21 - The Ungodly and Ungodliness [B]

The Ungodly and Ungodliness
Jude 14-18
Jude Lesson #21
May 2, 2013
Dr. Robert L. Dean, Jr.
www.deanbibleministreis.org

It has been pointed out that 2 Peter has a lot of parallels with Jude and that these parallels are there because Peter prophecies about the future infiltration of false teachers, in Jude it is present tense; he is writing because now they are there. Jude writes sometime after Peter. It has been debated by a number of scholars as to which epistle was written first, and we will see why Jude is the second of the two epistles. 

First we have to address an issue that comes up in vv. 14, 15, one of the issues that becomes a stumbling block for some people who are really over-thinkers. It is a really simple issue, and that is that Jude, like Paul and others in the Scripture, quote from a non-biblical source a statement that is in that non-biblical source that is true as an affirmation of the principle or the point that he is making. He is not validating everything else that is in that source or approving them.

When we come to our study in Jude this is a warning of something that is taking place within this congregation. But it is not just some Christians who are teaching aberrant doctrine or have gotten off track a little bit, these are actually unbelievers who have infiltrated the congregation. They are not regenerate, they are unbelievers, and they are teaching false doctrine. Not all false teachers are necessarily unbelievers, but these are.

There is a citation that is going to come in here from Enoch. It is not validating the entire book of Enoch, it is simply affirming one statement that is made there. You can't jump to a conclusion that that means everything in the book of Enoch must be inspired or prophetic because it is not.

There are some books that didn't make it into the canon of Scripture and there are people who come long today and say we should have included those. Well, on what basis? There are 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament that were accepted by both the Jews of the Old Testament and the Christians of the New Testament as divinely inspired books of Scripture. The Old Testament process of canonicity is different from the New Testament books process of canonicity, but there is one thing that is similar. That is that in both the Old Testament era and the New Testament era there were a group of divinely empowered prophets and apostles and prophets who were the final human arbiters of canonicity, of divine inspiration. There were criteria for whether or not a work was even considered to be possibly divinely inspired.

Among the 39 books in our English Old Testament (the Jewish collection is a little bit different because some of our books are separated as I & II Samuel and are just combined as one book in the Hebrew canon, things of that nature) and the 27 New Testament books there were a few that had a little more difficult time getting recognized into the canon. But there were no other books that had any significant or serious claim to be within the canon. In the Old Testament the book that had the most difficult time being accepted, but eventually was accepted, is the book of Esther. The reason was because Esther does mention the name of God anywhere.

There is another set of books that are included in some Christian Bibles and are part of the Old Testament in those Bibles. The term for those books is the Apocrypha. Depending on whether you were part of the Syrian Orthodox church, the Coptic church or a couple of other smaller groups the number of books included within the Apocrypha differed. These were additional books from the Old Testament period but they were never accepted by any Jewish authority to be on the same level as the 39 books we have. Also, the Jews had basically formulated and fixed their canon long before the first century. What we often hear from some scholars today is that it is formed when the rabbis come together after the collapse of the province of Judea and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70; and that there was a meeting around AD 90 where they affirmed a canon of the Old Testament. The reality is that this canon had for all practical purposes been resolved for at least 150 years before Christ. Nothing else was ever considered to be added to those 39 books. In fact, when Jesus talked about the Old Testament He referred to the same basic collection of the Law, the prophets and the writings. He refers to the breadth of history in the Old Testament from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, and in 2 Chronicles the last prophet to be murdered by the people to be Zechariah. So "Abel to Zechariah" shows that for Jesus the canon that He had was the same canon that was affirmed in AD 90, not chosen.

The process of canonicity in both the Old and New Testament periods is pretty much a recognition of what the body of believers uses and recognizes to be from the Word of God, and there is almost a universal unanimity of acceptance of these books. There are some that are eventually included in the canon in both periods where it takes a little longer because of some doubt, but there are really no other serious contenders.

The book of Enoch was never a part of the Apocrypha and never considered to be part of the Apocrypha. It is part of another group of books called pseudepigrapha (pseudo = false; grapha = writings). It refers to a collection of religious writings that never even made it to the C list as a possibility of being in the canon. Nobody ever thought of the book of Enoch as being a contender to be in the Old Testament. It is not even sure that this is a book that was written by Enoch, it just claims to be. However, it was well known at the time and the reason why Jude quoted it might be (we are limited by conjecture) because it was a book that was known by these false teachers and maybe used by them. That is one of many possibilities.

What we do know is that Jude under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit quotes from one verse in the book of Enoch as a validation, a point of reference to what he is claiming here. His point is that these false teachers will arise and God will judge them. That has been his major theme all the way back to verse 4 where certain men were long beforehand (eternity past) marked out condemnation, not as individuals per se but because they were unbelievers and were teaching false doctrine. Believers who teach false doctrine will be judged by God, and as has been pointed out this condemnation is not focused on eternal condemnation but on a punishment or condemnation within history, not after history. 

As part of his support for his basic thesis that ungodly men will be brought to judgment/condemnation Jude references Enoch. Jude 1:14 ^NASB "{It was} also about these men {that} Enoch, {in} the seventh {generation} from Adam, prophesied, saying, 'Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, [15] to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.'"

As scholars have studied this they have recognized that there is no reference to the book of Enoch in any book of the Old Testament. Jesus never refers to it or alludes to it. There is nothing of any of the other books of Scripture that alludes to Enoch. Enoch was written, we know, sometime prior to 110 BC and it was a book that was known to many Jews in the first century.

The quote that Jude has here is not precisely identical to Enoch 1:9. One of the first differences is that Jude says, "behold, the Lord comes," whereas the Enoch 1:9 says, "Behold, he comes." This is a typical substitution that is found in many writers of the New Testament when they quote from the Old Testament. Then in Jude 15 we have "to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly," which is a little different in at least one version of Enoch 1:9 (there are different versions of Enoch that have floated around). One version that is considered to be the most accurate through textual criticism states "and to destroy all the ungodly and to convict all flesh of all the works of their ungodliness." Those are the differences, but most of it is pretty much saying the exact same thing.

All Jude is doing here is quoting from a verse in the book of Enoch that is stating the correct thing. And by virtue of the fact that God the Holy Spirit deems it viable to quote from this verse indicates that this statement is a true statement and it is elevated to the level of Scripture by virtue of its inclusion in the book of Jude.

There are similar statements made in other passages of Scripture. For example, at the beginning where it talks about the Lord coming with His holy ones. This is also used of angels and it is stated in passages such as Matthew 24:30 and 2 Thessalonians 1:10—the fact that He is coming to judge everyone, both the alive and the dead, are statements made in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 as well as other passages.

As we look at this particular quote it is used simply as an affirmation of what he has already said. Some emphasize the fact that Enoch prophesied and how this must mean that the book of Enoch must be validated as prophecy. But there are both believers and unbelievers who prophesy in the Bible. For example, in John 11:51 we are told that Caiaphas prophesied regarding the fate of Jesus by saying it was better for one man to die in the place of the nation. He doesn't understand what he is saying but even an unbeliever is making a prophetic statement that is true, and so that was included by John in the Gospel. That doesn't mean doesn't mean that Caiaphas was a believer or that what he was saying was necessarily inspired by God the Holy Spirit, but it was an accurate statement and prediction of what would come to pass.

Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, also prophesied as the Holy Spirit empowered him, women prophesied in the early church as well; and so this word has some different nuances. There were numerous prophecies given by prophets that did not become canonical Scripture and were not even included in Scripture. There was much information given through the prophets under divine inspiration to Israel in the Old Testament as well as through the apostles in the New Testament but was not deemed important enough to be included in Scripture. As well we have a couple of examples of unbelievers making statements related to prophecy. So this does not necessarily validate or affirm the entire book of Enoch.

When Jude says that Enoch was the seventh from Adam this would be an inclusive list. The first generation is Adam, the second his son Seth, then his son Enosh, then his son Kenan, then his son Mahalalel, then his son Jared, and then his son Enoch. This identified this Enoch with the pre-flood figure, and remember that Enoch was the one who did not die. He was the father of Methuselah who lived to be 989 years of age. Enoch was translated directly into heaven.

The main point of this quote has to do with judgment: that the Lord will come in the future with ten thousand or myriads of His saints (holy ones), which could refer to angels, it can include both angels and resurrected church age believers. It does not exclude believers, it simply refers to holy ones and could include both angels and humans as well. Their purpose is to bring judgment upon mankind, upon the human race. This is future judgment anticipated by Old Testament Hebrew prophets such as Zechariah. It is predicted in Zechariah 14:5 that when the Lord will come all the holy ones will come with Him. Jesus reaffirmed this in Matthew 16:27; 25: 31, as well as other passages; which means that these angels as well as resurrected church age believers will be in attendance with Jesus when He comes to destroy the armies of the Antichrist and to throw the Antichrist and the false prophet into the lake of fire when He comes to defeat the forces of the devil in the campaign of Armageddon.

The key word that we see here is the word "ungodly." There are four times that the English uses the word. Putting the ly ending on it makes it appear to be an adverb. However it is a noun. It is used as an adjective toward the end: "ungodly sinners." They are all basically the same words. The root is sebeia, which indicates something to do with one's relationship to God, conformity to God, worship of God. eusebeia has to do with the spiritual life; it is sometimes translated "godliness" or "godlikeness," indicating one who conforms to the characteristics of God. Then when it is used in a negative sense the eu prefix (something positive) is substituted with an a prefix, indicating negation—ungodly.

What exactly does it mean that they are ungodly? There are some verses that "ungodly" could refer to a believer and other places where it is very clear that it is always an unbeliever. What we will see is that technically an ungodly person or "the ungodly" as a category is a term that describes unbelievers. Believers can manifest ungodliness. In other words, they can act like the unbeliever and manifest the characteristics of an ungodly person. But an ungodly person is a strict category for unbelievers, as we will see.

Romans 1:18 ^NASB "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." The human beings being spoken of here are the ones who have rejected God's revelation of Himself. They deny the existence of God and are in rebellion against Him. So these are unbelievers. They are not just rejecting the gospel but prior to rejecting the gospel they are rejecting even the existence and the authority of God.

Romans 11:26 ^NASB "and so all Israel will be saved …" This is referring to the physical deliverance of at least one third of the Jews during the future battle of Armageddon.

Just as a side note: There are certain calumnies, certain slanderous things that are said about dispensationalists by some other Christians which has leaked into the Jewish community. So this gets distorted and people say dispensationalists are really anti-Semitic because they believe that at the battle of Armageddon Jesus will kill two thirds of the Jews. But that is really a distortion. The percentage comes from an Old Testament prophet, Zechariah. So it is simply affirming what Zechariah says about the decimation that occurs among the Jewish people at the day of the Lord. But Jesus comes so that one hundred per cent aren't killed. He comes to rescue Israel at that time and so one third survive.

But take that and compare it to the numbers in Revelation which talk about the different judgments that come upon the entirety of the human race. There is one quarter of the human race killed during the first series of judgments, the seal judgments. During the second series of judgments, the trumpet judgments, a third of those remaining are killed. Add that together and it comes to between one half and two thirds of the entire human race killed during the Tribulation period. So the percentage of Jews killed during the Tribulation period is roughly the same as the rest of humanity, so nobody is picking on the Jews in some sort of special hostile, anti-Semitic manner. We are just saying that God brings judgment on the entire earth during the Tribulation and these judgments are so severe that two thirds of mankind are going to die.

But Jesus will come and rescue those who remain. "… just as it is written, 'THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.'" The Greek word used here for "remove" is apostrepho (not epistrepho, which is a word for turning, like repent) which means to turn away or remove something. So ungodliness at that point is removed from Israel. They are purified, and this is the same picture as in the Old Testament of the nation being purified before they go into the future kingdom.

2 Timothy 2:16 ^NASB "But avoid worldly {and} empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness." This is a mandate given to Christians and it is saying not to act in an ungodly manner. In other words, living like unbelievers. This isn't a statement that Christians are ungodly but that they can perform ungodly acts or ungodliness.

We get a little more clarity when we look at the noun form. In Romans 4:5 ^NASB "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness." The ungodly are those who need justification. So therefore the ungodly are unjustified and they require justification. Ungodly here refers to unbelievers who are in need of justification, so ungodly as a noun refers in this verse to unbelievers.

Romans 5:6 ^NASB "For while we were still helpless [unbelievers], at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." This is another use of the adjective, and adjective used for the classification of people—unsaved people.

1 Peter 4:18 ^NASB "AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER?" Here again ungodly and sinner are used as synonyms for unbelievers.

2 Peter 2:5, 6 ^NASB "and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and {if} He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing {them} to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly {lives} thereafter." (Notice the New Testament in 2 Peter recognizes the universality of the flood at the time of Noah. It was not a local flood) Noah and the other seven are godly; they are believers. Everybody else is an unbeliever, so here "ungodly" is clearly a synonym for unbelievers. In verse 6 here there is a shift in the term. Now it is not a category of people who are ungodly, it is talking about a people who would live like ungodly people. Sodom and Gomorrah were made up of almost all unbelievers. The only righteous people/believers were Lot and his wife and two daughters.

It is interesting that Lot's two daughters were married but the sons-in-law were unbelievers and didn't want to get out of Sodom and Gomorrah. The only ones rescued were Lot and his wife and two daughters. Then as they are leaving town his wife looks back.

The admonition of Peter is that the destruction of those unbelievers is an example to those who would later live like them. That could include believers, so there is a difference between "ungodly" as a category of believers and those who would live like them.

2 Peter 3:7 ^NASB "But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men." "Destruction" [sometimes translation perdition] is apollumi, the same term that is used in John 3:16 to refer to those who perish. So this is a word related to the future eternal judgment of the ungodly men. Once again, this passage is a clear category for unbelievers.

Further description of these ungodly false teachers: Jude 1:16 ^NASB "These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their {own} lusts; they speak arrogantly …" The word "following" is the Greek word poreuomai which means to travel about, to walk about. It emphasizes the course of their life. The terms for grumble and complain are words refer to the expression of discontent, murmuring, grumbling, griping. They are expressing their dissatisfaction with God. This is just another aspect to their blasphemy. They are completely giving in to their lust patterns—approbation lust, sex lust, power lust, all of the different lust patterns that motivate man proceeding from his sin nature. It results in sins of the tongue—grumbling, complaining—but also arrogant boastfulness. They are always puffing themselves up and making themselves sound as if they are the final arbiter of the will of God and speaking for God. "…flattering people for the sake of {gaining an} advantage." They lie and deceive in order to get people on their side.

This is the same thing Peter warned about in 2 Peter 2:18 as he warned about the coming of these future false teachers: ^NASB "For speaking out arrogant {words} of vanity [emptiness] they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error." They are appealing to people. Their teaching is licentious, it appeals to the lust of their flesh. They don't have to see any life change in terms of obedience to God but they just continue to live like unbelievers. 

Jude 1:17 ^NASB "But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ." Now he is referring to the fact that there was a warning made by several apostles. We know of one who makes this same, identical prediction but Jude is referring to the fact that there is at least more than one apostle who warned that there would come a time when mockers—expressing a dissatisfaction and ridicule of a position. [18] "that they were saying to you, 'In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.'"

Who are these mockers? 2 Peter 3:1 ^NASB "This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, [2] that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior {spoken} by your apostles. [3] Know this first [above all in priority] of all, that in the last days mockers will come with {their} mocking, following after their own lusts." This is a trend all through the church age, not just at the end of the church age. Throughout the church age there will be those who come rejecting biblical authority and they are motivated by their own lusts. That is the same basic thing being said here as Jude says.

What do they say? 2 Peter 3:4 ^NASB "and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For {ever} since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.'" This is a prediction. What he is saying is that all things continue at the same rate. In evolution there is a doctrine called uniformitarianism which is an assumption underlying historical geology, the idea that we can interpret the fossils and we can interpret the strata of the earth in a way to give us a time line, and that all rates of the deposition of soil have occurred at the same rate throughout all of the ages of the earth. It is a uniform decay pattern so that we can look at what the decay rate is today and extrapolate back, and therefore we get millions or billions of years for our ages. So Peter predicts this doctrine from the scoffers.

2 Peter 3:5 ^NASB "For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice [they willingly reject it] that by the word of God {the} heavens existed long ago and {the} earth was formed out of water and by water." This is a reference to Genesis 1:2 where the darkness covered the face of the deep, which is a term for the seas that covered the face of the earth. This is talking about the condition of the earth in the first period from the creation in Genesis chapter one to the flood. Because [6] "through [by this water that was there prior to the flood] which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water." That is talking about the world-wide flood.

Then he goes to the heavens and the earth that now are, i.e. since the time of the flood. 2 Peter 3:7 ^NASB "But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men." So verse 6 is not talking about some kind of a destruction in Genesis 1:2, it is talking about the world-wide flood because God judges the earth twice: once by flood and second by fire. It is destroyed by water at the Noahic flood and it is destroyed by fire in the future judgment.

So when Jude comes along and says that there will be mockers in the last days who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts he is affirming the same thing, connecting what he is saying back to what Peter says in 2 Peter chapter three.