12 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; 13 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 (ESV)\
Jude used metaphors (direct comparisons) to illustrate the danger of apostates. The Holy Spirit organized Jude’s thoughts into two sets of triads (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21),
First, apostates are “hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear;” Second, Jude compared apostates to “shepherds feeding themselves.” Third, Jude called them “waterless clouds, swept along by winds.” Fourth, Jude also called them “fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted.” Fifth, apostates are “wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame.” Finally, false teachers are “wandering stars.”
In each of Jude’s illustrations, he depicted apostates as untrustworthy and untruthful. What is trustworthy is their ultimate destination and damnation. Jude wrote, “, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.”
Gloom (ζόφος; zophos) refers to darkness, blackness and the gloominess of hell. Utter darkness (σκότους; skotous) is the evil world and the dwelling place of demons or evil spirits. It is this destination and destiny God has reserved (τετήρηται; teteretai) or retained for all apostates.
The Lord Jesus echoed this in His Sermon on the Mount. He made it abundantly clear the destination of false teachers or apostates.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21–23 (ESV)
“Jude is no longer speaking about the wandering stars but is applying the last line of verse 13 to the godless men whom God has consigned to hell. Notice the resemblance of their destiny to that of the fallen angels whom God has placed in dark dungeons. “These [angels] he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day” (v. 6),” explains commentator Simon J. Kistemaker.
“Jude qualifies the term darkness with the word blackest, which also occurs in the parallel passage, “Blackest darkness is reserved for them” (2 Peter 2:17). That is, these wicked men will spend eternity in utter darkness. They exist without hope in absolute oblivion.”
“Of these four metaphors, the last one reveals the ultimate destiny of the false prophets who pretend to be guiding lights but instead are wandering stars. Jude employs the passive voice in the clause “for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.” With the passive he indicates that God himself has placed the godless men, together with the fallen angels (v. 6), in everlasting darkness,” concludes Kistemaker.
“Jude 12–13 speaks of the way these teachers feasted on Jude’s audience — most likely a reference to the unbridled greed that would have motivated their teaching. His comparisons of the teachers to “waterless clouds” and “fruitless trees” demonstrate that despite their claims to the contrary, these men offered nothing of value to the church. Significantly, Jude calls these teachers “twice dead” (v. 12), referring to their eventual, physical death and eternal spiritual death. This death, experienced forever in the “gloom of utter darkness,” is reserved for all who pervert the grace of God (v. 13),” states Dr. R. C. Sproul.
The ultimate destiny of these so-called “lights” is utter darkness. How ironic. Let us resolve to be the salt and light God has called all believers in Christ to be (Matt. 5:13-16). May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 