Defiled Dreamers

Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion. Jude 8-10

“in like manner” as the men of Sodom and Gomorrah, these false churchmen are following their own emotional patterns and invisioning a self-indulgent way of life, which God’s Word does not authorize. They have rejected God’s direct authority and His delegated authority, and choose to cater to their own lusts. If anyone points out the sinfulness of their false teaching and behaviors, they blaspheme the Godhead and the angelic host of heaven, saying no one has the right to judge another, because “God is love.” That’s the only attribute of God they care to know. All those histories, prophecies and promises of God that are written in all those books of scripture seem as nothing to these “filthy dreamers,” for they have their own interpretation of God; a God who neither has nor enforces any standards in their theology.

When Moses was denied the privilege of entering the promised land because of his disobedience in the wilderness, God took him up into a mountain to see the land, and Moses died there, alone with God. There has been no bodily evidence of Moses’ death, just the Word of God giving us this account (Deuteronomy 34:6). Now, Jude tells us that apparently the devil wanted to take Moses’ body (why? To erect some kind of monument, or to publicly defile it?) Either way, God did not allow it, and the archangel Michael faced off with Satan, pronouncing God’s rebuke upon him.

“These people” blaspheme spiritual things they don’t understand, and they indulge in instinctive, animal-like behaviors to the point of self-destruction. They make no effort to curb the lusts of the flesh, saying “God made me this way.”

Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. Jude 11

Cain’s way was approbation lust. He wanted God’s approval for his own religion, but rejected God’s grace. Cain spent the rest of his life in exile from God’s people. Balaam’s error was self-delusion based on materialism lust. He thought God would let him get away with pronouncing a curse on Israel because he was being paid to do so. It’s true that some believers will do anything for money, and ask God’s blessing on it. Balaam didn’t receive God’s blessing, but was severely humiliated and eventually died the sin unto death. (Numbers 31).  Korah’s sin was open rebellion against God’s system of authority. He didn’t like Moses’ and Aaron’s positions as God’s delegated authorities, so decided to challenge them for that leadership. God’s instantaneous judgment: Numbers 16:30 “…the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.”

Scofield notes on Cain, Balaam and Korah:

Cain (cf) Genesis 4:1 type of the religious natural man, who believes in a God, and in "religion," but after his own will, and who rejects redemption by blood. Compelled as a teacher of religion to explain atonement, the apostate teacher explains it away.
error of Balaam  the "error" of Balaam must be distinguished from his "way" (See"2 Peter 2:15")and his "doctrine" See" Revelation 2:14 ".
The "error" of Balaam was that, reasoning from natural morality and seeing the evil in Israel, he supposed a righteous God must curse them. He was blind to the higher morality of the Cross, through which God maintains and enforces the authority and awful sanctions of His law, so that He can be just and the justifier of a believing sinner. The "reward" of Jude 1:11 may not be money, but popularity, or applause.
Core See Nu 16. The sin of Korah was denial of the authority of Moses as God's chosen spokesman, and intrusion into the priest's office.

These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. Jude 12-13

These arrogant rebels insidiously “fellowship” with the Church in their celebrations of the Lord’s Supper and the accompanying love feasts. They do so without shame, feeding their own faces gluttonously. They are like the hidden reefs which the sailor cannot see and wrecks his boat as he tries to navigate through them. A lurking hazard. They are like the summer clouds in a time of drought—no water—just empty, tantalizing promises, blown about by winds because they have no doctrinal anchor, no stability of soul. They are nonproductive, like fruitless trees in the fall, when it is too late for bearing. There’s simply nothing there. They are like white-capped waves, churning and foaming, but with no real objective. And there’s that “gloom of utter darkness” again, in which the aimless, disoriented “wandering stars” (fallen angels) are incarcerated. That fate could also await those unbelieving wolves who prey on Jesus’ Church.

Well, the wolves among us are a reality. Jesus warned of them before the Church was born. The apostles were wary of them in the earliest days of the Church. We are seeing that Peter and Jude were particularly concerned for their congregations as the political persecution increased and they faced martyrdom. These days it doesn’t seem as big an issue with the leaders of our modern Church. The infiltration has become so much a part of the local congregations that pastors rarely teach us about what to watch out for from others in the Church. But many pastors are still diligently teaching the Word of God to their people, and it is our responsibility to learn that doctrine and store it in our souls. There is no doubt we need it every day of our lives, to survive in the devil’s world. Praise God for men like Peter, James, Jude, Paul and John who learned all they could and taught all they knew. We have it in writing and we are without excuse.