Grumblers and Faultfinders

Grumblers and Faultfinders
Words of Faith 7-19-24
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2024
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Jude 1
[14] Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones [15] to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." [16] These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

For Jude, it was not enough to point out the great danger related to the false teachers who had slipped into the Church's fellowship. It was essential to know that this was a fulfillment of prophecy-- and one from a rather unusual source: Enoch.
Enoch is most often remembered as the man who "walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away" (Gen 5:24). What a way to go! But he is not explicitly called "the seventh from Adam" in the Bible. In Genesis 5 and 1 Chronicles 1:1-3, he is the seventh in order, starting with Adam as the first. That is where this reference comes from.
But the book quoted here was not Genesis. It was the Book of Enoch, an apocryphal book recognized today only by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Apocryphal books were written between the Old and New Testaments. These books were not part of the Jewish canon, or "official list," of Bible books. Some of these writings were included in the Catholic Bible but were later removed by the Protestant Church because they were never a part of the Bible that Jesus used and quoted.
The Book of Enoch is the longest of the non-canonical Jewish writings, and it was highly respected in the first century by Jews and many Christians. We may wonder about the propriety of Jude quoting a non-canonical book. It is essential to realize that Jude did not call this quotation "scripture" but rather a "prophecy." Paul also quoted from non-canonical writers when he considered those statements to be factual.
This prophecy of Enoch was also attested to in Scripture as well (Matthew 24:30; 2 Thessalonians 1:10). The picture given reveals thousands of holy ones who would accompany the Lord when He returned at the Day of the Lord. These holy ones will help judge the ungodly (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10). Jude saw Enoch's prophecy as a good summary of the universal divine judgment coming upon the ungodly and all their deeds and words.
Jude finally concluded his denunciation of the false teachers as "grumblers and faultfinders ."The word used for grumblers is the same as that used by Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:10 to refer to the rebels in the wilderness. Jude pointed to those with a critical attitude or are given to habitual complaining as following their own evil desires.
The point here was that this disrespect and rebellion was nothing new. It was prophesied many centuries before and will be judged. Perhaps the application for us is to be careful, aware, and warned that there are those who slip into the circles of Christian fellowship only to bring harsh words, criticism, grumbling, and fault-finding. This is not just the mark of a disagreeable temperament or even a conflict of opinion. These are marks of rebellion that can be quite destructive.

Lord God, give me strength to follow You with clarity and worship You in Spirit and truth. Help me to have eyes to see and ears to hear Your guidance and warnings. Give me a watchful focus that is not suspicious. Keep me open to loving others, and give me courage to bring correction. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2024
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2024 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.