 In Jude 9, there is an interesting exchange that Jude kind of makes in passing that has left some people kind of wondering, what does this mean? It's in Jude 9 where it says, but Michael, the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a rally judgment, but said the Lord Rebuke you. Now, the question is not so much about the Lord Rebuke you, although there's something interesting about that, but here this statement that he says when Michael the archangel, and there was this issue with the devil disputing about the body of Moses, what in the world does that mean? And it's left some people kind of scratching their heads trying to figure out, what does that mean? Now, not much is given about this event anywhere in the description, but you're left wondering, though the writer makes this point to bring out a bigger point, still, what does this mean? The question is, was the account of an actual physical possession of the body disputing about the physical body or about Moses in general? Remember, maybe Satan is bringing up the fact that Moses was not allowed to cross over into the Promised Land. We don't really know. There are some passes, there are some theories that come up, but what we do know is that the body of Moses that we're speaking of, be it idiomatically meaning all of Moses, who Moses is, even his soul, or it could even mean his legacy, his life, or it might actually mean his actual body. What we do know about his actual body after his death, Moses was buried. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 34, 5 and 6, he says, 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 the valley of the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows his burial place to this day. So who buried Moses? Well, it looks like it was God that did so, and obviously God can do so, which is probably why it says no one knows where this burial is today, because if men had buried him, then they would know where the burial site is. So no one knows where Moses was buried because it's likely that it is God who buried him. So that would raise an interesting question. How then does the devil dispute over Moses' body if God is the one who buried him? Well, maybe he's not actually disputing about the physical body, because if God has buried them, then I'm pretty sure you're not going to unbury him. Now, I don't know all the particulars, but now one thing we do know is that angels and demons have this battle that is out of our view, these battles that take place. And we get an idea of this happening when Daniel is praying about his people. And then Daniel 9, 21, be exact, Gabriel shows up. But now we get even more detail about this account of Daniel having this encounter with Gabriel. Prior to Gabriel showing up, Gabriel lets him know that there was this battle that was taking place. And he says in chapter 10, verse 13 says, But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for 21 days. Then, behold, Michael, one of the chief princes came to me for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. So without going into that, we know that there was this angelic battle that was taking place. So demons and angels do have this taking place. And so we have this account also being mentioned in Jude 9. But what does this mean, this contending for or disputing about the body of Moses? There is a lot of speculation from different people as to what this could be. One such speculation is from Zachariah chapter 3, 1, where we see a similarity, or at least similar words. Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you, Satan indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem. We'll leave it there. And so when someone sees the Lord rebuke you, and they might be reminded of what is said in Jude 9, the Lord rebuke you, they may make a connection that this is saying the same thing. The only problem is, one, it's not speaking about Moses and there's no mention of Michael, the archangel, being there as well. So that might be a stretch. Could it be? It could be. There is also a book called The Assumption of Moses that even Oregon, who is one of the early church fathers, about two centuries later, I'm sorry, about a century later after the fact, makes mention of this and brings this fact that this book, The Assumption of Moses, actually covers this story. Now I want to caution you all from thinking that just because the Bible references some other writing that's extra biblical, some other writing that's outside of the Bible, that that particular book also is authoritative. It is not canonical and just because its reference does not mean that it probably ought to be considered. A book outside the Bible will contain some truth. It doesn't mean that it is all truth or the entirety of it is true, or that it is intended or inspired, that it should be in the books that we read as being those that are breathed from God. So we want to be extra careful not to make too much of the fact that this might be, and I say might, might be referring to this book, The Assumption of Moses. Now ultimately, if we're trying to get to the truth of what is being spoken of here, unfortunately we just don't have it. We don't have enough to go off of to be definitive in saying what is this actual dispute over? Is it over his physical body? Is it just kind of an accusatory manner about kind of an arguing back and forth about Moses? We just don't know. We don't have enough to go off of. And so since we don't have much to go off of, I would not, I would not make too much out of what any theory that someone might have unless we get more. At some point in time, we'll find out the truth, but unfortunately for us who might be seeking the truth right now, we just won't get it right now. Amen.