Jude

What is the reason this book was written?

      Jude wrote this book to defend believers against false teaching (1:4). His purpose is to keep the gospel pure from anyone who is not preaching the truth about God. He calls the church to defend the 

faith (1:3).

What is the main idea?

      The main idea in this book is to hold on to truth by holding on to God. Jude tells them of God's ability and longing to guide them and love them (1:20-23). They have hope in God, because he is greater than anything they could ever face on the earth.

What is the important historical background?

      It seems that he may have written this around the time of Peter's second letter. They both talk about a lot of the same things dealing with false teaching. Perhaps they were referring to many of the same things during the time of Nero. Jude is the half brother of Jesus and brother to James. At the time people were pretending to be from God, but preaching a different gospel (1:4).

What does this book show about the character and nature of God?

       Jude ends the book with a description of God's character. He says that all glory goes to God and that all majesty, power and authority belong to him. He is restating to the church who God is and how great he is. He emphasizes that God is God for all time, therefore he is the only one we can put all of our hope in.