Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them. Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

Jude is writing to call out false teaching in the church. He describes these false teachers aptly above. Here are a few characteristics of false teachers: 1) They slander those who they do not understand or those who oppose them. 2) The things they do claim, like heightened understanding, are not things that are godly or wise, but they lead to living lives like irrational animals, without souls. In the end, it leads to destruction. 3) They are sneaky in their deceptions. They try to always get along with everyone, but they really only feed themselves. 4) They seem like a rain cloud, but produce no rain. This references their hollow promises of the challenges of life going away if you follow them and their teachings. Then Jude says they seem like a fruit tree, but have no fruit and are uprooted — they are doubly dead. This is an analogy to the fact that their doctrine is at once without fruit, and it is a poison to the one who embraces it, which leads to death. 5) Like wild waves, they are full of activity, but the foam of shame is all they are good for. Like wandering stars (probably a reference to the fallen angels of old who fell from heaven in the rebellion with the Devil), the blackest darkness will be their consequence. They will be judged for their deception and the lies and deceit they are full of.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, I share this passage with you because, just like in the days of Jude, deceivers and false preachers seek to lead us astray from the true gospel of Christ. We must be wise and examine the scriptures to prove teaching true, to hold it up to the light of the Word of God, and, where necessary, to ward off the wolves.

Lord, thank you for Jude’s strong warning. He cared enough about the purity of your truth and the holiness of your gospel that he called out false doctrine. May it so be said of me!