“But when Michael the archangel had a difference with the Devil and was disputing about Moses’ body, he did not dare to bring a judgment against him in abusive terms, but said: ‘May Jehovah rebuke you.’

Jesus was the antitype foreshadowed by Moses, the great mediator and leader of the congregation of Israel.

God himself disposed of Moses’ body by burial, and “no man knoweth of his sepulchre”. (Deut. 34:5, 6)

“But when Michael the archangel had a difference with the Devil and was disputing about Moses’ body, he did not dare to bring a judgment against him in abusive terms, but said: ‘May Jehovah rebuke you.’” (Jude 9)

³³ Nor does Moses’ inspired account of the creation of the human soul agree with V.

Rishi and say anything about an “intermediary element called perispirit [surrounding spirit] or fluid body.”

“Then Moses took them off their palms and made them smoke upon the altar on top of the burnt offering.

The wave offering is completed by Moses’ taking the portions from the hands of Aaron and his sons and burning them upon the altar on top of the burnt offering.

This fact became still clearer after God raised up his prophet Moses and gave a wonderful body of laws through Moses to the nation of Israel.

27. Into what is baptism for salvation today, and who get it?

²⁷ God used Moses to predict that there was coming a Prophet like him but greater than he was.

The apostle Peter plainly points out that this Greater Moses who was to come is the Lord Jesus Christ.

The issue involved “Moses’ body.”

10. When and how was the first-century governing body expanded, and how did Christ use it to guide God’s household?

¹⁰ The original members of the first-century governing body were apostles, men who had walked with Jesus and had been witnesses of his death and resurrection. (Acts 1:21, 22)

By the year 49 C.E. at the latest, the governing body had been expanded to include not only the remaining apostles but also a number of other older men in Jerusalem. (Acts 15:2)

14. What comparison between the accounts in Acts and Galatians shows that Christ was directing matters with regard to the meeting of the governing body dealing with circumcision?

¹⁴ Similarly, an attentive reading of the Scriptures shows clearly that Christ was behind the important meeting of the governing body held to settle the question as to whether Gentile Christians should submit to circumcision and the Law of Moses or not.

This is why, as the medical profession has established, this precious stream courses through our bodies normally once every twenty-three seconds to bring life-sustaining elements to the various tissues of the body.

If such a practice was going on there in Egypt at the time that the prophet Moses led his people out of the land of Egypt in 1513 B.C.E., it did not escape the notice of the God of Moses.

Consider, too, what happened in the case of the prophet Moses.

Michael the archangel disputed with the Devil about Moses’ body, and Satan was foiled in any possible attempt to use it to ensnare the Israelites in relic worship. (Jude 9)

20. (a) What further organizational refinement was made in 1976? (b) How do Branch Committees cooperate with the Governing Body?

²⁰ Since February 1, 1976, each of the branches of the Watch Tower Society has had a Branch Committee made up of capable men appointed by the Governing Body.

As representatives of the Governing Body for the country or countries under the supervision of their branch, these brothers must be faithful, loyal men.

Even Michael the archangel did not dare to use abusive terms when disputing with the Devil over the body of Moses, but said, “May Jehovah rebuke you.”​—Jude 9.

Members of the first-century Christian congregation willingly submitted themselves to the direction of the organization through its governing body.

When matters of dispute arose, they were referred for settlement to the entire body of the twelve apostles and the older men of influence who served in the Jerusalem congregation.

Apparently even his body was nowhere to be found; it was not left to be abused by his religious enemies.

It seems that in his case God disposed of his body just as he did the body of Moses, regarding which body Michael had a dispute with Satan.—Deut. 34:5, 6; Jude 9.

¹⁴ First on the occasion when the prophet Moses died on top of Mount Nebo.

Then, when the Son of God “had a difference with the Devil and was disputing about Moses’ body, he did not dare to bring a judgment against him in abusive terms, but said: ‘May Jehovah rebuke you.’”

³ But did not Jehovah give other laws before Moses’ time that branded violators?

Such a body of law governing special conduct toward a God-Ruler in all the affairs of life did not come into existence until God gave the Law to Israel through the mediator Moses in 1513 B.C.

While the “finger of God” wrote word for word the Ten Commandments, yet the rest of the large body of rules comprising the law covenant seems to have been given to Moses in the plenary manner.

Like Moses and Elijah, the small group of anointed Christians who take the lead today understand the importance of training others.

For decades the brothers of the Governing Body have been training men from among the other sheep to take the lead.