November 26, 2023: Jude 8-10 - Ungodly Men Speak Evil of What they Know Not

“Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.” - Jude 8-10

There is so much information packed here in these three verses and we must be careful not to gloss over it quickly. Let’s consider these verses one at a time.

In verse 8, Jude, continuing in his description of “certain men crept in unawares” who were “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 4), calls these men dreamers who “defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.” There are at least two viewpoints on what Jude means when he referred to these men as “dreamers,” with the word “filthy” added in the King James Version of the Bible to add emphasis to the meaning. One viewpoint of “dreamers” is that it relates to the sin issue, that is, sin starts in the heart and if we let it sit there and fester and think about in our minds of a sin we would like to commit, then we are preparing ourselves to act upon that sin. The second viewpoint is that these men have dreams of which they delude themselves into thinking they are men of God and are being led by His Holy Spirit but in reality do not have the Holy Spirit within them and instead are being led by Satan in their delusion. In their delusion, these men may also believe that they are prophets of God and have received dreams from Him. Jude further speaks of these men in verse 19, “These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.” (Jude 19). Many people in our world today claim to have received prophetic dreams from God. The way that we can know if they truly were from God or not is to see what was supposedly prophesied to happen did in fact come to pass or not. If it did not, it was not of God. The fact that Jude next wrote of these dreamers and that they defile the flesh perhaps could indicate that Jude was speaking of the dreams as relating to acting upon the sin that was first in their heart instead of running away from that sin, putting it out of their minds. These men do not heed the warning in the Bible from the apostle Paul:

“But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:17-20)

These apostate men in the church are not driven by the power of God but by the power of their sinful flesh. Do we see that today in so-called churches today? The answer is an astounding, yes, and it is increasing at a rapid rate, and it’s not just sexual sin between a man and a woman but unnatural sin, of which God calls an abomination, including sexual sin with children, just as was done in the days of Sodom and Gomorrha.

Continuing in verse 8, Jude says these men “despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.” The word “dominion” is translated as “authority.” Merriam-Webster.com defines “dominion” in several ways, including, “domain; supreme authority,” and the plural as “an order of angels.” Perhaps Jude is speaking of these men who not only reject authority in the churches of the men who truly have been called by God and are filled with the Holy Spirit to lead the churches but also reject the authority in the heavenly realm, including the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some of these false pastors and teachers are even so bold as to say “I rebuke you, Satan!” and telling their congregations to do the same. This seems to explain the account Jude wrote of in verse 9, which I will discuss in a moment. Not only do these ungodly men reject authority, but Jude wrote that they speak evil of dignities. “To speak evil of” comes from the Greek word “blasphēmousin,” from where we get “blaspheme.” The Greek word for “dignities” is “doxas” and is translated as “glorious ones.” I personally think this is not referring to any human being but of the angelic beings in the heavenly realm, whom God gave higher authority than mankind. The Bible tells us that when Jesus came to earth as a man, God made Him a little lower than the angels because Jesus would have to die:

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” (Hebrews 2:9)

Thus, we can see from this Scripture that there is a level of authority that exists in heaven. The apostle Paul’s writing in Ephesians 6:12 also speaks of this:

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

Jude writes that it is these ungodly men who have crept into churches that defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignities or the glorious ones, believing they have more authority than they do. Jude then discusses how the archangel Michael had to contend with the devil over the body of Moses. Jude does not tell us why this was, but we do know that the Bible tells us it was God Himself who buried the body of Moses and that no man knows where his grave is:

“So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day.” (Deuteronomy 34:5-6)

We do know that when Jesus was transfigured on the mount, it was Moses and Elijah (referred to as “Elias” in the Greek and in the KJV) who appeared to Jesus. Perhaps the contending that Michael the archangel had to do with the devil had something to do with the devil trying to prevent this appearing of Moses with Elijah at Jesus’ transfiguration. We don’t know for sure because the Bible does not tell us. However, it is clear that God’s plans will not be thwarted by the devil.

Notice in the Deuteronomy passage above, it says, “but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day.” Jude 9 seems to imply that the devil and Michael the archangel did know where the body of Moses was and that Michael was contending with him about the body. If that is true, it is because we know that angels are made higher than human beings. In this dispute, Jude tells us that even Michael, who is the archangel did not rebuke the devil, also called Satan, but Michael told him, “The Lord rebuke thee.” However, these ungodly men whom Jude was writing about thought they could rebuke the devil, just as many pastors and many professing Christians believe today. They do not understand the power of the heavenly realm, including good and fallen angels. They do not recognize the power and authority of God; instead, believing they can rebuke the devil. Jude makes it clear that there is only One who can rebuke the devil and that is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and we have Scripture verses that confirms this.

“And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” (Zechariah 3:1-2)

When the devil tempted Jesus after Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days, Jesus rebuked him because He is the Lord God. Each of the three times that the devil tempted Jesus, Jesus returned to him the words of God that are written in the Bible.

“And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Luke 4:5-8)

When a man came to Jesus and asked Him to have mercy on his son who was vexed, Jesus rebuked the devil:

“And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.” (Matthew 17:18)

After Jesus had told Peter and the other disciples that He must suffer many things and be killed but would rise again the third day, and Peter rebuked Jesus, saying, “Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee,” (Matthew 16:22) Jesus said to Peter:

“…Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” (Matthew 16:23)

When Jesus said that to Peter, He knew that Peter wasn’t acting on his faith in Jesus but on his sinful flesh and that it was the devil who was truly behind the words that Peter had spoken, for the devil wanted to thwart the plan of God: Jesus must die, spilling His sinless, precious blood as a sacrifice to atone for our sins, and rise again so that salvation from sins could be offered to all who believe in Him:

“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.” (1 Peter 1:18-21)

In Jude verse 10, Jude writes that these men who have “crept in unawares” do not have an understanding that comes only from the Holy Spirit within them, for they do not have the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit within us who guides us into all truth, the Bible will not make any sense. Before Jesus was crucified, He told His disciples that He must leave them and that afterwards, He would send His Holy Spirit to be another Comforter to them and to guide them in all truth:

“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” (Jesus Christ; John 14:16-17)

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things the the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” (Jesus Christ; John 16:13-15)

Because the men that Jude spoke of did not, and people who are like them today and do not have the Spirt of truth in them, they do not understand the things and the word of God. They are like brute beasts, carnally minded, without understanding, corrupting themselves. Knowing God and His word only comes by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and being filled with the Holy Spirit:

“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Romans 8:5-9)

We can fool ourselves but we cannot fool God. We are either with Him or against Him. No decision is a decision against Him. Do we choose to remain in our natural, unknowing state, speaking evil of the things we do not know, which leads to death? Or, do we choose to believe in Jesus, letting the Holy Spirit guide us into all truth, respecting God’s authority? This decision is the absolute most critical decision we will ever make. I pray you choose Jesus, before it’s too late. ✝️