Jude 1:18
A focused desk for reading, commentary, cross-references, original language notes, and your own observations.
Jude 1:18
18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
Chapter Context
Jude 1 is a polemical epistle chapter in the New Testament that explores themes of grace, hope, obedience. Written during the late first century CE (c. 65-80 CE), this chapter should be understood within its historical context: Libertine teaching undermined moral standards by distorting grace.
The chapter can be divided into several sections:
- Verses 1-5: Introduction and setting the context
- Verses 6-12: Development of key themes
- Verses 13-20: Central message and teachings
- Verses 21-25: Conclusion and application
This chapter is significant because it demonstrates God's faithfulness despite human unfaithfulness. When studying this passage, it's important to consider both its immediate context within Jude and its broader place in the scriptural canon.
Verse Study
Jude 1:18
18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
Analysis
How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. Jude specifies the apostolic teaching they should remember: prophecies about false teachers. "They told you" (Greek elegon hymin, ἔλεγον ὑμῖν) indicates repeated apostolic warnings—this wasn't isolated comment but consistent message. "There should be mockers" (Greek esontai empaiktai, ἔσονται ἐμπαῖκται) predicts people who scoff, ridicule, and deride sacred things. "Mockers" denotes those who treat serious matters with contempt, making light of divine truth, mocking godliness as foolishness.
"In the last time" (Greek ep' eschatou chronou, ἐπ' ἐσχάτου χρόνου) refers to the entire period between Christ's first and second coming—the "last days" begun at Pentecost (Acts 2:17, Hebrews 1:2) and continuing until Christ's return. The New Testament consistently teaches that the church age is eschatological period characterized by both gospel advance and increasing apostasy. False teachers aren't surprising anomalies but predicted features of this age.
"Who should walk after their own ungodly lusts" (Greek kata tas heautōn epithymias poreuomenoi tōn asebeiōn, κατὰ τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἐπιθυμίας πορευόμενοι τῶν ἀσεβειῶν) repeats v. 16's description—lifestyle governed by sinful desires, not divine revelation. Their mockery flows from ungodliness; they reject truth not from intellectual conviction but moral rebellion. People suppress truth to justify preferred behaviors (Romans 1:18-25). Doctrine and ethics connect inseparably—bad theology enables bad living; bad living requires bad theology.
Historical Context
New Testament apostles consistently warned about coming false teachers: Jesus (Matthew 24:4-5, 11, 24), Paul (Acts 20:29-30, 1 Timothy 4:1-3, 2 Timothy 3:1-9, 4:3-4), Peter (2 Peter 2:1-3, 3:3), John (1 John 2:18-19, 4:1-3), Jude. This wasn't pessimism but prophetic realism—the church would face internal threats from those claiming Christian identity while denying Christian truth. Such warnings prepared believers to recognize and resist error.
The concept of "mockers in the last time" draws on Old Testament prophecies about scoffers who deny God's judgment (Isaiah 5:18-19, 28:14-15). Jewish eschatology expected intensified rebellion before Messiah's coming. Early Christians recognized they lived in eschatological tension—already experiencing Messianic age blessings while awaiting final consummation. This "already but not yet" period would feature both gospel triumph and satanic opposition.
First-century mockers included those denying Christ's return (2 Peter 3:3-4), rejecting resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:12), dismissing judgment (2 Peter 2:3), and ridiculing Christian morality as prudish legalism. Such mockery continues throughout church history—sophisticated intellectuals scorning biblical supernaturalism, cultural elites dismissing Christian ethics, religious liberals mocking doctrinal precision.
Reflection
- How does recognizing that apostles predicted false teachers help believers respond to contemporary apostasy?
- What forms does mockery of biblical truth take in contemporary culture, and how should Christians respond?
- Why is it important to understand that rejection of biblical truth often stems from moral rebellion, not merely intellectual disagreement?
Cross-References
- Parallel theme: Jude 1:16, Acts 20:29, 2 Timothy 3:13, 4:3, 2 Peter 2:1, 3:3