Jude
This letter was written by Jude, (‘Judah’ in Hebrew; ‘Judas’ in Greek) the brother of James – one of the brothers of Jesus (see Mark 6:3) who initially misunderstood the nature of Jesus’s teaching (see John 7:2-5). He later became a leader in the Jerusalem church shortly after Jesus’s death and resurrection in 30AD (see Acts 1:14).
It was written in c.65AD, at about the same time as Peter’s two letters. Its precise readership is unknown, but it was probably written to Jewish Christians in Asia Minor who had fled Jerusalem because of persecution by Jewish nationalists.
The letter was written to combat false teachings that were leading some believers into immorality – a subject similar to that of Peter’s second letter (which, some believe, built on the warnings given in Jude’s letter).
Jude wrote to Jewish Christians in the Roman province of Asia (South Western Turkey)
Warnings about false teachers
Jude 1:1-2 Jude sends greetings to “all who have been called by God” and are kept safe by Jesus Christ.
Jude 1:3-4 Jude says he was going to write about salvation, but has decided, instead, to warn his readers about false teachers who “have changed the grace of our God into a reason for sexual sin” (Jude 1:4).
Jude 1:5-7 He gives Biblical examples of people who turned away from God and were destroyed – those who were rescued from Egypt but turned away from God (see Numbers 14:26-30), rebellious angels (see Matthew 25:41), and the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis 19:1-26 and Map 30).
Jude 1:8-13 In the same way, Jude says, false teachers will be punished for their immorality. They are as guilty as Cain (who murdered his brother Abel – see Genesis 4:3-8), as greedy as Balaam (who prophesied for money – see Numbers 22:1-35), and as rebellious as Korah (who rebelled against Moses and Aaron – see Numbers 16:1-35).