The letter of Jude also mentions Cain, who killed his brother Abel. Pictured here in the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum.
Joel Kontinen
What did the New Testament writers teach about the age of mankind? The letter of Jude includes a fascinating verse that says, ” Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: ’See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones’ ”.
The genealogy in Genesis chapter 5 mentions Enoch who belonged to the seventh generation, counting from Adam. Those who believe that God used evolution or that there are gaps in the genealogy cannot find support for their views in the New Testament.
Not all scholars believe that Jude was the brother of James as he says in the opening verse of his letter since he used Jewish apocalyptic literature as sources. However, this does not make him unreliable. Even Paul used the writings of Greek poets as sources on two occasions (Acts 17: 28; Titus 1:12).
Jude and James were Jesus’ earthly brothers. Before the crucifixion and resurrection they did not believe that Jesus was God but already in the first chapter of Acts they were part of the group of disciples who met at Jerusalem to receive the power Jesus had promised them.
In addition to Enoch , the letter of Jude also mentions Cain, who killed his brother Abel.
Jesus and the writers of the New Testament believed that Genesis was history and that the characters mentioned in the first eleven chapters of the book were real people.
Jesus taught: ” at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female”(Mark 10:6). He regarded Abel, who belonged to the second generation, as a historical person (Luke 11:51) and the flood of Noah’s days as a real event (Matthew 24:37).
Paul wrote that sin came into the world through the trespass of one man – Adam (Romans 5:12-14). Sin brought death and suffering into the world but Jesus Christ overcame death on the cross.
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