Jude 1: 11 Commentary

Jude 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

The scripture has many different blessings to share of past experiences of people influenced by God’s divine hand. The personal struggles of these men aid all who will hear in how to better avoid selfish tendencies of the flesh; for people developing a closer relationship with God. All though all people struggled on an individual level; one falls to family issues, another the hurdle of business choices, and the last a stumbling block of community/social influence. Having the knowledge of God must lead all to a correct relationship defined by the Creator between God and man, if one desires victory to be attained through trusting and obeying God’s plan. Often times the carnal mind through the deceptions of Satan seeks to have man look up to other men in great esteem while diminishing the glory of the Lord by treating him as an equal.

Cain

A warning is placed as an example in Cain’s story to all who would try and please God by their own works against the prescribed plan of God. Since Cain was the first born and he was to have the privilege “unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” (Genesis 4:7). Cain was welcomed into the world with amazement like most parents do to their children, with glory given to God for the precious gift of life (Genesis 4:1). Adam and Eve’s children were only one generation removed from the good that the Creator had first given humanity in the garden. After presenting sacrifices to God, Cain was very angry to see his brothers offering accepted by the Lord and his rejected. God interjected with Cain to have him see that he had danger of further sin entering into his life if he did not confess and forsake the evil seeds of stubbornness against what he knew God had asked. Cain continued to be impressed by God’s encouragement and correction to change his behavior, but instead of confessing and forsaking his past transgressions of disobedience and attuning his behavior to God’s will, he neglected to act on the conviction and cherished his own understanding instead (Genesis 4:6-7). Cain could have learned from God’s lesson of tending his field, that in order to keep a successful crop he had to weed out the various thorns and thistles that grew in opposition (Genesis 3:17-18). After experiencing the illuminating conviction of God’s word in his heart instead of weeding out the evil seeds of sinful disobedience Cain allowed them to grow and choke out the good seeds planted by God through the positive influence of his brother Abel. Seeking to silence God’s continuing witness for positive growth in his life, Cain’s self conviction was reflected as hatred to his brother that when cultivated and allowed to grow brought him to slay his brother in the field (1st John 3:12). His love of darkness crowded out any light that sought to benefit him until he lashed out at that light, shielding himself from the influence (John 3:19-21). Even when faced with the horrible situation of killing his brother Cain could only think of self preservation, void of any repentance to his actions and only regret for the consequences (Genesis 4:13). Cain through neglect, pride, and self sufficiency was now a “fugitive and a vagabond” (Genesis 4:14) who forsook his upbringing in the Lord and made himself an outsider to his family (Genesis 4:25).

When a field planted with good intentions is left to grow over unkept without the cooperative effort of man and God’s guidance, all passers by will still focus more on the end result then the original intent (Luke 14:28-30, 1st Corinthians 3:11-13).

Balaam

The children of Israel when voyaging to the Promised Land camped in the land of Moab. The Moabites and their king afraid of the many people in Israel’s camp since hearing the victories in battle against the Amorites and Og king of Bashan (Numbers 21:32-35 & 22:4), sought protection from a hired hand to curse the camps of Israel (Numbers 22:5-6). When offered “rewards of divination” to curse Israel Balaam sought council from the Lord and when he received it did not align himself with the instructions but subtly sought to twist the communications of the Lord to his financial favor. God spoke to Balaam “Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed” (Numbers 22:12) and instead of numbering his desires with that of the Lord’s Balaam told the Moabites “Get you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you” (Numbers 22:13). This would set the tone for the double minded ways of Balaam to continue to be tempted to seek worldly. The temptation was set to higher stakes as Balaam was now tempted to curse those blessed by the Lord for “Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.” (Numbers 22:16-17).

Instead of standing on what the Lord had proclaimed he sought God as a child who would petition their parent for a request about something that already had been given a clear answer to. Another clear answer from the Lord “If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.” (Numbers 22:20) in which Balaam took it upon himself to take one bolder step in rebellion against God, in that without being beckoned Balaam saddled his ass and went with them against the Lord’s command. Balaam blinded by the love of money gained through unrighteousness brutishly barreled down the wrong path against the will of the Lord and toward the angel in his path. When met with the obstacle of his donkey hindering the duplicity of his motives, Balaam physically lashed out at the proven loyal beast, determined still bolder to run into sin (Numbers 22:27). The simplicity of the ass’ loyalty delivered Balaam from the sword and displayed the merciful and longsuffering power of the Lord. God permitted the beast to speak words of reason to his master and then allowed Balaam to see the fait that would have befallen him if he continued on the path of disobedience. Thankful for a time and sober to the situation at hand Balaam continued to follow the instruction of the Lord to proclaim His message that “thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed”.

After parting company we see that Balaam had not allowed God to cleanse him of his evil ways of covetousness in loving the wages of unrighteousness (2nd Peter 2:15). Coveting the treasure withheld him Balaam sought to teach the king of Moab that if he could only get the Israelites to sin and displease God then His protection would be lifted. This rebellion lead to the death of many by the stumbling block intentionally placed to tempt God’s chosen to act contrary to the will of God (Revelations 2:14, Numbers 31:8). Stubbornness not to see what the Lord would bless us with in giving or withholding can lead us farther from the Lord’s will. Presumption places a divide between the believer and God, trying to reverse the role to force God’s hand. These perverse measures warp men’s minds into thinking they have more power and control outside of the Lord, leading them to believe that compromise is alright in certain circumstances and that once goals are acquired they will realign with God’s true will. Such is true in the case of Judas, that he sought to gain wealth and power at the hand of the Lord contrary to God’s will (John 12:4-6). Judas even thought to force God’s hand to increase the unquenchable fire of lust that continued to burn once indulged until it consumed everything about him (Matthew 27:3-5).

A journey cut short. It is interesting to see the contrast between the lessons we can learn from the children of Israel being led by the hand of the Lord out from the slavery of Egypt. The dual application can be applied to an individual who has been set free from the bondage of sin as they set out in their journey toward God (promise land) and away from the old life of sin (spiritual Egypt). When Balaam sought the riches the world had to offer against the spoken Word of the Lord in his life he set himself on a path back into bondage. The merciful and longsuffering nature of the Lord continued to strive with Balaam, but stubborn disobedience to increase in riches against God’s flock made him and his desires an outsider to the camp of the Creator and ultimately to an open plot against God.

Korah

Korah was found to be at the forefront of the rebels, seeking to influence men “famous in the congregation, men of renown” (Numbers 16:2) to more effectively spread his lies and push hidden agendas. When enough people sympathized with the ploy Korah gathered everyone to make the mobs intensions known to Moses and Aaron. The heart of the movement was then made known that Moses and Aaron were perceived as taking to much upon themselves as leaders that sought to exalt themselves in positions that Korah thought he could do better. “Ye take too much upon you”(Numbers 16:3) The current rebels sought to undermined the massager’s of the Lord and if they had their way assuming the bigger responsibilities to make things go smoother, failing to see God’s purpose in previous situations. “seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them:”(Numbers 16:3) spoken to accuse Moses and Aaron that the previous messages to turn from evil ways and repent were needless accusations against a people that are self proclaimed holy. “wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?”(Numbers 16:3) struck to the heart of the movement, the rebellious union sought to erect new management with promises of better times to come. Discontentment with what God had given some for responsibility (Numbers 16:8-10) brought open rebellion as covetous self centered acts overthrew God’s rule in individual hearts, they now sought to blindly overthrow God’s decree in the community to their own selfish benefits. Moses reminds the group that they are providing a valuable service and proposes to the mob that they are in fact guilty of the same thing they have accused Moses and Aaron of “ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.” (Numbers 16:7). When a test was set before the people that only God could perform the rebellious individuals were singled out and destroyed for open rebellion against God and his followers (Numbers 16:27-33). Despite God’s delivering hand with many miracles wrought in the favor of the children of Israel, still people were blinded by sinful selfish motives void of God’s purpose. Those in the crowd of Israel who were led into deception continued even after seeing the destruction of Korah to rebel against God and his servants because they didn’t want to face the light of the truth that would lead them to reprove their evil deeds (Numbers 16:41, John 3:20, Job 24:13, Proverbs 15:12).

This is a shadow and replica of evil rebellion that ensued from Satan’s coveting of power not given him and spreading lies and accusations to cause division for his own self centered gain (Revelation 12:7-10, Isaiah 14:12-14). This prideful attitude wars against the humble and meek virtues that a servant of God needs to correctly execute His judgments. We are to respect those in authority for all has been placed by God’s hand and can be overthrown when he sees fit (Luke 19:27, Proverbs 17:11, Matthew 22:21).

By Taft (wrote 29 Bible Commentaries - permalink to this Commentary)
Posted on: 2/10/2012 01:23 am