Woe to them! For
they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for
profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
Jude 11
Dear heavenly
Father, please hear my prayer. Thank you
for all that you've given me and my family, the provision, the healing, the
mercy. Most of all, thank you for Your
Son who took my punishment so I can be reconciled to You. Please keep me focused on what is important
and not the noise that surrounds me.
Help me to understand Your word.
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Again, Jude is
referencing "them." He has
spent several verses describing their depravity and their corrupted source of
inspiration drawing parallels with stories that the congregation in Jerusalem
knows. "Them" are the false teachers.
To bring deeper understanding to today's text, let's examine some key
words and their companion or similar verses.
"Woe" in
the Greek is ouai which means sorrow,
alas, uttered in grief or denunciation (public disapproval of someone or
something). Jude starts out publicly
shouting his disapproval of these "dreamers" who hope and desire
against God's kingdom and then expect their personal aspirations to be granted.
"Way" in
the Greek is hodos which means road,
journey, path, footsteps, highways, streets, a traveled way, metaphorically as
a manner of feeling, thinking, and/or deciding.
These false teachers have traveled the same journey that Cain did. Genesis 4:5-8 states "but He did not
respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance
fell. So the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? And why has your
countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not
do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule
over it.' Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they
were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed
him." In an effort to "save
face" over his anguish at his failure, Cain slays his
brother. In an attempt to retain respect
and avoid humiliation, these false prophets seek to reduce God's majesty in an
effort to make themselves feel more important than God, just like the playground
bully who is envious of his classmates.
"Run
greedily" in the Greek is ekcheo which means pour out, shed, bestow
liberally, give up to wickedness, headlong.
"Error" in the Greek is plane
which means a wandering sin, deviant behavior, departure from what God says is
true, deception which results in wandering (roaming in sin), straying, wrong
opinion, delusion. "Profit" in
the Greek is misthos which means pay,
wages, salary, reward, recompense, punishment, compensation for particular
decision (action), dues paid for work.
The false teachers gave themselves up to wickedness like Balaam's
departure from God for a worldly reward.
2 Peter 2:15 states "They have forsaken the right way and gone
astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of
unrighteousness."
Balaam of Beor is
mentioned in 62 verses in the Bible mostly in Numbers. Balak, the king of Moab,
is frightened by Moses and the approaching Israelites. He decides to hire Balaam, a well known
prophet, to curse Israel so that he will be able to defeat them in war. Searching for profit, Balaam agrees. However, through God's plan, in the end,
Balaam can only bless Israel.
Other
texts also describe him as a prophet for hire.
Joshua 13:22 states "The children of Israel also killed with the
sword Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, among those who were killed by
them." Joshua 24:9 states
"Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against
Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you." Nehemiah 13:2 states "because they had
not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against
them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing."
Numbers 31 describes
his punishment for involvement in the Baal Peor (Numbers 25) where he is blamed
for inciting Moabite women to entice Israelite men to sin. Numbers 31:16 states "Look, these women
caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass
against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the
congregation of the Lord."
Revelation 2:14 states "But I have a few things against you,
because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak
to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things
sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality." Jesus said in Matthew 18:6, "Whoever
causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better
for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the
depth of the sea." Through the example of Balaam, we can see what that punishment would look like.
"Perished"
in the Greek is apollumi which means
destroy, lose, am perishing, resultant death that seems certain, miserable end,
permanent destruction, ruin, eternal misery.
These false teachers will meet a miserable eternal end like those of the
Korah rebellion. Numbers 16:1-3 states
"Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with
Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben,
took men; and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel,
two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the
congregation, men of renown. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron,
and said to them, 'You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation
is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt
yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?'" Korah called out Moses convinced he was just
as good.
God showed His plan
in Numbers 16:28-35, "And Moses said: 'By this you shall know that the Lord
has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. If
these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate
of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord creates a new thing,
and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to
them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these
men have rejected the Lord.' Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all
these words, that the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened its
mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah,
with all their goods. So they and all those with them went down alive into the
pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the
assembly."
These false teachers
would go as far as murder if disrespected or humiliated. They would do or say anything for worldly
gains. Anyone who seems more important
than them, they will use any method to ruin their threat. To these dreamers, no one and nothing is more
important than them and they are entitled to all spoils to the point of being
called a "god." Focusing on
yourself, keeps you from God and brings you only misery. Be free.
Focus on God and His will.
Woe to them! For
they have gone the [defiant] way of Cain, and for profit they have run headlong
into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of [mutinous] Korah.
Amplified Bible
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