Chapter Six - Verses 9-11
9 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.” 10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.
When Jude identified the reason he was writing and the people behind his concern in verse four, he used the phrase that is translated as, “crept in unnoticed.” When we think about something that would be ‘creeping’, it generally implies that someone was intentionally trying to sneak into our lives, our families or our churches under the ‘radar’. Essentially these people are trying to worm their way into a position in our lives so that we can feel comfortable around them and ultimately allow them to influence our thinking and follow their teaching. Resulting in us pulling away from God or at minimum, water down our desire to share Jesus with others. Jude is saying that is actually happening, so pay attention!
Jude introduces us to an unusual story in verse nine about a dispute between the Archangel Michael and Satan regarding the body of Moses. An archangel is considered to be the chief or highest ranking angel or group of angels. The prophet Daniel records Michael as one of the “chief princes” (see Daniel 10:13). The Bible only identifies two angels by name; Gabriel, who is always bringing news about the Messiah and Michael, who we might best describe as a warrior or at least a fighter. Jude refers to an incident between Michael and Satan (who once was God’s highest angel known as Lucifer). Jude does not explain why this encounter took place nor does he give us the source of this information, he simply states it as fact, undoubtedly expecting his readers to already know about the incident. Unfortunately, whatever source he was referring to is no longer available to us today and it is not referenced anywhere else in the Bible.
What we do know about the body of Moses is that he was buried by God and the location was kept secret (read Deuteronomy 34:5-6), this was undoubtedly done to prevent people from digging him up and venerate or worship his bones like some people will do years later with the bronze serpent that Moses held up for the Israelites to look at to prevent them from dying from serpent bites (see Numbers 21:8-9). That bronze serpent survived up to King Hezekiah’s time when he finally had the ‘Nehushtan’ destroyed (read 2 Kings 18:18:1-4). But what would Satan want with Moses’ body? There are a number of potential explanations but they would all be speculation as no one knows for certain. Jude is using this story as an example of respect as he describes how the Archangel Michael would not accuse or pronounce judgment on Satan but simply stated, “the Lord rebuke you.” Many scholars point out that the phrase is similar to one found in Zechariah 3:2 but that is the only similarity, nothing else in that verse helps us understand this dispute. Jude clearly illustrates that the archangel was not willing to push his weight around (in other words if the top angel wasn't willing to rebuke or adjure in his own authority in a clearly wrong scenario, nor should anyone else), but those people he identified in verse four (those that crept in) blaspheme all that they do not understand (read 2 Peter 2:10-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; 2:11-16). Using a figure of speech similar to Peter’s analogy to animals that cannot reason (see 2 Peter 2:12), Jude states that these people will ultimately be destroyed by means of their own deception and beliefs. In other words, they believe they are correct and actually believe their own lies. The number of false prophets and teachers are on the rise in churches today, sadly these are some of the hardest people to approach with the truth.
11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion.
Knowing where this is heading, Jude simply says, “Woe to them!” While this word may sound like ‘whoa’, stating a desire to stop, that is not what this word means here. The Greek word ‘ouai’ is an expression of absolute horror. Jesus used it seven times in Matthew chapter 23 alone, when He was expressing to the scribes and Pharisees His concern over their lack of understanding. Several of the Old Testament prophets used the Hebrew equivalent (‘owy’) to express extreme despair (see Isaiah 3:9-11; Ezekiel 13:3; 16:23).
The American poet and philosopher George Santayana (1863-1952) once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Jude will illustrate just how true that is in the next verse using three quick references to Old Testament stories. Again the subject of this verse are the people of verse four, those that have crept in unnoticed (yes, I know I keep repeating that phrase, we need to remember the threat is real).
Jude says that these people to have walked in the way of Cain. We know the story of Cain (see Genesis 4:1-12) where both he and his brother Abel gave offerings to God. Abel’s gift was from the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions and was well received by God. Cain’s gift, on the other hand, was from the fruit of the ground and was not accepted. As a result, Cain murdered his brother in a jealous fit of rage. There are strong clues from the Book of Genesis that God’s people knew about His Law long before Moses going up Mt. Sinai many years later, for example, Noah was told to bring two of every unclean animal and seven of every clean animal on the ark, so how did he know which ones were clean and which ones were not? Most scholars believe that God’s Law was well known before it was codified and given to Moses, including what was and what was not acceptable as an offering to God. Abel’s offering was in compliance with the Book of Leviticus and Cain’s was not. If that was the case, then Cain was attempting to please God his way, plus we know that God knows our hearts, and based on his attitude towards his brother, his attitude towards God undoubtedly was lacking! The way of Cain may be best described as someone who desires to do things their own way. Remember there is only one way towards God but there are many ways away from God.
These people abandoned themselves for the sake of Balaam’s error. There are very few stories in the Bible that are stranger than the story about Balaam, a prophet for profit (see Numbers chapters 22-24 and 31). Seeing the Israelites crossing the plains of Moab, Balak, the king of Moab, thought they were a threat, so he hired Balaam to curse them, but God prevented him to pronounce any curse. However, Balaam noted a way to get the job done by suggesting that they bring women to persuade the Israelite men to commit adultery and be influenced by their pagan gods and goddesses requiring God to judge them, which is exactly what happened (read Numbers 31:16). Balaam became an example of false doctrine and false teachers throughout Scripture (see 2 Peter 2:15; Revelation 2:14), illustrating the love of wealth and prestige instead of obeying and loving God.
However, these people will perish just as those who died during Korah’s rebellion. This is another story about someone who has no regard for God and His Word. One of the requirements to be a priest in the Old Testament was to be in the bloodline of Moses’ brother Aaron. Korah wanted to be a priest and even though he was a Levite, he was not in the line of Aaron. Instead of accepting this, Korah and others decided to rebel and were quickly judged by God with the ground opening up and swallowing many of them while fire consumed the rest (see Numbers 16:1-37).
Jude says that these people who have crept in our lives, families and churches have blasphemed what they do not understand and end up destroying themselves by doing the things they thought were proper. As a result of thinking they could please God their own way, they follow the way of Cain, while pursuing their own wealth and prosperity they made the same error as Balaam. Resulting in the same judgment given to Korah.
So how do we please God? Once we accept Jesus as our Savior, we read and grow in God’s Word, the only source of everything we need to know to please Him. Jesus summarizes this with, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15, ESV)