Features of the Ungodly
Jude 12-16
The ungodly false Christians are here compared with:
Hidden rocks
This is the literal translation of the Greek word spilades which is translated as "spots" or "blemishes" in other versions. The picture is of hidden rocks which wreck a ship. They cause believers to suffer shipwreck concerning the faith, like Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Timothy 1:20). The danger is unseen, but causes disaster if anyone runs into it.
The "feasts of charity" were meals of fellowship for believers, held in the early church before the Lord's Supper. All brought food and shared what they had with each other. The ungodly were shepherds which without fear "fed themselves" instead of their flock.
Today they fail to teach the Word of God to their flock, only learning and keeping the knowledge they have for their own advantage. Milton described the situation in England as it prevailed in his day: "The hungry sheep look up and are not fed." What a picture of leadership by false Christians!
Clouds without water
This is a powerful picture of disappointed hopes: they may look as if they are filled with the Word of God, but they are empty and dry. They may wear robes and speak in pompous, pontifical voices with great authority. They have had courses in public speaking and homiletics, and they know how to spiritualise a text of Scripture and make it mean something entirely different from what God intended. They are like beautiful clouds that drift across the sky without giving any refreshment to the earth.
Trees without fruit
Ungodly teachers are like dead uprooted trees, in the autumn, whose fruit has withered. When the Lord Jesus gave the warning against false teachers, He said, ". . . by their fruits you will know them." (Matt. 7:20). The apostate has withered fruit, he is "twice dead, plucked up by the roots." He has no fruit of the Spirit and no spiritual food to offer his flock.
Dwight L. Moody said "when a man is born once, he will have to die twice and when a man is born twice, he will have to die only once". The false teachers are spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and sins — and yet trying to lead others! Their body will have to die, so they are twice dead.
Waves of the sea
They are like wild waves, similar to untamed animals of the forest or the sea, foaming shame. As a rule these men typically speak on current events every Sunday, during the week picking up something out of the newspaper or something they see on television. Like "raging waves of the sea" they just stand in the pulpit and rant, impelled by their restless passions. They do not expound a portion or text of the Word of God, but all they pronounce is worthless and shameful.
Wandering stars
They are like comets or shooting stars which just wander through space. They are lawless in that they follow no course whatsoever, they just come and go, and are completely useless for navigation. To them has been reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
This complete absence of light refers to hell. One symbol of hell is fire, and the other is blackness of darkness. Great emphasis has been placed upon the symbol of fire. Hell is literal, of course, but it is inadequate to say it is just physical fire: there will be spiritual creatures there as well as man, so physical punishment wouldn't be suitable. The other symbol, "blackness of darkness," concerns a total banishment from the presence of God. An ungodly man carries darkness with him, but whilst he is alive the light of God shines around him. After death he comes into complete darkness and can never see again. The horrors of hell will be increased by the nature of those who go there. It will be a dreadful place to be in for ever.
After this we come across another remarkable and unique passage of Scripture, concerning the prophecy of Enoch. This is the only place it is found in the Word of God.
It is also found in an apocryphal Book of Enoch, which was known to some Christian writers of the second century. With the exception of a few fragments, this book was lost until it was found again in its entirety in a copy of the Ethiopic Bible in 1773 by Bruce. Godly men recognised that it was an apocryphal book, so it wasn't included in the canon of Scripture.
Whether the apocryphal book was seen by Jude or not, this is a true prophecy concerning the coming of Christ with His saints, for it is in God's inspired Word (see also Zechariah 14:5).
Just as Enoch was removed from the earth without dying, so at the time of the Rapture believers alive on earth will be caught up with the resurrected to meet the Lord in the air. This was only revealed after the Old Testament times, yet Enoch is a type or a representative of these believers.
As Enoch was removed from the earthly scene before the judgment of the Flood, the believers who belong to the true church of Christ will be removed from this earth before the beginning of the judgment of the Great Tribulation.
Nominal Christians (not believers) left on earth will enter the Great Tribulation period. At the end of the Tribulation, the Lord Jesus will come to the earth "to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed" as Enoch prophesied.
The church, included in "His saintly myriads," will come back with Christ to reign on the earth, so obviously it had to leave the earth before that, thereby confirming the doctrine of the pre-tribulation Rapture.
When Christ returns to earth, He will execute judgment, as He said in His Olivet Discourse, and this is repeatedly mentioned in the Word of God, as well as in the Old Testament. The judgment will convict all those who are destitute of a reverential awe towards God: they are ungodly in the sense that they leave God out. This is quite popular today.
Their works are actually anti-God, and this prophecy of Enoch deals with the judgment upon the organised church which will be in total apostasy after the Rapture. The Rapture will rupture the church, the true believers will leave the earth, and the make-believers will remain and the survivors of the Tribulation will be here when Christ comes to judge men on that day.
More features are given of false Christians:
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Grumblers: they mutter complaints against God in an undertone.
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Complainers: discontented, never satisfied, they complain about their lot in life.
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Self-complacent: they please themselves: whether good or bad, they do what they like, leaving God out.
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Wordy: they use extravagant language to impress people, but it is just empty talk without any commitment.
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Flattering: Literally "admiring countenances." Applauding others, and saying a lot of things which are not true, with a view to their own promotion and advantage. They do not look to God. They are not concerned whether or not the Lord Jesus will say to them, "Well done, you good and faithful servant." They are more concerned to have the applause of the crowd.
R David Jones
12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;
13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints,
15 "to execute judgement on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."
16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.