Satan’s Strategy for Your Life #39: Fight in Your Own Strength

“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.’" 

—Jude 1:9

The devil is pure evil and no one is exempt from his schemes. He doesn’t care about your background, talent, pedigree, status or accomplishments. If he tried to get Jesus to sin, then he will try to get us as well.

Today we see Jude writing about the archangel Michael contending with the devil over Moses’ body. If you remember, Moses was not allowed into the Promised Land and died before the Israelites entered. Moses’ death is recorded in Deuteronomy 34:5-6,  

“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 in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day.”

No one knew where Moses was buried, except those that are able to cross between the physical and spiritual realm: Michael and the devil. We are not told how the devil knew where Moses was buried, nor are we told why Michael was there with him, but we are told that some type of altercation developed between them over Moses’ body. Some scholars believe it was because the devil wanted to take Moses’ body and use it so that people would worship it, and that surely could have happened if Moses' body had been found.

Other scholars believe that the devil was actually accusing Moses to Michael about Moses’ sin. The argument is that because Moses had killed an Egyptian early in his life and because he failed to present God’s holiness, he had no right to go to heaven. In other words, Satan was disputing Moses’ entrance into heaven by accusing him of sin to Michael as well as trying to get Michael to agree with him. The two undoubtedly knew each other. Michael is an archangel and Satan had at one time been in a similar position.

The truth is that it could be either of these possibilities or something else entirely. It could have been that Satan wanted to use Moses’ body in order to garner worship. After all, we are idol factories, worshipping anything and everything we can. In the middle ages there were traveling religious charlatans who pretended to have pieces of Jesus’ cross. They would sell them to the highest bidder and then that person (and oftentimes a church) would advertise it as a holy relic attracting hundreds of people who would come and worship it.

Sadly, things like this still happen today. It seems that only a few months go by before there is yet another news headline where an image of Jesus appears on an underpass, or a potato chip. Crowds gather, candles are lit, photos are taken, and prayers are made. But that is not how God operates, making images of Himself appear on underpasses and potato chips in order to receive worship. Rather, He has chosen to dwell in us—making us His temples by placing His Holy Spirit within us so that we might be able to commune with Him on a very intimate basis. And this is all because of Christ. He took down the barrier between us and God by offering up His body as a sacrifice, paying the price required for our sin and then imparting to us His righteousness, all so that we might be able to know and commune with Almighty God.

And even though we do not know the exact reason why Michael and the devil were contending with each other, we do get a glimpse at the end result of their argument, with the devil being rebuked by Michael in the name of the Lord. Michael didn’t try and fight against Satan or lash out against him by his own authority—rather he rebuked him by God’s authority.

We have no authority by ourselves. Any authority we have comes from God and His Word. We cannot presume to stand and speak out against Satan in our own strength. To do so would be pure foolishness. The authority we have comes directly from God and His Word, which is why it is imperative for us to know the Word, to know who we are in Christ, and what He has decreed. Satan is like the car salesman who knows the tricks of the trade and seeks buyers who don’t know the system or their rights as customers. He wants to intimidate or manipulate them into making a rash and ignorant decision. And he continually tries it with us. He wants us to trust in our own reasoning and abilities. He wants to make God look evil, unloving, unfeeling, or uncaring about our lives or what is going on in our world. But be assured that God does care more than we do. He loved us so much that He sent His Son to be our substitute, giving His life in place of our own, even though He did nothing to deserve it. So great is His love toward us.

May we faithfully, consistently learn to take a stand against Satan’s strategies and schemes by standing in the name of God, upon the Word of God, and in the power of God, and when we do, Satan will flee. He cannot stand a believer who takes refuge in the name which he hates, because he knows that it is at that name that  

“every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” —Philippians 2:10-11. 

Amen.