But when the archangel
Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he
did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke
you.”
THE STUDY:
The archangel Michael provides a brief
contrast to the arrogant behavior of the slanderous false teachers. The archangel Michael is mentioned in the
Bible (Dan 10:13, 21; 12:1; Rev 12:7). But there is no biblical record of a
confrontation between Michael and
the devil over the body of Moses.
Apparently, Jude drew this illustration from an apocryphal
writing titled The Assumption of Moses
or Testament of Moses, as the early
Christian writers Clement, Origen, and Didymus claimed. Jewish tradition
reports that the archangel Michael was sent by God to bury the body of Moses.
But the devil disputed Michael’s right to provide him an honorable burial.
Satan argued that Moses’ body belonged to him because he was the lord of
“matter” and because Moses was a murderer (Exod 2:12).
Despite the devil’s provocation,
Michael was not disrespectful to the devil. Jude writes that he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous
judgement. Instead, he left the matter in God’s hands, rebuking him with
the words of Zechariah, The Lord rebuke
you!
Two conclusions can be drawn from
this illustration of the conflict between Michael and the devil. First, Jude
assumed his readers were familiar with this apocryphal tradition.
Second, Jude uses this analogy to
condemn the slanderous behavior of the false teachers. Michael refrained from
uttering disrespectful words against Satan, despite his own status and Satan’s
provocation. By contrast, the human intruders arrogantly slander, revile, and
blaspheme angelic beings. If the greatest of the good angels refused to speak
evil of the worst of the evil angels, surely no human being may speak evil of
any angel.[1]
WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY
WITH ….
- We walk away this morning with the understanding that as believers of Christ we should not speak evil of anyone! Let us remember who has the authority in this world: God! We are told in scripture how to deal with our enemies, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you ..” (Matt. 5:43-44)
CONCLUSION:
I remember playing tennis with my pastor who
at the time was pushing 60 years of age and he was running me around the court
like a puppet on a string. My wife would calls these matches with my pastor the
“humbling sessions.”
In one of our sessions (matches) I
remember coming to the net and we stood and talked a few minutes. For me, this
was a time of rest, but for him it was a time for mentoring! I asked him, how
do I deal with someone in my life that I consider an enemy? He pointed me to
Luke 6:27-28, “But I say to you who hear,
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Each one of us has someone who
doesn’t like us! This is just human nature. We may not be able to control how
they feel about us but we can control how we feel and react toward them. It is
not for us to hate but to love. Let us take this day and love, do good, bless,
and pray for those who we find as enemies.
Blessings my friends
Pastor Rod
[1]
Powers, D. G. (2010). 1 & 2
Peter/Jude: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. New Beacon Bible
Commentary (278). Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press.
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