Let’s read Jude verses 8-9, “Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you’” (NKJV)!

Verse 9 is the only verse in Scripture which reveals that Michael and the devil disputed over the body of Moses. We know that Moses died and was buried according to Deuteronomy 34:5-6, “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, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day.” Many believe that Satan wanted to know where Moses was buried so he could take the body of Moses to “have a shrine built there” and cause “Israel to worship Moses’ bones” which would be a case of idolatry. The trouble with this view is that it is “mere conjecture” (the word “conjecture” means “an opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information”). Those who take this view are basing it on “incomplete information” for the Bible does NOT tell us that this was Satan’s purpose. We do know that Michael was contending with the devil over the body of Moses, and we must leave it at that. I learned many years ago “if Scripture is silent on any given subject, we had better keep silent too.” It is also significant that verse 6 ends by saying, “but no one knows his grave to this day.” So, God did not want anyone to know where He buried Moses and God does not want us to know why the devil wanted the body of Moses.

The question naturally arises, “Why did God mention this account if he didn’t want us to know?” Was there something else He wanted us to know? Yes, there was! I purposely quoted verse 8 first to show the context of verse 9. Jude had mentioned how ungodly men had “crept in unnoticed” among the saints (verse 4) and throughout the epistle he describes these wicked, false teachers in great detail. In verse 8 he tells us that they “speak evil of dignitaries.” And then in verse 9 he gives us a contrast to these men who speak evil of persons in power, for while Michael was disputing with the devil, he did NOT resort to calling him evil names. Even though Michael was an archangel with greater power than Satan (who was a “fallen angel” …see Isaiah 14:12-15), he did not rail against him but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you.” This teaches us two lessons. First, though Satan was a fallen angel, he was still in a position of power. God had allowed him to retain this position of authority (to suit His purposes), and Michael respected the authority God had given to him and refrained from “speaking evil of him.” Secondly, if Michael, one of the most powerful angels in God’s army of angels (see Daniel 10:13; 12:1, and Revelation 12:7), did not dare to revile the devil, those of us who are much weaker and less powerful than Michael should not dare to confront the devil and speak evil words against him. When the devil assails us, we are told to “resist him, stedfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9 with James 4:7), but we are never told to rail against him.  (DO)  (649.3)