Hear the Truth

 

DEVOTION

THE LETTER OF JUDE

HEAR THE TRUTH

Jude 11-13

11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion. 12 These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm — shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted — twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

NIV

Jude does not hold back anything at all in defining these wolves in sheep’s clothing that have slipped unnoticed into the church. However, Jude must have found out about them somehow and he is now giving his full attention to drawing everything’s awareness of them and their danger to the church, but most importantly to the truth. First, he says woe to them, for they have taken the way of Cain. This causes us to ponder on just what is the way of Cain. Certainly, Jude was not saying they were killing their brothers in the Lord. But what caused Cain to take such an evil act against Abel? We know Cain was angry because the Lord enjoyed the fat offer of Abel but did accept the first fruit offering of Cain. This anger toward God turned and was vented on his brother Abel. Greed, envy, jealously, pride, hatred, discontentment under the restraints of God, or perhaps something else caused this behavior. Jude is simply saying these men are not a true believer in Christ Jesus, they have another self-serving agenda. They rush into the profit of Balaam’s error, or in other words, they rush greedily into whatever course of life that brings personal gain. But Jude includes the fact their destruction is their end, as any rebellion brings. What is most interesting is the word Jude uses to describe them as blemishes at the love feasts, which is referring most likely to the communion. The Greek word is translated also as spot, but it has the direct meaning of a rock in the sea. This could very well imply a rock unseen in the sea that would cause a shipwreck. That is the implication here, that these men could cause a shipwreck of faith. They have no concerns, but for their feeding of themselves, they are self-serving and in the process may cause to go staving, at least in a spiritual sense. Jude continues to say that are like clouds without rain, which implies they serve no purpose, or that as Peter puts it springs with no water. But Jude uses this cloud in the sense that clouds may bring the promise of rain, but none is there, they are empty. This is the way some of the false teachers are. They promise good things, they make it sound like we should be living an abundant life, but they only speak to enhance themselves and do not bring the truth to the church, there words are empty. All the rest that Jude describes gives us the complete picture to know these are dangerous men and the church is in danger when it listens to them. Today, we have so many who are either on the media airwaves or have written many books, or both, who may not be on the right side of the truth. This is not to say all, but to know there are many false teachers out there looking to gain profit from the gospel message, without every actually declaring the truth of the gospel. We refuse to listen to them, they may well be clouds without rain, springs without water, and spots in the sea that can cause a shipwreck in our lives. No, the Spirit has given us his gift of discernment for a reason, and we would do well to employ his gifts so that our faith is based on the solid rock, which is not hidden beneath the surface but stands as a cornerstone to build our lives upon. If we are going to have an ear that hears, that our ears should hear the truth, and Jude is telling us the truth about those who would oppose it. Let us listen only to the truth.