Problem: Jude records an account in which Michael the archangel and the devil have a dispute over the body of Moses, saying, “Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, `The Lord rebuke you!’ ” (v. 9) This account is not found in the OT and is also considered to be found in a pseudepigraphal book (false writing) titled The Assumption of Moses.

Solution: Just because the account is not found in any OT passages of Scripture doesn’t mean that the event did not occur. The Bible often cites truths from extra-biblical books, which contain, nevertheless, some true statements. A biblical author is not limited to citing only Scripture. All truth is God’s truth, wherever it is found.

Jesus and Michael the Archangel are not the same. Jesus is God in flesh, but Michael the Archangel is an angel which is a created being. Furthermore, there's a problem with the idea of an archangel becoming a human being. An archangel has certain characteristics consistent with being an angel. By definition, an angel is not a human being. So is not possible for an angel to become a human being because the attributes and nature of each are different. It would mean that the archangel Michael stopped existing as the archangel Michael. The essence of the mind and heart of an angel is tied to the nature of that angel. If that angel ceases to exist, the mind and the heart ceased to exist. So an angel cannot become a man.

Now some may then ask how can God become flesh. The truth is that the Word became flesh (John 1:1, 14). In other words, the single person of Jesus has two distinct natures the divine (Word) and the human. Jesus has two distinct natures (Col. 2:9). So, the divine nature never ceased being the divine nature. It continues in the person of Christ alongside human nature. We call this the hypostatic union and it is the correct teaching of who Christ is. Nevertheless, let's get back to the topic of whether or not Jesus and Michael the Archangel are the same.

- > Daniel 10:13, "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia."
- > Jude 9, "But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you.'"

In Jude 9 Michael would not pronounce judgment against the devil. Instead, he said, "the Lord rebuke you." If Michael and Jesus were the same, and Jesus is God in flesh, then Michael would have had the authority to rebuke the devil. But, since Michael deferred to the Lord, Michael is not the Lord. Instead, Michael is an Archangel, a created being.