Faithful on Fridays Blog

War in Heaven: Jude 9

I heard many Bible stories in Sunday school while growing up, but never this one,

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.” Jude 1:9 ESV

Let’s dig in. Jude, real name Judas, was Jesus’ half-brother who wrote an inspiring  letter to the churches which was eventually added to the New Testament as authoritative, inerrant, and inspired by the Holy Spirit. We can learn a lot from this one verse, for example, Michael was a top ranking general in God’s heavenly army. His name means, “Who is like God?” which indicates His mission: Reveal God’s sovereignty. 

The next character is the devil, a fallen angel whose mission is to usurp God’s authority and position becoming like Him (Is. 14:14). Who is like God? Not Satan, however, he continues to fight with angels and people in an effort to rise in position. Contending is a military or athletic word that means to struggle with an adversary to the point of agonizing endurance. Michael battled in the heavenlies with his adversary over an argument about the body of Moses. How did Jude know about this spiritual battle and why would God care about Moses’ dead body?

Questions we can’t totally answer, however, we can surmise that the Spirit of God revealed it to Jude with purpose. First of all, we in the Church need to remember that spiritual warfare is real and Satan still opposes God’s people and work. What’s amazing is that even though an archangel couldn’t rebuke Satan, we can. Angels are not image-bearers of God and don’t have the position and authority believers do. All heavenly and earthly authority was given to Christ and in the Great Commission of Matt. 28 He gives it to us. John confirmed this position of authority,

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 1 John 4:4 NLT

Secondly, why battle about Moses’ body? Possibly because God’s Plan included Moses and Elijah to have a physical conversation with Jesus at His transfiguration. Maybe Moses needed his body to be one of the Two Witnesses of Rev. 11; we simply don’t know, but this odd story in the Book of Jude was meant to remind us that God always has a plan and He’s more powerful than any god in this world.

We had all authority in the beginning, we lost that position at the fall, but when Jesus rose from the dead defeating Satan, we received it back again. Now we anticipate our reign with Him in the new heavens and the new earth: The Kingdom of God. You have all authority right now, in Christ, to defeat the devil in your life. Use it.