We continue with our study of the letter of Jude. We will begin by looking at the first 16 verses of the letter. To this end I am including below a series of questions that are intended to guide you in the study and understanding of the letter and its application to daily life. Today we will look at up to verse 7 and tomorrow at the rest up to verse 16.
As always, take care and God bless you.
Read Jude 1–16. Read the passage as many times as you need, until you have understood all the words and have grasped the meaning of the text, its general sense. Then try and answer the next questions which in turn will be of great help to fully understand the text and apply it to your daily life. You may want to have a pen and notebook with you to write down what you discover and learn so that you do not forget it and can share it with the rest of the community and have it at hand for future reference.
1. How does Jude identify himself at the beginning of the letter? What does he say of himself? Can you identify yourself as a servant of Jesus Christ? Think for a little while about all the implications of the word "servant". What does it mean to you to be a servant of Jesus in your daily life?
2. In verse 1, Christians (the called) are called “beloved” and “kept,” what do these two words tell us about the Church and about God? What is the meaning of this reality of being “beloved” and “kept,” for your daily life?
3. In verse 3 we find the reason for this letter, which is that reason? Think about the meaning of the word "faith" in this specific context.
4. Do you think this petition in verse 3 is still pertinent in our time? If so, how can you contend for the faith? How can you recognize a false teacher?
5.- In verse 5 Jude is referring to something that happened during the Exodus. You can find the story which Jude is referring to in Numbers 14:1-38. Read this story so that you may better understand this letter. Think about who can be the unbelievers and how can Jesus be the one who saved the people out of Egypt. [Psalm 95 describes how the Lord reacted to them: For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, “It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways. So I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest” (Psalm 95:10-11)]
6.- In the following verses Jude notes eight cases of rebellion against God. Three of them in verses 5-7: unbelieving Israelites, angels, and cities. In what way did they rebel against God and how were they punished? [Regarding the first case you just have read it in Numbers 14:1-38. Regarding the second one, the angels; there is some measure of controversy about the identity of these particular angels. We only have two places in the Bible where it speaks of angels sinning. First, there was the original rebellion of some angels against God (Isaiah 14:12-14, Revelation 12:4, 7-9). Secondly, there was the sin of the sons of God described in Genesis 6:1-2. The story of the cities which Jude is speaking of can be found in Genesis 19:1–11.]