v. 10 The things the false teachers did not understand but reviled probably refer to aspects of God's revealed will that they chose to reject (cf. 1 Cor. 2:7-16).
"Jude, like his brother James, denounces the sins of the tongue frequently in this short letter."45
What they did understand was the gratification of the flesh, and that would destroy them.
"Their way of life is to allow the instincts they share with the beasts to have their way; their values are fleshly values; their gospel is a gospel of the flesh. Jude describes men who have lost all sense of, and awareness of, spiritual things, and for whom the things demanded by the animal instincts of man are the only realities and the only standard."46
"Jude is stating a profound truth in linking these two characteristics together. If a man is persistently blind to spiritual values, deaf to the call of God, and rates self-determination as the highest good, then a time will come when he cannot hear the call he has spurned, but is left to the mercy of the turbulent instincts to which he once turned in search of freedom."47
"Slow suicide (not always slow) is the result of such beastliness."48
v. 11 "Woe to them"is an imprecation of doom (cf. Isa. 5:8-23; Hab. 2:6-20; Matt. 23:13-29; 1 Cor. 9:16; et al.). It is the opposite of a blessing.
"The doom of apostates is no less sure than the glorification of the saints."49
Cain's way was the way of godlessness and sensuality, violence and lust, greed and blasphemy, that led to divine judgment. It was the way of pride. Cain wanted to earn a relationship with God by his works, and he became a hateful murderer.
Balaam's error was compromise with God's enemies and teaching the Israelites that they could sin with impunity (Num. 31:16; cf. Rev. 2:14). He counselled the Midianites to seduce the Israelites to commit idolatry and fornication (Num. 21:16). His way was to use the spiritual to gain the material for himself. His error was thinking that he could get away with his sins. The false teachers also compromised God's truth in a way that involved idolatry and immorality. They would likewise perish under God's judgment as Balaam did (Num. 21:8).
"Balaam stands for two things. (a) He stands for the covetous man, who was prepared to sin in order to gain reward. (b) He stands for the evil man, who was guilty of the greatest of all sins--the sin of teaching others to sin. So Jude is declaring of the wicked men of his own day that they are ready to leave the way of righteousness to make gain; and that they are teaching others to sin."50
"Balaam was the prototype of all greedy religionists who lead God's people into false religion and immorality . . ."51
Korah's rebellion was against God and His appointed leaders, Moses and Aaron (Num. 16:1-35). The false teachers were rebelling against God and his leaders, the apostles. Korah also perished.
Each of these three examples shows a different aspect of unbelief.
"Cain, to show the arrogance, malice, and false piety of apostates, the example of religiousunbelief; Balaam, to show the avarice, subversiveness, and seductive character of apostates, the example of covetousunbelief; and Core [Korah], to show the factiousness [sic] and sedition toward rightful authority, the example of rebelliousunbelief."52
"Cain rebelled against God's authority in salvation, for he refused to bring a blood sacrifice as God had commanded. Balaam rebelled against God's authority in separation, for he prostituted his gifts for money and led Israel to mix with the other nations. Korah rebelled against God's authority in service, denying that Moses was God's appointed servant and attempting to usurp his authority."53
v. 12 Five more illustrations, this time from nature, emphasize the seriousness of the false teachers' error (vv. 12-13).
A coral reef that lies hidden under the surface of the water can tear the bottom off a ship if it unsuspectingly runs into it. Likewise the false teachers could ruin a local church. They threatened the moral shipwreck of others. That some of the false teachers were believers or at least professing believers seems certain since they were participating in the love-feast, the most intimate service of worship the early church practiced. "Caring for themselves"highlights the apostates' self-centeredness (cf. Ezek. 34:2, 8; Isa. 56:11; John 10:12-13).
"Jude seems . . . to mean that these men insisted on participating in these love-feasts, not to express mutual love and concern but to gratify their own appetites."54
Like clouds the false teachers attracted attention to themselves and promised refreshment, but they proved to be all show and no substance (cf. Prov. 25:14). In Palestine summer clouds often add to the humidity and consequently make the intense heat even more unbearable.55
"To follow such men would result in being led astray from the path of truth and purity."56
Farmers often dig trees that bear no fruit out of the ground. The false teachers bore no spiritual fruit and were incapable of bearing spiritual fruit; they were twice dead (cf. Ps. 52:5; Prov. 2:22; Jer. 1:10; John 15:1-6).57An uprooted tree is an Old Testament symbol of divine judgment (cf. Ps. 52:5; Prov. 2:22; Jer. 1:10). "Autumn"is literally late autumn in the Greek text, a detail that shows Jude believed he and his readers were living in the last days before the Lord's return. This viewpoint was common among the New Testament writers (cf. Rom. 13:11; 1 Pet. 4:7; 1 Tim. 4:1; 1 John 2:18). Late autumn was the time when trees would have had no leaves much less fruit on their branches.58
"These men give no evidence of ever having been regenerated."59
v. 13 Waves cast up bits of filth and debris on the shore with their foam and flotsam. Similarly the false teachers spread evidence of their uncontrolled immorality and impurity wherever they went (cf. Isa. 57:20). This comparison emphasizes ". . . the restless and unrestrained nature of these men."60
Some "stars"move about in the sky differently from the other stars. We now recognize these as planets and distinguish them from stars. Similarly the false teachers behaved out of harmony with the other luminaries. The Greek word planetes, which transliterated means "planet,"really means wanderer. Long ago stargazers observed that these wanderers across the sky were different from the fixed stars. Likewise the false teachers had gone off course and had led people astray.
Another possible though less likely interpretation is that the reference is to meteors or "shooting stars"that flash across the sky but quickly disappear in darkness.61The "black darkness,"away from the Source of light, indicates the eternal punishment of those among them who were not Christians.
