In #Revelation 12:7-9— “Michael” the commander-in-chief of the angels, the One who casts satan from heaven is Jesus. Who is Michael? Question 1—Who is Michael? Some say Christ. Others, an angel. If Michael is Christ wouldn’t that make Christ a created angel and not God? Answer—The Bible is very clear that Christ is God the Son. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3; see also Hebrews 1:1-10). Christ is God, God the Son. He is also the Creator of all things. Therefore He is not a created being. As the texts states, nothing that was made or created was created without Him. If Christ were some kind of created being this text would be a contradiction. But now, who is Michael? Could the name Michael be one of Christ’s many titles? The name does mean, “one who is like God.” First we need to consider if Michael’s activities parallel the activities of Christ? The first verse we will consider is in the little book of Jude. Note that this verse is also the one by which many conclude that Michael is an angel: “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’” (Jude 1:9). Before we get into the definition of archangel and its use in the Bible, look carefully at the activity that is taking place here. There is only One being who can dispute with Satan over the eternal destiny of Moses or any soul—and it is not an angel. The word “archangel” comes from the a Greek word which actually means: 743 arcaggelov archaggelos {ar-khang-el-os} 1) archangel, or chief of the angels Question 2— Is Michael a created angel? We have assumed that he is based on his title. Is that a correct assumption, a Biblical one? Answer— Did you know that there is no place in the Bible where Michael is called or even described as an angel. The word “arch” means chief. Michael is chief of the angels not an angel. The fact that Michael is called the chief of the angels does not make Him a created angel any more than the fact that the president of the United States is commander-in-chief of the military makes him an enlisted soldier. Michael is the archangel, or the “chief of the angels.” The angels are His angels, He is over them. This truth is brought out further in the following verse in Revelation. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels” (Revelation 12:7). Now here is another important truth. There is in fact no place in the Bible where the term archangel is applied to an angel. It is not spoken of Lucifer who was once a covering cherub. (see Ezekiel 28:14) Neither is it applied to Gabriel who is considered one of the top angels (Luke 1:19; Daniel 10:21). The term archangel is only spoken of Michael. This Biblical evidence that Michael is the only being identified as the archangel in Scripture should lead us to do some thorough investigation about his true identity. Lets take a closer look at every verse we can find on this subject. The prophet Daniel gives us some very clear evidence about the true identity of Michael. He describes Michael as, “the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people” (Daniel 12:1). So here, from further Biblical evidence, Michael is the “great prince” who stands up for believers. We might still insist that angels stand up for believers, but no angel is ever identified as the “great prince.” The combination of this title with the activity can refer to only one and that is Christ. Only Christ is the great prince who stands for believers. Fortunately Daniel uses this “prince” terminology in a number of verses throughout His book. The final verse in Daniel 12:1 is the summation of these other verses. If we take a close look at the previous verses and the person and activity they describe, we will find that they identify the work and person of Christ. Daniel describes Christ as: The “Prince of princes” and the “the Messiah the Prince” (Daniel 8:25; 9:25). One of Daniels verses has the angel Gabriel calling Micheal: “one of the chief princes” and “your prince” (Daniel 10:13, 21). This first verse has Michael helping Gabriel against the forces of evil and prevailing, as only Christ can. We should note that the Bible elsewhere describes Jesus in this same Princely term: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). It could be that we have assumed that archangel means angel, when in fact it may not. The term archangel is only used two times in the New Testament, this first time in relation to Michael, as noted earlier in the book of Jude. And the second mention is in the context of the second coming of Christ: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Notice this second use speaks of the voice of the archangel in connection with the resurrection. According to John 5:25, 28 Jesus says that His voice will bring the dead forth from the tomb: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live” (John 5:25). “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice”(John 5:28). Paul says that the saints are resurrected by the voice of the archangel, the chief of the angels. Jesus says that they are resurrected by His voice. When we consider all the Biblical evidence about Michael we have to consider that we may have misunderstood his identity. He is the “great Prince,”one of the “chief princes,”the “Prince of princes,” Messiah the prince,” and our “prince.” This clear Biblical identity of Michael in no way undermines the divinity of Christ. If being the archangel makes Christ a created being, then taking the form of a dove made the Holy Spirit a bird or appearing in a burning bush makes God some kind of plant (see Matthew 3:16; Exodus 3:4). The majority of Bible texts on this subject describe Michael as the Prince. Only one verse in the entire Bible calls Michael the archangel and that term means chief of the angels. We ought not to take this one verse and use it to misinterpret all the other verses on this subject, especially when its meaning can be understood to harmonize with the others. Clearly then Jesus is Michael, the great Prince, the Messiah, One who is like God, the commander in chief of all His created angels, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 17:12:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015