I am a just-the-facts person. When I read, I usually pass right over all the fluff (yes, that’s how I think—or used to think—of illustrations) to get to the important stuff, like the actual points being made, which I hope the author will summarize for me once she’s finished telling all the stories I’m skimming. Can you see why using illustrations doesn’t come naturally to me?

Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. [6] And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—[7] just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 5-7 ESV)

An editor once read something I’d written and told me I needed to use more illustrations. I needed to add stories or examples from real life, books, or movies because “they draw readers in,” she said, “and connect with them.” An illustration makes an author’s points more vivid. An illustration draws a picture that can help make an argument—and help make the argument stick.

I am a just-the-facts person. When I read, I usually pass right over all the fluff (yes, that’s how I think—or used to think—of illustrations) to get to the important stuff, like the actual points being made, which I hope the author will summarize for me once she’s finished telling all the stories I’m skimming. Can you see why using illustrations doesn’t come naturally to me?

But the biblical author Jude was a better writer than I am. No editor had to encourage him to use illustrations. As we shall see, he wasn’t afraid to use one (or three) to make a point.

A few weeks ago I discussed verses 3 and 4 of the book of Jude in a post. I was solidifying what I learned from a Bible study I’m participating in. In those two verses, Jude urged the believers in the church he was addressing to strongly defend the Christian faith against the false teachings and immoral conduct of “certain people”—imposters, actually—who had infiltrated this church and were influencing others, drawing them away from the true faith.

This past week, my little Bible study group moved on to Jude 5-7.¹ In these verses, Jude used three illustrations to make his point. He drew his readers (or listeners) in by drawing their attention to three stories from the Old Testament. He didn’t need recount the details of each story. No, a few words summarizing each one was enough because his original readers already knew them by heart.

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