Running Dark
From Genesis 5 and Hebrews 11 we know that Enoch walked in the presence of God. From Jude we know that Enoch also prophesied about the judgement of God. Jude appealed to his readers to contend for the faith against ungodly men who perverted God’s grace and denied Christ’s Lordship (verse 4). After listing some examples, Jude wrote:
It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. (Jude 14–16)
Jude quoted an extra-biblical book called 1 Enoch (there were two). Though that book wasn’t inspired by God, this prophecy in the book was true and so included in Jude’s inspired letter. Enoch saw a day when the denied Christ would execute judgment.
Things were bad in Enoch’s day. Within a few generations from Enoch God judged the world with a flood due to the extreme perversity and immorality. But note the sins that Jude connected with the coming judgment. The ungodly in deeds of ungodliness were ungodly (that’s Jude’s repeated descriptor) in their complaining–they were grumblers, in their dissatisfaction–they were malcontents, and in their egocentricity–following their own selfish desires. They were braggarts–loud mouth boasters, and manipulators–showing favoritism to gain advantage.
All these sins describe our age and run dark with the stain of self-sufficiency, a mark of Cain’s line. They characterize the seed of the serpent, the first liar, who told man that God was keeping something good for Himself. Let us not be like those, but instead, praising the grace of God by our obedience and declaring our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ, by our gratitude.