Charles Spurgeon Commentary Jude 1:9

"But Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing judgment, but said, The Lord rebuke thee." — Jude 1:9 (ASV)

Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

I do not know when that happened, yet I believe it, because it is here. When we are called to dispute, whether it be about the law, which might be regarded as the body of Moses, or about the gospel, which is the body of Christ, — let us use no railing accusations, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Let us be satisfied with hard arguments and soft words; and when we feel that our own rebuke will be useless, let us simply say, "The Lord rebuke thee."

Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

To what does this refer? I am sure I do not know. I cannot think it refers to anything recorded in the Old Testament, but to some fact known to Jude, who here speaks by revelation and records it.

We believe it, and learn from it that, when an archangel disputes with the devil, he does not use hard words even against him, for hard words are evidence of the weakness of the cause which they are used to support.

Hard arguments softly put, are the truly effective weapons, but it takes some of us a long time to learn this. And generally, in our younger days, we wear away our own strength by the violence with which we use it.