Jude's phrase in Jude 21 "the Mercy" - thinking about it as a Rapture reference. I was reading it the other night, caught by the phrase "The Mercy". I was drawn to Jude by @mattfivefour mentioning the end of Jude, in a thread urging us to have mercy on those caught in sin. So I went out of sequence (I'm in Proverbs) to really enjoy a little diversion into Jude.
Then I recalled reading that phrase "The Mercy" a lot in the Book of Enoch (ok, I know it's not Bible, I'm just explaining why that unique phrase that the writer of Enoch uses for the Rapture was so attention grabbing)
Here it is in the NIV: 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Jude isn't quoting Enoch here, he's using the term The Mercy in a context that I'm familiar with that might be a reference to the Rapture. Not just our death in Christ as believers.
The context of Jude is about false teachers and ungodly people invading the church. It applies thru all church history, but there is a special emphasis on the end of the church age and the dawning of the Day of the Lord.
In v 14-15 Jude introduces the Enoch quote:
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones
15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
and that brings us forward in time to the end of the Tribulation
Then in 16-19 he goes on to speak of the scoffers. Like in 2 Peter chapter 3 which also is about The Day of the Lord and brings up the scoffers.
Jude 16-19
16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.
18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.”
19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
finally Jude moves onto what I think is a tiny mention of the Rapture mixed in with the assurance of our death in the Lord if we die before the Rapture.
20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt;
23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Finishing with
24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—
25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
For starters I'm enjoying Jude's emphasis on merciful actions towards others in context with waiting for the Rapture. It's a message of mercy and grace. Just before Revelation opens with it's thunder and majesty.
It's so necessary in the end of the Church age when Laodicea and False Teachers are leading the flock astray. Causing some to doubt, others to fall into horrible sin. We are to show mercy to the doubters, grabbing out of the fire those whose garments are stained by corruption.
Then I recalled reading that phrase "The Mercy" a lot in the Book of Enoch (ok, I know it's not Bible, I'm just explaining why that unique phrase that the writer of Enoch uses for the Rapture was so attention grabbing)
Here it is in the NIV: 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Jude isn't quoting Enoch here, he's using the term The Mercy in a context that I'm familiar with that might be a reference to the Rapture. Not just our death in Christ as believers.
The context of Jude is about false teachers and ungodly people invading the church. It applies thru all church history, but there is a special emphasis on the end of the church age and the dawning of the Day of the Lord.
In v 14-15 Jude introduces the Enoch quote:
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones
15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
and that brings us forward in time to the end of the Tribulation
Then in 16-19 he goes on to speak of the scoffers. Like in 2 Peter chapter 3 which also is about The Day of the Lord and brings up the scoffers.
Jude 16-19
16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.
18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.”
19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
finally Jude moves onto what I think is a tiny mention of the Rapture mixed in with the assurance of our death in the Lord if we die before the Rapture.
20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt;
23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Finishing with
24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—
25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
For starters I'm enjoying Jude's emphasis on merciful actions towards others in context with waiting for the Rapture. It's a message of mercy and grace. Just before Revelation opens with it's thunder and majesty.
It's so necessary in the end of the Church age when Laodicea and False Teachers are leading the flock astray. Causing some to doubt, others to fall into horrible sin. We are to show mercy to the doubters, grabbing out of the fire those whose garments are stained by corruption.
