Pastor Jerry Rockwell MICHAEL, SATAN, AND THE BODY OF MOSES

Pastor Jerry Rockwell

 

MICHAEL, SATAN, AND THE BODY OF MOSES

Jude 8-10 (KJV) 8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. 9 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. 10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

Introduction: Verse 8 above identifies those who have departed from the truth and chose a life of carnality. Jude identifies them as “filthy dreamers” which can be connected with a form of prophecy that is similar to this verse. God warned Israel about “dreamers” in Deuteronomy 13:3-5 (KJV)  3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. These “prophets” are designated as “dreamers” and they are to be avoided and vs. 5 indicates they should be “put to death.” The “dreamer” of Jude is not as subtle as the ones in Deuteronomy 13. Their lifestyle gives them away if the Christian is alert to what is going on. This is he danger. Many Christians do not know the Bible well enough to discern if one is telling the truth or not. Again, note the word “Likewise.” It is a form of comparison and the connection with vs. 7 should be obvious. These “dreamers” have rejected the truth and apostatized. Harry Ironside has a statement about those who misdirect the unsuspecting. He says,

“Present-day advocates of ‘free love,’ are in large measure persons who have apostatized from a nominal Christianity, and now tolerate and even stand for what they once would have abhorred. What would once have been rebuked, even by the world, is now advocated by a Christless pulpit. Men and women sustaining unholy relations are rocked to sleep in their sins while death, judgment, and eternal punishment are fast approaching!”

Another point to be made is that the phrase “defile the flesh” connects these “filthy dreamers” with Sodom and Gomorrha who overtly “defiled the flesh” in their behavior of going after “strange flesh” (vs. 7) which initiated the judgment of God in Sodom and Gomorrha and will face His judgment in the future. This type of people exists today and many of them are in pulpits in the U. S. and the world. Romans 1:28-32 describes these people explicitly. These people have another reprehensible trait, they “despise dominion.” Some consider this to be opposition to “government” authority as well as leaders of the Church.

The third point to be considered is “speak evil of dignities” (vs. 8). There is a parallel verse that sounds very much like what Jude is saying. It is 2 Peter 2:10 (KJV), “But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise governent. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.” This verse is very much like Jude 8 and the debate is who copied who? God is the one who “inspires” scripture and it is no mistake that the two apostles write about the same thing since their epistles follow a similar theme(s). Here Peter uses the word “government” in place of “dominion” which suggests they are speaking of he same entity. There were people in the first century just like the people of the twenty-first century. Anti-Christian, anti-government, anti-police, anti-anything they cannot control. We live in some dangerous days. With this introduction, the rest of the two verses need to be explored.

  1. ANGELS IN THE BIBLE. Before an excursion into Michael and the body of Moses, it would be profitable to give a brief overview of angels in the Bible. Robert Lightner sees that as relevant to our study here. He says, “The pages of scripture abound with hundreds of references to angels.” With this knowledge, it suggests that an exhaustive study here would be difficult in this brief lesson. Dr. Lightner also suggests that angels have “personality” and explains that this means they “possess the essential elements of personality—intellect, emotion, and will, and the power of self-consciousness and self-determination.” Some of these angels are identified with names, such as Michael and Gabriel. These are proper names and the other “names” given to angels are more descriptive of responsibility or activity than personal. These are identified with activities such as “ministers” (Heb. 1:13-14). Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which included “watcher(s)” who were probably angels (Dan. 4:13, 17, 23). There are some categories of angels mentioned in the Bible. Following is a brief example of these categories.
  1. Gabriel. When considering Gabriel and Michael it should be noted that these two angels were “messengers” to humans. Gabriel told Zacharias (John the Baptist’s father) that “I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God” (Luke 1:19) and of course, he had a message for Zacharias. Gabriel appeared to Daniel in the form of a man, “even the man Gabriel” (Dan. 9:21). Gabriel appeared to Mary with the announcement that she would be the woman who would give birth to “the Son of the Highest” (Luke 1:26-38). Both Mary and Zacharias were troubled when Gabriel appeared to them (Luke 1:12, 29).
  2. Michael. His name means “Who is like God?” Michael is known as “one of the chief princes” (Dan. 10:13). Gabriel told Daniel that Michael “holdeth with me [Gabriel]” the things being shown to Daniel and told him that Michael was “your prince” (Dan. 10:21). Some Bible students draw a conclusion that is not strongly verifiable that each nation has an angel assigned to them to oversee them. According to Jude 9 Michael is an archangel which suggests a hierarchy of angels. Daniel refers to Michael as “the great prince” in Daniel 12:1 and the text says that Michael “standeth for the children of thy people” which is a reference to the nation of Israel.
  3. Cherubim. These are first mentioned in Genesis 3:24 where they were assigned with the task of guarding the “tree of life” in the Garden of Eden and they used a “flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” The Tabernacle of God used in the wilderness wanderings by Israel contained two “cherubims” with their wings over the Ark of the Covenant. These two cherubims were not alive but representative of those who worked closely with God. These two were made of “pure gold” and were on the lid of the “mercy seat.” The presence of God would reside on the “mercy seat” with their wings being over the mercy seat and ark of the covenant (Exod. 25:18-22; 2 Chron. 5:8; Psalm 99:1; cf. Isa. 37:16). It is worth noting that there is the mention of a “true tabernacle” in heaven and the one Moses pitched. Jesus is the “high priest” of this tabernacle in heaven (Heb. 8:1-2). The Tabernacle Moses pitched in the earth was where God met with the people of Israel (see: Exod. 33:7; Num. 2:34). With these cherubim having wings the other place they are mentioned is in Ezekiel 10 1-20. These cherubims had wings and they could fly (Ezek. 10:19-20). As far as the Bible explains things about angels, it is not suggested that angels like Gabriel and Michael do not have wings but can appear and disappear. These cherubims are different and seem to have the responsibility of being around the throne of God (Ezek. 10:1). While the word “cherub” or “cherubim” does not appear in Revelation the description of the “four beasts” (Rev. 4:6) are the same as the cherubim of Ezekiel 10 since the four in both places have faces that coincide (see: Ezek. 10:10-14 and Rev. 4:6-9).
  4. MICHAEL, THE ARCHANGEL AND THE BODY OF MOSES, Jude 9-10.

Here, Michael is “one of the chief princes.” Other passage of scripture suggest that the word “prince” can refer to angels. One example is Daniel 10:13 (KJV), “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 Gabriel explains to Daniel why he was delayed with the answer to his prayer for insight to what he had seen in Daniel 9:21-27) the vision of the future. He was troubled and prayed for understanding and saw another vision (Dan. 10:1-9) and Daniel fell into a deep sleep and “a hand touched” him (Dan. 10:10). He was then told by the “man who touched him” (Gabriel, Dan. 9:21) that he had been on his way for “one and twenty days” and “the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood” Daniel and “one of the chief princes, came to help me” (Dan. 10:13). This suggests that angels are referred to as “princes” in some places. If you read Ephesians 2:2 it is obvious that Satan is referred to as “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”

Michael is mentioned five times in the Bible, Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9; Revelation 12:7. In the last reference (Rev. 12:7) Michael is seen as somewhat a “warrior” in that he leads “his angels” in a battle with “the dragon” and “the dragon” (i.e. Satan) fought against the angels with Michael. The next verse, Revelation 12:8 indicates that Satan “prevailed not” and then it says in Revelation 12:9 (KJV), “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.” The battle was evidently a “draw” and God supposedly intervened and cast Satan and his angels out of their abode “the air” (Eph. 2:2) into the earth. This may suggest that the case with Michael in Jude 9 who “contended with the devil” and the dispute was about the “body of Moses” would not “bring a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” The hidden meaning might suggest that Satan held a higher position in God’s economy than Michael, yet God would deal with this rebellious one called Satan, the dragon. Yet note something interesting in There is an interesting verse in Zechariah 3:2 (KJV), “And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. . .” Even the LORD (2nd person of the Godhead) would not rebuke Satan prior to Matthew 4:10. While Michael left the “rebuke” of Satan to the Lord, there is a lesson for those who think they can “rebuke” Satan. Based on this, those today who claim to be able to “rebuke” Satan are not familiar with scripture and have no power to “rebuke” Satan because that is a task for God. Jude 10 says, “But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.” The reference here is probably the “filthy dreamers” (Jude 8). It is worth noting that the phrase “brute beasts” is also used in 2 Peter 2:12 (KJV), “But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption.” With this cross reference, it is obvious that this would refer to the ones who fight against the things of God, whether they be humans or angels which is obvious in this passage the ones referenced. Could it be possible that Jude 8 and 10 could have a “veiled” reference to some of the charlatans who claim to have power over Satan and the powers of darkness?

There is much discussion about the use by Jude to the “body of Moses.” This is the only place this is mentioned yet we know that God took care of Moses body as is said in Deuteronomy 34:5-6 (KJV) “5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.” Jude simply gives us some information that is not found elsewhere and exposes some of the desires of Satan to overcome what God wants to accomplish. Satan would probably used Moses’ body against God and His people, Israel.