Study in the Epistle of Jude # 69: Verse 12

by Chris McCann

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

Welcome to the Electronic Bible Fellowship’s Bible study. We are currently in verse 12 of the book of Jude, which says:

These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

We are going to look at the last half of verse 12, which says that they are “trees whose fruit withereth.” We know that this is an ongoing discussion God is having regarding those who have crept in unawares, the unsaved individuals in the churches and congregations of the world who have taken the name of Christ but have not truly been born again. They are typified by these things—as clouds without water carried about of winds. What then is meant by “trees whose fruit withereth”? As you might expect, God has much to say about trees in the Bible. For instance, in Mark 8 we find an interesting passage. We read in verses 22-25:

And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

In this passage, we see that when the man had his sight partially restored after Christ had spit on his eyes and put his hands upon him, Christ asked if he saw anything or ought, and what he saw was “men as trees, walking.” This helps us as we are trying to understand trees as they were mentioned in Jude 12, because this tells us that trees are likened to men. It is very much like fish, as God says to the Apostles, “I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). Therefore, when we read in the Bible about fishing expeditions where the net is lowered and there is a great catch of fish, we have Biblical validation for relating that to the sending forth of the Gospel and men responding to the Word of God. Now with this verse, we see that men are like trees. Therefore, when God speaks of trees in the Bible, He is really pointing to men.

“I see men as trees walking”—there are other verses that we can tie in to that, but why do we not briefly take a look at this passage in Mark 8. It is very interesting how Christ healed this blind man and gave him his sight, and the interesting thing about it is that it took two times. First He spit on his eyes and put His hands upon him, and the man looked and saw men as trees walking. Why was it necessary for Jesus to then do what we read in verse 25, which says:

After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

Why was it necessary for Christ to touch him twice? We do not read about that in any of the other healings of Jesus. When He gave blind Bartimaeus his sight, He did not touch him twice; when He told Lazarus to rise up from the dead, He did not have to say, “Lazarus, come forth” twice—He is eternal God. He is the creator and Almighty God whose word is full of power. He spoke and brought a universe into being—He can do anything with a simple word. Yet here it seems that as Jesus tried to heal this blind man the first time, He was frustrated and it was a partial healing. How could that be? Did Jesus not apply enough virtue, as we see in some other accounts that as people touched Him virtue went out of Him and they were healed? No, it has nothing to do with that. This was intentional; it was very much the purpose of God that Christ would have to touch him twice in order that his sight would be restored whole, and he would see every man clearly.

The next question that we have to ask is, “Why? What possible reason could God have for spitting on this man’s eyes and touching him two times like this?” The first time when He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of town, He spit on his eyes. To spit in the Bible has to do with being under the curse of God (Numbers 12:14). Therefore, Christ was indicating that in order for this man to be healed and to see (as that blindness is a picture of spiritual sinfulness in which we are spiritually blind in ignorance) and in order for him to regain his sight, it was necessary for Jesus to become a curse for him. This then is actually pointing to the atoning sacrifice that Christ would provide, which would be as an applied healing ointment upon this man’s eyes.

Then why, when He asked him if he saw ought, does he look up and say, “I see men as trees, walking”? He says so because actually, he does not see clearly; he does not see everything perfectly. The reason is that God has a two-part salvation plan. He has one part, the first part, which begins in this life—it is when we become born again and receive a new resurrected soul and a new heart and a new spirit. At that point, we are given spiritual eyesight so that we can begin to see things spiritually that we could never see before.

However, let us ask ourselves this question: when we receive this new eyesight, do we see perfectly? Do we understand everything that the Bible has to say perfectly? Do we know all spiritual meanings right away? The answer is no. Actually, we could study the Bible as a child of God for a great many years, and the best we could say at the end is that we see through a glass darkly. That is the language that God uses in 1 Corinthians 13:9, where we read:

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

It is just as that man—he was healed, yet could only see in part. Then verses 10-12 go on:

But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

That is what God is teaching us; that is the spiritual significance of this man having to be healed a second time. We must receive our new resurrected bodies on that Last Day, on the Final Day, the Day of Judgment, the Day of Resurrection. On that day, each child of God will be equipped with an eternal body that will match our eternal spirit. Then we will see God face-to-face, and then we will have a more perfect understanding of God Himself. It will not be a complete understanding—no one can ever completely understand God—but we will have a much better understanding of the Kingdom of God and the Word of God and of God Himself, and we will see Him face-to-face. Therefore, it was necessary for Jesus to apply His hands a second time, just as it will be necessary for God to apply His hand to each one who will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

That is just a side note as we are trying to search out trees. We saw here, “I see men as trees”—men are typified by trees. Then in Isaiah 61:1-3, we read:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Here we see again that God is very definitely focusing on His salvation plan. Jesus will quote these verses in the Gospel of Luke as He is fulfilling them at that time. They have to do with the great and wonderful salvation plan of God as He intends to save the whole company of the elect. These believers are called “trees of righteousness”—God likens His people, the elect, to trees. Therefore, it is no wonder that these false prophets who try to give the appearance of a child of God as much as possible are likened to trees. We have seen that with the clouds. Hebrews 12 says that believers are a great cloud of witnesses—the false prophets give the appearance of a believer, but they lack the water, the Holy Spirit. Likewise, God says that His people will be trees of righteousness, and also that these false prophets are trees.

You can have a tree, but God has established a way to tell if it is a good tree or a corrupt tree; that is, if it is a tree of righteousness or a tree of wickedness. As we are speaking of trees, we are talking about individual men and whether they are saved or unsaved. We see this in Matthew 7:15-20, which says:

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

“By their fruits ye shall know them.” What exactly is God telling us by this? What fruits are we to look for? We have to keep in mind that He is speaking of false prophets. In other words, He is focusing on those who are in the church and are teaching and declaring the Word of God. It is by their fruit that we will be able to know whether they are a true child of God or a false one. Actually, we never want to point the finger and say, “Now I know that you are unsaved”—God is not giving us that kind of a privilege. Rather, God is permitting His people to be able to evaluate what is being declared as a Gospel. We are able to listen and hear and discern; we have the ability to judge the type of Gospel that individuals are bringing, whether in the church or outside the church. We can listen to what they are saying and we can compare what they are saying to the Bible itself to find out whether it is true or whether it is false.

In Jeremiah 17:9, we have a very familiar verse, which says:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Then following that, we read in verse 10:

I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

We remember that the tree is known by its fruit. God is going to hold man accountable and judge man according to the fruit of his doings. God is using the same kind of analogy, the same type of picture—men are trees and they will bring forth fruit. The only question is, what type of fruit will it be? Will it be fruit that is pleasing unto the Lord, or will it be evil fruit, so evil that it cannot be eaten and fruit of wickedness and sin? God will make that evaluation on the Last Day. He will judge men according to the fruit of their doings.

It is interesting how often this type of language—”the fruit of your doings”—appears in the book of Jeremiah. We should not be surprised, actually, because God is indicating that there will come a time when He evaluates the fruit of the New Testament churches and congregations. Let us read John 15:1-2, which says:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

In Romans 11, God speaks about discarding the natural branch, which was national Israel, and grafting in another branch, which would be the Gentiles of the New Testament churches and congregations. Israel did not bear the fruit of salvation; it did bear the fruit that it was designed to bring forth, which was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, but then it ceased to bear. Therefore, God rid Himself of that branch. He took it away and He grafted the New Testament church into Himself. Then He looks for fruit to come from that church. If that church ceases to bear fruit, what ought the expectation of the church to be? God says, “Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit, He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit.” Then we read in verse 6:

If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

This is the language of judgment. God is looking upon the fruit. Whether it be an individual or the corporate church, He’s looking for that fruit. If there comes a time when there is no fruit, then He will simply cast away that branch and that will be the end of that man or the end of that corporate body. This is just as it was with national Israel and just as it now is with the New Testament churches and congregations.

In Jeremiah, God speaks of the fruit of your doings. This language is found in Jeremiah 21:11-14, which says:

And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD; O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations? But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.

God is speaking to Judah and telling them to execute judgment and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor. This is language that is pointing to sharing the true Gospel of the Bible and bringing the whole counsel of God. However, then He turns around and says that He will judge them because of the evil of their doings, because of the fruit of their doings. They are showing themselves to be a corrupt tree. They are showing themselves to have brought forth evil fruit. That is based upon the type of Gospel that they have been involved with. It is based upon the declaration of the Word of God that is going forth from Israel at that time, which was largely a false declaration involving high places and idol worship. Therefore, God judges them for the fruit of their doings.

Likewise, as God looks at the church of our day and as He looks around at the type of Gospel that is being sent forth into the world, He would say the same thing to the church today—”Execute true judgment and deliver them that are oppressed;” that is, bring the Gospel that only has the power of God to save. Yet, He looks around and He finds freewill gospels and tongues gospels and social gospels and political gospels and liberal gospels and every kind of gospel under the sun besides the true Gospel. There is no judgment being executed in the land; there is no faithful declaration of the Word of God. Consequently, God is going to bring judgment and has begun to bring judgment upon the house of God for the evil of their doings because of the fruit that they have brought forth.

Anyone can evaluate this. If you have visited any churches recently and you have sat down and heard the message being preached, you might have heard a message that is faithful to a confession or a creed, and you might have heard a message that is faithful to a renowned theologian or to man’s wisdom and man’s doctrines and man’s ideas; but sadly, it is a message that woefully lacks in faithfulness to the Word of God, the Bible. This is the fruit of their doings. This is their fruit, yet God indicates that a branch that does not bring forth fruit is to be cast away; it is good for nothing but the fire. That is a reference to the judgment of God, to the condemnation of God.

The church today has been inspected. The Husbandman has come into His vineyard. He has gone from tree to tree, from church to church, and He has searched diligently to find any who were faithful, any who were doing things faithfully to His Word, yet He has found none. He has brought judgment now upon the New Testament church, and their fruit is being shown to be spoiled. It is being shown to be evil fruit, or as it says in Jeremiah, “evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil” (Jeremiah 24:8). That is the fruit of the church of our day.

In Jeremiah 23:2 it says:

Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.

There is that same reference to their doings. It is interchangeable, whether it is the “evil of their doings” or the “fruit of their doings.” God is going to visit the flock. He is going to visit the pastors who should be feeding the flock, and He is going to hold them accountable for the evil fruit or for the lack of fruit that is being brought forth in the church of our day. This is terrible, it is awful, yet this is what the Bible teaches. This is going on presently in the churches and congregations of the world.

Returning back to Jude 12, let us just read the second half of the verse again:

…trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit…

These false prophets are likened to trees, yet to trees “whose fruit withereth, without fruit”—they have no fruit. When God performs His inspection, He does not find anything of value, anything worthwhile, anything faithful to the Word of God. When individuals mix lies with the truth, they have ruined the fruit. They have ruined the tree and it is a corrupt tree that becomes good for nothing. It goes on to say here:

…twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

The reference to being twice dead has to do with the severe judgment of God. When God casts someone into Hell, He speaks of this as being the second death (Revelation 20:14). Remember, we all start out dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1); therefore, when you are twice dead, you could die physically, but the second death is the death of being cast into Hell. That is the final death—there will be no more dying. They will be dead eternally, even though those who find themselves in Hell will have conscience existence. God says that they are as these trees whose fruit has withered, without fruit, plucked up by the roots.