Had an AWESOME lecture on
Jude today by Andy, wow loved it. Here’s a glimpse from my charting…
Figurative Language: Jude describes the false
teachers or ‘certain people’ among the churches as ‘Waterless clouds…Swept away by winds…wandering stars.’ Here he uses
figurative language which is beautiful but also a very Jewish way of writing,
considering this was most likely to a Jewish audience.
It’s beautiful because
it is poetic but what Jude is describing is far from pretty. ‘Waterless clouds’, means that they are
empty, devoid of any use, especially not for refreshment or for watering the
ground. Which is what clouds are normally for; growing crops and refreshing
parched lands. In direct contrast to the water of life Jesus brings.
He says
they are ‘swept away by winds’,
meaning they are unstable and easily changed, fickle and changeable in nature.
People like this usually snap at you in irritation when you do something they
don’t like because they are not secure and have no identity to stand on. Not
enjoyable people to be around, they would have been like poison to the
churches.
He calls them ‘wandering stars’,
which have no use at all. Stars were used to guide yourself by in the night
sky, they were extremely important, because they were fixed points to navigate.
If one was wandering it would have been dangerous, you could have got lost at
night or even worse, lost at sea.
Jude is basically using these examples to
tell the church they need to stay away, not only are these people false, empty
and useless but they are extremely dangerous!
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