All and Some

“ . . . to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” Jude 1:15 NASB

Ungodly – Are you “all” or “some”? According to the inspired message of Jude, all (pos) will face judgment. You and I are in that group. We don’t get a pass on that day. We will have to stand before the throne along with everyone else. The verdict over us may turn out differently, but the circumstances will not. So, we are “all.”

But are we also “some”? Some of the all are ungodly. Actually, the Greek word here is asebes. Its meaning is best understood in contrast to the positive eusebeia. Eusebeia describes reverence and respect, particularly concerning the gods. The usual translation of eusebeia is piety. But that is also a problem. We don’t use this word much anymore. From Old French and Latin, it used to mean unthinking devotion and duty. These days, if we use it at all, it generally is about religious devotion or extreme moral commitment. The important point is that the positive use of the Greek term is about worship of pagan gods. Therefore, the negative term (asebes) would be about disrespect of the gods. In the apostolic writings, the meaning shifts since respect or disrespect for pagan deities is still idolatry. Asebes becomes disrespect for order, particularly divine order found in the commandments. In other words, the “ungodly” (asebeis) are those who show disrespect in action and attitude toward the law of God. Now who do you think is in this group?

We read Jude as if he were writing to replacement theology Christians. Therefore, we think “ungodly” means those people who act sinfully and that means those who break the universal moral law of humanity. That means people who steal, who murder, who lie, who commit adultery and who do all those other hideous things that we don’t do (usually). But Jude isn’t writing to replacement theology Christians. He is writing to Jews and Gentiles in the Messianic movement of the first century. For them, asebes clearly delineates the group that opposes Torah. They are the ungodly because they deny the order given by God. Their attitude and actions demonstrate that they do not care for God’s revealed commandments. Consequently, says Jude, they will be judged severely.

Exegesis that ignores the geography of the author and reader, the historical time of the writing and the cultural background of the audience often misses the real point of the message. Every verse in the Bible has a place, time and audience. None of the verses were written for us. We cannot understand the meaning of the text unless we know what the author said to his original audience. Discovering what Jude said using words that belong to a first century Greek reader radically alters our usual presumptive explanations. Jude is very clear. If you don’t keep God’s Torah and if your attitude toward God’s orders is hostile, you are in serious trouble. You might think you are being reverent and respectful toward God, but He doesn’t think so.

Topical Index: asebes, eusebeia, piety, reverence, order, Torah, Jude 1:15, ungodly