone else.

Lastly, it was more likely that someone would pose as a well-known author like James, an apostle rather than Jude who was the younger brother of James and younger half-brother of Jesus and not an apostle.

The recipients of the epistle of Jude appear to be appear Jewish Christians which is suggested by the many references to Old Testament historical figures and events as well as the citing of Jewish Pseudepigraphic literature such as 1 Enoch and the Assumption of Moses.

These references would appeal to the Jewish Christian community’s frame of reference rather than the Gentile Christian community because they were brought up in the Old Testament Scriptures and were exposed to these Jewish intertestamental works.

Also, the reference to James in Jude 1, who was the brother of Jude and half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, would indicate that the recipients of the epistle of Jude were Jewish Christians since James was one of the pillars of the church in Jerusalem.

Why else would Jude make a point of being the brother of James who was one of the three pillars of the church in Jerusalem?

Although the contents of the epistle of Jude do not identify the place of origin of the epistle of Jude, I believe that it was written to Jewish Christians living somewhere in Palestine.

This is indicated by the reference to James in Jude 1 who was the brother of Jude and one of the pillars of the church in Judaea.

Furthermore, we know from the New Testament that James like Jesus never left Palestine but in fact lived and died there.

This reference to James indicates that James was well-known to the recipients and that Jude was less known or possessed a higher authority than Jude.

Of course, we know that James was an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Lastly, as we noted earlier, there are many references to Old Testament historical figures and events as well as the citing of Jewish Pseudepigraphic literature such as 1 Enoch and the Assumption of Moses.

These references would appeal to the Jewish Christian community’s frame of reference rather than the Gentile Christian community because they were Jewish intertestamental works.

Despite the fact that the contents of the epistle of Jude do not identify its place of origin, I, as I noted previously, believe that it was written from somewhere in Palestine and as we will note just after the death of Jude’s brother James.

This is indicated by the same factors, which we noted to support the place of destination of this epistle.

I believe that the epistle of Jude was written between 62-66 A.D. just prior to the Jewish war with Rome between 66-70 A.D. and soon after the death of James.

This is indicated by the fact that though possible, yet unlikely, Jude would never have written this letter which bears his name if his brother James was still alive since as we noted, James was one of the pillars of the church in Jerusalem who died in 62 A.D.

When he was alive James who again was one of the apostles of Jesus was the spokesperson of the church at Jerusalem and in Judaea (Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18; Gal 2:9, 12; 1 Cor 15:7).

If a problem, as in these Zealots infiltrating Christian meetings, James would have dealt with them.

There are several views with regards to the identity of those whom Jude condemns in his epistle.

Many scholars are of the opinion that those whom Jude condemns in this letter are unregenerate teachers who were immersed in an incipient form of Gnosticism and this view we call the unregenerate proto-Gnostic false teacher view.

Gnosticism was the product of the combination of Greek philosophy and Christianity and its central teaching was that spirit is entirely good and matter is entirely evil.

A comparison of the contents of Jude and in particular the description of the conduct of these individuals does not correspond in any way shape or form to what I just noted about Gnosticism.

The second view we will note with regards to the identity of those whom Jude condemns in his letter is the apostate Christian pastor view or false teacher view.

This view can be rejected because Jude describes these individuals as “ungodly men” (verse 4), “devoid of the Spirit” (verse 19) and “for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness have been reserved” (verse 13).

Each of these three descriptions make clear that they are unregenerate and not regenerate Christian pastors living in a state of apostasy.

Secondly, there is no sufficient evidence that those whom Jude condemns in his letter are teachers of false doctrine and in fact he provides no description of the nature of this false teaching.

The opponents described in the epistle of Jude are unregenerate Jewish zealots or Judeans who rebelled against Rome and they were seeking to remove Rome from Judea and establish the kingdom of God in its place.

During the mid-60s the relationship between Rome and Judaea was deteriorating rapidly.

The Zealots or Sicarii they were called, were leading the revolt against Rome and were attempting to seduce Judaeans to rebel against Rome including attempting to persuade the Christian community to join the movement.

When Jude was written, this Judaean revolt led by the Zealots was moving into the cities of Caesarea as well as Jerusalem and stretched out into the desert regions of Judaea including the hill country as well as Samaria and Galilee.

Therefore, the epistle of Jude was attempting to prevent the Jewish Christian community in Judaean from being seduced into taking part in this Zealot led revolt against Rome.

Therefore, since we have determined that Jewish Zealots are those whom Jude condemns in his epistle, Jude 3-4 and 20-21 reveal that the purpose of this letter was to protect the recipients of this letter from these Zealots or Sicarii.

The epistle of Jude quotes from “pseudepigraphic” works since it quotes 1 Enoch and the Assumption or Testament of Moses.

The term “pseudepigrapha” refers to a large number of false and spurious writings.

The New Testament writers make use of a number of these books.

For example, Jude 14–15 quote from the Book of 1 Enoch (1:9) and the Assumption of Moses (1:9); and an allusion from the Penitence of Jannes and Jambres is found in 2 Timothy 3:8.

Of course, it should be remembered that the New Testament also quotes from the heathen poets Aratus (Acts 17:28); Menander (1 Cor. 15:33); and Epimenides (Titus 1:12).

Truth is truth no matter where it is found, whether uttered by a heathen poet, a pagan prophet (Num. 24:17), or even a dumb animal (22:28).

Nevertheless, it should be noted that no such formula as “it is written” or “the Scriptures say” is connected with these citations.

It should also be noted that neither the New Testament writers nor the Fathers have considered these writings canonical.