JUDE

Lesson #3
Principles of Apostasy, verses 8 - 11

VS 8: Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Likewise also these filthy dreamers - The word "Likewise," is the Greek adverb HOMOIOS, meaning, "in a similar manner, likewise."

We have studied three different categories of apostasy:
(1) The apostasy of the believer, as illustrated by the Exodus generation in vs 5.

(2) The apostasy of the fallen angels, as illustrated by Noah's generation in vs 6.

(3) The apostasy of the unbeliever, as illustrated by Sodom and Gomorrah in vs 7.

Now beginning in vs 8 we have the verb HOMOIOS meaning, "in a similar manner," and this is actually saying:
(1) "In a similar manner" to the Exodus generation.
(2) "In a similar manner" to the angels of Noah's generation.
(3) "In a similar manner" to the people of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
This adverb HOMOIS is now going to describe some principles of apostasy that are found almost everywhere. In believers, angels, and unbelievers.

The Greek particle MENTOI meaning, "really, actually, truly, indeed, to be sure," is used here, but not brought out in the King James Version. MENTOI is usually a particle of affirmation but sometimes of opposition. This word expresses the idea that even though there are those tragic examples of apostasy from history as object lessons, "nevertheless," people in every generation are still involved in apostasy.

Literally, "Nevertheless, in a similar manner also, these filthy dreamers."

These filthy dreamers - The word "filthy" is not in the Greek text. The word "dreamers" is the present middle participle of the verb ENUPNIAZO, meaning, "to have delusions of dreams, delusions of thought." This word was used with reference to false prophets. The word refers to being influenced with sensual thought and being carried away to an immoral course of conduct. The "delusion" is actually apostasy, not pornography. Pornography is only an outward expression of an apostate, decadent soul. They are dreaming of false doctrines, they are thinking false doctrines, they are simply thinking human viewpoint. When people begin to think this way it actually has an effect on the body.

Defile the flesh - This tells us that those who "think and believe false doctrine," actually pollute the body. The word "flesh" here refers to the human body here. In other words, the body is polluted because of what goes on in the mind. This is a psychosomatic condition. The delusions of the thinking cause the body to be polluted. Delusions in the thinking mean "worldly thinking," and it runs the gamut from socialism to communism. From the welfare state to internationalism, and to the United Nations and the evil connected with it. In reality, delusions of thinking result from a negative attitude toward divine thinking. When anyone is in that state of mind long enough, he eventually pollutes his body. That is why we have psychotics, neurotics, drug addicts, alcoholics, homosexuals, etc., etc. These types of people are developed because of their negative attitude toward the truth.

Have you notice the increase of the number of unstable people in our society? The number of drug addicts, psychotics, neurotics, alcholics, homosexuals, etc., etc., is directly proportional to the amount of evil thinking or delusive thinking. In other words, the more our society accepts the United Nations, internationalism, welfare, socialism, government control, labor union power, alternate life-styles, etc., etc., the more unstable our society becomes. The condition of our society is directly related to the attitude of our society toward the Bible and divine truth.

Literally, "Nevertheless, in a similar manner also, these thinkers of delusion, on the one hand they pollute the body."

And despise dominion - (9) The word "despise" comes from the Greek word ATHETEO, meaning, "to reject." And the word "dominion" is taken from the Greek word KURIOTES, Meaning, "proper or legitimate authority."

Literally, "Nevertheless, in a similar manner also, these delusive dreamers, on the one hand they pollute the body, and on the other hand they constantly reject duly appointed authority."

When this soul sickness of delusive thinking is allowed to go on long enough, this individual will eventually reject human authority. In other words, when an individual is negative toward God long enough, and if he rejects the authority of God long enough, he will eventually reject human authority. If you are wondering what constitutes duly appointed authority, Daniel 2:21 gives us the answer. "And He completely controls the chronological sequence of events, and the marked out periods of time for each event: He removes rulers, and He sets up rulers: He freely gives spiritual information to those who are positive to receive it, and common sense knowledge to those who are positive to the divine establishment principles in the plan of God." (Expanded translated from the Hebrew text). See also Romans 13:1-7. There isn't anyone in authority today without the permission of God. This Biblical principle applies to the president of the United States, every congressman in our government, every governor in every state, every mayor in every city, every policeman and every employer and every foreman he hires.

And speak evil of dignities - The words "speak evil" is taken from the Greek word BLASPHEMEO, meaning, "to revile, to speak of God or divine things in terms of irreverence, to blaspheme." The word "dignities" comes from the Greek word DOXA, meaning, "glory, honor, majesty." This is in the plural and it actually means "glories." The plural of this word refers to the Trinity. Therefore, this refers to "blaspheming" or "maligning" the members of the Godhead.

EXPANDED TRANSLATION VERSE 8: "Nevertheless, in a similar manner also, these thinkers of delusion, on the one hand they pollute the body, and on the other hand they constantly reject duly appoint authority and blaspheme the glory of God."

VS 9 - Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke thee."

Michael the archangel - (10) The word "Michael" comes from the Hebrew word meaning, "Who is like unto God?" Michael is the first among the archangels, Daniel 10:13, "...then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me..." He is described in Daniel 10:21 as the "prince" of Israel, and in Daniel 12:1 as "the great prince who stands firm" in the time of conflict "for the children of thy people." He is the special guardian of the Jews, and he will defend them in the greatest time of trouble ever known to them in what we call the Tribulation period, (the last seven years of earth history before the second coming of Jesus Christ). This period of time is also known as the "time of Jacob's trouble" in Jeremiah 30:5.

Because of Michael's positive attitude toward the Lord here in Jude 9, he is not personally hostile toward Satan. He only uses the Lord's name. But later in time, during the Tribulation period (Rev 12:7-9), Michael actually goes to war against Satan and defeats him decisively.

God is so well organized that He has a time and place for everything. The more we learn of His Word in the filling of the Holy Spirit, the more we will be enlightened as to the organization and timing of God's plan. That's what growing in grace is all about.

Literally, "But Michael the archangel." Or, "But Michael the chief of the angels." Or, "But Michael the first in rank among the angels." Any one of these translations would be appropriate.

When contending with the devil - This actually refers to "disputing, or taking issue with someone, or to be at odds with someone.
Literally, "But Michael the archangel, when disputing with the devil."

With the devil - (11) The word for "devil" is DIABOLOS, which means, "a slanderer, a treacherous informer, devil."

He disputed about the body of Moses - The word "disputed" refers to "arguing." "Arguing over the body of Moses has its basis in Deuteronomy 34:5-6, which explains the death and burial of Moses. "And Moses the servant of the Lord died in Moab, as the Lord had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is."

Tradition says that the burying of the body of Moses involved the following:
(1). Michael the archangel was commissioned to bury the body of Moses.
(2). Satan opposed this burial. He claimed to be the Lord of the matter, since he was the "prince and power of the air," (Eph 2:2), and "the god of this world," (II Cor 4:4). Therefore, he claimed that the body of Moses should be handed over to him. To this claim Michael simply responded, "The Lord rebuke you."

Literally, "But Michael the archangel, when disputing with the devil he argued concerning the body of Moses."

Durst not bring against him a railing accusation - This literally says, "Dared not to add any reproachful or maligning judgments." In other words, Michael was careful not to be involved in any sins of the tongue when dealing with Satan.

But said, 'The Lord rebuke thee - The word "rebuke" means, "to reprove, reprimand, to admonish strongly."

EXPANDED TRANSLATION VERSE 9: "But Michael the archangel, when he was disputing with the devil, he argued concerning the body of Moses, and did not dare to add to or supplement anything reproachful in a sentence of judgment, but he simply said, 'May the Lord admonish and reprimand you.'"

Verses 10-11 describe the attitude of apostates in their lust motivation.

VS 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.

But these speak evil - The word used for "evil" here is the Greek word BLASPHEMEO, meaning, "to blaspheme, to revile, to reproach." This word refers to "maligning." One of the first attitudes an apostate picks up is that of maligning. And his maligning is always based on ignorance. In our context, maligning is done without having all the facts. But maligning is also done with all the facts, but the basis for this type of maligning is mental attitude sins such as: hatred, jealousy, bitterness, etc., etc. If everyone was required to speak only when he had all the facts, the human race would be almost silent.

We must keep in mind that apostasy is in the business of no facts, and saying a lot of things about which they know nothing. On the other hand, there are those (believer and unbeliever alike) who know the truth, and will deliberately lie in order to hurt someone else.

In our context, this maligning refers to "ignorant maligning," or "ignorant judging," or "ignorant criticism."
Literally, "But these ones, on the one hand they habitually and ignorantly malign."

Those things which they know not - This means that they are talking about things about which they do not have the facts.
Literally, "But these men, on the one hand they habitually and ignorantly malign that what they do not know."

But what they know naturally - The Greek word for "know" is EPISTAMAI, and is used for human perception of human phenomenon resulting in human viewpoint. The Greek word for "naturally" is PHUSIKOS, meaning, "by natural instinct." Animals of the lower creation live by "natural instinct." People who live by instinct or human viewpoint become animals in their thinking and their attitude. They become unreasonable, no matter how high their I.Q., or no matter how great the veneer of their culture.

brute beasts - The Greek word for "brute" is ALOGOS. First of all we have the alpha privitive negating the word. (The alpha privitive means that the Greek letter "a" is attached to the beginning of a word. This automatically makes the word opposite to what its original definition is.) Next we have the Greek word LOGOS, meaning "word, speech, or thought." Keep in mind that "words, speech, or thoughts" are based on thinking in the soul. So ALOGOS actually means "no thinking, unreasonable, absurd, no thought." This refers to subjective thinking. Human viewpoint will eventually lead to subjective thinking.

The entire system of liberalism is based on a subjective type of thinking. Which in turn means that liberals have no real thought. It is strictly human viewpoint, which is anti-God, anti-Biblical, and anti-Christ. When liberalism runs the country, almost everything becomes absurd and unreasonable. From the concept of forced integration, to affirmative action, to allowing criminals to go free because of technicalities, to the restrictions on law-abiding citizens to defend themselves with hand guns, to the lack of strict discipline in our public schools. The list goes on and on, but the point I want to make is that when liberalism is in control almost everything becomes absurd and unreasonable. It is all human viewpoint and decadent thinking. All of this goes right along with apostasy.

The Greek word for "beasts" is ZOON, meaning, "a living creature." This actually refers to a living thing which is neither human or animal. This word is used three different ways in Greek literature:

(1). This word is used for angelic creatures in Revelation 4:6-9.
(2). This word is used for a unique bird (in Attic Greek), and this bird is called the Phoenix.
(3). This word is used for a human being who has a great distortion in his soul and thinks like an animal. (Jude 10).

Literally, "But these men, on the one hand they habitually and ignorantly malign that which they do not know, and on the other hand, as much as they do know and understand by their natural instinct as non-thinking animals."

In those things they corrupt themselves - I want you to notice that this human viewpoint thinking destroys the individual. It brings corruption and ruin to the soul.

This verse tells us that the ignorant apostate maligns on the basis of his ignorance, and that the smart apostate distorts the knowledge he has into subjectivity. In other words, the stupid apostate maligns what he does not understand, and the smart apostate distorts what he has learned because of subjectivity in his soul.

EXPANDED TRANSLATION VERSE 10: "But these men, on the one hand they habitually and ignorantly malign the things that they do not have a knowledge of, and on the other hand, the things that they do know and understand by natural instinct, by means of these things they are brought down to corruption and ruin."

VS 11 - Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and pershed in the gainsaying of Korah.

Woe unto them - The word "woe" comes from the Greek word OUAI, which is an interjection of denunciation and grief meaning, "woe, calamity, grief, sorrow, sadness. "Unto them" refers to anyone who follows the patterns of the apostates that we have studied in verses 5-10.

For they have gone in the way of Cain - (12) Cain was the first one in the human race who remained an unbeliever after God provided salvation. Cain was the firstborn of Adam and Eve. The historical account of Cain and Abel is found in Genesis chapter four. Cain typifies all self-righteous people in history. He was jealous, petty, implacable, and he did not respond to discipline. When people fail to respond to discipline (fair or unfair) it generally indicates great arrogance. In this way Cain took after his mother. She had a great tendency toward arrogance.

Cain was the product of a perfect physical genetic structure. Adam and Eve came directly from the hand of God and they were perfect. Whatever Cain became, he could not blame anyone but himself. He was what his free will chose to be. The principle is this: we are the product of our own decisions; we are not the product of our environment. This principle is true today, but most people do not accept it.

Humanly speaking Cain was a good, hard working, prosperous individual. And he relied on those characteristics to gain him favor with God. There is nothing wrong in being good, hard working, prosperous, or even generous, kind, sympathetic and loving. But those things actually become the downfall of anyone when they become distorted by evil to gain favor with God. In other words, if you are kind, generous, good, and hard working just to gain favor with God, then in reality you are not kind, or generous, or good, or hard working at all. It has all been distorted. But if you are kind, generous, good, and hard working because you have Bible doctrine in your soul, then that is recognized by God.

Literally, "Woe to them, because they have pursued the way of Cain."

And ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward - (13) Running "greedily" means to move rapidly through life and look out for no one but yourself. Greed is a very self-centered attitude. And for the illustration of this attitude Jude chooses Balaam. He says, "the error of Balaam." The word "error" refers to "delusion, deception, or wandering from the path of truth." Balaam was a prophet of God who loved money and wealth more than he loved God.
Literally, "And they gave themselves over to the delusion of Balaam for money."

So verse 11 says, "Woe to them, because they departed from the true course and pursued after the lifestyle of Cain, and they gave themselves over to the delusion and error of Balaam for money."

In our study of the first part of verse 11, we saw Cain and "APPROBATION LUST."
Now we see Balaam and "MATERIALISM LUST."

To receive an understanding of the story of Balaam you should read the following passages: Numbers 22:1-41; 23:1-30; 24:1-25; 25:1-9; 31:1-18. The story of Balaam is the story of a prophet of God who spent his life searching for riches, but ended up dying the sin unto death. Paul said in I Timothy 6:10 that "The love of money is the root of all evil."
Literally, "Woe to them because they pursued the way of Cain, and gave themselves over to the delusion of Balaam for money."

And perished in the gainsaying of Korah - (14) Korah was a Levite who joined up with Dathan and Abiram in rebelling against Moses in the desert. Dathan and Abiram were from the tribe of Reuben. Korah was the first cousin of Moses and Aaron, but that didn't mean a thing when it came to authority. Korah became very jealous of Moses and Aaron. Hatred developed.

Perished - The Greek word translated "perished" here means, "to kill, to destroy, to put to death."
Literally, "And they were put to death in the gainsaying of Korah."

Gainsaying - Means, "opposition, rebellion, revolution."
Literally, "And they were all put to death in the revolution (rebellion) of Korah." Exodus 6:16 & 21, tells us that Korah was a Levite, which would make him a near relative of Moses and Aaron. The incident of Korah's rebellion is described in Numbers 16:1-49. Jude uses the illustration of Korah as a picture of power lust in apostasy.

There are two things about power lust:

A - Power lust rejects duly constituted authority.
B - Power lust seeks to overthrow that authority.

EXPANDED TRANSLATION VERSE 11: "Woe to them, because they departed from the true course and pursued after the lifestyle of Cain, and they gave themselves over to the false opinion and error of Balaam for money, and they were violently put to death in the revolution of Korah."

The next lesson, verse 12 -13, we will study the five analogies to apostasy.

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