Study
0 From the Book of Jude is: The Introduction of the Book
Introduction
The
writer of this Epistle has been generally identified with Judas, one of the
brothers of the Lord (Mt. 13:55). The letter was probably written after the
fall of Jerusalem, possibly between AD 75 and 80.
The message of the Epistle is very
similar to that of 2 Peter. Both authors write out of a sense of deep urgency
(cf. Jude 3, ‘I found it necessary’). Evil men and evil ways had crept into the
church, and were endangering its life. This evil must be fought; and the object
of both Epistles is to stir up the Christians. Jude, like Peter, looks to the
past for illustrations of divine judgement upon sin, and declares that
judgement will fall as certainly as in the past upon those who are now turning
their backs upon truth and righteousness. Finally, he exhorts his readers to
keep themselves in the love of God, who will hold them fast, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Peter foretold the coming of false teachers, but they were
already active when Jude wrote.
