“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!’” (Jude 9).
There are few, if any, holy things treated with much reverence in our crooked and perverse generation. Because of this, it is most easy and convenient to minimize the seriousness of the heinous sin of irreverence.
Because the event mentioned above has not been preserved in Scripture and is far beyond the scope and knowledge of any secular historian, only an inspired writer would know that Michael the archangel disputed with the devil about the body of Moses.
Jude’s somber and solemn points about the seriousness of the sin of irreverence need to be driven home in every heart.
The holy, archangel Michael, even when disputing with the Evil One over who had the rightful authority over Moses’ body did not rail against him in a profane or presumptuous way. It was beneath the office and dignity of such a holy being.
What a contrast to every generation’s spiritual dreamers/change agents! They are not heavenly or genuinely holy beings (like an archangel). Unlike Michael, their disagreement in matters of authority is not with the devil but with the sovereign, holy God, and they have no fear of presuming to use authority in spiritual matters Jehovah has not given them. “Woe to them” (Jude 11) and to their kindred spirits!
When it comes to reverence for holy things and God’s sovereign authority in spiritual matters: Are you like the archangel Michael or the devil and his change agents?
Excellent post, John! You have well described the current generation, and have shown the seriousness of the sin in which it lives.