Interpretation of the Council Epistle of the Holy Apostle Jude

About the Catholic Epistle of the Holy Apostle Jude The writer of the last epistle in the canonical order was Jude “the servant of Jesus Christ, the brother of James” (Jude 1:1). Contrary to the opinion of some Western researchers (shared by our Eminence Michael), this Judas cannot be identified with the apostle from among the 12 - Judas Thaddeus or Lebway (Matthew 10:3), otherwise called Judas of Jacob (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13): The Apostle Judas would rather call himself the son of James, and not brother of Jacob. Therefore, it is much more fundamental to recognize that the writer of the last Council Epistle was Judas, the brother of the Lord in the flesh, the son of Joseph the Betrothed by his first wife and the brother of James, the first bishop of Jerusalem and the writer of the first epistle (cf. Matt. 13:55). According to Clement of Alexandria, Judas, who wrote the Council Epistle, was the brother of the sons of Joseph (the Betrothed); he could indicate his relationship in the flesh with the Lord, but prefers to call himself His servant, pointing only to his relationship with Jacob: he was the brother of Jacob, by the father of Joseph (Ad umbr. Megne. gr. IX: 731). Like other brothers of the Lord, Judas during the earthly life of the Lord did not yet believe in his Divine dignity (John 7:5), but after the resurrection of the Lord, he and his brothers joined the community of the apostles and the first believers in Christ (Acts 1:14) and, occupying a well-known position in the leading church, along with other brothers and together with the apostle, carried out missionary work to spread the Gospel ( 1 Cor.9:5). According to the testimony of the Apostolic decrees, Judas was the successor of his brother James in the bishopric of the Church of Jerusalem (Const. apost. VII, 46). According to the story of Eusebius (C. Ist. III, 19–20), at the end of the reign of Domitian (c. 95 A.D.), two grandsons of Judas, who were engaged in agriculture, were brought, according to the slander of heretics, to Caesar, as the descendants of David and relatives of the Lord, and when the emperor was convinced that they did not pose any danger to his power, he released them and stopped the persecution of the church; those released became heads of the churches, as confessors and together as relatives of the Lord, and, enjoying peace, lived until the reign of Trajan. Other information about the life and death of St. Tradition and church history have not preserved Judas. The authenticity of the message of Ap. Judas is beyond doubt. Although the oldest news about him among church writers is not without some hesitation, as is noticeable in Origen (Comment, in Matt. XXII, 23), in Eusebius, who classifies this message as controversial (C. I. II, 23), and in Blessed. Jerome (De vir. illustr. 4) - this epistle is equally absent in Pescito, however, Clement of Alexandria, according to the testimony of Eusebius (C. I. VI, 14), considered the epistle to be indisputably authentic and wrote an interpretation on it, as well as on other Council Epistles. In Origen, with some hesitation, we also encounter confident evidence in favor of the authenticity of the message: “Judas wrote an epistle consisting of few verses, but filled with strong words of heavenly grace” (Comm. in. Matt. t. X, 17, Migne XIII, 877). Tertullian calls the epistle directly apostolic (De half. mulieh., cap. III). The entire church accepted the epistle into the canon in the 4th century (Evsev T.I. III, 25), although it is still mentioned as a conciliar in the Muratorian canon. The relatively late appearance of the epistle in general church use is explained partly by its special content, determined by the reason for writing, and partly by the fact that many were confused by the alleged use of the writer of the epistle by the apocrypha - “The Book of Enoch” (Jude 1:14-15); “By the ascent of Moses” (Jude 1:9). But such use by a divinely inspired writer of apocrypha, which, along with fictions, also contained true tales preserved by Jewish tradition, is permissible and cannot speak against the canonical message. In general, given the brevity and unpretentiousness of the content of the message, there can be no serious reason to suspect the authenticity of the message. The Epistle was written generally to Christians (Jude 1:1), but mainly to those church communities among which the false teachers denounced by the Apostle appeared (Jude 1:4 et al.). Their false teaching in its nature closely resembles that denounced by the Apostle Peter in his 2nd Epistle. For this reason alone, one should think that the message was sent to the same Asian churches founded by the Apostle Paul, to which the Apostle also addressed his messages. Peter. The indisputable fact of the close similarity, not only in thought, but often also in expression, of the section of 2 Peter 2:1–3:3 with the Epistle of Jude has given rise in bibliological and interpretive literature to numerous attempts to establish the fact of the literary dependence of one epistle on the other, recognizing one as original, and the other as compilative, borrowed. Moreover, in modern times, Western biblical critical scholarship has most often tended to recognize the independence of the Epistle of Jude, and borrowings in the Epistle of 2 Peter. But in reality, both messages are completely independent, and from the Orthodox Church point of view, there can be no talk of a slavish literary dependence of one of these messages on the other. Still, it is more acceptable to think that the Epistle of Jude was written after the Epistle of 2 Peter, as can be seen that Ap.’s own prediction. Peter according to (2 Pet.3:3) about the appearance of “scoffers” is reproduced in Ap. Jude (Jude 1:17–18), precisely as the former saying of the apostles. If the epistle of Jude was written after the epistle of 2 Peter, then it could have appeared no earlier than 66-67, although not long later - undoubtedly, before the destruction of Jerusalem (70), to which event, as a striking manifestation of God's judgment, the Apostle would undoubtedly have pointed out to the readers (along with other phenomena of the Divine judgment cited by him) if he had survived the catastrophe of Jerusalem. The place where the Epistle of Jude was written cannot be determined due to the lack of necessary data. In Russian literature, in addition to the translation of the interpretations of Blessed Theophylact and the interpretation of the Eminence. Michael to the message of St. Jude (“Explanatory Apostle” II), there are two extensive and very detailed scholarly treatises of critical and bibliological content - prof. prot. D. I. Bogdashevsky: one - in the “Theological Encyclopedia” (St. Petersburg, 1906) vol. VII, column. 520–527: "Judas and His Epistle"; the other - in the "Experiments" on the study of the Holy Scriptures. Testament" vol. I (Kyiv 1909), p. 241–269. An exhortation to believers to contend for the faith and to maintain it in purity and holiness against the temptation of false teachers (Jude 1:1-4). Examples of God's judgment (Jude 1:5–8). Archangel Michael and further depiction of false teachers (Jude 1:9–13). The judgment of God coming upon them (Jude 1:14–15). When they see false teachers, readers, according to the apostolic instructions, must themselves stand in faith and love (Jude 1:16–20) and return those carried away by false teachers to faith (Jude 1:21–23). Praise to God the Savior (Jude 1:24–25). Jude 1:1–3. Judas, servant of Jesus Christ, brother of James, to those who are called, who are sanctified by God the Father and preserved by Jesus Christ: May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. Beloved! Having all the zeal to write to you about the common salvation, I considered it necessary to write to you an exhortation - to strive for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. Out of deep humility, St. Judas does not call himself a brother or relative of the Lord in the flesh, but His servant. At the same time, he calls himself the brother of James the Righteous, the first bishop of Jerusalem, who enjoyed high respect in the Church of Christ and even among unbelieving Jews. “In my opinion,” notes the blessed one. Theophylact, - for the real Apostle, it was enough to prove his dignity, after he called himself a servant of Christ, to point out his relationship with Jacob, for everyone praised Jacob for his virtue. This circumstance should have given this Apostle great confidence from the hearers of the word.” The Apostle calls the readers of the epistle “sanctified” (ηγιασμένος) or, according to a more certified (in the code. Sinaisk., Vatican., Paris., Sirsk., Vulg., etc.) reading, “beloved” (ηγαπημένοις), “called” ( κλητοΐς), i.e. the usual apostolic greeting when addressing communities, Christians (cf. James 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:2). “He says that those loved by the Father are preserved by Jesus Christ, which is why he calls them called, since they did not come of their own accord, but were attracted and called by the Father. He wants mercy, peace, and love to increase for them: “mercy” because we are called by God and accepted into His servants through the compassion of mercy; “peace” because God and the Father Himself gave it to us: having reconciled us, who offended Him, to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ; “love” because the Only Begotten Son of God gave Himself to death for us out of love for us. And so, the Apostle prays that the believers may have these gifts in abundance” (Blessed Theophilus). The subject of the Apostle’s care is the general salvation of people in Christ, and the deliberate task of the epistle is an exhortation to strive (επαγωνίζεσθαι) for the faith, that is, with all energy, with all efforts to defend the preservation and integrity of the faith of Christ taught to people once and for all. Such a requirement, obligatory for Christians by the very essence of the teaching they profess (cf. Gal. 1:7; 2 Thess. 2:15), is caused in this case by the great danger to the purity of the faith of Christians from the false teachers who have appeared among them (Jude 1:4). Jude 1:4. For certain people have crept in, destined from ancient times for this condemnation, the wicked, turning the grace of our God into an excuse for debauchery and denying the only Master God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Without yet giving a detailed description of the false teachers, the Apostle shows the severity and fatality of their errors by the fact that their condemnation (κρίμα) was ordained and predicted from ancient times by the divinely inspired bearers of revelation. Then, beginning to outline the mental and moral appearance of the false teachers, the Apostle calls them wicked, ασεβείς, atheists and, revealing this concept, characterizes the false teachers from both essential sides: from the moral and practical side: “they turn the grace of our God into an occasion for debauchery,” and from the side of theoretical beliefs: “they reject the only Master God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” . This is a general definition of the nature of the false teaching of the heresy leaders that have appeared, closely reminiscent of the image of the false teachers in the 2nd Epistle of Apostle Peter (2 Pet. 2: 1–2 et seq.). From the description of the heresy of Simon the Magus and other heresy leaders by Eusebius (C. I. II, 13 ff.), as well as from the direct testimony of St. Athanasius the Great and Blessed. Theophylact clearly follows that the false teachers who appeared taught that sin is indifferent and rejected Christ (Synopsis). They considered Christ nothing more than one of the eons, and from the Christian teaching about grace they deduced the permissibility of debauchery for the purpose of weakening the flesh (cf. Rom. 6:1). Jude 1:5–8. I want to remind you, who already know this, that the Lord, having delivered the people from the land of Egypt, then destroyed those who did not believe, and the angels who did not preserve their dignity, but left their home, are kept in eternal bonds, under darkness, for the judgment of the great day. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, like them, committed fornication and went after other flesh, being subjected to the punishment of eternal fire, were set as an example - so it will be exactly with these dreamers who defile the flesh, reject the principalities and slander the high authorities. Refuting this theoretical and moral-practical lie of the newly-minted teachers, their dualistic separation of the two testaments and their moral antinomianism, the Apostle shows that Christ the Son of God acted as an almighty righteous Judge in the Old Testament, and for this purpose he cites three examples from the Bible of the terrible judgment of God over violators of the eternal law of God in their essence. The first striking example of God's judgment, especially impressive for Jewish Christians, is the condemnation to death in the Arabian desert of the people of Israel, who had just been saved by God from slavery in Egypt, but then condemned to death for unbelief (Num. 14:11,22-35; Deut. 1:32; 1 Cor. 10:5). “Although God, by His superior power and by an oath to their fathers, freed them from Egyptian slavery, however, when they transgressed the law, He did not leave them without punishment, but gave them due retribution... and those who crossed the Red Sea on dry land subsequently died for apostasy from the faith” (Blessed Theophilus). From this formidable example, readers of the epistle and Christians in general should be convinced that the grace given to them not only does not exempt them from the obligation to live holyly and strive in faith and piety, as the false teachers asserted, but, on the contrary, it certainly requires these virtues from them, otherwise (Jude 1:6), from the life of the world of Angels, precisely from the fact of the fall of a certain part of the angelic world (cf. 2 Pet. 2:4): angels the fallen, “who, having received the honor of angelic dignity, through negligence did not remain in their original state, but rejected the heavenly way of life given to them by grace” (Blessed Theophilus), God preserves in eternal bonds, under darkness, for the judgment of the great day. The sin of the angels was that they did not preserve their dignity (αρχήν), - they did not remain faithful to the purpose that was determined for them by God at their creation, - and left their dwelling (οίκητήριον) - heaven, - the highest luminous region of the world. Contrary to the opinion of many Western commentators, it is hardly in the manner of expression of Art. 6 one can see an indication of the teaching about the fall of angels through their union with the daughters of men (cf. Gen. 6:2 according to LXX), which is found in the book of Enoch and other Jewish apocrypha. The third example of Divine judgment over the wicked, similar to the false teachers in question, is the judgment over the inhabitants of Sodom, Gomorrah and their neighboring cities (Jude 1:7, see 2 Pet. 2:6; Gen. 19:24-25; Deut. 29:23). With the examples given, the Apostle “shows that the author of the Old and New Testaments is one and the same God, and not, as these vile ones say, that another God, wrathful and cruel, gave the Old Law, and another God, non-wrathful and loving of mankind, gave the New Testament... Having presented the examples just mentioned, the Apostle left it to the listener to imply their consequences. Which one? Such behavior: if God did this to these people, without looking at their previous good lot, then will the present wicked be delivered by the fact that the Son of God came into the world for people, endured reproach for them and suffered suffering? Nobody can say it. For, although He loves mankind, He is also truly righteous, and in true justice He did not spare those who sinned, but out of His love for mankind He brought fornicators and tax collectors into the kingdom (Matthew 21:31). This is the consequence, but the Apostle omitted it” (Blessed Theophilus). Jude 1:8 continues the characterization of false teachers begun in Jude 1:4. Here, in addition to desecration of the flesh (cf. 2 Peter 2:10), these “dreamers” are also attributed sin: “dominions... are swept away, but glories are blasphemed” (κυριότητα δέ αθετοϋσι, δόξας δέ βλασφημοΰσι. Under these “dominions and glories” most new interpreters rightly see angels of two different orders (cf. Eph.1:21; Col.1:16). It is possible that the false teachers, rejecting the law given through the mediation of angels (Acts 7:53; Gal.3:19; Heb.2:2), also blasphemed the angels through whom. it was received by Moses, in contrast to the Colossian “philosophers” who considered the Old Testament law obligatory and contained a cult of serving the angels (Col. 2:18) (Prof. Archpriest D.I. Bogdashevsky, pp. 261–262). Jude 1:9–13. Michael the Archangel, when he spoke with the devil, arguing about the body of Moses, did not dare to pronounce a reproachful judgment, but said: “May the Lord rebuke you.” But these slander what they do not know; Whatever they know by nature, like dumb animals, they corrupt themselves. Woe to them, because they follow the path of Cain, indulge in the deceitfulness of reward, like Balaam, and perish in stubbornness, like Korah. Such are temptations at your love suppers; feasting with you, they fatten themselves without fear. These are waterless clouds carried by the wind; autumn trees, barren, twice dead, uprooted; fierce sea waves, foaming with their shame; wandering stars, who are reserved for the darkness of darkness forever. If the Apostle Peter says (2 Pet. 2:10-11) about angels in general that, despite all their superiority over people, they do not dare to pronounce a reproachful judgment on the authorities and superiors, then Apostle. Judas also asserts this, more particularly, about one Archangel Michael (cf. Dan 12:1), while pointing to only one specific case - the Archangel’s dispute with the devil about the body of Moses, when the Archangel showed meekness worthy of people’s imitation (cf. Zech. 3:1-4). The legend about the dispute between Archangel Michael and the devil about the body of Moses (and, according to the legend, the devil tried to prove his power over the body of Moses for killing an Egyptian), according to the testimony of Clement of Alexandria, Origen, St. Athanasius the Great, was in the apocryphal book “The Ascension” or “The Ascension of Moses” (A νάβασις or A νάληψς Μωυσέως). But in general, the tradition of the extraordinary death and burial of the great leader and legislator of Israel was widespread in Jewish tradition, both oral and written (midrashi). Therefore, one might think that Ap. Judas took the above tale from oral tradition. He brings it forward for the purpose of, on the contrary, better showing the audacity of false teachers in their views and judgments. Further, from Art. 11 (Jude 1:11), false teachers are portrayed mainly from the practical side. In Art. 11 The Apostle compares them with the world's first murderer, Cain (Gen. 4:8), because they, teaching wicked teachings to brothers, i.e., homogeneous people, kill them with their evil teachings; with Balaam (Num.22:5,31:16; 2Pet.2:15; Rev.2:14), because they do their teaching for self-interest, love of money and generally personal gain; with Korah (Num. 16:1) - because, like him, being unworthy, they stole teaching dignity for themselves (Blessed Theophilus). In Jude 1:12, the Apostle first of all speaks of the unworthy behavior of false teachers at the sacred early Christian love suppers, agapas (έν ταίς αγάπαις), arranged by Christians of the primal Church in connection with the sacrament of the Eucharist (cf. 1 Cor. 11:21–22). The false teachers apparently treated these sacred meals reprehensibly, indulging in gluttony and drunkenness without any fear (cf. 2 Pet. 2:21, see 1 Cor. 11:21), and generally committed outrages and desecrated meals sacred to Christians. In the second half of Art. 12 (Jude 1:12) and in vv. 13 ( Jude 1:13 ) The Apostle uses a number of comparisons to characterize false teachers: “these are waterless clouds, carried by the wind, autumn trees, barren, twice dead, plucked up; fierce sea waves, foaming with their shame, wandering stars, with which the darkness of darkness is guarded forever.” The first image, “waterless clouds,” means the inner spiritual emptiness of false teachers, incapable of any good deed; just as people would in vain expect life-giving moisture from waterless clouds driven by the wind, so the inflated idle talk of false teachers without power and grace is useless (cf. 2 Pet. 1:17). The second image (“autumn trees, barren, twice dead”) indicates the spiritual death of false teachers. They are like barren trees in autumn, the fruit of which has rotted and decayed by autumn - and precisely trees that have died twice, such dry trees that, frozen in winter, are deprived of every germ of life, and in the spring they will no longer come to life and will not bear either flowers or fruits, and therefore are subject to complete destruction (cf. John 15:6). Further images express the moral shamefulness of the behavior of false teachers. They are likened to the fierce waves of the sea because their restless heart is fiercely agitated by all sorts of sensual lusts and, like the waves of a troubled sea, throws all moral impurity to the surface of life, the consequence of which may be for some “shipwreck in faith” (1 Tim. 1:19). As people without any moral stability and orderliness, false teachers are finally compared to wandering stars (αστέρες πλανηται). “Heretics are similar to them, not in that they show off in the firmament of our faith, and through them passes the Sun of Truth, Christ, leading virtues to maturity and reviving the faithful devoted to them, but in the fact that, appearing to have taken on the form of an Angel of light, as the chief of their evil demon (2 Cor. 11:13-14), they rush only against the teachings of the Lord, and thus those who approach them they darken and prepare eternal darkness for themselves” (Blessed Theophilus). Jude 1:14–15. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them, saying: “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of His holy angels to execute judgment on all and to convict all the wicked among them of all the deeds that their wickedness has done, and of all the cruel words that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” The Apostle now confirms the brief condemnation of false teachers to eternal destruction expressed in Jude 1:4 with a prophecy about the judgment of God over the wicked, expressed by the antediluvian (seventh) Patriarch Enoch. The Bible does not preserve the prophecies of Enoch, but only a brief mention of his righteous life and sudden death (Gen. 5:21–24). But in the tradition of the Old Testament church, this prophetic saying of Enoch was preserved and found its echo, and perhaps its exact expression in the apocryphal Jewish book “The Book of Enoch.” This book, long known only from fragments among church writers, has survived to this day in an Ethiopian translation and was in use among Abyssinian Christians. In 1853, it appeared in a complete German translation with explanations by A. Dillmann (Leipzig), and in 1888 - in a Russian translation with explanations by Prof. O. A. V. Smirnova (Kazan). In one of the Angel’s speeches to Enoch (1:9) during the vision, when the future judgment was revealed to him, they find those words that are given in the message of the Ap. Judah and who, perhaps, had a close relationship with the wicked Cainites (cf. Jude 1:11; see Gen. 4). According to the testimony of Blessed Jerome (Catal. sar. IV), it was the borrowing of one piece of evidence from the apocryphal book of Enoch that served as the basis for doubting the canonical dignity of the epistle of St. Judas. But, regardless of the possibility of the Apostle borrowing the prophecy of Enoch directly from oral tradition, the very reference to an apocryphal work does not in the least harm the truth and dignity of the message (cf. 2 Tim. 3:8; Titus 1:12, etc.). This prophecy is completely consistent with the biblical idea of ​​the world court of God (cf. Dan.7:10; Matt.24:31,25:31; 2 Sol. 1:10, etc.). Jude 1:16. These are murmurers, not satisfied with anything, walking according to their own lusts (ungodly and lawless); their lips utter inflated words; they show partiality for self-interest. In Art. 16 The Apostle, “having abandoned the likening of the wicked, immediately begins to reprove them, calling them “murmurers,” “reproaches.” A murmurer is one who, through clenched teeth and hesitantly, reproaches what is unpleasant to him, and a reproacher is one who always laughs at everyone. These vile ones are murmurers and reproaches. They are murmurers; for they do not dare to openly use their teaching, due to its vileness, since it is not safe to make public their wickedness, combined with debauchery and blasphemy. They are reproaches because they slander everything that is foreign and the truth itself, in order to more firmly establish their own evil and depravity. What was said above, that the heretics, like Balaam, were carried away by bribes, is now explained in words: they are surprised at faces for the benefit. To be surprised means to treat your superiors flatteringly, but he called self-interest “profit” (Blessed Theophilus). Jude 1:17–19. But you, beloved, remember what was predicted by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They told you that in the last time there would appear scoffers, walking after their own ungodly lusts. These are people who separate themselves (from the unity of faith), who are spiritual, who have no spirit. Reinforcing what was said above about the great danger for Christian society from false teachers, the Apostle now reminds ( Jude 1:17-18 ) readers of similar warnings and predictions of the Apostles - Peter ( 2 Pet. 2: 10, 3: 2-3 ) and Paul ( 1 Tim. 4: 1 ; 2 Tim. 3: 1-5 ) about the recent appearance of “scoffers” walking in to your ungodly lusts. Concluding his description of the wicked, the Apostle calls them (Jude 1:19) people “separating themselves (from the unity of the faith), spiritual, not having the spirit.” “They, he says, not only perish themselves, but also kidnap the children of the Church (this means “separating”), that is, they take them beyond the boundaries of the church, the boundaries of faith, or even the church fence itself. For they showed their meetings as caves of robbers, and they drove others away from the Church and brought them to themselves. They do this because they are spiritual people, that is, they live according to the decency of the world. Wed. 1 Corinthians 2:14–15; James 3:15 "(Blessed Theophilus). Jude 1:20–21. And you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting mercy from our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. Having protected the readers of the epistle from danger from false teachers, the Apostle turns the readers’ thoughts to the positive side of the Christian calling, as the grace-filled power of believers creating churches of the Holy One within themselves. On a solid foundation - Christ (Eph. 2:20; 1 Cor. 3:11), the spiritual church in every Christian must be built by holy faith, prayer by the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom. 8:26-27), the love of God and living hope in the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ and eternal life. Jude 1:22–23. And be merciful to some, with consideration, and save others with fear, tearing them out of the fire; reprove them with fear, abhorring even clothing that is defiled by the flesh. After pastoral instructions to all believers (Jude 1:20-21), the Apostle in his last instructions remembers those who, to a greater or lesser extent, succumbed to the deception of false teachers. At the same time, according to the unequal degree of fall of the deceived, the Apostle shows the readers unequal ways of influencing them. Reading Art. 22–23 is very controversial. Adhering to the authoritative Code of Sinaiticus, they should be conveyed as follows: “and have mercy on some - those who doubt, and save others, pulling them out of the fire; those whom the infection from false teachers has already significantly affected, save them with your Christian love - save them quickly, as if from fire, while there is an opportunity; be merciful to the stubborn ones themselves, but “with fear” - beware, lest in this mercy you yourself be exposed to moral corruption or the danger of moral infection (Prof. Archpriest D.I. Bogdashevsky, p. 259). This caution should extend to the point that the believer should avoid even touching the clothes of false teachers, as a symbol of sinful infection. Jude 1:24–25. To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you blameless before His glory with joy, to the only Wise God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory and majesty, power and authority, before all ages, now and to all ages. Amen. The Epistle ends with a majestic apostolic doxology to God the Father through our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. This doxology closely resembles the doxology of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans (Rom. 14:24–26). You might be interested in: