Commentary - Jude 1:14-16

Bird's-eye view

In this potent section of his epistle, Jude marshals an ancient prophecy to deliver a final, crushing verdict on the apostates he has been describing. Having compared them to Cain, Balaam, and Korah, and having painted them as dangerous reefs, waterless clouds, and wandering stars, he now brings a witness from before the flood to seal their doom. By quoting Enoch, Jude does two things. First, he demonstrates that the judgment of such ungodly men is not a new invention but has been settled from the dawn of time. God has always had one response to arrogant rebellion. Second, he provides a detailed prophetic description of the final judgment, when the Lord Jesus returns with His heavenly host. This prophecy serves as the ultimate ground for Jude's warning. The Lord is coming, He will judge, and nothing will be hidden.

Following this solemn prophecy, Jude pivots back to a direct description of these false teachers, grounding the ancient prediction in their present, observable behavior. Their character is a toxic brew of grumbling discontent, self-pitying complaint, slavery to lust, arrogant boasting, and manipulative flattery. Each of these traits is a manifestation of the core problem Enoch identified: ungodliness. Their rebellion against God's created order and moral law works its way out in their sour attitudes, their inflated speech, and their exploitative relationships. This passage, therefore, connects the eschatological reality of Christ's return with the ethical necessity of godly living in the here and now. The Lord who is coming in judgment is the same Lord who demands contentment, humility, and integrity from His people today.

Outline

Context In Jude

Jude has been systematically exposing the character and destiny of the false teachers who have crept into the church. He began by urging his readers to contend for the faith (v. 3) and then provided a series of Old Testament examples of judgment: unbelieving Israel, fallen angels, and Sodom and Gomorrah (vv. 5-7). He then described the apostates directly, highlighting their defilement of the flesh, rejection of authority, and blasphemy (v. 8). He has compared them to the way of Cain (murderous envy), the error of Balaam (greed), and the rebellion of Korah (challenging God-ordained authority). The previous verses (vv. 12-13) used vivid natural imagery to describe their uselessness and destructive nature. This section (vv. 14-16) serves as the climax of his denunciation. The prophecy from Enoch functions as a divine exclamation point on everything he has said so far. It is the ultimate "Thus saith the Lord" that confirms the fate of these men. The description in verse 16 then brings the argument back to the present, showing how the character of these men perfectly matches the profile of those whom the Lord is coming to judge.

Key Issues

The Inspired Apostle and the Oddball Book

Now, when a modern Christian reads that Jude quoted from the Book of Enoch, a certain amount of alarm can sometimes be felt. Is Jude endorsing a book that the Church has not recognized as canonical Scripture? Is our faith dependent on a strange, apocalyptic book that was lost for centuries? We need to settle down. The doctrine of inspiration means that what Jude wrote is God-breathed and authoritative, not that his sources were. The Apostle Paul quoted pagan poets on Mars Hill, saying, "as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring" (Acts 17:28). He was not canonizing the entire works of Aratus. He was simply grabbing a true statement that his audience recognized and using it as a rhetorical stepping stone to get to the gospel.

Jude does the same thing here. The Book of Enoch was a known piece of literature among the Jews of that day. The false teachers Jude was combating were likely familiar with it, perhaps even fond of its speculative content. So Jude, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, reaches into their world, pulls out a prophecy that happens to be true, and uses it like a hammer to smash their pretensions. The Spirit of God is not limited in His toolbox. He can use a pagan poet, a donkey, or even a prophecy preserved in an oddball book to declare His truth. The authority rests not in Enoch, but in the inspired apostle who, by the Spirit, affirms the truth of this particular statement. Jude is the inspired filter, and what he writes down in his epistle is the infallible Word of God.

Verse by Verse Commentary

14 But Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied about these men, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones,

Jude reaches way back into primeval history, to a time before the Flood, to find his prophetic witness. Enoch was the man who "walked with God, and he was not, for God took him" (Gen. 5:24). He was a righteous man in a deeply wicked age. Jude identifies him as the seventh from Adam, a detail that establishes his antiquity and authority; he is not some recent voice. The prophecy itself begins with a dramatic announcement: "Behold, the Lord came..." The verb is in the past tense (an aorist participle in Greek), which is a common feature of prophecy. It speaks of a future event with such certainty that it is described as having already happened. The Lord's coming is not a matter of "if," but "when." And He does not come alone. He comes with "many thousands of His holy ones," a reference to the angelic host that will accompany Christ at His return. This is a picture of overwhelming power and majesty. This is not the gentle Jesus, meek and mild, of the first advent. This is the conquering King coming with His celestial armies.

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.”

The purpose of this majestic coming is stated plainly: to execute judgment. This judgment is universal in its scope; it is upon all. No one will be exempt from this final assize. Jude then drills down on the specific targets of this judgment: the ungodly. The word "ungodly" is hammered home four times in this one verse, leaving no doubt as to the central issue. The problem is not just bad behavior; it is a fundamental orientation away from God. Their deeds are ungodly, their manner of doing them is ungodly, and they themselves are ungodly sinners. The judgment will be a thorough conviction, a divine prosecution that exposes everything. Notice that it covers both deeds and words. God is concerned not only with what they have done, but also with the harsh things they have spoken against Him. Arrogant, blasphemous, and rebellious speech is not a trivial matter. It is high treason against the King of heaven, and it will be brought into the courtroom on the last day.

16 These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; and their mouth speaks arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of their own benefit.

After the thunder of Enoch's prophecy, Jude brings the camera in for a tight close-up on the character of these apostates. This verse shows us what "ungodliness" looks like on a Tuesday afternoon. First, they are grumblers, finding fault. This is the spirit of discontentment, the perpetual murmuring of the Israelites in the wilderness. It is a spirit that is never satisfied with God's provision or God's providence. At its root, all grumbling is a complaint against God Himself. Second, their lives are driven by their own lusts. They are not guided by the law of God but by the disordered desires of their own hearts. This is the engine that drives their entire enterprise. Third, their speech is a corrupt mixture of arrogance and flattery. Their mouths speak arrogantly, literally "great swelling words." This is the language of self-importance, of those who are puffed up with their own secret knowledge. But they can switch gears in an instant, flattering people for the sake of their own benefit. They will say whatever they need to say to get what they want. They puff up their targets with insincere praise to manipulate them, usually for money or influence. This combination of prideful boasting and slick flattery reveals a heart utterly devoid of integrity, a perfect portrait of the ungodly sinner ripe for judgment.

Application

This passage serves as a bucket of ice water for any church that is getting sleepy or sentimental about sin. The warning is stark and clear: judgment is coming, and it will be executed on the basis of our godliness, or lack thereof. The prophecy of Enoch reminds us that the final judgment is not a new idea, but has been part of God's revealed plan from the beginning. Christ is coming back, and He is coming with fire in His eyes to settle all accounts. This reality should sober us and motivate us to holiness.

But the application becomes particularly pointed in verse 16. It is easy for us to read about "ungodly sinners" and think of people "out there", the flamboyant rebels, the public blasphemers. But Jude forces us to look at the sins of the heart and the tongue. Are we grumblers? Do we harbor a spirit of complaint and discontent with our lot? Are we fault-finders, always seeing the splinter in our brother's eye? Are our lives secretly, or not so secretly, driven by our lusts rather than by a desire to please God? And what about our speech? Do we speak arrogant words, puffing ourselves up? Or do we use flattery, that slick and greasy sin, to manipulate others for our own advantage?

These are not the sins of pagans; these are the sins that thrive in the soil of religious communities. They are the sins of the heart that Jesus so fiercely condemned in the Pharisees. The antidote to all this is the gospel. The gospel declares that Christ has already borne the judgment for all our ungodly deeds and words. He took the conviction we deserved. But the gospel does not leave us there. It is the power of God for salvation, which means it is the power to transform us from grumbling, lust-driven, arrogant flatterers into contented, self-controlled, humble, and honest children of God. We are to contend for the faith, and that contention begins with a war against the ungodliness that remains in our own hearts.