[Jude]

 

            {64 AD. Paul’s release from prison and visitation to various congregations.}

            {July 64 AD. The Great Fire at Rome, Christians accused of setting it.}

             ^1:1 Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to the called ones, the ones who have been made holy in God the Father and have been kept in Jesus Christ: ^1:2 mercy to you^°, and may peace and love^* be multiplied.

 

             ^1:3 Beloved, making^* all diligence to write to you^° concerning the common salvation of us, I had a necessity to write to you^°, encouraging you^° to fight earnestly for the faith which was given once for all to the holy-ones.

 

             ^1:4 For^* some men sneaked in among you^°, the ones who have been written about, from long-ago ^*for this condemnation of the ungodly, the ones transferring {Or: transform} the grace of our God into unbridled-lust and denying our only Master, God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

             ^1:5 But I plan to remind you^°, though you^° knowing this once for all, that the Lord, who saved people out-of the land of Egypt, destroyed the ones who did not believe the second-time. {Num 14:32}

               ^1:6 And the messengers who did not keep to their own principality, but who left their own house, he has kept to the judgment of the great day in eternal bonds under blackness.

             ^1:7 As Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them in a similar manner with these; they indulged in fornication and went after different flesh, and are laying before us as an example, being held under the sentence of everlasting fire. {Gen 19:1-38}

             ^1:8 Nevertheless, these also dreaming likewise, indeed are defiling the flesh and rejecting lordship and blaspheming the heavenly glories.

             ^1:9 But Michael the archangel, when arguing with the devil, after he was reasoning concerning the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring a judgment of blasphemy against him, but said, The Lord rebuke you.

             ^1:10 But these men, they indeed blaspheme as many things as they do not know. But as many things as they know naturally, like the unreasoning creatures that they are, they corrupt themselves in these things.

             ^1:11 Woe to them! Because they traveled in the way of Cain and poured themselves into the error of Balaam’s reward and perished in the contradiction of Korah. {Gen 4:8; Num 22:1-41; Num 16:1-50}

             ^1:12 These people are hidden-reefs in your^° love-feasts, sumptuously feasting fearlessly alongside you^°, shepherding themselves, they are waterless clouds, being carried away by the winds, unfruitful autumn trees, died twice, uprooted, ^1:13 wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shames, misleading stars, for whom the blackness of darkness has been kept forever.

             ^1:14 Now Enoch, seventh from Adam, also prophesied about these people, saying, Behold, the Lord came with tens of thousands of his holy-ones, ^1:15 to make^* a judgment against all, and to convict all the ungodly of them, concerning all their works of ungodliness of which they did in ungodly ways and concerning all the harsh things which ungodly sinners spoke against him.

             ^1:16 These men are murmurers, complainers, conducting-themselves according-to their lusts and their mouth is speaking flattering-words, admiring faces {Hebrew idiom: complimenting the person.} because of profit.

 

             ^1:17 But you^°, beloved, remember^° for yourselves the declarations which have been spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^1:18 that they were saying to you^°, In the last time there will be mockers, conducting-themselves according-to their own lusts of ungodlinesses. ^1:19 These are the ones who are causing-splits, who are physical, not having the Spirit. ^1:20 But you^°, beloved, keep building yourselves up in your^° most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.

             ^1:21 Keep^° yourselves in God’s love^*, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ ^*for everlasting life. ^1:22 And show-mercy^° on some, making a distinction, ^1:23 but save^° those who are in fear, seizing them out-of the fire, hating even the tunic which has been stained from the flesh.

 

             ^1:24 Now to the one who is able to guard them from falling and to stand them in the sight of his glory, unblemished in gladness, ^1:25 to the only wise God our Savior, is the glory and majesty, dominion and authority, both now and all of forever. Amen.

             {NOTES: Please read the Preface and other non-bible sections. * is our universal footnoting for words contained in the ‘Definitions’ section. These words are NOT the same Greek word as the non-asterisk form; i.e., *FOR is different from FOR* is different from FOR. ^° (degree sign) denotes plural forms.}

 

 

{{ Introduction to Revelation 64-66 AD.

 

            The book of Revelation was written before 66 AD, the start of the invasion by Vespasian and his son Titus toward Jerusalem. If it had been written after the destruction of Jerusalem, that would have been mentioned in the book since that was God’s Judgment Day upon the Jews and a great example about what happens to false teachers or religious groups who claim to be ‘God’s people’.

            The book was written during the time when Christians were not only being persecuted by the Jews but also from the Roman government by one of the vilest men to walk on this earth, Caesar Nero. The entire book is written in extremely symbolic language, and O.T. like arrangement (not chronological). This was like a code that the Christians would understand, but the Jews and Romans would never see God’s judgment on the Jewish nation coming. This would keep them safe and give them hope during this extreme time of Nero (the man 666). Christians would be seeing the deadly advance of the Roman armies (Luk 21:20) who planned to end to the various Jewish rebellions which had plagued Roman rule for over a decade, once and for all.

            Through the symbolic language, you have a historical ‘play by play’ of what is going to take place with the eventual fall of Jerusalem, which took three and a half years. It even prophesies of the stopping of the advance also foretold in Luke 21, so that not one Christian lost his life in the 3.5-year siege (Josephus) and the final destruction of the Jewish temple and all its records, thus bring every remaining prophecy of the Old and New Testament to fulfillment. The armies were led by the soon-to-be Caesar Vespasian, and then his son Titus, after apostle Paul’s execution by Nero and then Nero’s death in June 68 AD. Even though Revelation is a symbolically written history book from 1:1 to 20:11, it still gives every Christian hope because we know that God always wins!

            Revelation contains the chapter (20:1-7) most often mistranslated to meet certain beliefs more than any other place in the Bible (the ‘abolish’ in Mat 5:17 is second). If you have to change what the Word of God says to promote your doctrine, then your doctrine cannot possibly be God’s teaching. The final warning from God, ‘do not add to or take away from’ God’s word in 22:19. People who ‘add’ or ‘remove’ things in worship or the Word of God as it is preached, should take-heed and know they are taking a chance with their souls and need to repent.}}