Jude 1:9But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
This certainly is a mystery about the dispute between Michael and Satan over the body of Moses. Why were they both interested in Moses' body? There are over 500 Old Testament references to Moses and only one refers to his body. So, why the dispute?
Any thoughts?
I searched through some websites and came up with different things; here is one conclusion from a site:
What happened is that when Moses died, Michael, the great archangel, the highest of the angels, had disputed with the devil over the body of Moses. The claim of the devil was twofold; he said he had a right to the body of Moses, first, because Moses was a murderer -- he had slain an Egyptian. Second, the devil said the body of Moses belonged to him because it was in the realm of material things over which he was lord. But Michael disputed this. He claimed the body for the Lord, just as the whole of scripture claims that our bodies are important to God. God has a plan for them as well as for the spirit.
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Lamentation 3:24 The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.
Krypto wrote: What happened is that when Moses died, Michael, the great archangel, the highest of the angels, had disputed with the devil over the body of Moses. The claim of the devil was twofold; he said he had a right to the body of Moses, first, because Moses was a murderer -- he had slain an Egyptian. Second, the devil said the body of Moses belonged to him because it was in the realm of material things over which he was lord. But Michael disputed this. He claimed the body for the Lord, just as the whole of scripture claims that our bodies are important to God. God has a plan for them as well as for the spirit.
I remember reading a little bit about this in the notes of my study bible. I guess this legend about the archangel and Satan was pretty popular during the time the New Testament was being written. It's so weird how these legends worked their way into scripture later on.
-- Edited by Chris at 19:44, 2006-04-30
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"I'd place myself... oh... somewhere between Galadriel and Peter Griffin."
I have the MacArthur Study Bible study note on where this story comes from. It is from the Assumption of Moses, a non-canonical book. Jude just used this story, not because this story is factual, but to demonstrate that the Christian is not supposed to PURPOSELY fight against the devil in his own spiritual strength, but to stand by and let the absolute power and authority of God and his word do the fighting for him. Just like Jesus demonstrated in Matthew 4 when He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, fighting against the devil, not by sinking to Satan's level by using His godly powers, but by simply throwing the challenge back into the devil's face by quoting scriptures, always beginning with "It is written..."
We fight the devil with the "WMD" called the truth in the bible and prayer. Like so...
Although some people attribute it to the Assumtion of Moses/The Testament of Moses, according to wikipedia at least, it doesn't seem to have any of the stuff Jude refered to in it (possiby because the manuscript is incomplete).
There seems to be quite a few theories surrounding the dispute between Michael and Satan, ranging from possible symbolism in the Torah (Moses takes the place of Michael, Pharoahe the place of Satan, and the Israelites are the body of Moses) - to more interesting theories, such as it was a litteral dispute, related to the two witnesses in revalation being Moses and Elijah, for a number of reasons).
I was hoping to find out more myself, however I suspect no one knows anything for sure.
God buried Moses' body, and I would go as far as saying that God has His intentions for Moses's body...why Michael and Satan disputed over his body is simple to me...so Satan can use his body to influence the way we worship...imagine the Israelite with Moses's body...what would happen? Idol worship...Moses's body or grave would become a place of worship and thus replace God in some subtle way...a little similar to how Catholics revere Mary the mother of Jesus but in a more detrimental way...Also, there are biblical scholars who conjectures that Moses is one of the two witnesses in Revelation...could God be preserving Moses's body for that? I don't know but these theories are well proven within the bible if you just read and study it closer...also...the word of God in the bible must be taken seriously and if we can't seem to find reasons and answers within it, we shouldn't dismiss it as originating from mere myths...if it says in Jude that Satan and Michael disputed over the body of Moses then they did as a matter of fact...we just have to look harder within the bible for answers....
