Warnings From Ancient Rebellions

The Letter of Jude E3 — After the letter’s opening appeal, Jude (or Judah) begins warning corrupt members of a Jewish messianic church community who cast off restraint and live openly immoral lives. He does so with an ancient rhetorical technique found in both the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Jude shares three stories of rebellion in the Hebrew Bible: the spies fearful of the promised land in Numbers 13-14, the “sons of God” in Genesis 6, and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. Then he draws comparisons to the corrupt church members, promising they’ll receive the same judgment. Why does Jude write this way about the moral crisis in a church? What is he trying to communicate? In this episode, Jon and Tim explore verses 5-8, unpacking the dense biblical references and what they would have meant to Jude and his audience.

FULL SHOW NOTES

For chapter-by-chapter summaries, referenced Scriptures, and reflection questions, check out the full show notes for this episode.

CHAPTERS

1. A Jewish Rhetorical Technique (0:00-18:10)
2. Rebellion of the Spies, Sons of God, and Sodom and Gomorrah (18:10-36:41)
3. Concluding Thoughts on the First Triad (36:41-51:54)

OFFICIAL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

View this episode’s official transcript.

BIBLEPROJECT JUDE TRANSLATION

View our full translation of the Letter of Jude.

REFERENCED RESOURCES

• The Dead Sea Scrolls (Pesharim)
• Check out Tim’s extensive collection of recommended books.

SHOW MUSIC

• “Fellowship” by Lofi Sunday, Cassidy Godwin
• “Peace With You ft. Oly.Lo” by Lofi Sunday
• BibleProject theme song by TENTS 

SHOW CREDITS

Production of today’s episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer, and Cooper Peltz, managing producer. Tyler Bailey is our supervising engineer, who also edited today’s episode and provided the sound design and mix. JB Witty writes the show notes. Our host and creative director is Jon Collins, and our lead scholar is Tim Mackie. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

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