Who long ago were marked out for this condemnation

“Who long ago were marked out for this condemnation”

Jude 4

“For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” pareisevdusan gavr tine" a!nqrwpoi, oi& pavlai progegrammevnoi written about before ei*" tou'to toV krivma, a*sebei'", thVn tou' qeou' h&mw'n cavrita metatiqevnte" ei*" a*sevlgeian kaiV toVn movnon despovthn kaiV kuvrion h&mw'n *Ihsou'n CristoVn a*rnouvmenoi

Who were these men in Jude 4, “Who long ago were marked out for this condemnation”? Did God reprobate them before the foundation of the world? When we first look at Jude 4, the evidence seems clear that some were marked out “long ago for this condemnation.” But we must look at some of the words in this verse more closely.

Were these men marked out before the foundation of the world? The phrase “long ago”, pavlai, is one word in the original. It can mean long ago, but it can also mean the relatively short time prior to a man’s forgiveness of his sins. Further, it can also be as short a time as the same day. Pilate is recorded in Mark 15:44 asking about Christ, “Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time.” (oJ deV Pila'to" ejqauvmasen eij h[dh tevqnhken kaiV proskalesavmeno" toVn kenturivwna ejphrwvthsen aujtoVn eij pavlai ajpevqanen). But that can also just mean already “ei* pavlai a*pevqanen (looks back to the moment of crucifixion) whether he was already dead Mk 15:44.” (BAGD). In 2 Pet 1:9, pavlai means old, “has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” (lhvqhn labwVn tou' kaqarismou' tw'n pavlai au*tou' a&martiw'n) In our text we can see that the time was somewhat short because Jude is referring to the men Peter wrote about in 2 Peter.

2 Pet 2:1 “there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in (pareisavxousin) destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” 2 Pet 3:3 “knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts.” Peter uses three futures to describe these men. Jude uses an aorist (pareisevdusan).

When we look at the phrase, “were marked out for this condemnation”, what is “this condemnation” to which Jude is referring? Peter used these words, “swift destruction.” Since I believe Jude was writing to the same group Peter had written, they knew the verdict Peter gave. Jude was referring to Peter’s verdict. However, Lenski believed Jude explained what it was.[1] It doesn’t matter whether Jude explained or Peter had written it. They still stood condemned for their actions. Their verdict [krivma] was marked down by Peter. Peter predicted that there would be false teachers of this sort. Anyone who committed this sin against God would suffer the same verdict. Therefore, I conclude that these men were not ordained to this punishment, but those who fit Peter’s prophecy know they are written down for “swift destruction.”

[1] R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistles of St. Peter, St. John and St. Jude, pp. 597-615. “Jude’s words are, however, quite plain: Peter wrote down the verdict of these men in advance, and Jude says what it is, namely this: ‘godless, changing the grace of our God into excess and denying our absolute Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.’ The supposition that a verdict names only the penalty is unwarranted. In modern courts the judge names the penalty, but the jury brings in the verdict of guilt. When there is only a judge he does both. Here the verdict states the guilt. Peter wrote down in advance both the guilt and the penalty, the latter as ‘perdition’ in 2:1,3 and as ‘the blackness of the darkness’ in 2:17.”