Jude Series: Jude 17-Jude Commands Christian Community in Judaea to Remember the Prophetic Words of the Apostles

Jude 17 Now, each and every one of you beloved bring into remembrance the prophetic words, which have been communicated beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Lecturer’s translation)

Jude 17 marks a transition in the epistle of Jude and specifically, it is marking a transition from Jude 14-16 to Jude 17-19.

The former we noted compares those people who will be judged by Jesus Christ at His Second Advent with the unregenerate Jewish Zealots in Jude’s day and age in the first century A.D. and it also contains a five-fold description of these unregenerate Jewish Zealots.

Like Jude 16, Jude 19 also contains a description of these unregenerate Jewish Zealots and in fact provides a three-fold description of these individuals.

Also, Jude 17-18 reminds the Jewish Christian community in Judaea of the prophetic statement of the apostles of Jesus Christ, which appears in Jude 18 and asserts that in the end times, there will be scoffers who will be driven by their ungodly, sinful desires.

2 Peter 3:2-4 echoes Jude 17-18 and actually identifies for the reader of the latter exactly what unrepentant, unregenerate people will be mocking during the last days or end times, namely, the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ at His Second Advent.

The last days began with the Lord Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father and will end with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. In other words, the last days began with the First Advent of Jesus Christ and will end with His Second Advent.

This interpretation that Jude 17 is speaking of those people who will mock or scoff at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ taking place on the earth is supported by the contents of Jude 14-15, which compares those who will be judged by Jesus Christ at His Second Advent with these unregenerate Jewish Zealots.

This apostolic prophecy is a condemnation of these Jewish Zealots since they were living during the last days and they rejected the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles that He will personally and violently destroy all Gentile power and elevate Israel to the head of the Gentile nations at His Second Advent.

Therefore, the transition that Jude 17 is marking is between Jude 14-16, which compares those people who will be judged by Jesus Christ at His Second Advent with the Jewish Zealots of the first century A.D. as well as a five-fold description of these unregenerate Jewish Zealots, and Jude 17-19, which contains a reminder of the prophecy regarding those who will reject the Second Advent of Jesus Christ as well as a three-fold description of these unregenerate Jewish Zealots.

Also, the contents of Jude 17-19 correspond to the contents of Jude 3-4, which presents the purpose of the epistle, because of the chiastic structure of the letter, which indicates that the contents of Jude 8-16 is the focal point of this letter, which describes these Jewish Zealots and their judgment.

The adjective agapētos (ἀγαπητός), “beloved” is indicating the close personal relationship that existed between the recipients of this epistle who were members of the Jewish Christian community in Judaea and the writer of this epistle, Jude.

It also speaks of the relationship the recipients of this epistle possessed with the Trinity and expresses the fact that they were the recipients and beneficiary of God’s love.

The anarthrous construction of this adjective is qualitative emphasizing that the recipients of the epistle of Jude are the objects of a love that is “divine in nature.”

As a vocative of simple address, this word is expressing the fact that Jude is expressing an urgent, deep, emotional Spirit inspired appeal to the recipients of this epistle to remember the prophetic words of the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The noun rhēma (ῥῆμα), “the prophetic words” is referring to the words of the apostles of Jesus Christ, which formed a prophetic statement.

The noun apostolos (ἀπόστολος), “the apostles” is used by Jude to describe those in the Christian community in the first century A.D. who held the temporary office and spiritual gift of an apostle, which was given by the Lord Jesus Christ to only twelve men with Paul replacing Judas Iscariot.

In this verse, apostolos (ἀπόστολος), “the apostles” refers to the temporary spiritual gift of apostleship that held maximum authority in the church.

This gift was given to only twelve men and existed exclusively during the pre-canon period of the church age and is no longer existent today since all twelve men have died and went home to be with the Lord (See Matthew 10:2-4).

The prepositional phrase hypo tōn apostolōn tou kyriou hēmōn Iēsou Christou (ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ), “by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” indicates that the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ are “the personal agency” through whom the Holy Spirit communicated this prophetic statement to the Christian community.

As we noted, Jude 17 is commanding the Jewish Christian community to bring into remembrance this prophetic statement that during the last days there will be individuals who will mock the teaching of the apostles that the Lord Jesus Christ will return at His Second Advent to destroy the Gentiles nations who oppose Him and establish His millennial reign on the earth.

The verb mimnēskomai (μιμνῄσκομαι) is expressing idea of the recipients of this epistle recalling this prophetic statement from the apostles from their memory but without necessarily implying that they had forgotten this prophecy.

Thus, this is in some ways a friendly reminder but more than that as indicated by the aorist imperative conjugation of this verb.

The aorist imperative conjugation of this verb mimnēskomai (μιμνῄσκομαι) is an ingressive aorist imperative which emphasizes that this is a command to “begin” an action.

Therefore, it is emphasizing with each of the recipients of this epistle that they must “begin to” or “bring into” remembrance the prophetic statement of the apostles of Jesus Christ through the personal agency of the apostolic teaching.

This is not a “constative” aorist imperative which would emphasize the idea of “continuing to act.”

Rather, the aorist imperative is emphasizing with the recipients of this letter that they must “begin” to act.

This is indicated by the fact that Jude 3-4 indicates that a new crisis had developed in the Jewish Christian community with regards to the threat posed by these Jewish Zealots, which had not been a problem in the past.

So notice that in Jude 3-4, the writer Jude felt so compelled to warn the recipients of these Jewish Zealots that he held off on writing to them regarding such an important and vital subject as their so great salvation, which he diligently prepared to write to them about.

In other words, Jude 3-4 imply that a sudden change of events had taken place in the Jewish Christian community in Judaea because of the threat posed by the Jewish Zealots.

Therefore, the aorist imperative conjugation of the verb mimnēskomai (μιμνῄσκομαι) in Jude 17 is emphasizing with the recipients of this letter that they must “begin” to act because Jude 3-4 implies that a new crisis had emerged in the Jewish Christian community in Judaea which had not been a problem in the past.

It is also expressing the “urgency” of each of the recipients of this epistle bringing into remembrance this prophetic statement.

This is an urgent command because obedience to it will protect the recipients of this letter from being persuaded by these Jewish Zealots to join them in their attempt to establish the kingdom of God on earth by removing the Roman government from Judaea.

It will protect them from these godless, rebellious individuals because the apostolic prophecy in Jude 18 asserts that in the last days people will mock the Second Advent of Jesus Christ as taking place on the earth.

These Zealots rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah and King and thus rejected His teaching that He will personally establish the kingdom of God on earth by destroying all Gentile powers and establishing the nation of Israel as the head of all the Gentile nations.

Therefore, because they rejected our Lord’s teaching regarding His Second Advent, these Jewish Zealots were under the judgment of God.

Consequently, the Jewish Christian community in Judaea must reject all attempts by these Zealots to join them in their rebellion against Rome.

So therefore, the contents of Jude 17 are commanding the recipients of this letter to bring into remembrance the prophetic words, which had been communicated to the Christian community in Judaea orally by the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.

A comparison of Jude 18 with Jude 14-15 as well as 2 Peter 2:3 reveals that the prophecy asserts that in the last days there will be people who will reject the Second Advent of Jesus Christ on the earth.

These unregenerate Jewish Zealots were just like these people who will be judged by the Lord at His Second Advent because they too rejected the Second Advent of Jesus Christ because they were attempting to lead a rebellion of the Jewish people against Rome with the pretext of ushering in the kingdom of God on the earth.

As we noted the Lord will personally establish the kingdom of God on the earth at His Second Advent.

Now, when Jude commands the Jewish Christian community in Judaea to bring into remembrance this prophecy, he does not want them to simply recall this prophecy but rather he also wants them to make an application to this situation which they were facing with these unregenerate Jewish Zealots.

The application would clearly be that they reject these attempts of the Jewish Zealots to get them to join their rebellion because it is totally opposed to the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles.

Thus, it would be against the will of God for their lives to join this rebellion since the teaching of the Lord and His apostles reveals the will of the Father, which was to establish His kingdom on the earth through His one and only Son, Jesus Christ alone.