1. Book of Jude A Literary Analysis

2. Jude or Judas Thaddeus or Jude, brother of James  The Epistle of Jude is the penultimate book of the Bible.  The Book is very short: only 25 verses.  Jude is not Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus.  In Catholicism, St. Jude is the patron saint of lost causes because many Christians falsely associated him with Judas Iscariot and therefore, did not want him as a patron saint. As a result of this, St. Jude was eager to assist anyone who asked him for assistance, even in the most tragic circumstances. The Church also wanted to boost his image, so it encouraged veneration of St. Jude by promoting St. Jude as the patron of lost causes, he’ll intervene for the worst of the worst situations.

3. Jude warns against Heterodoxy Outline*  I. Salutation (1-3)  II. Occasion for the Letter (3-4)  III. Warning against the False Teachers (5-16)  IV. Exhortation to Believers (17-23)  V. Concluding Doxology (24-25) *Wikipedia Heterodoxy: any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position

4. “ ” 4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.4 5 Verses 4 and 5 indicate that the recipient of the Jude’s letter is not directed at any one person in particular, but to the general population. This technique of general address was also effectively used in Psalms. The message is very clear in these verses: God is a selfish God. He saved His followers in Egypt and murdered the non-believers. It is prudent to stay true to His word and not get caught up in any unorthodox interpretations. This is of course highly ironic considering the legions of unorthodox Christian sects existing in the world today.

5. “Remember Sodom and Gomorrha” Jude next reminds us of God’s awesome vengeance. It’s obvious that Jude was well versed in the Bible. He alludes to Cain, Moses, Enoch, Sodom and Gomorrha, etc. “10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.”10 This is something which is easy for a modern audience to relate to. With so many outspoken Atheists in our society who speak of the evils of following God, some of the same individuals may be engaging in pleasures of the flesh and unknowingly ruin themselves.

6. “ ” 14 14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.15 16 Jude references natural imagery, showing the demise of the non-believers: dead, fruitless trees, waterless clouds and raging seas. Jude also speaks of the prophesy of Enoch and the judgment of the non-believers and ungodly by a saintly army. Removing the rhetoric and speaking secularly, Jude seems to be scolding those without discipline and self-control or those who value themselves above all else.

7. “21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”21  Jude says that Jesus warned there would be those that mocked the faithful in the end of times.  However, he says those people will be struck down, and those faithful disciples will be spared from judgment.  Jude says that these people will separate themselves from the Spirit and live in the sensual.  However, he instructs the audience to be caring for those that are doomed and to pluck them from the flame.

8. Final Thoughts  The Book of Jude is an overall hopeful book.  It is meant to be a reminder of Old Testament judgment roots.  It complements Revelation and grounds the psychedelia of Revelation imagery.  The Book of Jude begins to close the loop from the Old Testament by warning, “He told you so.”  This is an important book to preempt Revelation because Revelation is such a shocking departure from the styles of the previous books. Jude gives the audience a heads up.  Every story has an initial conflict, a rising action, a climax and a resolution. The Book of Jude serves to foreshadow the resolution of the Bible.