Michael is a created being -- the archangel Michael -- which is clearly stated in Scripture.
This is blatantly false.
Jesus is God the Word, the Creator of Michael.
This is true in the sense that Christ is self-originating.
Only the cultists believe...
Us and them... Yada, yada
Identifying Michael as the tangible manifestation of Jesus is similar to what is known as a Christophany. The name “Michael” appears only 15 times in the Bible. Since ten of them are, for the most part, people listed in genealogies, it should be fairly easy to identify who he really is with the remaining five references. Those references are: Daniel 10:13, 21, 12:1, Jude 1:9, Revelation 12:7. Let’s examine each of them one by one:
Jude 1:9: “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.”
This text identifies Michael as the “archangel.” The only other place in the Bible that uses this term is 1 Thessalonians 4:16:
“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.”
Here we read that Jesus has the “voice of the archangel.” He is not borrowing the voice of another being. No, it is
literally his voice, because it is at the sound of his voice that the dead are raised from their graves. Compare this with the following texts:
“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. … Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” (John 5:25, 28-29)
In no uncertain terms, we see here that Jesus is that archangel whose voice raises the dead. It’s noteworthy that the dispute is over the
body of Moses, who later we see
resurrected (Matthew 17:3). The fact that Jesus, and not Satan, has the power to resurrect, this grants us more evidence as to who Michael actually is and why Satan tried to resist him.
Additionally, there is a striking parallel between Jude 1:9 and Zechariah 3:2: “And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” The rebuking is, in fact, done by “the LORD.
Daniel 12:1: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:1-2)
This next text transitions well with the three we just examined because here we also find the resurrection of the dead taking place at the appearance of the archangel. Angels do not have the power to resurrect the dead. That is a prerogative of deity. It is not Michael, as a created angelic being, raising the dead… it is Jesus, manifested as “Michael,” who resurrects the dead.
Daniel 10:13: “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.”
This text calls Michael “one of the chief princes.” Contextually there are two other princes mentioned, the
Prince of Persia (verse 13) and the
Prince of Grecia (verse 20). Princes are above other people so it follows that these princes are “chief” among their people. Obviously, when the passage says
one of it is referring to the princes that the passage is talking about.
Young’s Literal Translation offers an alternative reading, “and lo, Michael, first of the chief heads…” Both
first or
one of are appropriate translations because Daniel 12:1 says that Michael is the “great” prince. Thus, though there are two other princes, Michael is the
first and
greatest of them all.
Revelation 12:7: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.”
This text identifies Michael as the commander of angels (“
his angels”). This interpretation works very well with the actual meaning of the word “archangel.”3 The greek word ἀρχάγγελος literally means, “
chief of the angels.” Thus Michael is the leader of all the heavenly angels.
Daniel 10:21: “But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.” (Daniel 10:21).
Probably the most significant detail about this verse is that it identifies Michael as the leader of God’s people as well. This is deduced from the fact that it says “your prince” in contrast to the other two princes which belong to Persia and Greece.
What we have gathered so far is strong evidence for Christophany when it comes to the appearance of Michael:
A) Jesus, not an angel, is the one who resurrects the dead:
“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25)
B) Jesus, not an angel, is the one who commands and leads the angels:
“The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity.” (Matthew 13:41)
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True… And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” (Revelation 19:11-14)
C) And Jesus, not an angel, is the leader of God’s people:
“But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” (1 Corinthians 11:3)
Putting all this together we are presented with two options: either there are two Beings in heaven, each performing the same roles, or one being. Either both Jesus
and Michael resurrect the dead, commands the angels and leads God’s people, or Jesus
as Michael resurrects the dead, commands the angels and leads God’s people. In light of the evidence presented I think any reasonable Bible student well understands that only Jesus has the power to perform all three of these tasks.
