Jude 1:14-15, “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesized about these men: ‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands of His holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’”

Interesting points:

1. In these verses Jude draws from a non-Biblical source in the Jewish tradition to quote one of mankind's earliest patriarchs, Enoch, to reinforce to his readers of the fate of false teachers and all who reject or distort the truth.

2. Having lived before Noah's flood, Enoch was not a writer of Scripture although Genesis 5:24 credits him with walking with God before He took him away from earth to remain in His presence. Enoch's prediction is quoted in verses 14 and 15 and holds that the Lord will return to earth with thousands of "holy ones" – which we can surmise from Matthew 25:31 and Colossians 3:4 is a reference to angels and raptured Christians.

3. Jude has already spent a great deal of effort explaining how dangerous false teachers really are. In Verse 14, Jude explains that the Lord will return to earth (with thousands of His angels and raptured believers) to judge them and convict the ungodly of their wicked deeds and baseless insults against Him. The apostates will be judged by Jesus, the one of whom they had spoken abusively as we saw in Jude 1:4 and 1:8).

Application:

Brothers, although we are not exactly sure where this quotation comes from -- or even if it was part of some other Jewish writing before being recorded here -- by the time Jude wrote, Jewish literature included a non-inspired book, The Book of Enoch, which contains a similar statement. Jude's phrasing is significantly different, however, leading many to suggest that he was either quoting from oral tradition, or had been given particular information by the Holy Spirit. As writers of Scripture often quoted from non-inspired texts for the sake of making a point (for example, Paul’s quoting a local saying in Titus 1:12), this passage does not imply that Jude accepted The Book of Enoch as God's Word.

Similarly, as we try to explain God’s Word to unbelievers, we may have to draw on non-Biblical material(s) to help them understand the Truth of who Christ is and how God chose to reconcile each of us to Him through the blood of the Lamb.

Just as we must be ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ, we must be ready to share God’s Word in such a way that it resonates in the heart of our listeners. Every day passing draws mankind closer to the day of Judgment…