Book of Jude

Jude, let's go ahead over there. We'll spend our study here. It's just a little short book, 25 verses, but it is jam-packed. Jude is the type personality where he strikes me as a fellow that has a fire burning inside, because he tells us right up front that he was intending to write to them about the common salvation, but he changed his mind because of the events that they were facing. He changed that, and he wrote to them to contend, to hang on to the truth that they had been given. We should look at some of the background first. I think it always helps us to have some of this background information.

Let's first, as we read in chapter, well, there's only one chapter, verse 1, Jude. Now, we should consider that there are five possibilities. Jude is the shortened term for Judas. There are five possibilities. William Barclay and his little commentary pointed those out. They give you the various names and the scripture that you could look at another time. The first possibility is one called Judas of Damascus, or a Judas who lived at Damascus. The scripture there is Acts 9, verse 11. In that story, of course, that tells the story of how Paul was on his way to Damascus and was struck blind. But then, in that chapter, it mentions Paul praying at this house of Judas after he was converted.

The second one is called Judas, also called Bar-sabus. We have him spoken of in Acts 15. Acts 15, verses 22, 27, and 32. Acts 15, verses 22, 27, and 32 mention this Judas called Bar-sabus.

In Acts 15, you had the conference at Jerusalem where there were converts in the Gentile world. The question came up, do we ask these non-Israelite men to now be physically circumcised? The decision was rendered. After it was decided, no. Circumcision is spiritual. It's repentance. It's of the heart. They sent certain ones out to the churches to pass along that decision. So Paul and Barnabas went. You had Silas, and you had this Judas called Bar-sabus. The third possibility we can rule out real fast because his name was Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot took his own life there after the events of the betrayal and all.

The fourth one is another Judas who was one of the twelve. In one account, he's called Lebius Thaddeus, but then he's also called Judas. Let's look at John 14. I think on this one, we'll look at some of the actual Scriptures.

John 14, and we'll read verse 22. John 14, of course, is that Passover night, but there's a little break in the speaking of Christ.

Verse 22, John 14, Judas, and then it says in parentheses, I'm reading tonight from the New King James, Not Iscariot. So those who were gathered at what is commonly called the Last Supper, this final Passover of Christ's life, that was Christ and the twelve.

So here is one called Judas, but he's not Judas Iscariot. Said to him, Lord, how is it you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Well, that's all we wanted to notice there. Back up to Luke 6. Luke 6 and read verse 16. Now, actually, in verses 13 through 16, we have one of several places where you have a listing of the twelve disciples. But if we just notice at the end of that list in verse 16, it mentions Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who also became a traitor. So here it shows there's another one who was of the twelve who's named Judas. Now, if you have the old King James, it will read differently. Who has that? The brother. Okay. And it was found that the King James made a mistake. It should not be James the brother of John, the new King James, new international. Others, more modern translations, have it correctly that he was Judas the son of somebody named James. Okay. Now, then we have one more possibility, and this is the one we believe it is. And that's Jude, or Judas, the half-brother of Jesus Christ. So we see in Matthew 13. There are other lists of the disciples that mention that other Judas son of James. One place it ties him in with Levius Thaddeus.

But let's see. Matthew 13. At the end of the chapter, he's teaching in the synagogue, and people are wondering, where did this man get this wisdom? But in verse 55, is this not the carpenter's son? So obviously, Joseph was known in that home area, and they knew he was the son of the carpenter. Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers notice James. Now, James is the brother of Christ that we believe, have every reason to believe.

He's the one who wrote the little epistle of James. Joseph, Simon, and we know nothing else except the names of Joseph and Simon, and Judas. Then it says, and his sisters, and that's...they aren't named, but sisters implies at least two, maybe more. So he had four brothers who are listed more than once, and then he has sisters. But this Judas, this Judas, if we look at John chapter 7, we realize that as we get into that final year of Christ's ministry, they did not believe his teaching.

And so James and Jude had to have been called and come along a bit later, probably after the resurrection. To me, it's always amazing that there from the cross, Jesus looked at his friend John and said, I want you to take care of my mother. He did not give oversight to any of the four brothers, so who knows where they were, but they probably weren't around there because they didn't believe in him. So, we read here, John 7 verse 5, it's time to go to the feast, and this is probably that last feast before the next spring he's going to die, for even his brothers did not believe in him.

It's interesting that it kind of makes that little footnote of a statement there, just by the way, his brothers didn't believe in him. And this is getting late in his ministry. Now, Mark 6 verse 3, let's look at one more place. Mark 6. Now, actually, we don't need to look at that. That's the parallel account of what we just read in Matthew 13. So, here is Judas, a half-brother of Jesus, and he is the only one who could truly be called the brother of James, as we see in Jude verse 1. Jude, let's go back to Jude, verse 1. Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.

I like the way he introduces himself. He just says, I'm a slave of Jesus Christ. I gave my life to him, and I'm a brother of James. Now, the only possibility could be that this Jude is Judas, who is the brother of James, also brother of Joseph and Simon, I believe was the other one, who were all brothers of Jesus Christ.

He does not come out and say, by the way, I grew up with the Lord. I'm Christ's brother. He does not say that. I think that's important, too. So, anyhow, let's consider a little bit more before we start wading into it. The date of the writing is in the 80s A.D. Now, years ago at a master college, they dated it more like 70ish. It's tough to date, you know, as we have looked now at these Gen of the Epistles, James was clearly writing, I think we're right in saying, in the earlier 60s, because it was before the temple was destroyed, before the church had to flee in 68.

Peter, of course, died in 68, the best we can tell. So, his two epistles were written, you know, mid 60s, maybe 66, 67. And then John, you know, he was the one writing later. And, of course, Revelation, maybe even pushing 100 A.D. Again, Mr. Antion and the tapes on the ABC class just said 80s A.D.

We don't have a lot of internal evidence to narrow it down. We also see in the book of Jude, as we get into it, we're going to see a lot of parallels to the material Peter wrote in 2 Peter 2. So we know he's got to be after that, and it's like he has Peter's Epistle, and he's using that to generate some of his own thoughts. All right, the theme of the book is a warning against false doctrine and false teachers.

Warning against false doctrine and false teachers. You had some of the same problems that John wrote about. Some of it a little different, but you already had people teaching against the law. Jude is going to say they're taking grace, and they're turning it into license to do as you please. They had a negative view of the law, and they denied Christ. There are a couple of verses we'll see later on that are suggested may be connected with some of the apocryphal books, such as the Book of Enoch.

Comment on that a little bit later. I hope nobody gets too bug-eyed over the Book of Enoch because you don't have to read very far. It talks about angels literally coming down and copulating with women, and Genesis 6 bringing about these mutants, these giants. It's just insane some of the things that is there.

Ok, Jude, verse 1. Again, he calls himself slave of Christ, brother of James, to those who are called sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ. So the calling comes from the Father. No man can come to me except the Father in Heaven draw him. And of course, we act on that. We receive that invitation. We have to open it. We have to read it. We have to act on it. We have to commit to it. And then we are sanctified, set apart, made a part of the very body of Christ. We become a part of the elect. And we are preserved by Christ living his life in and through us.

Now, verse 2 is a very common salutation used in various epistles. Mercy, because he reminds him of God's mercy. Grace involves undeserved, unearned, unmerited pardon. It is receiving God's favor. Peace. Again, we're just about to get into the thick of the story. And that is that there are people out there trying to steal the peace of the people of God. And it's been happening for 2,000 years. It'll never go away. And love be multiplied to you. Verse 3, Beloved. So he tells them by that, I love you. I'm doing this. I'm going to write what I'm about to write because I have your welfare at heart.

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation. So here is what he intended as his purpose. I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints.

Now, here where we have contend earnestly, the Greek word, the meaning of it is to agonize. To agonize for this faith that we have had delivered to us. Paul used the same word there at the end of 1 Corinthians 9 when he talked about how he keeps his body in subjection.

He essentially drives himself, lest he become a castaway. So it's the same word here. We are to contend, to agonize, to master that truth and to defend the truth. Verse 4, For certain men have crept in unnoticed.

Again, some things never seem to change. It always seems to be from within the body. How seldom it is that we have had, if you look back at a hundred years of the Church of God, how seldom it is that there is an outside frontal attack from the world. We usually have something very subtly taking place from within. It has happened. It happened many times. They creep in unnoticed. Who long ago were marked out for this condemnation? Ungodly men. Notice the word ungodly. He's going to use that many times in this short book.

Notice, here is the problem. Who turn the grace of our God. So once again, grace is the unearned, undeserved, unmerited pardon, favor, forgiveness of God. It is a free gift. And they are turning that into lewdness.

Now, the old King James says, lasciviousness. And deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. So here we have those who are seeking to turn the forgiveness, the grace of God, into do-as-you-please-ism, if we can coin a term. You have been given grace, so do as you please. And that's a teaching that's still around, and it's very popular to this day. But you see, Christians are given a set standard of conduct, and it's called the Word of God. And we are to continually, as James wrote, look into that perfect law of liberty to see what God shows us by looking into the Word.

Their lasciviousness, their lewdness, denied God the Father and denied Jesus Christ. Verse 5. Excuse me, let me pause right there. A number of you are taking notes, so a couple of scriptures that could tie in with that verse 4.

Titus 1, verse 16. Titus 1, verse 16 speaks of certain ones who denied God by their works. I'll just read it for you. Titus 1, verse 16. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

Then also, you could tie in Luke 6, verse 46. Luke 6, 46, and that's where Jesus said, Why call you me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I say. That's the deceit that has been around for 2,000 years. Use the name of Christ. Say that you believe in God.

Say that you are recipients of that grace, but then turn and do as you good and well, please. Jude is just about to let loose with both barrels. He is going to compare these evil, these false teachers and false doctrines with the early generation of Israelites who sinned coming after they came out of Egypt. He's going to liken them to the angels that sinned, those of Sodom and Gomorrah. He's going to later liken them to Cain and Balaam and Korah. So, hold on. Hold on to your chair. Verse 5. But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. So that would hearken back to that generation that came out of Egypt. They saw all of those miraculous plagues that fell upon Egypt and brought them to their knees. They walked through water that had been parted of a sea. They saw water out of a rock. They could go and pick up little pieces of this bread-like substance. They saw all of those. They were scared out of their wits by the voice of God from the mountain. Then they traveled on to Caddis Barnaea across from the Promised Land with the intent that they're going to start inheriting it. The spies were chosen, one from each tribe, and they believed the ten evil reports. That older generation died in the wilderness. They paid for their disbelief. Alright, another example. Verse 6. The angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day. Here he goes to the angels who did not keep their proper domain. You can tie in what Peter wrote in 2 Peter 2 verse 4. He called them the angels who sinned.

So here we have quite a few places in the Bible we could tie in. We've got, of course, the statements there in Isaiah 14. Isaiah 14 verses 12 through 14. Those five I will statements of Lucifer. And, of course, the last one, I will be like the Most High. Well, I think it meant he wants God's job.

And you've got Revelation 12 verses 1 through 3, where that great red dragon, his tail, drew a third of the stars of heaven. And chapter 1 verse 20 had likened those seven stars with Christ as the angels of the seven churches. So it would seem that one-third of the angels followed this dragon in his rebellion whenever there was war in heaven. Then, of course, you have Ezekiel 28 verses 12 through 17, 18, something like that. And that's where, of course, typically speaking, to the king of Tyre. But the wording is such that we realize it's a spirit being. This spirit being had been there among the stones of fire. He had been a covering carob. And then it says, You were perfect in the day you were created, till iniquity was found within you. Spoke of him being puffed up. It says, You have sinned, you would be cast away, or I will destroy you, which the word there in the Hebrew means to cast you away. So when Christ walked the earth there, Luke 10 verse 18, He said, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. So we've got a lot of scriptures that tie in there, but you have the angels who were here to prepare the earth for the next phase of God's plan. Human beings. Again, best we can piece all the pictures together. And they were here, and I know some have speculated, maybe, maybe, Lucifer found, aha, there is another phase. There are those who are going to be offered the very wherewithal to become a part of the family of God. In a way, the angels were not. They're never called sons, as Hebrews 1 makes clear.

So, they rebelled, and we know the rest of the story. And they are reserved for judgment. We know when Christ walked the earth, there were times when He would go by a person who was possessed of a demon or demons. And the demon would cry out, what do we have to do with you, Jesus, you son of God? Are you here to torment us ahead of our time?

So, they recognize a time when they will be judged. And it's something that, well, James wrote, or was it Peter? Fear has torment. So, they are tormented in that. Alright, let's go on, though. Verse 7, we have another example, and that's those of Sodom and Gomorrah. And Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them. So, you had Adam, Zeboam. You also had the city of Zohar, but that's where a lot of daughters were allowed to go because they wanted to go to town somewhere. Around them, in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality, and gone after strange flesh, well, he's using somewhat polite terminology here. Are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. So, those of Sodom and Gomorrah. We could go back to Genesis 19, and that is the most disgusting story to read. And you see that, and there's a warning for us, that Lot was there living in Sodom. And as we've used the example before, if you paint or if you work with roofing tar, you're going to get some of it on you. And Lot chose to live in Sodom, and when the mob came, he said, leave the men alone, but here take my daughters. Something's wrong with a man who would say that. So, anyhow, you can go to Genesis 19 and read more of that story. But they, of course, we don't even know for sure where the remains of Sodom and Gomorrah are. Maybe under the Dead Sea somewhere. We don't really know. But they were totally destroyed by fire. Verse 8, likewise, okay, so he's going back. He's given the example of Israel, the spinning angels, and those of Sodom and Gomorrah. So now he's going back to these false teachers. Likewise, these dreamers. Number one, they defile the flesh. Number two, they reject authority. And number three, they speak evil of dignitaries. They are so pompous. They are so full of themselves. They think they are the end-all of everything, and they will submit to no one.

Now, verse 9, here we have, and this is where I know William Barclay gave a little bit of time to this, referring back to the apocryphal book, The Assumption of Moses, which I have not taken the time. I've looked at it, and I don't think it's worth the time of day.

But some will say, well, he was quoting from or referring to a story from this apocryphal book. But we have nowhere else in the Bible that tells us this part of the story. Verse 9, yet, Michael the Archangel. Now, that is, as best I remember, that is the only place in the Bible you have the word Archangel.

And Michael is called an Archangel. Now, kind of by inference and by putting pieces together, we've concluded Luther once was one and probably Gabriel is one, but technically this is the only place that it mentions someone being an Archangel. In contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, you see there at the end of Deuteronomy, when Moses dies, nothing is said about this.

Now, Satan, as we know, is the Prince of Demons, and Michael is the Archangel. Lucifer once was referred to as having been a covering carob. There would have been two of them there at the very throne of God with their wings overshadowing. It was not Michael's job or position to curse out Satan. He didn't call him names. He just simply said, he appealed to the highest authority and just simply said, the Lord rebuke you. And in the book of Acts, for instance, and in the Gospels, we have examples. Of course, Christ would command demons to come out of someone. And in the book of Acts, you may remember the, I forget the chapter, but one place there was that servant girl with the spirit of divination, kept following Paul around saying, these men are the servants of the Most High. And Paul finally just got enough of it and just turned and just commanded in the name of Jesus Christ for that demon to come out. And it did. So, the Lord rebuke you. And that's something good to file away. We do not need to go through life fearful of demons. We should go through life asking God to set a protective hedge around us. There may be times we face demonic presence or demonic influence. And we do not battle it. Battle that by our own power. One day we can ask seven sons of Sceva about that. We would always defer because they must obey the name of Jesus Christ. Alright, let's go on to verse 10.

But these speak evil of whatever they do not know. That's just something that's so much a part of human beings. You see it in politics. You see it at work. You see it in society around us. People get something in their head and they're talking about things, condemning things. They don't really know the full story. And whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. So he says they act like animals. People actually can be worse than animals. You read there, one place where Paul was and that, oh, should have looked it up, Acts 19 or so, but just that mob great as Diana of the Ephesians and they just go berserk. Stephen, when he looks into heaven, I see heaven open, they went berserk, acting like animals. Verse 11, Well, Cain was that first child. He turned the path of hatred, and hatred is breaking the spirit of murder. And God talked to him and said, if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. Well, he continued down that path until he lifted up his hand against his brother and took Abel's wife. So he uses this way of Cain as an example. Have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit. So Balaam, as you remember, there earlier in numbers, oh, 22, I want to say, he sold out his prophetic office for gain. About three chapters later, we see, and I think Josephus adds some in his history, that Balaam was instrumental in leading people, leading the Israelites into the worship of the Bales. Balaam worshiped. He was tied up with that. But essentially, Balaam prostituted. He sold out his position for financial gain. And then it says, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. Now, Korah is an interesting case because, you know, he and the others with him, they said, you know, has God not spoken also through us? And in fact, let me look at that. What is that? Numbers 16, I think. Was he not of the tribe of Levi? Yes. Okay. Yes. Number 16, verse 1. Korah, the son of Ishar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram. And then it lists others. He was of the tribe of Levi. However, he got lifted up, and he led this sizable group to go to Moses and Aaron and reminding them God spoke and worked through us too. And you remember the story. God had each tribe bring this dead stick called a staff that they had, a rod. And then Aaron's rod had green live buds on it the next day, and that showed where God had placed duly constituted authority. And of course, the ground opened up and swallowed all of those caught up in that rebellion.

So he uses these three as examples. Now, in verse 12, Jude 12, these are spots.

These are, margin says, stains in your love feasts. And the word for love there is agape.

This could refer to Sabbath, I suppose. It could refer to any. Any time we gather in the name of God and ask His presence, God's presence makes it holy. But these come in their spots while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves.

They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots.

Now, we again sometimes have people who come into the fellowship of the Church of God, and frankly, they try to make merchandise of the body. There is hate, it has happened many times. Now, God's the one who calls, but let's just use an example, not to pick on the insurance industry, but if someone was a state farmer or an all-state insurance agent. God calls them, they come to the Church, fine. And if somebody calls them on Monday or Thursday and says, hey, you know, I need to, I want to run the numbers here to see if you can get me a better deal, fine. Because the member is contacting them. But he doesn't come to Bible study and spoke some club, and he's doing a little active marketing, and he sure doesn't do it on the Sabbath day. These things have happened. People have come, and they've tried to make personal gain. Let me read just a couple, about three sentences from William Barclay on this verse. He said, these wicked were using the love feasts as a cover for gratification of their own lusts. It is a dreadful thing if people come to the Church and use the opportunities which its fellowship gives for their own ends. And God help us if we're there for personal reasons. Well, verse 13, raging waves of the sea foaming up their own shame. So he's talking about some of the fakes, some of the deceitful evil teachers. Wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. And that may tie back over to verse 6. May very well imply a little bit about the ultimate judgment of Satan in the demon world. Because, as we know, they'll be removed for a thousand years, but then released for a little season. But after that, symbolically, Satan's thrown in a lake of fire, which doesn't destroy spirit. But after that, they are removed. The blackness of darkness forever. I mean, can you imagine being locked up with a bunch of perverts, thieves, murderers, where for eternity they do it to themselves forever?

I mean, no wonder Satan has pawned off on human beings this idea that, well, the unrepentant are going to be tormented forever and ever in hell. That's what's going to happen to them. They're going to be tormented forever because of what they have done. Human beings, even those who go through the second death, they're turned to ashes.

Okay, verse 14. Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam. Now this goes way back. So if he was the seventh in the line, he's mentioned back in Genesis chapter 5, we're not that far down the line after creation. What would that be? A couple hundred, two to three hundred years down the line? So this is way back there. And thinking of it in that term, in those terms, it is interesting all that Enoch understood. Now how do we have this quote that he is about to give? We do not know. But it did not come out of the book of Enoch that you'll hear people talk about once in a while. That book didn't even come along until something like third or fourth century AD. He prophesied about these men. So he's saying, Enoch long ago talked about this very problem. Saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints, let's keep on reading through verse 15, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds, which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. So if we look at that, the Lord comes. That's not the first coming. That's the second coming, because He's coming with saints. So He knew there would be people who would be called, who would become a part of the body, who would ultimately be born a spirit to come and return with Christ. There will be judgment upon all, and that would mean everyone who lived or has ever lived. So it's just amazing to me, all that He saw the first resurrection, the saints being born a spirit, He saw a time when all would come out of the grave and be judged. Verse 16, these are grumblers, complainers. They can't be pleased, so they grumble and complain about everything. Walking according to their own lusts, and they mouth great, swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. So they attempt to flatter for their own advantage. They're all about themselves and what they want. Verse 17, but you, beloved. Alright, now these last verses, He's going to shift toward the church. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. And remember all the words. You were taught those. How that they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.

Now what was it? 2 Peter 3? I believe it was, He said in the last days scoffers would come. You know, where's the promise of His coming? So they had been warned before and now it's happening right there in front of their eyes. Verse 19, these are sensual persons, margin soulish or worldly, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. And that's where Jesus said, you will know them by their fruits. They are there to gratify their own senses. And the fruits of their work, their being present, is division. William Barclay on this verse 19, he says, the truth about these so-called intellectual and spiritual people was that they wanted to sin and twisted religion into a justification for sin. Verse 20, but you, beloved, building yourselves up on the most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. So he's stressing the importance. If you're going to contend for the faith once given, you've got to build yourselves up, you've got to draw close to God. And that's one of the great tools there, is prayer, praying in the Holy Spirit. He says, build your life on the foundation of Christ. Keep yourselves and the love of God. And of course, James Dela, excuse me, John Dela, great deal with that. There was a watering down of the word love. Love is not letting the fox in the hen house. Love, as John said, is the keeping of commandments. That keeps us within the mind of God as we walk, as Christ walked. Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. So looking for, that's again, wait expectantly, earnestly, look forward to the return of Christ. And when we are close to God, we eagerly anticipate that day. And if we're living a lie, or like some of them there, if we're in the name of grace, practicing do as you please-ism, then you'd have every reason to dread the time when Christ returns. Verse 22, on some have compassion, making a distinction. Now, here he talks about, you have some among you, and some are going to just need love, they're going to need support, compassion, encouragement, and they can recover. And they can get back on track.

But then in verse 23, he says, but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire. When I read that, I think a lot in family. The angels had to finally just grab hold and pull them out of Sodom. I don't think he ever would have gone. But sometimes you have those who get so far into sin, and sin can be so addictive. Whatever the sin is, that people just need to be wakened up somehow, pulling out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh, which to me says, stay as far away from it. Somehow, human beings, we like to fringe on sin like lot. Get as close to it and live right in amongst it when God would have us get away from it.

Verse 24, now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and of course, God is able to keep us from slipping, stumbling, falling, and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. So by following the lead of Jesus Christ, by living within God's grace, we can stand before Him blameless without fear, only joy. To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. So again, God is the one who can and does safe. Alright, short and sweet. Any questions, observations, comments on that little short book? I'm glad it's there. I didn't point out earlier. You may remember when we looked at James. I gave you the term, it is deuterocanonical. In other words, most of the books in the New Testament are proto-canonical. I mean, the first cut, well, think of the NFL Draft. In the first round, all these gospels and epistles of Paul, all of them got put in the canon of the Bible. But then, deuteros speaks of a repetition of second. And so in the second sweep, we got James, we got Hebrews, we got Jude, a few others. But I'm glad it's here. There's a lot there. And a lot of, if you go back and kind of skim through 2 Peter 2, a lot of parallels. Kind of like he was using 2 Peter 2 as a little bit of his outline, but then putting it in his own words and saying it a little differently. Well, you think Joe Seifers got most of his information. Now, he couldn't live often than here. Now, I'm sure they had librarians or someone kept records. Yes. Well, let me tell you a little about Joe Seifers. What is his name? Joseph Ben-Matias. He was there at Jerusalem. He was with Vespasian first, then Titus, the Roman generals. He was actually calling to his own people, the Jews, to give themselves up. Later on, he wrote his histories at the behest of Vespasian, who by that time was emperor. So, you better believe there is a bias. I have heard Josephus quoted almost as if it's just a half-step below inspired scripture, and we need to be very careful. What he writes is interesting. But, again, the Jews are the kings of keeping these oral traditions and oral histories. So, whether he had anything written that had been passed down by the Jews forever, we don't know. If you're going to believe anybody's oral histories that somebody finally writes down, I'd say believe the Jews.

Well, Romans 3, verse 1-2, the Jews were given the oracles of God, which we believe is the Holy Scriptures. We believe that includes the calendar. There was something passed down that involved calendar calculations. It's more than observation.

And it may have been, also. So, they preserved these things, and they passed so much of them orally. Maybe there was a lot of oral history that Josephus could tap into. The scribes, they recorded. And in preserving the scriptures, they had so many checks and balances.

They had to count, like in a given line, they had to count the number of letters. And they had checks and rechecks.

Alright. Well, thank you very much. It's pushing eight o'clock, so we'll wrap it up there.