But even when Michael the archangel was arguing with the devil and debating with him concerning Moses's body, he did not dare to bring a slanderous judgement, but said, "May the Lord rebuke you!" (Jude 1:9).
Well, when Pastor Sam spoke on this verse during Sunday's sermon I really listened closely because Jude 1:9 is one of those verses that makes me stop and wonder. (Jude has other verses in that mode, like 1:14 where Jude refers to a prophetic statement made by Enoch.)
Jude, how is it you're saying these profound things?
But here we are focusing on verse 9.
Jude brings up a name and title: Michael, the archangel. The angel who fights and wins in the name of the LORD. I wonder if Michael was the "one angel" sent to destroy thousands of people, as we see in First Chronicles 21 and Isaiah 37. I don't know about those chapters. But we do know Michael gets mentioned by name a couple of times in Daniel chapter 10: "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia" (Daniel 10:13).
Michael, the go-to angel in spiritual warfare.
Michael, described by Pastor Sam as "the angel you DON'T want a visit from".
Michael, who can stand toe-to-toe in a debate with the devil.
But in the face of the argument and the debate over Moses's body, the great archangel does not make a slanderous judgement of the devil. Instead, Michael follows the model set up by God Himself which we read in Zechariah: "The LORD rebuke you!" Friends, the only way we can "win" an argument with the devil is to invoke the name of the LORD and declare God's sovreignty and power over all creation and all situations. It's the LORD's battle, not ours.
"Satan, the LORD rebuke you!"
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