THE BROTHER OF JESUS CHRIST
Jude 1.1
Most likely Jude, the author of this Letter is the one of the brothers of Jesus Christ. In total Jesus have four brothers and unknown number of sisters.
Matthew 13.55-56
55. "Is not this the carpenter's Son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers James, and Joseph (Joses. Mark 6.3), and Simon, and Judas. (Matthew 12.46).
56. And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?" (Mark 6.3).
James, the brother of Jesus. James is first mentioned as the oldest of Jesus' four younger brothers (Matthew 13.55) (Mark 6.3).
The Gospels revealed that Jesus' brothers adopted a skeptical attitude toward His ministry (Matthew 12.46-50) (Mark 3.31-35) (Luke 8.19-21) (John 7.3-5-10).
James apparently held the same attitude, because his name appears in no list of the Apostles, nor is he mentioned elsewhere in the Gospels.
After Jesus' crucifixion, however, James became a believer. Paul indicated that James was a witness to the resurrection of Jesus (1Corinthians 15.7).
Paul called James an Apostle (Galatians 1.19), though like himself, not one of the original Twelve (1Corinthians 15.5.7).
In the Book of Acts, James emerges as the leader of the church in Jerusalem. His brothers became believers (Acts 1.13-14) and undertook missionary travels (1Corinthians 9.5) (Jude 1.1).
But James considered it his calling to oversee the church in Jerusalem (Galatians 2.9). He advocated respect for the Jewish Law (Acts 21.18-25), but he did not use it as a weapon against Gentiles.
Paul indicated that James endorsed his ministry to the Gentiles (Galatians 2.1-10). Both Paul and Acts portray a James who was personally devoted to Jewish nation but flexible enough to modify it to admit non-Jews into Christian fellowship.
This James is probably the author of the Epistle of James in the New Testament.
THE UNGODLY
Jude 1.4.7-8.10-16.18-19
Almost every Book of the Bible have warnings about ungodly and sinners and their impact on the life of other people. Particularly the ungodly is very dangerous for the church of Christ with their deceit, false doctrines, made up traditions, and misinterpretation of the Bible. They are the masters of disguise pretended to be godly and devoted to Christ, but in reality, they are wolves in sheep skin pretended to be one of us (Jeremiah 23.1) (Ezekiel 34.1-31) (John 10.1-16) (1Peter 5.1-4) (Acts 20.28-30).
For this reason, it has been written.
2Corinthians 11.14-15
14. "And no wonder, even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their deeds."
THE BODY OF MOSES
Jude 1.9
Deuteronomy 34.5-8
5. "So Moses, the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the Word of the Lord.
6.And *He buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab, **opposite Beth-peor, but ***no man knows burial place to this day.
~ 6. *He buried him. That is, GOD buried Moses. But the Hebrew construction could also be understood as “someone buried him,” meaning “he was buried.” (In this case most likely by Joshua. A.G). This would suggest that the burial place was once known and later forgotten.
**Near Beth-peor. Its location is not certain; it was somewhere east of Jericho (Deuteronomy 3.29).
The Torah. A Modern Commentary. Edited by W. Gunther Plaut.
~6. ***No one knows his burial place. Because GOD buried him. Many commentators have conjectured that the gravesite of Moses was concealed to prevent from turning it into a shrine and using it as a location for a cult of Moses worship.
Etz Hayim. Torah and Commentary.
7. Although Moses was *one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated.
~ 7. *A hundred and twenty years old. (Deuteronomy 31.2). Moses had been 80 years old at the time of the Exodus (Exodus 7.7).
The Torah. A Modern Commentary. Edited by W. Gunther Plaut.
~ 7. *Hundred and twenty years old. Moses died 40 years after the Exodus, which took place when he was 80 (Exodus 7.7).
Etz Hayim. Torah and Commentary.
MOURNING FOR MOSES.
8. So, the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab *thirty days, then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to the end."
~8. *Thirty days. As was done for Aaron; Numbers 20.29. The period has remained significant in Jewish practices.
The Torah. A Modern Commentary. Edited by W. Gunther Plaut.
~ 8. *Month's time. A customary period of mourning also observed for Aaron and Moses (Numbers 20.29) (Deuteronomy 34.8), and part of Jewish mourning practice to this day.
Etz Hayim. Torah and Commentary. (Copied from Deuteronomy 21.13).
~ 5-8. By secretly burying Moses Himself, GOD avoided any possibility of Israel later making a shrine out of Moses' burial place. This also thwarted the Devil, because he later had s dispute with Michael, the archangel, concerning the body of Moses (Jude 9).
Moses died when he was 120 years old, and his life falls neatly into three periods of 40 years each. The first 40 years were spent in Egypt as a member of pharaoh's household (Acts 7.21-23). Next, he lived a private family life in the land of Midian (Acts 7.29-30). Finally, he lived 40 years from GOD'S call at the burning bush until his death.
KSB, Spiros Zodhiates. P-288.
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