Study in the Epistle of Jude # 41: Verse 9

by Chris McCann

EBible Fellowship (http://www.ebiblefellowship.com)

Welcome to the Electronic Bible Fellowship’s Bible study. We are looking at the book of Jude. We have come to verse 9 of this one-chapter Epistle, where we read:

Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

This is a very unusual verse because Michael is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It is also very unusual because in this verse we see contention between God and the devil.

The fact that there is contention in and of itself is not unusual because we know that Satan has set himself up as the adversary of God and of all things that are good and just. Satan is constantly disputing with the saints of God and with the true Gospel. Every situation that exists in this world between the believers and the unbelievers is a matter of dispute between the Lord Jesus and Satan. This battle, this dispute, is being played out in all the world as the believers carry forth the true Gospel. Those who are a part of the Kingdom of Christ are doing the will of the Lord Jesus, and those who are a part of the kingdom of darkness and are still in the dungeon of their sins are ignorantly doing the will of Satan. Therefore, the dispute continues.

The unusual thing that we find in Jude 9 is that God is giving us a picture, a glimpse, of a situation in which Satan and Christ have come together and there is a dispute. Satan is actually coming to God Himself, because Michael is a reference to Jesus. We can see the great arrogance of Satan, the devil, as he dares to dispute with God about the body of Moses. In actuality, he is saying that God did not do something properly. Satan’s contention is that God did not do something that was just when it came to the body of Moses. He is disputing with God over what he believes to be some injustice done and some error made. Satan is arguing and trying to show that God is guilty of some type of sinful action and that God has done something that is not in agreement with His own Gospel plan.

We will look later at exactly what this dispute could be. First, though, we want to see how the archangel Michael is actually Christ, as I have already indicated. We do not want to make this statement, however, without being able to turn to Scripture and prove from the Bible that Michael is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If we go back to the Old Testament book of Daniel, we find Michael mentioned a few times in chapter 10. In Daniel 10:13, we read:

But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Here we find Michael in view, and He is called “one of the chief princes.” Some people look at this and say, “Michael cannot be Christ because Christ is not one of the chief princes. He is the chief prince, as Isaiah 9 says.”

In Isaiah 9, God spoke of the glorious appearing of the coming Messiah. It says in verse 6:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Christ the Messiah would be the Prince of Peace. Also, in Revelation 1:5, we read:

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth…

“Jesus is the prince,” some say, “but Michael is one of the chief princes. Therefore, Michael cannot be Christ. Michael must be some angel that God has elevated to a high position of authority along with some other angels. Perhaps Gabriel or some other angels fall into this category of ruling angels who are over the other legions of angels that remain faithful.” Unfortunately, this conclusion will not fit or harmonize with the rest of the Bible.

First of all, the name Michael itself means “who is like God.” We see this when we look at the Hebrew words that make up the name Michael. We have Biblical justification for looking at a word in this manner because oftentimes God gives a name to an individual that has special meaning and that points to some spiritual truth. Here, we can see how this name relates to the Lord Jesus Christ who was made in the likeness of man, yet was eternal God Himself.

Michael, who is like God, is one of the chief princes, just as Jesus is the prince of the kings of the earth. This actually proves that Michael could not be an angel, an angelic being, because angels are not like God. They are not even like men. Men were made in the image of God. You could say that a man is like God in the sense that he was created in God’s image. However, angels were not created in the image of God. We have some evidence, therefore—which is not yet conclusive—that Michael’s name and the fact that He is one of the chief princes points to the fact that He is Christ.

Why, though, is the word “princes” plural? How can there be more than one chief prince if Michael is Christ Himself? Who are the other chief princes?

We find that answer when we realize that God reveals Himself as one God, one King of kings and one Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16), yet as three persons. There is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. There is therefore one God, but three persons of the Godhead, each one being a chief prince. God the Son is not inferior to God the Father. God the Holy Spirit is not inferior to God the Father or to God the Son. Each one of the persons of the Godhead is eternal God; they are One. There are not three Gods, but one God (1 John 5:7).

God picks up on the truth that there are three persons of the Godhead when He speaks of “princes” in the plural. Michael is one of the three persons, one of the chief princes, of the Godhead. He is the One who comes to help the believers, as we read in Daniel 10:13. Michael is also mentioned in verse 21 of Daniel 10, which says:

But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.

Again, Michael is the prince. Then a third time we find Michael in the book of Daniel. In Daniel 12:1, it says:

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people…

Here we see that Michael is a great prince. Can we not see how this language applies to Jesus Christ who is the Prince of Peace? He is the prince of the kings of the earth. He is the prince over each one of His elect whom He came to save, and He stands for the children of the people. It was Christ who took upon Himself the sins of His people. It was Christ who paid the penalty for their sins, and in so doing, stood before God to experience God’s wrath in their place. He stood for the children of God’s people. Therefore, Michael qualifies in this language as being Jesus Christ.

This language cannot apply to an angel, even to a chief angel of some kind, or an arch messenger or archangel as Michael is referred to in Jude. This language does not fit the characteristics that we learn in the Bible that apply to angels. Angels do not stand for the children of God. As we learn in Hebrew 1:14, they are ministering spirits. They can minister somehow mysteriously to the saints as God bids them to do so. However, they are not fighting the king of Persia, who in Daniel 10 is typifying Satan. They are not standing for the children of the people. An angel cannot take the sins of any of the elect and pay the penalty for those sins. Therefore, Michael, who is like God, is Jesus Christ.

In Revelation 12, we find another reference to Michael. In this chapter, we see a woman who gives birth to a man child. The woman represents the body of believers, and the man child is the Lord Jesus. He is brought forth out of the nation of Israel; therefore, the believers have delivered the Messiah. This is the picture that Revelation 12 is painting. Verses 5-6 say:

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Then in verses 7-9, we find that Michael is mentioned. We read there:

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Here we find an amazing account as God is opening up Heaven to our eyes and letting us see what took place. There was a time when Satan could enter into Heaven. This was after the fall of man, after man had sinned (Genesis 3). Satan, of course, had likewise sinned against God, yet he was still permitted by God to enter into Heaven.

We can see this from the book of Job in the Old Testament. There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came before the Lord and brought an accusation. Satan came to speak evil and badly of God’s servant, Job. We can read about this in the first two chapters of Job.

Satan entered into Heaven and had access into Heaven only because God permitted it—up until a certain point. When would Satan no longer have access into Heaven? We read in Revelation 12 that there would come a time when Satan would be cast out into the earth. At that point, he would never again be permitted to return to Heaven and to come before God, as he was able to do before. This takes place when there is war in Heaven and Michael is fighting against the dragon, which is another name for Satan or the devil. The dragon does not prevail against Michael, but Michael is the victor; He is victorious over the dragon. We read in this account in Revelation that there will be no place found any longer in Heaven for the dragon, and that the great dragon will be cast out.

What angel, what heavenly creature, what angelic being in Heaven has the type of power to fight with Satan himself and cast him out of Heaven? There is no angelic being who could do that. However, Jesus Christ could. When Jesus Christ—the One who is as God, the One who is God Himself—went to the Cross, He won the great victory. He was victorious over sin and over Satan.

Satan, as we read in Revelation 20, was bound at the Cross. He was dealt a terrible defeat. He was bound to where he could not prevent the outpouring of the Gospel and God’s plan of evangelizing the world. Satan could not stop God from plundering his house and from saving great multitudes from all the nations of the world. He could not stop the Gospel from being carried into the world by God’s people who were ministering the Gospel from the church.

At that time, Satan also suffered another blow as he was cast out of Heaven. The picture is that he was cast out of Heaven and cast down into Hell; he was bound in the bottomless pit. He became a captive in a sense, even though he was still active during the New Testament Church Age. During the New Testament Church Age, he was still going about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8); however, his ability to frustrate God’s salvation plan was greatly hindered.

We see this as we look at the Old Testament to determine how often we can read of individuals becoming saved, and we find that it is not very often at all. There are a few rare exceptions, such as when Jonah entered Nineveh and it seems that many became saved. In a few other places, we read of saved individuals. For the most part, though, mankind was held tight in Satan’s grip, and he was not letting go until Christ went to the Cross.

However, after Jesus was resurrected and His Apostle’s were bringing the Gospel in Jerusalem, Peter preached one sermon and three thousand became saved. Why was that? It was because Satan was bound and cast out of Heaven and cast down to Hell, figuratively speaking. Hell was not yet created, but Satan was placed in the bottomless pit where a seal, in a sense, was placed upon him. He would not be loosed for a thousand years, which is again figurative language pointing to the completeness of the New Testament Age. The great dragon was cast out, and he was cast out into the earth.

Michael is the One who fought this battle and who won the victory. Michael, without any question, is Jesus Christ. There is no doubt about it, absolutely no doubt. That is why we constantly see Michael in warfare with Satan. In Daniel 10 where we see Michael, Satan is represented by the prince of Persia. In Revelation 12, we see Satan battling Michael. In Jude 9, Satan is disputing with Michael about the body of Moses. This is warfare. This is Christ, the King of the Kingdom of Light, versus Satan, the king of the kingdom of darkness.

We find in Jude 9 that the two kings have come together, and there is a dispute about the body of Moses. Satan is not someone who is afraid to turn to Scripture. He is not someone who shudders at the very mention of the Word of God. Rather, Satan uses the Word of God. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan, where once again we see the two combatants going at each other in a spiritual battle, Satan was quoting Bible verses as he was trying to tempt the Lord Jesus into sin. In Jude also, he is disputing about the body of Moses, and the dispute is regarding Scripture. The dispute is concerning what God has said and what Satan knows about God’s salvation plan.

Satan feels that there was some wrongdoing that took place regarding the body of Moses. What could that be? Let us look at the last chapter of Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy 34:5-6, we read:

So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.

God is very clearly telling us that Moses died physically. Moses died and was buried. He was buried by God, but he did die just as every human being dies at some point. As a consequence of the curse upon mankind, man will now die, and Moses likewise died at the age of 120 years. Then it says in verse 7:

And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

What is the problem? What is the dispute about the body of Moses? He died; God buried him. What is the problem? Later on, on the Mount of Transfiguration, who is it that appears with the Lord Jesus (Matthew 17)? Peter and some of the other disciples were there and they were seeing the Lord Jesus transfigured before them. They were also seeing Moses and Elijah shining in the brilliance of their new resurrected bodies.

Moses appeared in a new resurrected body on the Mount of Transfiguration. We wonder, “Could that have something to do with this dispute? Is that possibly what Satan is questioning when he comes to Michael disputing over the body of Moses?” However, Elijah was there also, even though he is not mentioned in Jude. We do not read that Satan was disputing about the body of Moses along with the body of Elijah. Yet Elijah also had a new resurrected body. Why is the focus on Moses? Why did Satan pick on Moses and not on Elijah also?

In our next study, Lord willing, we are going to look a little closer at Moses’ death and at the Mount of Transfiguration.