Jude 14-1514And Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about these people: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to execute judge against everyone, and to convict all souls of all the ungodly works they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the harsh things the ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
Jude next quotes from the Apocryphal book called 1 Enoch as further support of his condemnation of the false teachers. Enoch was an Old Testament hero of faith who pleased God by how he lived in righteousness (Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5). He became a hero in Jewish tradition for his faithfulness to God. Jude quotes a form of 1 Enoch 1:9, where Enoch describes the final judgment, when the Lord will come with angels to judge humanity. Lord is not in the verse from 1 Enoch, but as a Christian, Jude clearly refers to the second coming of Jesus. The thought is like what Jesus says in Mark 8:38. This quotation serves as a strong warning to those who received this letter and an implied warning to the false teachers who were the problem prompting Jude to write. Judgment awaits those who refuse to repent and turn from their wickedness. The holy ones likely refer to the angels who will come with Jesus when he returns (Matthew 25:31).
The false teachers’ primary problem of ungodliness is stated three times in verse 15. Ungodliness (asebeias) is impiety, lack of reverence, and disregard for God’s ways that usually shows up in how people live, especially when they follow the way of the flesh, pride, and selfish indulgence. It is the opposite of the holy life of love that God created humanity to live. The infiltrators were living for themselves, which indicated they were bound for a lifestyle that rejected God’s truth and (Romans 1:18). Ungodliness shows up in defiant words, which is another way of describing their denial and blasphemy of Jesus in verse 4. Jude would rather write about something more uplifting (see verse 3), but the situation warranted the strong language of this letter.
Sometimes we must be woken up from our complacency and moral dullness to see the danger of the lifestyles around us. It is one thing to deal with unbelievers who reject Jesus. It is another when people within the church distort theology and live immorally. Some people are good at hiding, so it can be difficult to discern falsehood and ungodliness, but when it does surface, there must be loving confrontation and spiritual discipline like Jesus described in Matthew 18:15-20. We must take sin seriously and be vigilant about the purity of the church.