Ver. 9. Yet 3Iic7iael the archangel, lolien contending icith the devil {lie disputed about the body of Moses), durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said. The Lord rebulce thee.
The apostle had charged the seducers, against whom he wrote, with opposition of magistracy, and contemptuous speaking against those lights which God had set in the church ; he now cometh to aggravate their effrontery and impudence by the carriage of Michael the arch- angel towards the devil. • In the comparison there is an argument a majore ad minus, from the greater to the less, which is evidently seen in all the circumstances of the text.
1. In the persons contending, Michael the archangel with the devil. If Michael, so excellent in natm-e, so high in office, contending
VeR. 9.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JUDE. 241
with Satan, an impure spirit, already j lidded by God, used such modesty and awe, who are they, sorry creatures, that dare despise per- sons invested with the dignity and height of magistracy ?
2. There is an aggravation from the cause, ' when he disputed with him about the body of Moses' a matter just, and in which the mind of God was clearly known ; and dare they ' speak evil of things they know not ' ? that is, in matters so far above their reach to take upon them to ensure 1 and determine ?
3. There is an aggravation taken from the disposition of the angel, ' he durst not bring against him a railing accusation.' His holiness ■would not permit him to deal with the devil in an indecent and injurious manner. But these rashly belch out their reproaches and curses against superiors without any fear.
4. In the manner of speech, ' the Lord rebuke thee.' The whole judgment of the cause is referred to God ; but these Gnostics take upon them as if the whole judgment of things, persons, and actions were left in their hands, as our modern Quakers take upon them to curse and to pronounce dreadful judgments upon God's most holy servants according to their own pleasm-e. The sum of the whole is this, if an angel that is great in power durst not bring against the worst creatures, in the very heat of contention about a good cause, any undue language and reproach, certainly it is a horrible impudence in men to speak contemj^tuously, yea, in a cursing and blaspheming man- ner, of those whom God hath advanced to superiority in church or commonwealth.
This is the sum of the words ; but because this scripture is difficult, before I come to the observations, I shall premise some explicatory questions.
Quest. 1. Whence had the apostle this story ; the scriptures making no mention of it ?
Ans. The substance of it is in vscripture. We read, Deut. xxxiv. 6, that the body of Moses was secretly buried by the Lord. But now for the circumstances of it. He might receive them by divine revela- tion, which are here authorised and made scripture ; and indeed it is usual with the penmen of holy writ to add such circumstances as were not mentioned in the place where the history was first recorded, as in Exodus we read of the opposition of the magicians to Moses ; but their names are mentioned, 2 Tim. iii. 8, ' As Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses.' The whole story of their contest with him is in the Talmud ; and in Apuleius, and other histories, we read that these were famous magicians. So Ps. cv. 18, we read that Joseph's ' feet were hurt in fetters, and he was laid in iron,' which, in the story in Genesis, appeareth not; so Moses quaking, Heb. xii. 21, and the following of the water of the rock, 1 Cor. x. 1, 2. Those things might be received by tradition or divine inspiration, or were extant in some known book and record then in use. Origen quoteth a book, Trepl ttj/a\);-»|^e(w? tuv MoDaew<;, about the assumption of Moses, for this history, some remain- ders of which are in the books of the Jews unto this day. Capellus, I remember, repeateth a long tale out of the book called Babboth,^ or the mystical expositions of the Pentateuch, concerning the altercation ^ Qu. ' censure ' ? — Ed.
VOL. V. Q
242 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [VeR. 9.
between Michael and Samael, or the archangel and the devil, about the body, or rather soul, of Moses; and how God, to save it from Samael, sucked out his soul from the body by a kiss : but the story is so fabulous that I shall not repeat it. See Capelli SpicUeg. in locum, pp. 128, 129.
Quest. 2. Is this a real history, or an allusion ?
Ans. There are three opinions about this. (1.) One is, that it is a figurative expression of God's care for his church ; and they that go this way by the body of Moses understand either the whole body of the Levitical worship, or else the community of Israel, represented in Joshua the high priest, who ' stood before the angel of the Lord,' Zech. iii. 1,2,' and Satan at his right hand ready to resist him ; and the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, the Lord, that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee.' In Joshua the Levitical worship newly restored is figured, and the angel of the Lord, before whom he stood, is Christ, the judge, advocate, and defender of the church ; and the Lord, that is, the Lord Christ, called ' the angel ' before, puts forth the efiicacy of his mediation against this malicious opposition of Satan. So some accommodate this text to the sense of that place ; and the main reason is, because of the form here used, ' The Lord rebuke thee.' This sense is argute, but not so solid. Junius, who first pro- pounded it, seemeth to distrust it. The reason is of no force, for the same form might be used on divers occasions ; and my reasons against it are, because these expressions are typical and visional. Now to make a type of a type, especially in the New Testament, which usually explaineth the difiSculties of the Old, seemeth irrational ; and though by Michael Christ may be intended, yet the change from Joshua to Moses is too much forced. (2.) Others conceive that it is not a his- tory, but a Talmudic fiction and parable ; and that Jude, in citing it, doth not approve the story as true, but only urgeth it upon them for their instruction, who were mightily pleased with this kind of fables : as the fathers against the heathens did often make use of their own stories and fictions concerning their gods ; such condescensions are frequent. But against this opinion ; it seemeth to be urged here by way of downright assertion, not as an argument ad homines, and by Peter on the like occasion : 2 Peter ii. 11, ' Whereas angels, that are greater in might and power, bring not a railing accusation against them before the Lord.' I say, he doth not urge it as a Jewish fable, but as a real argument taken from the nature of the holy angels. (3.) There is another opinion, that it is a real history, namely, that the devil was earnest to discover the place of Moses' grave, and to take up his body again, wherein he was resisted by Michael, some principal and chief angel, and his attempts made fruitless by this holy and modest address to God, ' The Lord rebuke thee,'