Jude 1:14-15 - Enoch's Message of Judgement

Jude 1:14-15 “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." Remember Jude wanted to write a letter to encourage God’s people by talking about our “common salvation” (v. 3), but the Holy Spirit directed him to write this inspired epistle instead to warn us about the apostates and false teachers who would mislead us and who would also face God’s judgment one day! Jude reveals how they reject the divine authority of God (Vs. 8-11) and how they also resort to deliberate hypocrisy (Vs. 12-13). Now he tells us how one day they will receive their due penalty (Vs. 14-15). All that we know about Enoch from Scripture is found in Genesis 5:18-24; Hebrews 11:5; and these two verses in Jude. He is called "the seventh from Adam" to identify him as the godly Enoch, since Cain had a son of the same name (Gen. 4:17). In a society that was rapidly being polluted and destroyed by sin, Enoch walked with God and kept his life clean and was translated directly to heaven without physically dying because of his faith that pleased God. Here in Jude we learn that he also ministered as a prophet and announced the coming judgment. Bible scholars tell us that this quotation in Jude 1:14-15 is from an apocryphal book called The Book of Enoch. The fact that Jude quoted from this nonbiblical book does not mean the book is inspired and trustworthy, any more than Paul's quotations from the Greek poets put God's "seal of approval" on everything they wrote. The Spirit of God led Jude to use this quotation and make it a part of the inspired Scriptures. When Enoch originally gave this message, it is possible that he was also referring to the coming judgment of the Flood. He certainly lived in an ungodly age, and it seemed that sinners were getting away with their evil deeds. But God saw it:  “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually…..  The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.”  (Genesis 6:5 & 11). But Enoch made it clear that judgement was coming and that the ungodly would get what was coming to them! However, the final application of this prophecy is to the world in the end times, the very judgment that Peter wrote about in 2 Peter 3. The false teachers mocked this prophecy and argued that Jesus Christ would never come and God would never send judgment. But their very attitude was proof that the Word is true, for both our Lord and His Apostles, as well as the prophets, said that scoffers and mockers would appear in the last days: "For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.  (2 Peter 3:3-7). Enoch gave his prophecy thousands of years ago! See how patient God has been with those who have rebelled against Him! Peter goes on to tell us that “God is longsuffering and not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God’s Word is always fulfilled! Please today, if you haven’t yet trusted Christ as your Savior, do so right now! God bless!