Jude: Sharing Quotes

Jude 14-15

I love listening to preaching. I love reading books by preachers. Sometimes I read books by preachers from long ago. I like Charles Spurgeon, and from time to time I share quotes from him. Most of the quotes I share, I'm not 100% sure where they came from. Jude felt the same way about Enoch. He likes this quote from Enoch, and like the Spurgeon quote, I do not know where this quote came from. It is not in Genesis where we read about Enoch. Here is what Jude had to say.

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Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment 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.”

Jude 14-15

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Think for just a moment about what Jude is saying. Around 3-4,000 years before Jesus (so 5-6,000 years ago), Enoch was talking about a judgment that would be after the flood. It would be after Sodom and Gomorrah, Egypt, the exile, and everything since Jesus. He, led by the Holy Spirit, bypassed all of these and spoke of the final judgment of this world. It was Enoch's great grandson who would build the ark and survive the flood that would destroy the whole world. Enoch did not preach about that judgment, but about the one we read about in the book of Revelation.

"Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints". This sounds amazing to begin. Anyone coming with 10,000 people is something to behold. However, the Greek word translated "10,000" is the word "myrias" (myriad). This is an innumerable amount. The Lord will be coming with an innumerable number of His saints. It will be an army like the world has never seen. Think back to what we said before, this is 3-4 thousand years before Jesus was born. Enoch only knew in a general sense of who the Lord was. We know this to be the second coming of Jesus today.

This is not the rapture. Jesus is not coming to collect his Saints. They are coming back with Him, and He is returning to judge the world. He will convict all who are unGodly. Every evil deed will be judged. There will be no escape. Those who were apostates, described in the previous verses, will have to answer for their rejection and blaspheme of His Name. They will be held accountable for their mistreatment of the church. Enoch's prophecy makes that clear.

If you are unfamiliar with the story of Enoch, it can be read in Genesis 5:18-24. Verse 24 tells us "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him". Enoch was raptured, or taken, by God before the flood. This in itself is a picture of end time events. Enoch was removed before the flood in the same way that Jesus will remove the church before the time known as the tribulation period. God lets us know through Enoch that His plan has always been the same.

Father, we thank You for not changing. Even though we may not understand some things, as time plays out, we are able to look at Your words and see that You told us Your plans. We pray for wisdom to understand and a love for people to tell them of Your salvation.