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Welcome to the Cross References podcast on the Book of Ezekiel. In this study, you learn how every small piece of the Bible tells one big story- and most importantly, how they all connect to the cross and Christ.
Whether you’re a newbie Christian or a veteran Bible reader, my goal is that God’s Word will make more sense to you after every episode.
Host: Luke Taylor
Twice Dead in Jude
Jude 12-13
Introduction
What does it mean to be twice dead?
This is a phrase that shows up in the book of Jude and…nowhere else in the Bible.
Basically every verse in the book of Jude connects back to some concept or story previously in the Bible, but you get to verses 12 and 13 of Jude and they mention this thing of being twice dead. Talking about apostates, Jude says:
(Jude 12-13)
12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
Jude gets downright poetic here, doesn’t he? He has all these descriptive ways to describe people who join Christianity only to later reject it, but then he uses this one two-word phrase that has confused a lot of people: twice dead.
Unlike the rest of Jude, this is not a phrase that has ever been established anywhere else in Scripture.
The other phrase, however, you can find cross references for. And so I’ve been studying the book of Jude on my other podcast, Weird Stuff in the Bible. But as I come to verses 12 and 13 of Jude, I find this section to be thick with so much theological beauty that I wanted to take an extra bit of time to dig into it. But since it doesn’t quite fit with the theme of Weird Stuff in the Bible, it actually fits better with the theme of THIS podcast, I’m going to do it here.
So we’ll analyze and track down all of these phrases today on the Cross References podcast.
[theme music]
The Poetic language of Jude 12-13
Welcome to the Cross References podcast, where we talk about how each small part of the Bible tells one big story: and most importantly, how all those pieces connect to the cross and Christ. And also, welcome to all of the Weird Stuff in the Bible listeners who might be hopping over to this channel today to hear more about this wonderful little book of Jude.
So if you’re not so familiar with Jude, this is a book of the Bible that talks about apostasy. Apostasy is to fall away from the Christian faith. Now, are these people who were never truly saved, or are they people who were once saved and then lost their salvation? I think an apostate could be either, but I consider someone an apostate if they were once part of the church- a regular church attender- and then fell away. Now, they might still attend church and be an apostate; they might just be a church attendee who has really immoral character, and could even be a false teacher within the church.
So let’s go through this full description so that we’re all on the same page about what apostates are like. The first leg of our journey today is just studying all the rich poetic language in Jude 12 and 13, and then we’ll focus on this phrase “twice dead” at the end.
These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves.
Who’s been to a love feast this year? This is referring to a fellowship lunch or dinner. Many churches do this regularly. Did you know it’s biblical? It was common practice in the early church to share a meal. It’s not just a baptist thing; it’s for all Christians.
“love feasts” = agapais. Agape means love, and Christians started calling their church dinners (and when they would take communion) their agapais. Love feasts. But apostates are only there for themselves. It says:
“who feed only themselves” = they don’t care about anyone else when they come to church. They aren’t there for love; they’re there for food. Or they have some other agenda.
The word “blemishes” is a greek word Spilas (spee-las’) that we don’t have a direct English translation for; it means the rocks that are just under the surface of the water. The kinds of rocks that can sink ships, but you don’t see the danger unless you look below the surface. And that’s the danger of apostates in your church: they are a danger to the health of your church if you only look at what’s on the surface.
So it’s saying when you fellowship with someone who is an apostate, we are endangering our church community.
Main point: apostates can sink your church.
They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind;
To someone in the Middle East, clouds can be a little exciting, because clouds might need rain, and you always need rain when you live in the wilderness.
But apostates are clouds without rain. They don’t meet anyone’s needs, because they’re in this for themselves. They’re a disappointment.
Proverbs speaks of how clouds provide needs, such as rain. But apostates are clouds without rain.
Clouds are blown around by the wind. They’re kind of directionless in themselves; they go wherever the air pressure is pushing them.
Likewise, apostates are not in control of themselves. They’re controlled by the flesh. They’re whipped around by their passions. A Christian is under the control of the Holy Spirit. Apostates are under the control of a different spirit.
Main point: apostates are directed by Satan.
autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.
Apostates don’t produce fruit. Trees in the autumn have the appearance of dying. They are fading away. They produced fruit at one time, but not anymore.
I know we think autumn trees are pretty, but that is not Jude’s point. I don’t know what fall looks like in Israel, back in this context. But Jude is making the point that their sale-by date has passed. They’re dead or dying.
Which I take to imply that they once did produce fruit. If you think about Jesus’ parable of the sower, some people receive the word of God with gladness and get very energized to do good works for Jesus, but their seed never takes root as it grows, and they get distracted by the cares of life, and so they fall away.
“uprooted” = I would take this as an indication that if they ever were saved, they lost their salvation, because you can’t be uprooted if you weren’t planted somewhere to begin with.
Main point: apostates are no longer showing external signs of Christianity when you look close
Now, this phrase “twice dead” may take a little longer conversation, so we’ll come back to that one later.
They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame;
Have you ever seen foams in a creek? Romans says that when someone comes to church, never gets saved, hears about God, never gets saved, they’re storing up wrath for themselves.
So think of how bad that would be: to have grown up in church and heard so many salvation calls, yet never having yielded your heart to Jesus?
I’ve heard it posited that the people the most miserable in hell were the people who had the highest number of opportunities not to be there and rejected them.
So much shame that they would carry around for all eternity. So many missed opportunities, all gone now.
Main point: apostates' activities are storing up God’s wrath against themselves.
And then the last phrase:
wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
This term can usually mean meteorites- they burn bright and briefly and come crashing down into ashes
Also posited that it’s black holes- they suck. They have no light. Any light that gets close gets drawn in.
“wandering” = aimless, just drifting along, not in a particular orbit (kinda like the clouds)
“blackest darkness” = a metaphor for hell, Jesus used it in a parable once, too. He would speak of hell being a place of outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Main idea: apostates have no direction- except hell
What does Twice Dead Mean?
So now let’s go back to this phase “twice dead”? There are a couple of things this can mean, and they’re both good possibilities, probably both true:
It could refer to the fact that an apostate was once lost and dead in their sins, and then they got saved, and then they lost their salvation so they’re dead in their sins a second time.
It could refer to something called “the second death” in the Bible, which is what we’ll look at today.
(turn to Revelation 20)
The story this time in Jude is something…that has not happened yet. It’s a story about something that will happen someday. The Great White Throne Judgment.
This is for every person who did not make Jesus their Savior and Lord. These next verses are after the 7-year tribulation, then Jesus returns, then He rules the world for 1000 years. This is called the Millennium. If you are not saved, you are in hell for all of this time, but at this point, every person in hell is brought up to stand before the Great White Throne. These people are called the wicked dead. They are people who have died and were not saints, so they died in their sins, and they are the wicked dead.
Revelation 20:11
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
The Great White Throne. This is the judgement only for unbelievers. Only for people going to hell. There is only one judgment handed out here: guilty.
This is different from the Judgment Seat of Christ; that’s only for believers.
Some people have an idea that when you die, you show up in line and an angel looks in the book and if you’re in it, he says go this way into heaven, and if you’re not in it, he says go this way into hell. That’s not actually Biblical.
From what I can tell, when someone dies without Jesus, they immediately drop into hell, and they only get a short break from it for the GWT. (“He who doesn’t believe is condemned already.” They don’t need to be found guilty first. You’re guilty by default if you’re a sinner.)
Revelation 20:12
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
Why does it say “the books were opened”? There are books kept in heaven of all of our actions: good and bad. When we do a good work, it’s recorded in the book. When we do a bad work, it’s recorded in the book.
Whether you’re in the JSOC or the GWT, everyone has a judgment day when your books are opened. That should make us reflect.
The last book opened in the judgment is the “Book of Life.” If your name is not written in this book, you spend eternity in the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:13-14
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
We’ll talk about this phrase “second death” in just a minute, because this confuses some people about the eternal nature of hell.
Verse 15
And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
The Lake of Fire is the destiny of:
The Antichrist
The False Prophet
All the Demons (fallen angels)
Those who take the Mark of the Beast
The wicked dead
Most of the people you know
A SECOND DEATH?
Hell is one of the most hotly debated arguments between Christians and against Christians.
Annihilationism is the false doctrine that people sent to hell is an immediate destruction of the body and soul, not an ongoing torment.
They say: It’s called the “second death.” That means you’ll cease to exist.
Death means separation. The first death is separation of the soul and body. The second death is separation of the soul and God. So simply because it’s called the “second death” doesn’t mean you cease to exist, it just implies a separation.
We know someone doesn’t cease to exist at the first death; so why would they cease to exist at the second death?
I have used that rebuttal with people more times than I can count. It has defeated this objection every single time. People just don’t understand what “death” means, biblically. It never means you cease to exist. Ever. Not when you’re talking about people. It means some kind of separation.
God told Adam and Eve (paraphrased): “Do not eat the fruit, for on the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.”
Now, did they cease to exist on the day that they ate it? No. Did they even physically die on that day? No. So what happened on that day? They were separated from God.
And every person who sins is separated from God. And if someone doesn’t get right with God before they die, they’ll find themselves separated from God for forever and ever in the lake of fire- the second death.
[music]
Housekeeping/Mailbag
Next time on this podcast, we will get back into our bible study on Ezekiel from wherever we left off. I just had to record this episode real quick because it didn’t quite fit with Weird Stuff in the Bible. It’s not weird. It’s a heavy subject. But it’s not exactly weird.
So if you’d like to hear more about the book of Jude or more weird stuff, go subscribe to Weird Stuff in the Bible. We’re about to start talking about Enoch. Enoch just has a small number of verses in the Bible, very small, but he has so much weirdness associated with him. So we’ll look at what Jude says about Enoch this Wednesday.
Closing Thoughts
In closing, I just want to do my favorite thing that happens as I study the Bible, and that’s to connect what we’re studying with Jesus. And wouldn’t you know, in Jude 12 and 13, there were 5 descriptions that they gave of apostates. Each of these five descriptions corresponds to a description of genuine believers AND it corresponds to Jesus Christ Himself.
Hidden Rocks | Unseen Danger
But believers are living stones (I Peter 2:5)
And Jesus is the Rock of our Salvation (I Peter 2:6)
Waterless Clouds | False Promise
But believers are sources of living water (John 7:38)
And Jesus is one Coming on the Clouds (Daniel 7:13)
Autumn Trees | Bare of any Fruit
But believers are trees of righteousness (Isaiah 61:3)
And Jesus is like a tree of Life (in many ways, such as in Proverbs 11:30) and Jesus died for us on a tree (Galatians 3:13)
Raging Waves | Churning Up God’s Wrath
But believers have peace like a river (Isaiah 48:18)
And Jesus Leads Me Beside Still Waters (Psalm 23)
Wandering Stars | Aimless course
But believers shine as stars forever (Daniel 12:3)
And Jesus is the Bright and Morning Star (Revelation 22:16)
These are a truly beautiful couple of verses. They are power-packed verses. Not technically “weird,” but I just couldn’t resist diving into them. And I hope you found this little excursion worth it as I do this soft crossover episode between my two podcasts. For those of us who like my Ezekiel Bible Study, we’ll be back in it again next week. For those of you who want more Jude, go check out my other podcast. For EVERYBODY, make sure you’ve had the second birth so you can avoid the second death.
You see, when you get saved, it’s called being “born again.” Jesus discusses this in John 3. He said you need to be born of water and the Spirit. You have your natural birth and then your spiritual birth.
So if you become a Christian, you have two births but only one death.
But if you’re not a Christian, you’ll have one birth and two deaths.
And if you think that’s weird, I hope you’re a little more weird today, too. And thanks for letting me get weird on the Cross References podcast.