Study in the Epistle of Jude # 45: Verse 10

by Chris McCann

EBible Fellowship (http://www.ebiblefellowship.com)

Note: this study is a duplicate of Jude Study #44.

Welcome to the Electronic Bible Fellowship’s Bible study. We are going through the book of Jude. We have come to verse 10, which says:

But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

We have seen that these people who are speaking evil of those things which they know not are the unsaved who have crept into the churches unawares. They have entered into the congregations of the world and taken positions of leadership, yet they are not spiritually minded because they are not truly born again. They are not saved; therefore, they continue to be in their flesh and to have a natural mind. Whenever a child of God or a believer presents to them something that has been discerned spiritually from the Bible, they speak evil of it because they do not know or understand it.

This becomes even more important and critical when we get into the time of the Great Tribulation. God has indicated in His Word that He has sealed up many things in the Scriptures concerning end-time events. Daniel 12 clearly spells this out. In the visions that God has given Daniel relating to the end of the world and the Great Tribulation, He tells Daniel in verse 4, “Shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end.” The implication is that they are to be unsealed, and the verse goes on to say, “knowledge shall be increased.”

Since God has hidden these things by sealing them up on the pages of the Bible in parabolic language or in historical parables they must be spiritually discerned in order to be understood at the End Time when the Scriptures are unsealed. This is why, for example, in Daniel 12:10, God goes on to say that the wise shall understand but the wicked shall not understand. The wise are the people of God, the true believers, the elect. God gives them the ability and the spiritual ears to hear and discern spiritual things; they can understand. However, the wicked have a natural mind and they, therefore, cannot understand. Consequently, they will speak evil of those things which they know not.

As we have seen, God says in Jeremiah 8:7, “My people know not the judgment of the Lord.” Since the judgment upon the church has now come, we can expect that those in the churches who remain in the churches will not understand. We can expect that they will speak evil of anything that is derived from spiritual discernment, from approaching the Bible in such a way as to find the spiritual meaning of things.

Let us continue looking at Jude verse 10, which says:

But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

It is very interesting that God identifies these false prophets for us, these unsaved individuals who are professing Christians, because we in and of ourselves would not be able to tell them apart from true children of God. They are referred to as “brute beasts.” However, these two words present a picture that is much different than what God is actually saying.

When we think of a brute beast, we think of some vicious and ferocious animal such as a lion or a bear. We think of some animal that is terrible in its fury and in its ability to bring destruction. We think of a brute beast as one of the stronger animals that can destroy other animals easily and even strike fear in the heart of men. However, that is not the picture that the language in the Greek leads us to.

This word “brute” is also used in 2 Peter 2, which is a parallel chapter to Jude. God there is also discussing false prophets, and He uses the word in an identical manner. The word is also found in one other place that is very different. In Acts 25:27, where the Apostle Paul is about to be sent to Rome and King Bernice is asked to evaluate this prisoner so that Festus might have something to write, we read that Festus says:

For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.

The word “brute” is translated here as “unreasonable.” This is the only other place where we find this word in the New Testament, and God here is giving us a very different idea. Actually, “unreasonable” is a better translation than “brute.” The Greek word itself is the word “logos” with the letter “a” or “alpha” in front of it. The letter “a,” whenever it is found in front of a word, is a negative particle—it gives the word an opposite meaning. The word “logos” is the Greek word for “logic” or “reason.” If you put the alpha in front of logos, the meaning becomes “those who are against reason” or “those who are against the Word.” That is a much better translation and understanding of this word, especially since God is using it in the context of false prophets.

Ultimately, the false prophet, the one who thinks that he is serving God but actually is serving himself and Satan, is against the Word of God. These men know these things naturally as those who are against the Word. They are against the reason of the Scriptures and they are against the very Word of God that they profess to uphold. We can be sure as we are reading Jude 10 that God is definitely speaking of those who are contrary to the truth of the Bible, those who are unfaithful, unreasonable, wicked men.

The next word after “brute,” which we now know is telling us that they are against the Word of God, the Bible itself, is the word “beasts.” “Beasts” again is a word that gives us a very different idea from that which is in the Greek. This word is translated several times in the Bible, including one place in 2 Peter. Let us look at that because 2 Peter is basically saying the identical thing as what we read in Jude. In 2 Peter 2:12, it says:

But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

This is very similar to Jude 10. Some of the word order is changed around, but it is saying exactly the same thing. The word “beast” is the same word that we find in Jude. Every other place that this word is found is in the book of Revelation, and in all those occurrences the word “beast” is used in connection with God Himself. That is somewhat striking, and it makes us wonder how God is using this particular word. It is found several times in Revelation, a few times in chapter 4 alone. In Revelation 4:5-11, we read:

And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

This is a glorious glimpse into the heavenly worship and into the throne room of God. We see four beasts in this passage, and the Greek word used in this passage is the identical Greek word for “beast” that we find in Jude 10. The four beasts here are a representation of God Himself.

We have to be careful because we do not want to make a mistake and confuse these four beasts with the beast that comes up out of the sea in Revelation. In Revelation 13:1, we read of another kind of beast. It says:

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea…

Then later in the chapter, in verse 11, we read:

And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

In these two verses, the beast is Satan himself who is coming to rule over the congregations during the Great Tribulation. However, the four beasts mentioned in Revelation 4 as well (as elsewhere in the book of Revelation including chapters 5 and 15) are God Himself. To indicate that these beasts are different, God uses different Greek words.

In the case of the beast that is coming up out of the sea and the beast that is coming up out of the earth in Revelation 13, the Greek word “therion” (Strong’s #2342) is used. This word points to a venomous beast, a poisonous beast. It is the same word for beast that is found in Acts 28 where we read that a viper latched onto the Apostle Paul’s hand. All the natives of the island of Malta stared in amazement at Paul, waiting for him to fall over dead. That is how Satan comes; that is the beast who is always going about to destroy and to kill

However, the Greek word used for the four beasts, and the same word that is used in Jude 10 and 2 Peter 2, is the Greek word “zoon” (Strong’s #2226). “Zoon” is a word that is related to life; it is a word that speaks of that which is living. It is better translated as “living things.” Instead of “four beasts,” it would be “four living things.” It is derived from the Greek word “zao” (Strong’s #2198), which is the word for life. Therefore, the translation of “four beasts” is a poor translation in some ways.

It is interesting that God reveals Himself as four beasts—as a lion, as a calf, as a man, and as an eagle. If we go to the Old Testament, we find a similar vision of a very strange creature that the prophet Ezekiel received from God. In Ezekiel 1:4-10, we read:

And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

This is what we read in Revelation 4—the face of the lion, of the calf, of the man, and of the eagle—and here they are called “living creatures.” We are seeing that the Greek word translated as “beast” in Revelation 4 (the word “zoon”) would be better translated as “living things.” This vision in which God appears to Ezekiel as four living creatures is the same picture with the same creatures that is in Revelation 4 and elsewhere in the book of Revelation. It is really a representation of God Himself.

Let us notice in Revelation 4 what the four living creatures, as I think we are safe in calling them, are crying out. We read in verse 8:

And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

What they are crying out in their glorifying of God is very familiar, is it not? In Isaiah 6, we have another glimpse into Heaven, another glorious picture that God gives us of His eternal majesty. We read in verses 1-3:

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings…

Here we begin to see the relationship with Revelation 4 where the four beasts also had six wings. The passage continues:

…with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

The seraphims represent God as the judge. They are an illustration that God gives us of His glory and His holiness. The four beasts are also God Himself, and they are each revealing some different aspect of the person of God.

This word “beast” has to do with that which is alive. Those who speak evil of those things which they know not are called brute “beasts,” or brute “living things.” God is life; He is the source of all life. Therefore, when people enter into the church and take upon themselves the name “Christian,” what are they identifying themselves with? They are identifying themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, with salvation, and with eternal life. They are saying, “I am alive.” They are saying, “Because God has saved me, I am a living thing. I am someone who will live forever, just as God is life Himself.” In their relationship to God, they are as a living thing.

However, these unfortunate souls have deceitfully come to this relationship with God. They have not waited upon Him for salvation or cried out to Him for His mercy. They have violently taken it to themselves. They have forcefully claimed the crown of salvation and placed it upon their own heads in their rebellion against God. As far as coming to the Word of God, their minds have never been translated from a natural mind into a spiritual mind. They have not been born again. Therefore, they only know things naturally as those who are “against the Word of God,” which is our word “brute.” They are as those who are contrary to the Gospel, those who are “brute beasts.” They are as those that ought to be alive because they say they are a Christian, but in fact are still dead in their sins. In those things, they corrupt and defile themselves. They are still in the spiritual deadness of their rebellion against God.

The word “corrupt” is found in 2 Corinthians 11:3. The Apostle Paul is writing under the inspiration of God, and he says:

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

To be “corrupted from the simplicity” of the Gospel of the Bible that God has laid out on its pages means that one is not saved. There are multitudes today, millions upon millions, who are represented by these poor souls, these men who have crept in unawares. These who are speaking evil of glorious things and speaking evil of those things which they know not are representing a vast multitude that currently dwells in the churches of our present day. They are representing the great multitude that will stand before Christ on that Last Day and say, “Lord, Lord, did we not do many things in Your name?” Jesus will cast them from His sight, saying, “I never knew you. Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23). This is because they have corrupted themselves in their opposition to the true Gospel of the Bible.

In our next study, Lord willing, we are going to move on to verse 11 of Jude, and we are going to read of three Old Testament figures—Cain and Balaam and Core.