In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He [Jesus Christ -Yeshua] was in the beginning with God.

JUDE

The book of Jude is the eighth of the eight general epistles. Like James, Jude is the half-brother of Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary after the birth of Jesus. Jude is the younger brother of James. He addressed his letter to Christians in general but it is unknown where Jude wrote the epistle. Neither can a specific date be determined regarding the time of his writing. The earliest date is estimated after Peter’s second epistle because Peter warned of the coming apostate teachers while Jude described them as already having infiltrated the church. Like the epistles of John, Jude’s letter was probably written prior to Christian persecution near the end of Emperor Domitian’s reign in AD 96. This brackets the range of possible dates for the writing of Jude between AD 67 and AD 96.

Jude immediately established the reason for writing to his beloved in Jesus Christ, the Messiah. False teachers had embedded themselves within the church. They denied Christ and perverted God’s grace by living as they pleased without constraints. Jude exhorted his brethren to contend earnestly for the faith originally presented to them. He reminded them how God had destroyed unbelievers in the past for their wickedness including His people after having delivered them out of Egypt.

Jude also reminded them of how Enoch prophesied that the Lord would come with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment on the ungodly. This in reference to the Day of the Lord at the end times when Christ will return to earth the second time to judge the nations. Jude told the saints to remember the words of the apostles; there would be mockers in the last days walking in their own lust. He finally closed his letter by encouraging believers to build up their faith and pray in the spirit.

Jude verses 1-4: Jude’s purpose for his letter to the saints

Jude verses 5-13: God’s past judgment on the wicked; characteristics of false teachers

Jude verses 14-25: Future judgment on the wicked; instructions to believers; closing statements