First, these men are not in touch with reality. Jude describes them as “dreamers”.Either they were unrealistic in their teachings or they justified their false doctrines by referencing visions they supposedly had. Whatever the case it was not inline with what the will of God was and they conjured up their own reality in support of their own selfish desires.
Second, these men “defile the flesh”. To be clear, they were in support of and perhaps engaged in homosexual behavior. Verse 7 has already mentioned this defilement and Jude continues his rebuke of these men in verse 8 by telling us that they are not only living in a dream world but physically engaging in sexual immorality when they defile the flesh.
Third, these men “reject authority”. To hear what the standard and expectations from those in authority and reject it is a complete rebellion of those standards and expectations. Those who are ungodly know what is right and wrong and reject it anyway. To be specific, Jude says these men are “reviling angelic majesties”. They were criticizing those who are dignitaries. This terminology could be interpreted as actually angels or even figuratively as church leaders. It really does’nt matter because the point is made. They rejected those who had the authority to teach and explain the will of God.
Jude then gives an illustration of how rebellious these men are. He talks about a time when the archangel, Michael “disputed” and “argued” with the devil about the body of Moses. Even Michael left the judgment against the devil to the Lord. There’s a couple of things that are interesting about this. Maybe, the devil thought that he had authority over the body of Moses and so he was going to do with it as he pleased and Michael took issue with him about it. But then Michael respected the limited power that the devil had and concluded that the Lord will be the one to rebuke you! The point Jude is making is, if Michael can respect the limited authority of the devil how much more so should we respect the full authority that our church leaders have? The answer is simple. Respect and not reject! Respect your elders, preachers and teachers.
Jude says in verse 10 that these men “revile the things they don’t understand”. Those that are ungodly are not afraid to speak evil and disrespect to those that are in authority and they do not even hesitate to talk about things they know nothing about. Have you ever talked with someone who was so arrogant that they think know everything about everything but in reality they know very little? These men were criticizing what was right and the things they should know by instinct. They had given up on the natural and spoke evil about the way things should be done. Jude says they are like “unreasoning animals” and it will destroy them.
Let’s make a quick application… Please, do all you can to not be like these people. Avoid this evil way. Be aware of what is reality. Honor those things that are good and natural and avoid defiling your body. Give respect and honor to those in authority. Speak to what you know but listen and learn to what you don’t understand.
Hey Jude! You are not scared to talk about things that might make us uncomfortable!