‘And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have wrought in an ungodly way, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.'
Jude now cites a passage from 1 Enoch which appears to him very apt, while interpreting it to suit his purpose. ‘The seventh from Adam' is the way that Enoch is described in the book (1 Enoch 60:8). The fact that Enoch is said to ‘prophesy' need only indicate that he sees that these particular words are to be seen as reliable, for elsewhere we learn that God can bring such true prophecy from strange sources. Compare John 11:51 where the High Priest was hardly to be seen as a normal inspired source. It was simply some particular words that were seen as ‘inspired'. Jude was also very familiar with Christian prophets whose words had to be judged for their truth and accuracy (1 Corinthians 14:29). They were not treated as having the accuracy of Scripture, but could be cited if they were true and relevant. So there are no grounds for suggesting that he necessarily saw 1 Enoch as Scripture. He just recognised the particular excerpt as ‘inspired'.
The quotation describes the Lord's coming, along with the heavenly hosts, in order to execute judgment on all, and especially the ungodly. The quotation must have seemed very apt to him because of its emphasis on ungodliness in the light of judgment. And he knew that it accorded with words of Jesus (Matthew 16:27; Matthew 24:30-31; Matthew 25:31). Note that ungodliness is continually stressed by Enoch. ‘To convict all the ungodly of their works of ungodliness, which they have wrought in an ungodly way, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoke against Him.' In Jude's eyes this aptly fitted these ungodly persons. All that they did, even any good works that they performed, were in the end ungodly, because of their motives and attitudes.
‘To execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly ---.' He has come to pass sentence on the ungodly as the One Who has been appointed as the Judge of all men (John 5:22; John 5:27; Matthew 13:41-43; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 14:14-20; Revelation 20:11-15). For ‘all their works of ungodliness' compare Revelation 20:12-13.
And so these ungodly people will finally get their deserts, and will be forced to admit that they had been in the wrong. Note the irony of the fact that The One Whom they had diminished, and the angels against whom they had railed, will be the final arbiters of their judgment.