Judgment at the Lord’s Return

 

Judgment at the Lord’s Return

 “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: ‘See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’ These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage”(Jude 1:14-16).

 

Many scholars have debated whether Jude took this quote from I Enoch because of the similarities in the apocryphal book. The debate may forever continue, but Genesis 5 gives the genealogy dating back to Adam and Eve, where one can adequately access Enoch’s lineage of being the seventh generation from Adam. Enoch did not see death but had been taken away to be with the Lord (Genesis 5:24). He was a righteous man, and the Genesis account states that he walked with the Lord for three-hundred years. Therefore, Jude counted on his readers to know this history when he spoke of Enoch and the prophecy he gave.

An excerpt from I Enoch 1:9 reads: [Behold, he comes with the myriads of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all, and to destroy all the wicked, and to convict all flesh for all the wicked deeds that they have done, and the proud and hard words that wicked sinners spoke against him.][1] Jude reminded the church through Enoch’s prophecy that the Lord would be returning with His holy angels to render judgment upon the world. There was nothing the wicked would get by with because the Lord had records in Heaven of everything that had been done, whether good or bad. Judge (δικαστής, Δικαστής) in Greek means to decide, distinguish, and come to a choice or verdict. Therefore, the Lord is returning to render a verdict to all concerning their good or bad deeds, and the wicked will appear before the Great White Throne judgment.[2]

The Apostle Peter spoke of judgment in his first epistle, and he states: “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17). Why is it that many self-professed Christians love to say don’t judge me when the Word lets us know that Jesus is coming to do precisely that – judge the world with the church being first? Could they be comfortable with their sins and not wish to be called out on them? Could it be that many pastors and leaders within the church have failed to preach the unadulterated Word of God and, instead, have given a watered-down gospel that is no gospel at all? Could it be that when many self-professed Christians hear the truth that their demons get irritated because they are not used to receiving a message of holiness, repentance, self-correction, and change? Many leaders will find themselves in the lake of fire because they failed to teach sound doctrine, as the church and the world literally goes to hell in a handbasket. The Bible says: “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day” (John 12:48).

The Apostle Jude described the Lord as coming with thousands upon thousands of His holy ones. This means that believers and saints will return with Him, and everyone will see Him coming in all His glory. The righteous will reign with Christ on earth during the millennium reign (2 Timothy 2:12). However, the angels will act as agents of execution for the Lord’s judgment to be carried out upon the wicked. Jude’s description coincides with the Apostle Paul's words about the Lord’s return. The Bible says: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

The Lord will judge all the unholy actions of the wicked and convict them of their ungodly acts. Jude’s use of the word convict (ἐλέγχω) in Greek means to expose, reprove, and show to be guilty.[3] Thus, the Lord is going to expose the sins of the wicked before them, and their guilt will be made known. Likewise, all the false teachers who led the masses astray will be judged accordingly. Their sins will catch up with them, and they will be held accountable for their rebellion against the Lord and failure to uphold His ordinances. One day, many leaders may hear the cries of the people point in judgment of their failure to warn them about the coming Day of the Lord. A leader should never assume that people know what’s right because it is the leader’s job to teach it regardless of whether believers know or do not know. The prophets of old continuously sounded the alarm to Israel to turn back to God, even to the moment they were led away in captivity. They were not worried about their lives but gave the Word as the Lord commanded.

Every defiant word unbelievers spoke against the Lord will be judged on that day. Jude’s use of the term defiant (προκλητικός) means resistant or rebellious.[4] This illustrated the ungodly’s mindset regarding the things of the Lord. They did not wish to honor, serve or obey Him but were resistant to change and rebellious against His decrees. They spoke against the Lord rather than submit to Him. Jude called them grumblers and faultfinders, thus operating under the same spirit that the Children of Israel did in the wilderness. The Bible says: “Then Moses told Aaron, ‘Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling’” (Exodus 16:9). Whenever the Children of Israel were displeased with either God and/or His leaders, they murmured and complained. Similarly, the wicked people Jude refers to in his letter have the same discontent regarding obeying the Lord. They prefer to follow their own lustful desires and would instead find fault with the Lord’s commands.

The wicked are boastful and full of pride, notwithstanding that their doom is upon them. They use others for their pleasure and fail to provide care without self-appeasement. The Apostle Paul warned of such people in his letter to Timothy that they would be lovers of pleasure and self rather than lovers of God (2 Timothy 3:1-5). These false teachers’ words are empty, lacking any spiritual nourishment, but only serve as attractions to obtain their selfish desires. Their boasting lacks truth and does not point people to Jesus to help them be free of sin; on the contrary, they keep people bound to sin because they are enslaved to sin themselves. These individuals will not see eternal life but only eternal doom and despair. As such, God’s people should never worry about speaking His truth to save souls.

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[1] Jay Winter, "The Complete Book Of Enoch, Standard English Version Jay Winter : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive," Internet Archive, last modified 2015, https://archive.org/details/TheCompleteBookOfEnochStandardEnglishVersionJayWinter/page/n1/mode/2up?view=theater.

[2] Samuel L. Hoyt, The Judgment Seat of Christ: A Biblical and Theological Study (Duluth: Grace Gospel Press, 2015), 22-23.

[3] Bible Hub, "Strong's Greek: 1651. ἐλέγχω (elegchó) -- to Expose, Convict, Reprove," Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages, accessed May 6, 2023, https://biblehub.com/greek/1651.htm.

[4] Word Reference Staff, "Defiant - Αγγλοελληνικό Λεξικό WordReference.com," English to French, Italian, German & Spanish Dictionary - WordReference.com, last modified 2023, https://www.wordreference.com/engr/defiant.