Jude 1:12-13 - Blemish People
“These are hidden reefs in your feasts of love. They feast with you without fear. They are shepherds feeding themselves. They are waterless clouds, swept along by winds. They are fruitless autumn trees, uprooted and twice dead. They are waves of the wild sea, casting up the foam of their own shame. They are wandering stars, for whom is reserved the blackness of endless darkness” (Jude 1:12-13).
Jude now shares five analogies of what these false workers are like who sneak into the church. Hidden reefs, waterless clouds, twice-dead trees, raging waves, and wandering stars.
First,
they are like hidden reefs to shipwreck agape love in the church. Because they are hidden you can’t see them until crash. The apostates and the opponents are present and part of the fellowship, feasts, and celebrations (agapais). The heretics were dangerous to the community of believers like a reef to a ship trying to make a safe harbor. They are feeding only themselves or shepherds themselves. The apostates could come into fellowship with evil motives hidden in their hearts, and be a great danger to the Church. The Passover meal was to be eaten with a fear that the Lord passes over (Exodus 12:11-12). Church fellowships are not parties in the clubs or entertainment. The presence of God is there always. They are the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed my flock (Ezekiel 34:8).
Second,
they are like clouds during times of drought that produce no rain. They are empty and do nothing to satisfy the spiritual needs and thirst of the church. The waterless clouds imply that the opponents bring nothing of value to the Church through their participation but occupy the space and destroy the fellowship.
Third,
they are like fruit trees in the fall that are barren and produce no fruit or harvest. The tree is “twice dead” because it does not bear fruit and because it is uprooted. That the tree is “uprooted” may allude to the judgment on the heretics. In cold places, a deciduous fruit tree appears to die in autumn. But if it's blown over by a winter storm, it is twice and truly dead. The doctrine and teachings of these false workers cannot produce a crop of Christian fruit or godliness. A hungry soul finds no nourishment from them.
Fourth,
at some point, they are like relentless wild waves of the sea crashing into godly morals. The ocean waves can be fun. But waves can also be dangerous. The evil men are waves that toss those who are weak and immature in the faith. Many fall victim to their cunning ways. They make evil look and sound good while painting godliness and righteousness in tainted ways like repulsive brown foam. Like the sea, the heretics are morally untamed. The foam is a metaphor for their shameless deeds or words.
Five,
Jude says these false workers who creep in among God's people are like wandering stars. Stars and planets normally keep to a course and we appreciate the “order” of the universe ordered by our Lord. They have their orbits and do not wander. However, there are aberrant heavenly bodies that wander and cause destruction. The image is that of stars leaving their place in the heavens, where they are beautiful and useful, and wandering away (to the utter confusion of everyone who directs his course by them). They have no moral direction in their own lives and they drag others off into darkness and eternal destruction. The “wayward stars” (asteres planetai) are either what we know as planets or shooting stars.
(Ref: Commentaries by various scholarly authors).
