Jude 1:9,10

A METAPHORE FROM THE SPIRITUAL WORLD THAT ILLUSTRATES APOSTASY

Jude 1:9-10

Text

9.

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

10.

But these rail at whatsoever things they know not: and what they understand naturally, like the creatures without reason, in these things are they destroyed.

Queries

41.

What does the word Michael mean? (refer to a good Bible dictionary or encyclopedia).

42.

What is Michael as described in the Old Testament? (see Daniel 10:13)

43.

Why did Michael dare not rail and accuse the devil? What would have been wrong with his doing so?

44.

No Old Testament passage tells of such a dispute. Does this mean that Jude is in error in referring to such a dispute? Why so or why not?

45.

Is it necessary to find some written or secular source for everything that Jude wrote?

46.

Who buried Moses? (See Deuteronomy 34:6)

47.

What is a railing accusation?

48.

Does the text indicate that Michael actually made an accusation against satan? In what way?

49.

How can Michael's action express confidence in God?

50.

How can we in the same manner express confidence in God?

51.

Who are the ones in Jude 1:10 that speak evil?

52.

What kind of things is it that they do not know?

53.

What is it to know naturally? (See the phrase that follows.)

54.

Does the phrase like the creatures without reason refer to what follows, or what goes before? (Read carefully!)

Paraphrases

A. 9.

When Michael the archangel had a contention with the devil about the body of Moses, Michael dared not shout an accusation against even the devil; but instead acknowledged that the Lord would rebuke him.

10.

These apostates, however, shout accusations about eternal things when they know nothing about them. The fleshly lusts that they have in common with all animals is the one thing they do know, and this thing makes them corrupt.

B.*9.

Even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, when he was arguing with Satan about Moses-' body, did not dare to accuse Satan, or jeer at him, but simply said, The Lord rebuke you.

10.

But these men mock and curse at anything they do not understand, and, like animals, they do whatever they feel like, thereby ruining their souls.

Summary

Even Michael would not presume to accuse the devil, who was obviously wrong; but these man make accusation in their ignorance while being consumed by their own lusts.

Comment

Michael is pictured in the scriptures as an angel having authority and leading the angelic army of God. (See Revelation 12:7 and Daniel 12:1) In Daniel 10:13 he is called one of the chief princes. His fame as an angelic being really excells in the Rabbinical traditions. Here he is given such titles as great high-priest in heaven and great prince and conqueror. The book of Enoch also has many mentions of Michael. There is no cause to even hint that Jude received his ideas about Michael from the book of Enoch or from the Rabbinical traditions. His identity is established in the word of God. Jude no doubt was acquainted with the teachings in Daniel regarding Michael.

Moreover, had there been no teachings in the scripture regarding Michael, let us remember that Jude is an inspired writer who writes as he is moved by the Spirit of God.
God certainly had a message for Jude to deliver, and it comes as no surprise should we discover that Jude contains some information regarding Biblical history or regarding God's will for us that is not duplicated elsewhere in the Scriptures. A constant search of secular writings to try to determine where Jude received his ideas is unnecessary and possibly even futile when one considers the inspiration of the spirit under which he wrote.
The dispute about the body of Moses is a case in point. No such debate is recorded elsewhere in the Scriptures. Yet we know it happened because it is recorded here. Scholars have searched far and wide in an effort to determine the source of Jude's information. Some have concluded that Jude had access to scripture texts that have been lost. Some indicate that there was no such dispute, but that the reference has a figurative explanation wherein the body of Moses represents the Jewish community after captivity. Some say that the apocryphal book The Ascension of Moses at the time contained reference to this dispute, and that Jude received his information from this book. The case is hypothetical, for we do not know that Jude had such a text available to him, and the Ascension of Moses as it is today has no reference to such a dispute.

That the Jews had an enormous amount of traditions regarding the death of Moses is not denied. These traditions do refer to such a controversy, with Michael being the chief contender. Can it be that Jude copied from these traditions?
Because traditions in themselves do not prove truth and certainly are not infallible as authority, we may erroneously assume that no truth could possibly be contained in tradition. Certainly traditions are often a mixture of truth and fable. An inspired writer such as Jude by the inspiration of the Spirit, would be able to distinguish truth from falsehood. The source back of Jude is the Holy Spirit. Whether or not the fact is contained in the Jewish traditions has nothing to do with the establishment of that fact.
What is Jude's intention in recording the fact? It is to point out that these unholy apostate teachers bring railing accusations of a nature that even the high angel of God dared not bring against the devil himself! The entire doctrine of the Gnostics was implied accusation against angelic beings and even against Jehovah. They (the Gnostics) had access to knowledge that God had not revealed in the scriptures. Through their ritualism they knew truth that the inspired writers of both the Old and the New Testaments did not have. These false teachers presumed to add to or alter the Word of God.

Unlike these false teachers, Michael (who well knew the judgment the devil deserved) glorified God as the great Judge. He dared not presume to take this judgment from God, or even to share in it as Moses himself did in the wilderness. God alone knows how to punish the wicked without partiality and with complete justice.
What a lesson for us in this! How often are we tempted to both determine the inner thoughts of our fellow man and then to pronounce the judgment? Like Jonah we sit under a bush and pout because judgment does not come in a manner we choose, or at the time we choose, or to the person we choose. We presume to assume that every man who does not have the same understanding of the Word of God that we have is destined to hell, when really we are often at a distance and in the dark as to what the man's understanding and obedient nature really is. And if we really did understand, should we presume to be the author of another man's judgment? Should we presume to be the author of the rebuke (assuming one was due) or should we, like Michael, leave the rebuking to the Lord?

The word used for rebuke here is not the word for reproving another man that he might see his sin. Rather it is a word that means to chide, or censure severely. In love and Christian concern we might bring another man to see his wrong-doing so that he might repent and his soul be saved. (See James 5:19-20) But it is not ours to chide or rub it in.

Michael, in his manner of response to the devil, expressed a real confidence in God. He knew that God would bring a just judgment, and he was entirely willing to be submissive to God's will and content in God's judgment. Oh, that we would likewise be content and submissive to God; showing great confidence in the work of God, both in the spiritual realm of judgment and in the material realm of God's care in this life. God is on His throne, and He knows every tear, every heartache and every need of his servants. This is a part of our faith.

Jude, like his brother James, condemns the misuse of the tongue. (Jude 1:8; Jude 1:10-11; Jude 1:15-16) He clearly states they speak evil, and this in a manner feared even by the angels. Yet their evil speaking is in ignorance. They know not what evil they speak, nor of whom they speak it. They do know they rail and that it is sinful. Out of an evil inclination they proceed arrogantly through the darkness. They have turned out the lights lest they see. Their very ignorance is guilt and needs to be forgiven. (Luke 23:34) They hate the light because their intentions are evil. (John 3:20)

Their practice is sensual; and like a cow or a horse, they thoroughly know the practices and objects that bring them sensual enjoyment. They follow their natural appetite and live to feed their senses. What they don-'t know they blaspheme, and what they do know destroys them.