As Jude
continues his warnings against false teachers, he continues to use examples
from the Old Testament.
Jude 1:10-11 “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. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way
of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in
the gainsaying of Core.”
I think the
New Living Translation makes the point of verse 10 in a way that is easier to
understand: “But these people mock and curse the things they do not
understand. Like animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and they
bring about their own destruction.”
In context from the previous post, I
think the things “they know not,” or don’t understand, are the things of the
spiritual world, the dimension of the angels.
I think that is especially true of Christians today; very few even take
the time to consider the spiritual realm that is part of our reality. They don’t realize how dangerous it is to
credit these spiritual beings with more power than they actually possess or to
discount the power they have to deceive us and lead us away from the truth.
False teachers place a lot of value
on the things they know naturally from experience. They operate from the position that “seeing
is believing” and from feelings. In
truth, what we see can be deceiving and feelings are rooted in the flesh, from
the heart. Jeremiah warns us about the
heart.
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
This mindset always leads to involvement in things that eventually
result in death. Jude gives us three examples
from scripture.
“the way of Cain” - In Genesis 4 is the record of Cain killing his
brother Abel out of jealousy that turned into anger. God had accepted Abel’s sacrifice and not
Cain’s because Cain had decided to do things his way instead of God’s way. Though only implied in the context in Genesis,
we know that Cain was aware of what was an acceptable sacrifice to God. Hebrews 11 provides more insight.
Hebrews 11:4
“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which
he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by
it he being dead yet speaketh.”
Note
that it says that “by faith Abel offered….”
From where does faith come? By
hearing. Hearing what? The Word of God.
Romans 10:17
“So then faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
So, going in the way of Cain is another way of saying I am going to
reject God’s word and do things my way.
The next example
noted by Jude is running “greedily after the error of Balaam for reward”
(found in Numbers 22-24). Balaam’s
error was greed. He was a person who practiced
the art of divination—being able to reveal secrets and tell the future. False teachers make their profit from
gullible people using the same methods as Balaam, and there are many who choose
ministry in the church today because of the profit it affords them.
The last example Jude notes is “the gainsaying of Core.” The Hebrew for “gainsaying” refers to
disobedience and contradiction. “Core”
is the Greek spelling of Korah, and the corresponding scripture to this
reference is in Numbers 16. Korah was a
son of Levi who resented the fact that Aaron and his sons were given the
priesthood. He thought Moses was playing
favorites (practicing nepotism) by appointing Aaron to this position. By questioning Moses he was questioning God’s
authority in appointing him as their leader.
God became so angry that He caused the earth to open up and swallow
Korah and his two friends and all their possessions. Like Cain, they didn’t like God’s
direction/instruction.
False teachers are like Korah and his friends. They desire positions of prominence and
leadership. They seek to achieve these
positions through calling into question and contradicting the truth of God’s
word as proclaimed by true servants of God.
They are not content to follow God in obedience and trust Him to lead them
into the place they can best serve Him. Men
who deny God and the truth of His word are essentially already doomed; their
destruction is as sure as what happened to Korah.
(to be continued…)
No comments:
Post a Comment