Introduction

The letter of Y’hudah, one of the General Epistles, is very short. Until recently, scholars neglected it more than any other Brit Hadasah book. Y’hudah sought to protect Messianic truth and strongly opposed heretics who threatened the faith. The letter’s message is relevant to all ages because Believers should defend the Gospel vigorously. Y’hudah addresses themes like those in 2 Kefa, focusing on false teachers within the Kehilah.

Y’hudah wrote to those who are “the called, loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ” (v. 1). This designation is general enough to apply to Messianic Believers anywhere. But Y’hudah clearly had a specific group in mind because he called them “dear friends” (vv. 3, 17, 20) and addressed a situation that affected them. The readers were probably Jewish Messianics because of Y’hudah’s several references to Hebrew history. Beyond this information, we do not know exactly who the letter’s recipients were.

Y’hudah had initially meant to write a letter on salvation to his friends. But he changed his plans when he learned of false teachers infiltrating the Kehilah (vv. 3–4). Because of their influence, he instead urged his readers to contend for the faith (v. 3). Y’hudah reminded them that they shared a common salvation and alerted them to the need for vigilance in contending for the faith. The Kehilah must contend for the faith because intruders were troubling the Kehilah. Some of the Bible’s most beautiful statements about God’s sustaining grace are found in Y’hudah (vv. 1, 24–25), and they shine with a greater brilliance when contrasted with the false teachers who had departed from the Messianic faith.^[1]

During personal time alone at home, you might struggle with feelings of isolation or doubt in your faith. Use Y’hudah’s reminder of God’s love and power as a lifeline. Set a goal to read and meditate on specific verses from Y’hudah that resonate with you. Perhaps start journaling about your thoughts and prayers concerning your doubts or fears. This could cultivate a deeper understanding of God’s love, helping you to combat feelings of loneliness with the truth of His presence in your life.

Salutation

¹ From: Y’hudah, a slave of Yeshua the Messiah and a brother of Ya‘akov

To: Those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept for Yeshua the Messiah:

² May mercy, love, and shalom be yours in full measure.

No clue is given about the intended audience; the heresy described below makes Asia Minor a likely destination. Y’hudah had initially been meant to write a letter on salvation to his friends. But he changed his plans when he learned of false teachers infiltrating the Kehilah (vv. 3-4). Because of their influence, he instead urged his readers to contend for the faith (v. 3). Y’hudah reminded his readers that they shared a common salvation and alerted them to the need for vigilance in contending for the faith. The Kehilah must contend with the faith because intruders were troubling the Kehilah.

Contend for the Faith

³ Dear friends, I was busily at work writing to you about the salvation we share,

As with many books mentioned in the Tanakh that have not survived, our curiosity about Y’hudah’s soteriological ^[2] treatise cannot be satisfied.

when I found it necessary to write, urging you to keep contending earnestly for the faith which was once and for all passed on to God’s people. ⁴ For certain individuals, the ones written about long ago as being meant for this condemnation, have wormed their way in—ungodly people who pervert God’s grace into a license for debauchery and disown our only Master and Lord, Yeshua the Messiah.

Keep contending earnestly for the faith which was once and for all passed on to God’s people. This, along with v. 17 (“the words spoken … by the emissaries of our Lord”), suggests that the letter was written in the latter part of the first century when “the faith” had begun to crystallize. This use of Greek pistis to mean a systematized body of doctrine is unusual, but even here we should not limit “the faith” to its intellectual aspects; it includes and implies not only doctrine to be believed, but the entire Messianic way of life to be observed and obeyed (Romans 1:5, “the obedience that comes from trusting”).

This is clear from v. 4: what the ungodly people do is not merely pass on mistaken information, but pervert God’s grace into a license for debauchery and disown our only Master and Lord. They no longer recognize Yeshua’s right to command obedience but teach instead a perversion of Romans 3:28 and Ephesians 2:8-9, that a person is considered righteous by God on the ground of professing faith in Yeshua, regardless of what sort of works he does. Such an attitude quickly results in debauchery and other kinds of antinomianism ^[3] since it removes the ethical and moral component of faith/faithfulness/trusting. In Y’hudah’s time, various kinds of Gnostics taught this way; our age also has its share of false teachers (see 2 Timothy 4:3-4, 1 Yochanan 4:4-6).

Judgement Upon Ungodly

⁵ Since you already know all this, my purpose is only to remind you that Adonai, who once delivered the people from Egypt, later destroyed those who did not trust. ⁶ And the angels that did not keep within their original authority, but abandoned their proper sphere, he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for the Judgment of the Great Day. ⁷ And S’dom, ‘Amora and the surrounding cities, following a pattern like theirs, committing sexual sins and perversions, lie exposed as a warning of the everlasting fire awaiting those who must undergo punishment. ^[4]

Y’hudah pointed out that the false teachers deserved divine judgment and would receive it in the future. He wanted to remind his readers that God had acted decisively in the past against those who opposed Him. He mentioned three examples of God’s judgment: (1) the judgment of unbelieving Isra’el in the wilderness after being delivered from Egypt (Numbers 32:10–12); (2) the angels who fell (cp. 1 Enoch 6:19); and (3) the destruction of S’dom, ‘Amora for sexual sins (Genesis 19:24-29).

Next, we will conclude Y’hudah (Jude).

Click here for the PDF version.

 

^[1] Terry L. Wilder, “Jude,” in Holman Illustrated Bible Commentary.

^[2] Soteriology is the theology dealing with salvation, especially as effected by Yeshua.

^[3]Antinomianism is any view that rejects or opposes laws, norms, or rules, especially in religion.

^[4] Y’hudah 1-7.