It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. (14–16)

Hell is certainly not a popular concept in Western society. In an age of tolerance and acceptance, the topic of eternal punishment is taboo; the very mention of it is considered unloving. After all, postmodern culture believes that everyone is basically good and expects that life after death (if the afterlife even exists) includes heaven for all but the most evil people.

Sadly, the political correctness and doctrinal ambiguity that characterizes the world has also permeated the church. Even among those who call themselves evangelicals, hell is regarded as a theological embarrassment. Passages that teach eternal destruction are often explained away, arbitrarily softened, or ignored altogether. As a result, society’s erroneous views about God’s judgment are only reinforced.

In stark contrast to the contemporary ambiguity, God’s Word is unabashedly straightforward about the reality of divine judgment (cf. Gen. 6–8; Deut. 28:15–68; Isa. 1; 3; 5; 13–23; Jer. 2–9; 46–51; Ezek. 20:33–44; 25–32; Joel 3:12–16; Zech. 12:2, 9; 14:2; Mal. 3:2–6; Matt. 12:36; 25:31–46; Luke 12:48; Rom. 14:10–12; 1 Cor. 3:12–15; 5:5; 2 Cor. 5:10; Gal. 6:7; Col. 3:24–25; Rev. 6–20). Throughout its pages, themes of divine retribution, depicted in both temporal and eternal punishment, are impossible to miss. That God has judged, is judging, and will judge sinners, both with death and eternal punishment, is unmistakable. The New Testament’s treatment of future judgment is especially clear and includes at least seven primary features.

First, the final aspect of God’s divine wrath relates to a specific future event—namely, the second coming of Jesus Christ. At the end of the age, the Lord will return to earth to execute judgment: “He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31; cf. Matt. 24:29–30; Rom. 2:5–8, 16; 2 Peter 2:9b; Jude 6b; Rev. 6:16–17). No human knows the exact hour or day of the second coming—only the Father knows (Matt 24:36). But He has fixed the precise moment when His Son will return, an event which He promises will occur quickly (Rev. 22:7, 12, 20).

Second, this judgment will be general and public. For instance, at the sheep and goat judgment (which immediately precedes the millennial kingdom), Christ will call to account all the nations of the earth:

No one anywhere will be able to hide his or her sins or escape responsibility for them (Matt. 10:26; Mark 4:22). The Great White Throne Judgment, at the end of earth’s history, will be even more extensive—as all of God’s enemies from every age are brought before Him for final sentencing (Rev. 20:7–15).

Third, God’s judgment will be just and impartial (Rom. 2:11; Gal. 2:6; cf. Gen. 18:25). The apostle Paul declared that neither the openly wicked (Rom. 1:21–31) nor the self-righteous (2:1–3) will escape the judgment of God—judgment which God the Father has delegated to His Son, Jesus Christ (John 5:22, 27; cf. Matt. 16:27; Acts 10:42). Only God (in His triune glory) is fit to judge, because only He is perfectly holy and righteous (Ex. 15:11; 1 Sam. 2:2; Ps. 47:8; Isa. 6:3; 57:15; Luke 1:35; Acts 4:27; Heb. 7:26; Rev. 3:7; 4:8).

Fourth, the promise of divine judgment is intended as a warning. The Lord designed it to produce fear of His wrath (Ex. 20:20; 2 Cor. 7:1; Heb. 10:27; 11:7; cf. John 19:8; Acts 24:25), as Jesus warned in Matthew 10:28, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” By warning men of His wrath, God graciously offers the lost an opportunity to repent (cf. 2 Peter 3:9).

Fifth, God’s judgment is based on His law (Deut. 27:26; Rom. 2:12; 3:19; Gal. 3:10; James 2:10). Because their hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9; Rom. 3:10–18; Gal. 5:19–21; Eph. 2:1–3), people are not only unable to keep God’s law (Eccles. 7:20; Rom. 7:5; 8:7); they are also willfully disobedient of it (Ps. 78:10; Isa. 30:9; Jer. 9:13). Everyone has violated the law of God (Rom. 3:23; James 2:10); consequently, everyone deserves God’s wrath (cf. 2 Thess. 1:6–8). But God extends forgiveness to those who genuinely believe in Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:9–10). Believers will not face God’s final wrath because they have been saved through faith in the atoning work of Christ (Luke 18:13–14; Acts 3:19; Rom. 3:23–28; 4:3–5; 5:9; Eph. 1:7; Col. 2:13; 1 John 1:7), and their names are written in the Book of Life (cf. Rev. 3:5; 20:12; 21:24–27). On the other hand, those who persist in breaking God’s law, showing no signs of true repentance, will be judged for their rebellious unbelief.

Sixth, God’s final judgment will occur in specific phases. It will begin during the seven-year tribulation period (which immediately follows the rapture—1 Thess. 4:13–17; cf. Rev 3:10). During the tribulation, God will unleash His wrath against the ungodly, through the seal (Rev. 6:1–8:5), trumpet (8:6–11:19), and bowl judgments (15:5–16:21). His judgment will culminate in the battle of Armageddon (19:11–21) in which He will utterly defeat His enemies. After Armageddon, the Lord will set up His earthly kingdom, during which Satan will be bound and Christ will reign in Jerusalem for one thousand years (20:1–6). Satan will then be released and lead one final rebellion, before he and his followers are cast into the lake of fire forever (20:7–15). That final sentencing (of all of God’s enemies) is at the Great White Throne Judgment. So the first phase of God’s judgment will be an earthly one during the tribulation period; the second and final phase will be a heavenly one at the foot of His throne.

Finally, God’s retribution ultimately results in eternal damnation in hell:

During the course of His earthly ministry, the Lord had much to say about the reality of hell. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned of the danger of hell (Matt. 5:22) and spoke of the whole body entering it (5:30). This reality of a body in hell was clearly taught by the Lord in His words concerning the “resurrection of judgment” (John 5:29). In His references to hell, Jesus used the word gehenna. That familiar term, which identified the continuously burning city dump in the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem, graphically illustrated to Jesus’ listeners the fiery torment of hell (cf. Mark 9:43–48). Near the end of the Sermon, Jesus pictured false teachers as trees that do not bear good fruit and are “cut down and thrown into the fire”(Matt. 7:19).

Perhaps Jesus’ most dramatic and frightening depiction of hell appears in the story of the rich man and Lazarus:

God reserves the severest judgment for those who hear the truth but reject it. In addressing some of the Galilean towns that refused to believe in Him, Jesus warned,

Jesus also excoriated the hypocrisy and false teaching of the scribes and Pharisees. He condemned them for their sanctimonious pride, legalism, greed, and overall spiritual blindness. In response to their self-righteous duplicity, Jesus pronounced this fate on them: “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?” (Matt. 23:33; cf. the entire chapter; Matt. 16:6, 11–12; Mark 7:5–8; Luke 11:44).

Such warnings of judgment are especially applicable to apostates and false teachers. Those who claim to represent Christ yet do irreparable damage to His message (such that souls are eternally lost) will receive the severest judgment of all. The writer of Hebrews issued this stern warning to anyone who trifles with divine truth—a warning particularly ominous for false teachers:

Jude previously pointed out that the apostates “were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation” (v. 4; cf. vv. 6, 13). Verses 14–16 reaffirm that truth and the truth of all the other New Testament judgment passages that precede it. The passage first underscores the fact of an ancient prophecy by Enoch; then it suggests three certainties regarding God’s final judgment: The Lord will come, He will not come alone, and He will come to execute judgment on deserving recipients.

THE FACT OF ENOCH’S ANCIENT PROPHECY

It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, (14a)

These men refers to the apostates whom Jude pictured in the previous section—the false visionaries, the flouters of spiritual authority, the revilers, the brute beasts who behave by carnal instinct, the hidden reefs, the waterless clouds, the dead and uprooted trees, the wild sea waves, and the wandering stars headed for eternal blackness. Even before the Flood, Enoch (Gen. 5:21–24) prophesied that the Lord would come to judge such false teachers. By citing Enoch, Jude underscored the motivation behind God’s judgment on apostasy while also reinforcing the certainty of it.

Even though this prophecy is not recorded in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit inspired Jude (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20–21) to use it because it was familiar, historically valid, and supported his overall thesis. Jude extracted the quote from the pseudepigraphal book of 1 Enoch, with which his first-century readers were well acquainted. The book was part of the written history and tradition of the Jewish people, and rabbinical allusions to it were not uncommon.

Though he was not the author of the book, Enoch’s message was passed down through oral tradition until it was finally recorded in what was called 1 Enoch. That book, like other books such as The Book of Jubilee, The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, and The Assumption of Moses (from which Jude probably quoted in v. 9), was not part of the Old Testament canon; yet, since it was accurate, it was acceptable for Jude to use it to bolster his argument. None other than the apostle Paul occasionally followed the same pattern (of citing nonbiblical sources to make a legitimate spiritual point) in his teaching (cf. Acts 17:28; 1 Cor. 15:33; Titus 1:12). (For a further discussion of Jude’s use of apocryphal works, see the Introduction to Jude in this volume.)

Enoch stood in the seventh generation from Adam (Gen. 5:4–24). He was a hero to the Jewish people because, like the prophet Elijah later (2 Kings 2:11–12), he went to heaven without dying: “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Gen. 5:24; cf. Heb. 11:5). Although it was not included in the biblical record until the book of Jude, Enoch’s prophecy is the earliest human prophecy found anywhere in Scripture. (The only earlier prophecy recorded in the Bible was made by God in Gen. 3:15.) In fact, Enoch’s message predated the words of Moses, Samuel, and the Hebrew prophets by many centuries.

CERTAINTIES REGARDING GOD’S JUDGMENT

saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. (14b–16)

Enoch’s prophecy and Jude’s subsequent comments set forth three certainties regarding God’s judgment on apostasy. The first certainty is that the Lord will come (cf. Dan. 7:13; Luke 12:40; Acts 1:9–11; 1 Thess. 3:13). The aorist tense of the verb translated came suggests Enoch’s vision was so startling and convincing that he spoke as if the judgment had already occurred. The certainty of Christ’s return was under attack from the false teachers, and Jude’s reminder reinforced the apostle Peter’s earlier teaching on this matter (cf. 2 Peter 3:1–10 and the commentary on that passage in chapter 8 of this volume).

Second, the Lord will not come alone. While He alone is the final judge, He will be accompanied by many thousands of His holy ones. Holy ones (“saints”) could refer to believers (cf. 1 Cor. 1:2; 1 Thess. 3:13), who will return with Christ when He comes in judgment (Rev. 19:14; cf. Zech. 14:5). However, the emphasis on judgment here seems to favor viewing the holy ones as angels, since angels appear in other judgment contexts in the New Testament (Matt. 24:31; 25:31; Mark 8:38; 2 Thess. 1:7). The saints will have a judgment role during the millennial kingdom (Rev. 2:26–27; 3:21; cf. Dan. 7:22; 1 Cor. 6:2), but angels will serve as God’s executioners when Christ returns (Matt. 13:39–41, 49–50; 24:29–31; 25:31; 2 Thess. 1:7–10).

Third, the Lord will come with a definite purpose, to execute judgment upon many deserving recipients. Those people are all the ungodly who have utterly disregarded God’s law. The verb translated to convict (elegchō) means “to expose,” “rebuke,” or “prove guilty,” which includes showing someone his error and culpability. When the Lord returns, the sins of the ungodly will be exposed and the verdict rendered accordingly. The final sentence, as noted earlier, will be eternal punishment in hell (Rev. 20:11–15; cf. Matt. 5:22; 7:19; 8:12; 10:28; 13:40–42; 25:41, 46).

All the ungodly includes the apostates (see the discussion of v. 4 in chapter 11 of this volume). As the righteous Judge, God must punish them because of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. Enoch’s fourfold use of ungodly (asebēs, “godlessness,” or “impiety”) to describe the apostates (cf. 2 Peter 2:5–6; 3:7) identifies their basic sinful attitude; they refused to have a proper reverence for God. All such reprobates—like the immoral, irreverent, and blasphemous false teachers—are storing up divine wrath and punishment for themselves in the day of judgment (Rom. 2:5; cf. Ps. 2:2–5; Jer. 10:10; Nah. 1:6; John 3:36; Rom. 1:18; 1 Thess. 2:16; Heb. 10:26–27). Their punishment comes because of their ungodly actions and their ungodly speech; both their works and their words betray the wickedness of their hearts.

It is certain the Lord will come to mete out judgment to the godless guilty. These refers once again to the apostate teachers who threatened the church (cf.vv.4, 8, 10, 12–13). In verse 16 Jude looks particularly at the sins of their mouths. Grumblers occurs only here in the New Testament and is the same term the Septuagint uses to describe Israel’s murmurings against God (Ex. 16:7–9; Num. 14:27, 29; cf. John 6:41; 1 Cor. 10:10). Like the ancient Israelites (Pss. 106:24–25; 107:11; Zech. 7:11), they grumbled against the truth and murmured against God’s holy law. The apostates were also finding fault or complaining about God’s holy purpose and plan. The word translated finding fault (mempsimoiros) means “to blame,” and describes one who is perpetually discontent and dissatisfied. The false teachers brazenly attacked the Lord and His truth—a fact Jude illustrated earlier in his letter by comparing them with the unbelieving Israelites, the reprobates of Sodom and Gomorrah, the fallen angels, Cain, Korah, and Balaam.

In a self-centered manner, the false teachers were at odds with God because they were following after their own lusts (cf. vv. 4, 7; 2 Peter 2:10, 18; 3:3). This New Testament phrase commonly described the unconverted (cf. v. 18; 2 Peter 3:3). The apostates were so dominated by self that they spoke arrogantly, or as the New King James Version renders the expression, they used “great swelling words.” They pompously puffed themselves up with an elaborate, sophisticated religious vocabulary that had an external spiritual tone and attractiveness but was void of divine truth and substance. By such speech they were also flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. The apostates were good at telling people what they wanted them to hear (cf. 2 Tim. 4:3–4), cleverly manipulating others for their own gain. They certainly did not care about proclaiming God’s truth for the edification of their hearers (cf. Pss. 5:9; 12:2–3; Prov. 26:28; 29:5; Rom. 3:13; 16:18).

It was Jesus who said that “the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man” (Matt. 15:18). In the case of false teachers, their lips reveal their discontentment, hypocrisy, lust, pride, and selfishness. Their mouths betray the wickedness of their hearts. And, as Enoch foretold, their sin will one day be exposed by the perfect Judge who will render them guilty for their spiritual crimes.

In this passage, Jude affirms the promise, the participants, and the purpose of the Lord’s coming in judgment. He thus addresses the who, what, where, and why of Christ’s return. The only major question that he does not answer is when, and the answer to that lies solely with God. As the Lord Jesus fittingly exhorted His apostles: