But when the archangel Michael contended with the devil and disputed about the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring a condemnation of slander against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" (Jude 9 NRSV)
To see a common Christadelphian approach to Jude 9, see this page, derived from the book by Ron Abel, Wrested Scriptures: A Christadelphian Handbook of Suggested Explanations to Difficult Bible Passages. However, such an extremely eisegetical approach to this passage can be easily refuted. One recent book interacting with the Christadelphian view of Satan and Demons wrote the following in response to this and similar counter-explanations of this verse:
1. If one believes that Michael the archangel was just a human messenger then one must believe this also about the archangel Gabriel. However, Gabriel was in existence in Daniel’s time and also in Mary’s time, and so living well beyond any human longevity and so cannot have been human.
2. Michael is shown to be a supernatural being (1Thess. 4:16) with his own angels (Rev. 12:7). It is fantasy to imagine that an archangel is human. In Jude 8 and 9 there is an implication that Michael and the devil are “supernatural beings” (NLT), “celestial beings” (REB, Barclay, NIV), “angelic glories” (Moffatt), or “glorious ones” and who are defined as angels in the commentaries.
3. One would have to question whether those who fail to identify Satan as a real person really do believe in supernatural angels if they should turn angels into human messengers whenever it is inconvenient to have them as being supernatural persons.
4. The real dispute between Michael and the devil is recorded in the Targum of Jonathan on Deuteronomy 34:6 and so is a long past event. Lange’s commentary explains from Jewish tradition:
. . . that God had charged Michael the archangel with the burial of Moses; that Satan opposed him bringing an accusation against him relative to the murder of the Egyptian; in consequence of which he was unworthy of such an honourable burial.
5. There is no biblical or logical reason to believe that Zechariah 3 and Jude passages are even remotely connected.
6. There is no biblical text or indicator that “the body of Moses” = the congregation of Israel or Joshua the high priest. It clearly refers to Moses’ literal dead body.
7. There is no biblical text or any indicator that the devil = Tattenai (Ezra 5). This would mean that the archangel Michael must become the human high priest, in spite of the fact that an archangel is clearly shown to be a supernatural being (1Thess. 4:16) with his own angels (Rev. 12:7).
8. The trio of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Again, this is simply an arbitrary interpretation.
9. Zechariah 3:2 uses the term “the Satan” and in being singular and definite cannot refer to the group of persons—Korah, Dathan and Abiram. (Raymond C. Faircloth, Don’t Misjudge Who Your Real Enemies Are! A Biblical Study on the Reality of Demonic Forces [Concise Studies in the Scriptures, vol. 4; 2016], 2-3)
Further Reading
Listing of Articles on Christadelphian Issues - my response to various aspects of Christadelphian theology (e.g., Christology; Satan & Demons; Christadelphian critiques of LDS theology)
Listing of Articles on Christadelphian Issues - my response to various aspects of Christadelphian theology (e.g., Christology; Satan & Demons; Christadelphian critiques of LDS theology)
