The book of Jude is one of the shortest books in the Bible with only one chapter containing twenty-five verses. And let me tell you, there is a LOT packed into those few verses. Throughout the book, Jude urges followers of Jesus to stand firm in the truth and to beware of apostasy. Apostasy means to know the truth but to reject or abandon the truth. As we know, Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). So when someone is an apostate, it means that they knew God/Jesus but then rejected or abandoned their faith.

One verse in Jude refers to several Old Testament men as examples of apostates:

Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.  Jude 11

The Way of Cain

You can read the full story in Genesis 4.

Cain was the first son of Adam and Eve. He worked as a farmer, while his younger brother Abel was a shepherd. One day, they both offered some of their produce to God as a sign of worship. God accepted Abel's offering of the best of his flock, but rejected Cain's offering of some of his crops. Cain became angry and jealous of his brother.

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why is your face gloomy? If you do well, will your face not be cheerful? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”  Genesis 4:6-7

Cain did not master it. He talked with Abel and ended up killing him in the field. God confronted Cain and asked him where Abel was. 

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Then He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground. Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth.”  Genesis 4:9-12

According to the Bible, Cain had conversed directly with God. Cain knew the truth of God, the Creator of everything, yet chose to rebel against Him. 

Cain is mentioned a couple of times in the New Testament where he’s contrasted with his brother Abel. These verses show that Abel was deemed righteous by his faith whereas Cain’s deeds were evil and he was “of the evil one.”

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he was attested to be righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.  Hebrews 11:4

…not as Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And for what reason did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.  1 John 3:12

The Error of Balaam 

Read the full story in Numbers 22-24.

During the time after God had freed the Israelites from Egypt, as they were traveling toward the Promised Land, God allowed them to defeat any enemies that came against them. Balak, the king of Moab, was afraid of the Israelites so he sent messengers to hire Balaam, a pagan prophet, to curse them. 

Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent word to me: ‘Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt, and they cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”  Numbers 22:9-12

Balak sent messengers again, this time offering Balaam great riches if he would come and curse the Israelites. Balaam initially refused but again God spoke to him.

And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise and go with them; but you shall do only the thing that I tell you.”  Number 22:20

Along the way, God caused Balaam’s donkey to speak to him to warn of the Angel of the Lord blocking the path. God opened Balaam’s eyes to see the angel. 

So Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. Now then, if it is displeasing to you, I will turn back.” But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you shall speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went along with the representatives of Balak.  Numbers 22:34-35

However, God intervened and prevented Balaam from cursing His chosen people. 

Now God met with Balaam…  Numbers 23:4a

Then the LORD put a word in Balaam’s mouth… Numbers 23:5a

Then the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth… Numbers 23:16a

And Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him.  Numbers 24:2

God gave Balaam words of blessing and prophecies of Israel’s victories instead of curses. So it seemed that Balaam was obeying God. Balaam is mentioned again in Numbers 31:

So they made war against Midian, just as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male. They killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of those killed: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.  Numbers 31:7-8

But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. And Moses said to them, “Have you spared all the women? Behold, they caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to be unfaithful to the LORD.  Numbers 31:14-16a

When speaking to one of the churches in the book of Revelation, Jesus provided a few more details on the evil counsel of Balaam:

But I have a few things against you, because you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality.  Revelation 2:14

God had conversed with Balaam, caused his donkey to speak with him, and sent an angel to warn him. God even met with Balaam, put a word in his mouth, and put the Spirit of God upon him at one point. Balaam knew and had experienced the truth of God, yet it seems that Balaam did not continue in following God and even caused some of the Israelites to be unfaithful as well.

…abandoning the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the reward of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own offense, for a mute donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the insanity of the prophet.  2 Peter 2:15-16

The Rebellion of Korah

Read the full story in Numbers 16.

The rebellion of Korah also occurred during the time when the Israelites were in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. At this point, the people would have witnessed the truth of Almighty God when He caused the ten plagues in Egypt and freed them from slavery (Exodus 7-12), parted the Red Sea (Exodus 14), sent manna from heaven (Exodus 16), provided water from a rock (Exodus 17:1-7), defeated their enemies (Exodus 17:8-15), and appeared to the multitude on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19). They had also already witnessed apostasy when some of the Israelites had turned away from God to worship a golden calf (Exodus 32) and when they did not have faith that God would bring them into the Promised Land (Numbers 14). Korah was alive at this time and, while the Bible doesn’t record any direct interaction between God and Korah, we can assume that he knew the truth of God based on the previous events listed above.

Korah was a Levite from the same tribe as Moses and Aaron. God had declared that the tribe of Levi belonged especially to Him (Numbers 3:12,45, 8:14) and had charged the Levites with serving the priests (only Aaron and his line) and working in the tabernacle (Numbers 8:19). Korah was jealous of Aaron's appointment as the line of priests and challenged his authority. Along with two other men, Dathan and Abiram, Korah gathered 250 men who also wanted to be priests and then confronted Moses and Aaron. 

They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”  Numbers 16:3

Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: Is it too small an honor for you that the God of Israel has singled you out from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; and that He has brought you near, Korah, and all your brothers, sons of Levi, with you? But are you seeking the priesthood as well? Therefore you and your whole group are the ones gathered together against the LORD; but as for Aaron, who is he, that you grumble against him?”  Numbers 16:8-11

Moses proposed a test: each man would offer incense to God and God would choose who He wanted as priests. The next day, Korah and his followers came to the tabernacle with their incense pans. 

So they took, each one his own censer, and put fire on it, and placed incense on it; and they stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. So Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.  Numbers 16:18-19

God spoke to Moses and Aaron, commanding them to tell the people to get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.  

And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, and all the people who belonged to Korah with all their possessions. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. Then all Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth might swallow us!” Fire also came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.  Numbers 16:32-35

God then instructed Moses to collect the incense pans and make them into plates for the altar, as a reminder that only Aaron and his descendants could serve as priests. 

God had separated the Levites, including Korah, as special to Him and had given them an important role serving in the tabernacle. But Korah was not satisfied and wanted something that God had not appointed for him. Korah knew the truth of God and then had rebelled against God’s ways. The name of Korah is mentioned several chapters later in Numbers 26:

The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were called by the congregation, who fought against Moses and against Aaron in the group of Korah, when they fought against the LORD, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korah, when that group died, when the fire devoured 250 men, so that they became a warning sign. The sons of Korah, however, did not die.  Numbers 26:9-11

Korah is remembered for fighting against God. But God had been merciful and had allowed the sons of Korah to live. The sons of Korah are mentioned throughout 1 and 2 Chronicles with regards to their ministering in the tabernacle and then the temple. The sons of Korah are also credited with writing eleven psalms in the Bible (Psalms 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 84, 85, 87, 88).

Woe to Them

It’s interesting that the word woe is used 47 times in the New Testament. In the Gospels, the word woe appears 31 times, always spoken by Jesus. Paul used it once in 1 Corinthians 9:16 in reference to himself if he did not preach the gospel. Woe also appears 14 times in the book of Revelation. And then we have the one occasion in Jude:

Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.  Jude 11

Cain, Balaam, and Korah—these three men knew who God was and had witnessed His power in various ways during their lives, and yet they turned away from the truth. Woe to them, indeed!

We also know the truth. We know that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. It is only through Jesus we can receive the free gift from God, eternal life. According to Jude 24, Jesus is the One able to protect us from stumbling allowing us to stand in the presence of His glory!

Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen.  Jude 24-25

Related resources

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Podcast episode 66 - Part 7 Walking Through the Bible: Numbers

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