Bible Study Seattle

Jude is filled with great stuff. “And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment.” Jude 7

Is eternal fire like the burning bush? Are the wicked like the bush that didn’t burn up though it was consumed in fire? Or is it the like the endless fire the Jews had to burn up their trash?

“Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.” Jude 11-13

Jude is talking about evil people who commingle with believers. They are doubly dead. That is even more than mostly dead. Is Jude referring to second death? Yes. And black darkness is more than solitary confinement with no light. It is non existence. We must persevere despite their challenges:

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” Jude 24-25