Jude & Enoch: Parts II & III

So, we touched on the unique, and remarkable prophet, Enoch, in part 1. But, we usually don't think of Enoch as a prophet. However, what Jude reveals to us, in his short power-packed book, is Enoch not only, "walked with God", as stated in Genesis chapter 5, verse 24, but also, apparently, God gave Enoch some remarkable information, by way of a vision of the end times, concerning when Jesus would return to this earth the second time. And the truly remarkable thing about this prophecy is that Jesus had not yet come the first time when Enoch spoke his amazing prophecy. And we will examine this further in our coming chapters.

But first, it is difficult to just jump right over to Enoch's prophecy, without first giving some background information about Jude and the Book of Jude. It is a fairly widely accepted historical fact, that this Jude, is the same "Judas", spoken of in Matthew 13:55, who was one of the four brothers of Jesus Christ, Himself. But, in verse 1, as Jude introduces himself, he humbly chose not to “play his Jesus card" only mentioning that the same James mentioned in Matthew 13:15, was his brother.

To me, this shows a very humble, unassuming spirit in this man Jude. Jude is the short form of Judas, much like Matt, is a shorter form of Matthew, or, Mike, is a shorter version of Michael. And Jude's admonitions have a very similar echo to some of the Apostle Peter's writings, wherein the old world, and false prophets are pointed out, denounced, and then marked for future Judgment.

Jude weaves in an interesting thread through several monumental past occasions when God poured out his wrath and his judgment upon men and angels. So Jude begins weaving his thread from the time just before the flood of Noah, to the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, through current, and future ages. In so doing, tossing wicked Cain, the mercenary Balaam, and power-hungry Korah into the mix as the ultimate examples of men who knew God, firsthand, but still chose to rebel against Him, doing things their own way, no matter what God instructed them to do.

So, this rebellious spirit was first seen in the angels, "who kept not their first estate.” (verse 6) And I believe by the example of the rebellion of the fallen angels, the old myth is completely debunked that "if only men could clearly see the truth, they would come to God, and confess Jesus Christ as their Lord.” Because those angels who fell had perfect knowledge of who God is and still did it. Job chapter 38, verses 5 through 7 says the angels were first-hand witnesses to God's power, and His glory way back when they saw our Lord create this universe ex-nihilo (Latin for out of nothing) as God spoke worlds, the stars, and entire galaxies into existence.

Yet, even knowing these things and experiencing all of these things before their very eyes those angels still allowed themselves to be deceived by Lucifer, as they joined the Devil in his failed rebellious attempt to overthrow God.

This common thread, which runs from Cain to Balaam, to Korah on to Jude's day, and beyond, is godless man's continuous willful ignorance of God, His authority, and His power. Because, once man rejects God and his authority, they always turn to evil. And once they have committed themselves fully to evil, all that is left for them are the fiery judgments of God.

Now, don't get me wrong here and confuse "common sinners" with the Cains, Balaams, Korahs, the men of Sodom, and various other wicked types of people of this world. Because I think there is a huge difference between those who are simply lost and in darkness, and those people who have given themselves over fully to evil.

Of course, without the saving grace of Jesus Christ, we are all hopelessly lost. However, there is a great difference between the evil predators of this world, and the common run-of-the-mill lost people, who just live the typical kind of life most lost people live.

In part 3, we will look at the special judgment God has set aside, especially for these evil false prophets and God despisers whom Jude speaks of here in his remarkable little book.

Part III: Wandering Stars

Before I elaborate on verse 16 of the prophecy of Enoch, I think I would like to back up here to comment on one of the most remarkable things said with regards to God's judgment of these ungodly men. The Apostle Peter, in his analogies and description of these judgments, states these judgments are specially reserved for these exceptionally notably wicked beings, who are like an elite class of Professors in “Wickedness 101.” The reason why is because these people have essentially sold their souls to Satan to gain earthly power and prestige.

IMG: Marshall Applewhite, a former aspiring Presbyterian Minister and later the founder of the cult Heaven's Gate.

Peter speaks of these false prophets in 2 Peter 2:1, saying; “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”

There is much more which could be said about Peter's descriptions of these very wicked prophets, their judgments, along with the judgments of the chained fallen angels, who, “kept not their first estate” before Noah's flood. (Jude 1:6 and 2 Peter 2:4) But, I do not have the time or the space to do it here. However, there is a very interesting similarity in both the Apostle Peter's and Jude's descriptions of these false prophets.

Jude said they are like, “Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” (Jude 1:13) And Peter said, “These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.” (2 Peter 2:17)

Aren't those descriptions remarkably similar? First, let's look at Jude's description of this judgment, which is being reserved for these exceedingly wicked people. Jude said they are like, “...wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”

Did you know for years after telescopes were invented, science became more of, a science, this description of wandering stars who were destined for, “darkness...forever”, was lampooned and mocked by atheists and agnostics everywhere. Because after all, everyone knows stars shine brightly, with fervent light, right? So, these scoffers were constantly pointing to how foolish the Bible is to make such an outlandish analogy.

But then, along came the discovery that some stars, which after they nova, flare up brightly, then collapse into a very dense sphere. And whenever that happens, scientists tell us the gravity is so strong on these collapsed stars, that a teaspoon of the matter they contain would weigh over a ton! But here is what I find to be the most interesting part of these collapsed stars, which is, that the gravity pull within those collapsed stars is said to be so intense, that no light can escape from their realm at all! Wow!

So, science now calls these collapsed stars, “black holes,” because wherever they exist, there is a complete vortex of blackness there. Even the surrounding area is so dark, that no stars or starlight can be seen at all. Isn't it amazing how God's Word always proves to be true!?!

Then notice what Peter said about these wicked, false prophets, which is so similar to Jude's description, “...clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever.” Incredible is all I have to say!

So next, Jude says Enoch, who was the seventh generation after Adam, made this remarkable prophecy. This is the center point of this little book of Jude. And in his prophecy, Enoch uses the word "Ungodly" four times! We know in the Bible, that repeated warnings in the same context, are a sign of great emphasis. And three-fold admonitions are extra important. But, as far as I know, this is the only fourfold use of such a powerful branding, and such a scathing denunciation, within one Bible verse, in the entire scriptures. There is also the usage of the chiastic structure throughout Jude's book.

A chiasmus (also referred to as a chiasm) is a literary device in which ideas are presented and then subsequently repeated or inverted in a symmetrical mirror-like structure. Although commonly used in poetry, music lyrics, and children’s literature, chiasmus is also seen throughout the Bible to clarify and emphasize key ideas or themes. (Source)

Chiasms in Jude, by Pete Garcia

And eventually, we will get to Enoch's remarkable prophecy, which I believe is one of the most vivid, amazing prophecies, in the entire Bible.