Jude now
analyzes the underlying motivations of the false teachers in terms of
the experiences of three unfortunates from the Old Testament – Cain,
Balaam and Core.
The Way
of Cain
Firstly,
the false teachers have gone the way of Cain, he says.
When Cain and his brother Abel were required to bring offerings to God,
probably after the autumn harvest, Abel pleased him by bringing "fat
portions" from the first born of his flock (Genesis 4:4), evidently
indicating the very best he had.
However,
Cain’s offering, which did not please God at all, is described simply
as "some of the fruits of the soil" (verse 3), probably indicating
whatever came to hand, nothing special and certainly not the best --
but good enough for God in his opinion.
Low Standards
The
lesson Jude intends us to draw seems to be that Cain’s standard of what
should be acceptable or good enough for God was far too low. Notice
also that when Cain became angry at his rejection, God warned him that
"sin desires to have you – but you must master it"
(verses 6-7). Cain, however, he had no intention of resisting and mastering
sin. Like the false teachers he wanted to be accepted by God on his
own terms, and live by his own standards of morality.
Perhaps
it is no surprise then, when I open a Church newspaper today, to find
an article about Anglican clergy headlined "I believe in God –
but on my terms". The article goes on to report that according
to a recent survey almost half of women priests and a quarter of men
no longer even believe that Jesus died to take away the sins of the
world.
The Error
of Balaam
Secondly,
says Jude, the false teachers ran greedily after the error of
Balaam for a reward – a financial motive. It seems significant
that Balaam actually knew God and was a prophet of reputation, which
is why, when the people of Israel were passing through his land on their
way to the Promised Land, king Balak of Moab sent for Balaam and asked
him to curse them in order to protect his own people. (Numbers 22:5).
After
consulting God, however, Balaam was unable to curse Israel, despite
the offer of a rich reward from Balak – and was even led to pronounce
blessings instead.
Even
so, such was the lure of the money on offer that Balaam defied God by
going to meet with Balak, just to see to what he had to say -- and the
account describes the famous incident where God rebukes the greedy prophet
for his foolishness, speaking through the mouth of a donkey (verse 28).
Balaam’s
Strategy
Although
Balaam was unable to curse the Israelites directly, because they were
chosen people and protected by God, as in the parallel case of the Christian
Church, he was still able to win his reward by causing them, in effect,
to curse themselves. This he accomplished by advising Balak (Numbers
31:15-16) to lure the Israelite men, even some of their leaders, into
forbidden sexual liaisons with Moabite women on a large scale (Numbers
25:1-16).
The
false teachers, like Balaam, were also motivated by a desire for personal
gain, a lust for money, and the Christian Church evidently afforded
the opportunity for clever and charismatic individuals, who may have
been no more spiritual than a donkey, to aspire to a very agreeable
and even affluent leadership lifestyle – all financed by the offerings
of the lay members.
Marketing
the Gospel for Money
Once
having wormed their way into the Church hierarch, the next step was
obviously to attract more members in order to maximize the amount of
money flowing into the coffers.
This
required a marketing approach, which is why Peter, in his warning against
the pseudo-Christian leaders, says: "Through covetous they shall
make merchandise of you" (2 Peter 2:3). Successful merchandising
requires a user-friendly product or convenient service with mass appeal
– nothing demanding too much discipline or self denial or that would
interfere with one’s established lifestyle.
The
key was to exploit, as Balaam did, the immoral lusts that reside in
every human being, including Christians – and to offer a glossy new
gospel that made the grace of God, the innate kindness and mercy of
God, into a license for indulging those lusts, sexual ones in particular.
This
is why Peter also predicts that: "Many shall follow their shameful
ways; by reason of which the way of truth shall be evil spoken of"
(verse 2). How sad it is that Peter’s words frequently find fulfillment
even today when the obviously immoral and permissive teachings of supposed
Christian leaders are ridiculed in the daily press.
The Rebellion
of Core
Thirdly,
and speaking prophetically, Jude soberly says that the false teachers
have already perished in the rebellion of Core – that
their fate is sealed.
Core
and his two hundred and fifty followers were Levites who wanted to be
priests, in order to share the spiritual leadership of Israel with Moses
and his brother Aaron and his sons (Numbers 16:8). Although the descendants
of Levi, had been assigned by God to take care of the tabernacle, only
those belonging to the family of Aaron were allowed to actually officiate
there as priests – and, as part of their duties, to burn incense in
metal censers before God.
Core
and his band of rebels, all prominent leaders in the community, were
not happy with this situation, possibly because they had acted in a
priestly role as traditional heads of families -- which could explain
why they apparently already had their own censers ready to use when
the opportunity arose (verses 16-18).
The
rest of the account describes how the rebels were destroyed by God as
they attempted to burn incense before him -- the specific event referred
to by Jude.
False
Teachers Usurp Leadership Positions
Jude
seems to be telling us that even in the early years of the Christian
Church, capable and cunning men were worming their way in – and coveting
and usurping leadership positions to which God had not called them,
positions of influence from which they could peddle their permissive
teachings.
Today,
some two thousand years later, could there still be men, and now also
women, in leadership positions in the Christian Church who seek to pervert
the faith once delivered to the saints – by turning the grace of God
into a license for immorality, and for homosexuality in particular
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