
Half way through our set of verses in the epistle of Jude and so much to consider. I have not spent a concentrated time in the book of Jude for many years and find his writing to be challenging.
Good stuff to review and consider! Let us continue with the next three verses.
Jude 1:8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.
Jude 1:9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
Jude 1:10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.
Jude again refers back to the ungodly people in verse 4, comparing the cities of Sodom with them, speaking of their defilement of flesh. Is he referring to the sexual immorality those of Sodom entered into?
Note that the basis of this defilement is their reliance on some dreams they were experiencing, which brings up a salient point. Is it wise to depend on subjective dreams or visions in finding the will of God? This verse definitely does not paint that thinking in a good light, and when we consider the objective Word that has be provided for our reference, along with the Spirit of God to give aid in understanding the message, dreams seem to be a very poor choice to rely upon.
We have the Lord we can rely on, trust in and believe, and seeking dreams for guidance is not wise. Excuse the sidebar, but for believers to abandon the Word and prayer for the sake of dreams is very much like turning my back on a flowing fountain to find relief in a broken cistern. But that is our inclination, and as such we need to be rescued from.
But back to our topic of conditional security.
This set of verse speaks of two parties. Micheal, one of the highest angels in God’s creation, did not abandon his position, but rebuked the devil correctly through the Lord, not assuming any authority of his own. Micheal did not reject authority!
This ungodly people described by Jude have no respect, no understanding of the position they consider themselves in. Jude speaks of these ungodly people as having no understanding. It seems obvious that this particular portion of Jude does not directly address our current topic, other than stating that if the ungodly were believers at one time, they have fallen far, and are in danger of destruction by their choice.
Our last portion of the passage we are dealing with will find ourselves reading Jude’s description of ungodly people. Some of his terms may shed some light on this discussion.
Hope you can join me as we finish this portion next time!
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