Jude was writing to warn the saints of “false teachers” who had made inroads among them. He says this of them in verse 3, “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, UNGODLY MEN, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (KJV). These men no doubt made a bold confession of faith in Jesus Christ but by their lives and teachings they denied Him. They are what we call APOSTATES, which means they “abandoned the faith they had professed.” Jude goes on in verse 10, “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.” He likens them to animals which have no “moral compass” and act instinctively to gratify their desires. From verses 12-13 Jude uses 6 metaphors (2 from the seas, 2 from the sky, and 2 from the land) to describe them. I will list each one with brief comments using the American Standard Version.

Verse 12a: “These are they who are HIDDEN ROCKS in your love-feasts when they feast with you.” These men sat down to eat with the saints in their love-feasts, pretending to love them but all the while they were seeking to destroy them. Hidden rocks that are unmarked have brought disaster to many sea-faring men and these men, who were not “marked out as enemies of the cross” (see Philippians 3:17-19), were a “clear and present danger” to the saints.

Verse 12b: “SHEPHERDS that without fear feed themselves.” They professed to have the gift of a SHEPHERD who were responsible to “feed the flock of God” (see Acts 20:28 with 1 Peter 5:1-3), but instead of feeding the saints they were “feeding themselves” (see Acts 20:29-30). In other words, instead of “FEEDING the flock” they were “FLEECING the flock.”

Verse 12c: “CLOUDS without water, carried about by winds.” They promised to bring spiritual refreshment to the saints through their ministry (like rain brings needed water to parched ground). But like dark clouds that look promising yet blow quickly over land without a drop of water, their ministry was empty. Besides that, their ministry contained “false teaching” so instead of edifying teaching they were leading saints from the truth (see Ephesians 4:14).

Verse 12d: “AUTUMN LEAVES without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.” Again, they persuaded the saints their ministry would be FRUITFUL, like autumn fruit trees. Sadly, their teaching bore NO FRUIT. Why? Like a tree that is dead, these false teachers were “twice dead,” for they were “dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) and “dead in a false profession” (Revelation 3:1).

Verse 13a: “WILD WAVES of the seas, foaming out their own shame.” Like an angry sea spewing out foam, these men only produced shameful acts of corruption. Isaiah 57:20 speaks to this, “But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.”

Verse 13b: “WANDERING STARS, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved forever.” One has said that “Wandering stars are out of their orbit and are worthless as navigational aids,” so these corrupt apostates yield no direction for the saints. They may appear to “shine for a brief moment,” but they will “wander in eternal darkness throughout eternity” (Matthew 22:13).

These “apostates” are with us today. May we have a discerning eye and when we see such men, may we reject them and their evil teachings (1 Timothy 6:20 & 2 Timothy 2:14-18).  (DO)  (732.1)