is jesus the archangel michael?

Is Jesus the Archangel Michael?

http://mountainretreatorg.net/bible/michael.html[3/29/2012 8:20:00 PM]


by Tony Warren

A brief Introduction

Many theologians have puzzled over the question of who the archangel "Michael" really is? Is he just a strong angelserving God, is he the leader of all the angels of heaven, a ruling general over a literal army of God in the Kingdomwith weapons of battle to war against rebellious demons? Or is he the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the chiefmessenger of God. The fact that an extra biblical church group also teaches that Michael is Jesus Christ serves tomuddy the theological waters even more. But in truth, their doctrines should be irrelevant to whether a belief iscorrect biblically and based on sound hermeneutics. We are all aware that any false gospel that you can think of hassome truth in it's doctrines. This doesn't mean we throw out the truth because they might believe it also. If we aregoing to discern truth, it's going to be from the careful study of the scriptures, not from comparing beliefs with otherchurch groups. In this study, we will look at this question in the light of the scriptures and seek to glean the answers,not from tradition, but from it's pages.

Understanding Michael Archangel simply means the head or chief messenger. It's taken from the two Greek root words[archo], meaning the first in rule or power, and [aggelos] meaning messenger, or one who brings tidings.It is also translated as the chief or top messenger. The word [aggelos] (messenger) is also translated angel(in that an Angel is a messenger from God) to signify one who brings tidings from God.

One of the ways God puts forth spiritual truths is in the names He assigns in the Bible. From the nameAdam, to Israel, to David, to Christ, God assigns names which reveal some great spiritual truths. And thename Michael is no exception. If we study it carefully and honestly, it reveals who this is. The wordMichael is of Hebrew origin [miykael] and most nearly means "He who is assuredly God". Taken from theroot Hebrew words [miy] (who is), [kiy] (assuredly), and ['el] (God). Kiy, the prepositional prefix has alsobeen rendered as meaning "who is certainly God" or "who is as God". This is totally consistent with all ofscripture which deals with the work of Michael. For Christ, the messenger of God has or will do all thethings assigned to Michael, the head or chief Messenger. Christ is the Messenger of God in charge of thearmy of God. And He assuredly is God, and that is what the title God gives of "Michael" signifies.

One of the first objections by some theologians is that scripture says that Michael is "one of the ChiefPrinces".

Daniel 10:13

"But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, oneof the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia".

Their rationale is that God cannot be "one" of the Chief Princes. However there are two schools of thoughton this verse, and they both support the doctrine that Christ indeed can be one of the Chief rulers.

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1. The reference to Michael as one of the chief rulers or Princes is illustrating Christ's statusin the Trinity. i.e, one of the chief rulers or Kings in the Godhead, as demonstrated in versessuch as,

Acts 5:31

"Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to giverepentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins".

This is one of the Chief Princes or rulers in the triune Godhead and He rules on the throne ofGod.

2. The other way that this is understood is that this should be rendered first, rather than one.He is the First of the Chief princes. For example, Young's literal Translation reads:

Daniel 10:13

"And the head of the kingdom of Persia is standing over against me twenty and onedays, and lo, Michael, first of the chief heads, hath come to help me..." -YLT

As per Christ saying He is alpha and Omega, the First and the last in Revelation. Revelation2:8

"And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and thelast, which was dead, and is alive;"

Again pointing to the cross of Christ and that He is God! The First Resurrected from the dead,the first born, that in all things He might have preeminence.

Either way we look at it, whether first of the Chief rulers or one of the chief rulers, both illustrate His rulein the triune Godhead. When daniel says He is the only one to help, this in itself is a confirmation andillustration that this refers to the Messiah. Only the Messenger (not angel) of God could help in this. He isthe Prince who strengthens us and is our help in time of weakness. This is illustrated again in thefollowing verses of that chapter.

Daniel 10:21

"But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth withme in these things, but Michael your prince".

There is no one that holdeth with him but Michael? Not any other man, not any other angel, not God, noone? This would be illogical and unbiblical (since we know there is always a remnant and angels of God)until we understand that this is Christ and no one could help us but Him. Then of course it is perfectlylogical, for Christ is the only one who holdeth with us all in these things. He is our help! This is the truthnoted in scripture which this messenger has shown Daniel. Michael (the name signifying 'He who isassuredly God'), would be the only one who would help this in time of need.

Psalms 146:3-6

"Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:

Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:



There is no Prince either in heaven or in earth that anyone can put their trust in to help or strengthen usbut Christ our Prince of Peace. It is He that maketh reconciliation with us to God and who strengthens theCovenant in His blood (Hebrews 9:17). The same Word of God made flesh that the book of John (chapterone) reiterates created heaven and earth and all that is therein. He is Michael, the help of God's people thisprophesy is speaking of.

Note also, that this messenger tells Daniel that Michael is "His Prince". Who is the Prince or ruler ofDaniel (and indeed the Church) but Christ? He is our Prince who alone holdeth with us in these matters.There is none other name from which we can get our help to overcome, other than "He who is assuredlyGod". He is one of the chief rulers in the triune Godhead who is designated as our means of help. Withoutthis Prince standing for us, we don't stand, but fall!

The Angel or Messenger of the Lord, is God

The second objection is best illustrated in some theologians apparent misunderstanding of the word angel.Believe it or not, some theologians think because it says angel, it must be an angel and not the lord. Butthis only serves to highlight their reckless handling of scripture and lack of biblical scholarship. Becausethe precedent for the Lord being identified as an angel (messenger) is unquestionably demonstrated againand again very clearly in the scriptures. Christ is not an angel of the Lord, but He is the messenger of theLord. And that's what the words translated angel literally means. Let's look at this phrase "angel of theLORD" in the light of scripture and glean from it if God indeed uses scripture this way. Our first exampleis in Genesis 31.

Genesis 31:11-13

"And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.

And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked,speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.

I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me:now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred".

Here we see clearly the Angel of the Lord identifies Himself as God. That is because this is not an angelbut a messenger of God. We see clearly that this wording of "angel of the Lord" is quite consistent withthe chief messenger (archangel) being God. Again,

Genesis 48:15-16

"And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, theGod which fed me all my life long unto this day,

The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them,and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst ofthe earth".

Who is the Angel that redeemed him from evil but the lord Jesus Christ!

Luke 1:68

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,"



He is the redeeming Angel of God. There is no other redeemer but Christ! Therefore the redeeming angelof God must be the Lord Jesus Christ, one of three in the triune Godhead. One of the Chief rulers. We cansee again in the illustration of Christ in the example of the burning bush and Moses.

Exodus 3:2-6

"And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and helooked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of thebush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thoustandest is holy ground.

Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the Godof Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God".

Here we see that the angel (messenger) of the Lord in the midst of the burning bush, is identified in verses4 and 6 as the Lord God himself. Note that scripture says the bush burned but was not consumed. This is a"type" of Christ who went through the fires of Hell for us and yet was not consumed with the fire of God'swrath, neither did His flesh see corruption. As a refiners fire, we were purified in Christ's death and madeas precious as gold (Zechariah 13), he having been raised without being consumed. This angel of the Lordin the burning bush is a picture of Christ. And this picture extends to the New Testament as well.

Acts 7:30

"And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angelof the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.

When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of theLord came unto him,"

This angel of the Bush identified as "I AM" is none other than the Lord. And indeed Christ also illustratedthat He was this "I AM", as he spoke in John:

John 8:57-58

"Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM."

This is the Angel of the Lord in the burning bush saying, "say I AM hath sent me". It is the Messenger ofthe Covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not unusual that God appears to man as this Messenger of theLord. This word [mal'ak] or angel simply means Messenger, just as the New Testament word [aggelos]simply means messenger. A few examples illustrate this:

Matthew 11:10-11

"For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger [aggelos] before thy face, whichshall prepare thy way before thee.

Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than Johnthe Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he".



Is John the baptist an angel? No, yet here we have that word [aggelos] describing him. For he is amessenger of God, one who is "sent" with the tidings of God, the gospel message. That is what the wordsignifies. Again,

James 2:24-25

"Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers,[aggelos] and had sent them out another way?"

Of course those men Rahab the harlot sent out were men, not angels. But they were Messengers. This isthe exact same word aggelos, or messenger. Likewise in the old testament, the same Hebrew word forAngel [mal'ak] is the word used for Messenger. Because it "is" the word Messenger just as aggelos is. Notthe least of which is the Chief Messenger [mal'ak], the messenger of the Covenant, Jesus Christ himself.

Malachi 3:1

"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom yeseek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger [mal'ak] of the Covenant, whom yedelight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts".

This Angel or Messenger of the Covenant is again, the Lord Jesus Christ prophesied to come. And so wesee it not unusual at all, for these are words which mean messenger. Simply because the Spirit beings inheaven are messengers of God (Angels if you will) doesn't preclude others from being messengers also.Another example is in the story of Hagar.

Genesis 16:9-13

"And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under herhands.

And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not benumbered for multitude.

And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, andshalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.

And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him;and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said,Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?"

This is God inspired scripture illustrating that this Angel (Messenger) of the Lord was God Himselfspeaking to hagar..

Genesis 21:17-18

"And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and saidunto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation".

Who will make of Him a great nation but the Lord. He is this Messenger who called to hagar out of



heaven. Which again is illustrated in Genesis 22,

Genesis 22:15-18

"And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hastnot withheld thy son, thine only son:

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of theheaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of hisenemies;

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice".

It is God who will bless Abraham and multiply his seed and bless all the nations of the earth. He is thisAngel or messenger from the Lord who does these things. Again, as illustrated in the trek in thewilderness of Sinai in Exodus 14:19 as compared with Exodus 13:21.

Exodus 14:19

"And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; andthe pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:"

Exodus 13:21

"And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by nightin a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:"

It was God who went before them, He is the messenger or "angel of God". It is the same as the Lord! Thistitle is being used interchangeably:

Judges 13:21-22

"But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew thathe was an angel of the LORD.

And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God".

They were speaking with the Lord Himself, but it was not God the father in all His Glory because no manhath seen God the father and Lived. Moses just saw part of Him and lit up like a light bulb. No, we seeGod the father only on this side of the grave, only through Christ.

John 5:37

"And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard hisvoice at any time, nor seen his shape".

No man has heard the voice of the father or seen His shape at anytime. it is only through the Lord Jesuschrist, the messenger of God that we see him. The phrase archangel or Chief Messenger of the LORDmeans Jesus Christ one of the Princes or Rulers who is our Help.

Judges 2:1

"And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out ofEgypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never



break my covenant with you".

We know it was God who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt and brought them into the land which"HE" sware unto their fathers. The very fact that this angel of the Lord says it was His Covenant withthem should alert even the novice that this is indeed the Lord. Judges 6:20-23 also gives the clearillustration of this.

And so there is not only precedent, there is overwhelming evidence of the Lord being called the Angel orMessenger of God. So no one who is even remotely biblically astute should be surprised that Michael,being Christ, would be called the Chief Angel or Messenger of God. It's not unique, it's typical of the wayGod would speak of Him. And dealing with all the scriptures honestly (and these are by no means all) wemust come to the conclusion that God frequently uses the wording Angel to refer to the Lord! Angel in theliteral sense of a messenger.

The passages dealing with Michael, the angel of the Lord

So then, knowing all these things about the lord spoken of as the angel or Messenger, it is not difficult tounderstand how Jesus would be spoken of as the Chief messenger of the Lord. By itself, it doesn't proveMichael is the Lord Jesus Christ, but taken with the collective information about the chief messengerMichael it is practically a given.

Of course, I don't live in a theological vacuum so I'm well aware that seeing Michael as the ChiefMessenger Jesus Christ goes against the grain of what many Churches today teach. Nevertheless I amconvinced (by scripture) that this is indeed the case. Don't follow me, and don't follow them, follow thescriptures. Take all scripture in it's context, reconciling all, and we get a better picture of this Michael.Let's look at each passage where Michael is spoken about, and see just how (or if) it correlates.

The Voice of the Archangel

1st Thessalonians 4:16

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, andwith the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet theLord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord".

Here we see clear language where God says the Lord will come with the Voice of the Archangel or rulingor head Messenger. Why would God say that Jesus will return with the voice of the archangel, and it besomeone else's voice? That makes no sense. He returns with the voice of Michael (He who assuredly isGod), Christ's voice that will raise the dead and that the Church will hear and meet him in the air. Notsome created being's voice, the voice of the Lord. In common language, that would be like me saying, "I'mgoing to Florida tomorrow, and will return with a shout of the voice of Micahel". That doesn't make muchsense unless I am Micahel. I've learned long ago that it is extremely difficult to un-teach something whichhas been taught and accepted as true, and this doctrine that Michael is an angel is just such a case. Rightlydiscerning scripture is work, which I suppose is why so few bother to search this out. But to be sure theLord raises the dead with His voice, it is this voice of the Chief Messenger of God.

John 5:26-29



"For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear Hisvoice,

And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that havedone evil, unto the resurrection of damnation".

Not will hear the voice of an angel, but will hear "His" voice, for he is the Chief messenger of God calledMichael who's voice we shall hear. Christ Jesus! This is the Shout, this is the Great noise, this is the voiceof the Archangel, this is the last trump of God and the presence of the lord. These things are all spiritualpictures denoting the last trumpet and Christ's advent.

Exodus 19:16-18

"And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and athick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people thatwas in the camp trembled.

And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the netherpart of the mount.

And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and thesmoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly".

Hebrews 12:18-19

"For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor untoblackness, and darkness, and tempest,

And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that theword should not be spoken to them any more:"

This is the Glory of God which shall come, this is the voice of the Chief messenger, the archangel, theLord God himself. When the trumpet shall sound, and Christ comes with this voice of the chiefmessenger, all shall have been fulfilled.

The Devil and the body of Moses

Another passage we need to look at carefully which speaks of this archangel is Jude chapter 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".

In one passage of scripture we see Michael and His army at war with the Devil and his army, but here wesee him in dispute about the body of Moses, not wanting to judge for his accusations. Is there acontradiction? No, because God is painting spiritual pictures by using this language. There is no angelwhich has the power to contend with Satan. Satan is ruler of this world, the strong one who held the worldin bondage with a heavy hand. The only Messenger who could contend with him and ransome then fromhis hand is Christ! Once Satan was defeated by the death of Christ, they then rule over him "through"



Christ. Christ is the one who contended with the Devil about the body of Moses.

The "body of Moses" is signifying the body of the law under which the congregation was burdened, andwhich "only" Christ could be the help. Under the New Covenant with God, we are no longer burdened forChrist keeps the law for us perfectly, that we no longer sit condemned under. When God speaks of thescriptures, He often uses the phrase or term, "Moses and the Prophets" or "the law of Moses" or the"commandments of Moses". Of course we know that it's not Moses' law or his commands, it's God's law.But God uses these terms as a synonym for the law of God under which we sit condemned under the OldTestament (the body of Moses). A few examples:

1st Corinthians 9:9

"For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth outthe corn. Doth God take care for oxen?"

This language is a synonym for the law of God, the scriptures. For Moses was the Old Testament "type" ofChrist, and his body would be the Congregation under law, made like unto Christ as a "shadow" of thingsto come. We can see this as it speaks of the "angel of God" on the mountain.

Acts 7:37-38

"This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raiseup unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mountSina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: "

Again, Christ, the angel or messenger which spake to Moses on the Mountain. And He who God raised uplike unto Moses, is Christ, the fulfilment of the "type". Him shall the people hear! Moses, and the law ofMoses, is being pictured as the word or the law of God which man is under. But it is only in Christ thatwe can keep the law and will hear Him! Not in the body of Moses (the law) but in the body of Christ(Grace, or not under law).

2nd Corinthians 3:15

"But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart".

God uses the language "when Moses is read" to signify the law or the Word. Even when Jesus told theparable of Lazarus and the Rich man in Hell, when the Rich man said he wanted to go back to warn hisbrethren about the horrors of Hell, it was said to him, "they have Moses and the prophets (the law of thescriptures), let them hear it". But the rich man protested still that they needed more and would believe ifone rose from the dead to tell them. To which the Lord put forth the illustration..

Luke 16:31

"And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded,though one rose from the dead".

God again is signifying here that if one won't listen to the law, they won't listen to Christ who rose fromthe dead. That's the Spiritual truth put forth here. And God is using Moses as this synonym for the law ofGod. Before Jesus was Crucified, we see Moses and Elijah come to him (again, a picture of the WITNESSof the law and the prophets). Revelation chapter 11, again the two witnesses, a picture that the Churchbringing the witness of the law and the prophets. These are all spiritual significations. But Christ came tofulfill the law that the Body of Moses, (God's people under law) could be set free from the law. As Christsaid,



Matthew 5:17

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but tofulfil".

The law of Moses stands, it's just that it is fulfilled or in other words, kept fully in Christ. In that sense, thelaw has ended for God's people. That is the dispute of the Devil with Michael! Satan uses the law toaccuse us (for we are all transgressors of the law), but Christ foiled his plans.

Romans 10:4-5

"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth".

For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those thingsshall live by them".

The Body of Moses is the law which the Old Testament saints couldn't keep anymore than we can. Satanaccuses them (and us) by the law. Christ opened not His mouth (as a lamb is dumb before the slaughter) asHe went to the cross because He stood laden with our sins, being our help, and was therefore guilty in thereal sense. As Isaiah 53 says, God saw the travail of His soul and was satisfied with the payment. He paidthe price for us, and delivered the body of Moses from death! We are now free from the condemnation ofthe law.

In Jude 9 when Michael (who assuredly is God the ruling Messenger) contends with the devil, He disputedabout the body of Moses because it was war. Christ went forth conquering and he by the Power of Godcast Satan (the great accuser) out and spoiled his kingdom of us. He set us Free! And God says, if this betrue, then the Kingdom of God had come. Michael did cast out satan by the power of God, and so thekingdom of God "had" come. Israel had been delivered. Satan had nothing to accuse us with the lawanymore.

Matthew 12:26-29

"And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shallbe your judges.

But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind thestrong man? and then he will spoil his house".

This is the dispute with Satan about the body of the law. He went to the cross willingly and opened notHis mouth. He didn't bring against him a railing accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke thee." ..why?Because He was guilty, numbered with the transgressors for us. Laden with our sins He willingly went tothe cross to atone for the transgressions of the law which we have broken. He couldn't say, "wrong Satan,the law doesn't condemn", because it did. Rather than accuse as Satan does, He assigned Satan's judgment(for every unrighteous thought is judged) unto the father, and went as a lamb to the slaughter to pay theprice for the sin that He had become, for us.

2nd Corinthians 5:21

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousnessof God in him".



And being guilty with our sin, He suffered the wrath of God. He brought not accusation because thoughHe was without sin, yet He carried our sins to the cross with him, thus satan's judgment would not beargued by the guilty, but by the raised Christ, in Righteousness.

Another of the chief complaints about Michael being Christ by some theologians is that they say that thefact that He says, "The Lord rebuke thee", means that he is not the Lord. But again, this shows their lackof careful study on the matter, as this event is pictured in the book of Zechariah.

Zechariah 3:1-3

"And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satanstanding at his right hand to resist him.

And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosenJerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?"

You will note as satan stood at the right hand of Christ to contend with Him, "The Lord" said to satan,"The Lord" rebuke thee! And so we see that argument goes right out the window because we have Joshua(or Jesus) clearly being called the Lord, and then clearly saying, The Lord rebuke thee. Again, instances ofthe three persons of the triune Godhead revealed. In both Jude 9 and Zechariah chapter 3 this is Jesus, theangel of the LORD who is resisted by Satan. It is Michael, the archangel, contending with Satan for legalrights to the body of Moses.

Satan's judgment is commended unto the father, Christ would not bring accusation for He was guilty bythe law by being laden with our sins, and the Father would pour out his wrath upon him for us.

Isaiah 53:4-5

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smittenof God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement ofour peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed".

So burdened was He with them that great drops of blood poured off him in the garden. Man in this life willnever know the agony which Christ suffered for the sins of the world. He took on flesh for us that Hecould pay the wages of Sin required by the law, in the flesh. To suffer death so that we could not beaccused. And once the price was paid, the accuser satan was cast out of the Kingdom of God, no longerable to accuse and hold death over our heads because we couldn't keep the law of Moses. No longer is thebody held in bondage because of him, it is now free, dead to sin, raised to life in Christ! Because He tookin Him the seed of Abraham, they are set free. This is delineated in such verses as,

Hebrews 2:14-16

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took partof the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham".

This is the Body of Moses. The Old testament body, the old Testament temple, the Old testamentsacrifices, the Old Testament law, etc., are fulfilled or completed in Christ. The law has no more powerover us because of what He did. This is explained beautifully in Romans chapter seven.



Romans 7:1-6

"Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominionover a man as long as he liveth?

For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; butif the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called anadulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, thoughshe be married to another man.

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should bemarried to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit untoGod".

For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in ourmembers to bring forth fruit unto death.

But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should servein newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter".

By the language of of being married to "another" illustrates that God's people were betrothed to the bodyof the law before. That was our husband, that was the body of Moses that Christ disputed with Satanabout. As those verses above indicate, there was only one way for us to be loosed from this husband, andthat was the same way any woman can be loosed from her husband. If he be dead, then is she free.

In other words, this Word of truth is signifying that all unsaved people are married to the law of God. Thatis to say, even as the husband is to have dominion over the wife where she is to be in subjection to him(1st Peter 3:1-5), so the law has dominion over every unsaved person where they likewise are subject tothe law. And man is condemned by this law. But as the word says, even as a human marriage is broken bydeath so that the woman is free from the law of her husband, so we are dead unto the law of Moses, freethat the law has no more dominion over us. We can legitimately (legally) become the bride of Christ"only" because we are no longer married to the body of Moses (the Law).

Those verses illustrate that we are loosed from that body of Moses or old testament law, and married to thelaw of Christ! Michael (He who assuredly is God) has prevailed and conquered Satan and his army, hence,the "dispute" about the body of Moses, was won by Christ at the cross?

The Time when Michael shall Stand up

The next verse which we will look at which shows Michael this chief Messenger is in Daniel chapter 12.There we read,

Daniel 12:1

"And at that time shall Michael stand up, The Great Prince which standeth for the children of thypeople: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to thatsame time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written inthe book.

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and someto shame and everlasting contempt".



This again is in reference to Christ's second advent as it says again the dead shall rise and those who arewritten in the book shall be delivered. Some are raised to everlasting life and some are raised toeverlasting contempt. This time of trouble correlates to the Great tribulation period which Jesus spokeabout in matthew 24, saying in verses 29 to 31 that immediately after this tribulation, Christ would returnon the clouds of Glory with the trump of God. This is the time of trouble, such as never was since therewas a nation even to that same time, when the people shall be delivered. And so we see this is all goingalong consistently with the coming of the Lord, and this Messenger Michael being Christ!

Also note it says "The Great Prince". Who would be described as the Great Prince which stands up for thepeople when the dead are raises, but Christ? No one else qualifies as the great Prince to Help in this timeof the raising of the dead to life and judgment. Christ is illustrated as this Great Prince throughoutscripture.

Isaiah 9:6

"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, ThePrince of Peace".

This is the only Great Prince which stands for the people. It is because this great Prince stands for "HisPeople" that they shall never fall, and that they have Peace with God, and that they are not judged withdeath as the unsaved will be. This is the Great prince Michael which stands for the people. When speakingabout the rejection of Israel of Christ, we read,

Acts 3:14-15

"But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses".

In this Prince only, do we stand and do we find our help. Because He stands, we stand, for He is ourstrength, our deliverer and our Saviour.

Acts 5:30-31

"The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance toIsrael, and forgiveness of sins".

This is He who is assuredly God, who is the great Prince which standeth for the People. That is what theTitle Michael stands for. God says besides him, there is no Saviour (Isaiah 43:11, 45:21). This is the greatPrince who loves us and who stands for the people.

Revelation 1:5

"And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and thePrince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his ownblood,"

Because He stands for us, we stand in Righteousness, in Him! No better illustrated than in Ephesians.

Ephesians 6:11-14

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.



"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against therulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate ofrighteousness;"

Christ is this Robe of righteousness we wear, this sword which is the Word this armour of God. We Standin Him only, because He stands for the people. He is our defense, and our strength. It is by this greatPrince that we are those who are raised unto everlasting life, while the unsaved are raised unto everlastingcontempt. We are washed in His blood that in God's eyes, we are righteous. And it is only by He whoassuredly is God that we can stand before God, without condemnation on that great day of the Lord.

Michael and the War in Heaven

This is the passage which is the most controversial about Michael. Some Theologians see this as an"actual" war that took place literally in heaven. This, despite the fact that the whole chapter is so obviouslyusing symbolic terms and figurative language. Even without looking hard we can note the obviousinconsistencies of such an interpretation. We see this pregnant Woman in this heaven. Is this a LiteralWoman floating around in literal heaven? Immediately we say that's ludicrous. So then how do we make awoman who is not literally floating in a literal heaven symbolic, and then in the next few verses take thatsame heaven and make it a literal war in literal heaven? It bridges on the ridiculous. Further, the starswere cast from this heaven by the tail of this dragon. And remember, the Dragon is in that same heavenaccosting the pregnant woman. Literal? Hardly, yet again some theologians totally ignore this and claimit's a literal war in heaven of Michael and angels. This is sloppy exegesis of the highest order. This heavenis a symbolic picture (vision) of the Kingdom of God and how there was spiritual warfare as Christ(Michael) came to cast the accuser out. Remember what we saw about His disputing with the Devil aboutthe body of Moses? This is all related. Christ came to cast the accuser down and establish the Kingdom ofGod in Righteousness in Him. When we see the symbolism in Revelation chapter 12 of Michael and Hismessengers fighting against the Satan and his messengers, it is a picture of Christ, the ruling Messengergoing forth in war against Satan and those He rules over. They are the two who have battled from the verybeginning (Gen. 3:15). Christ against Satan to help the Woman. To be sure, there is no Chief Messenger orangel who could defeat Satan and kick him out of the kingdom except Christ! He is the ruling messengerwith the title of Michael who defeated Satan at the cross. Not an Angel. Let's look at the pertinentscriptures.

Revelation 12:7-9

"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragonfought and his angels,

And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

and the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth thewhole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him".

The symbolism of Satan as the serpent who bruised Christ's heel is well established as taking place at thecross. The warfare was a Spiritual warfare, not in literal heaven. When Revelation chapter 12 speaks ofthis woman "travailing in birth", it is talking about the pains that the Congregation Israel was goingthrough at the time before the first advent of Christ. Israel was in a state of trouble. Her paths werecrooked, and the prophets and priests were gone out of the way that an apostasy had overcome it.



Scripture says the Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence until John, and the violent take it by force (Matt.11:12). This is the woman in heaven and satan accosting her! This was a time of trouble and Israel ispictured as a woman in the pains of birth, who needs to be delivered (Jeremiah 4:31). This is all thepicture of the Kingdom of God and how it would come to be loosed from the grip of death which theaccuser held over it.

When Isaiah prophesies of this and says Jerusalem's warfare was accomplished, it wasn't talking aboutliteral war with swords or staves. It's a warfare infinitely more important. We see this pictured gloriouslyas Jesus sends the Seventy out two by two with the gospel, and they returned saying SATAN couldn'tHARM them, (ye shall take up serpents -mark 16) and even the spirits were subject to them. Christ'sMessengers (not angels) had this Power, because of what Christ did. Their battle gear was the Sword ofthe Spirit, which is the Word of God. That was what they battled with, and their victory was assured inChrist! listen and HEAR what Jesus tells His messengers as He sends them out two by two.

Luke 10:16-18

"He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you despiseth Me; and he that despiseth Medespiseth Him that sent Me.

Jesus is saying here, if they fight you, they are fighting Me, and if they fight Me, they fight against God.I.e., he is telling them they represent God and any enmity against Christ's Messengers, is then enmityagainst God! ..It Continues in verse 17,

And the 70 returned again with joy, saying, LORD, even the DEVILS are SUBJECT unto usthrough THY name.

You see, Satan has no power to stand against them. It was by the Power of Christ that the devils weresubject to these Messengers of the Lord, because He, Michael, was assuredly God, and they could notstand against Him. The Seventy Christ sent out rejoiced at this! Note "carefully" in the next verse, Christ'sresponse to their Joy over their victory over devils..

And He said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven."

And that falling is exactly what the verses of Revelation chapter 12 is referring to when it says Satan wasthen cast out. This signifies that Satan had no more power over the army of God, and the kingdom ofHeaven would go forth to the world because of it. That accuser Satan would be cast out of it, and thebondage wherewith he held men would be broken by the Cross. This episode was a picture of what thefinished work of Christ would do. It would destroy (bring Him down/Idle) Satan (Hebrews 2:14), so thatthe saints could be free from his bondage whereby he held death over them. His accusations against theBody would now ring hollow as Christ's death put teeth to the Covenant. Christ would now build HisChurch, and the gates of Hell would not prevail over it. Satan has been defeated, cast out, and bound thatthe Lord could FREE the prisoners and Build His Church. The same picture of Joy as the Woman isdelivered Jesus talked about. A Victory by the blood of the lamb (Rev. 12). The Kingdom sufferedviolence, but Christ would bring peace.

Hebrews 2:14

"..that through death, He might destroy him that hath the power of death, that is the devil,

and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."

Satan was cast out of the kingdom making it secure. He was the accuser of the brethren by law because heheld them in bondage with the fear of death over them, but Christ delivered us from that bondage bypaying the wages of sin for us, and thus cast the accuser (sin) out. we are no longer in bondage to sin, nolonger in bondage to Satan. Christ Conquered Him and he as lightning fell from heaven. When Jesus told



the seventy that He saw Satan as lightning (God's judgment) fall from heaven, this is what he was talkingabout. He saw the Victory of the cross that make the saints more than conquerors in their spiritual warfare.Christ cast out the serpent and keeps the messengers from harm by the scorpions and dragon and all powerof the enemy (see the Revelation chapter 12 study).

Some people forget the symbolism of Revelation, and get confused with looking at impossibleinterpretations. Christ gave us the power to overcome Satan and that NOTHING Satan could do can harmus. He can Kill us, have us stoned to death, or fed to the Lions, but ultimately, he has lost and has nopower in the Kingdom because his accusations (sin) mean nothing because of Christ's Work. He cannotharm us in any way, and certainly not by false Gospel. Again,

Luke 10:18

"...I beheld Satan as Lightning fall from heaven. Behold I give you power to tred on SERPENTSand SCORPIONS, and over all power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

There are some misguided souls who want to go out into the desert and handle literal snakes. But that's notwhat's in view. When Mark 16 says we can pick up serpents and not be harmed, and when this verse sayswe can tred on serpents and scorpions and not be hurt, what is in view is Satan. "He" is the Serpent thatcannot harm us, not a snake in the grass. "He" is the scorpion whose sting in his tail cannot harm us.These are Symbolic terms, not putting forth a promise of literal immunity from snakes or crawlers of thenight like Scorpions!

This is the symbolism of God's Word, and unless we start listening to God's Word, we cannot begin toknow what's what as far as interpretation. We will leave ourselves open for any type of deception. Butwhen you get it from the Bible, by the Holy Spirit that tells you it's true, you know that you are on the righttrack. It was Christ who cast Satan from heaven, not an Angel, and it's through Christ that we have thepower over serpents, scorpions, and poisonous gospel drinks. Not literal poisons, but the poisons from thelips of Satan's false Prophets.

And how did these Messengers of Michael (He who is assuredly God) overcome Satan and hismessengers? Don't ask man, get it DIRECTLY from the scriptures. And scripture tells us.....

Revelation 12:10

"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is come Salvation and strength, and the Kingdomof our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of the brethren is cast down, which accusedthem before our God day and night."

The accuser of the brethren is sin. Satan is the essence, the embodiment of sin. But at the cross Michael(Christ) cast down the accuser by purging us from sin, and destroying (bringing idle down) Satan who heldthis fear of death over us (Hebrews. 2:14). we read, Now has come Salvation and Strength! At the victoryof the Cross, not by swords and fighting in literal Heaven.

Revelation 12:11

"And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and theyloved not their lives unto the death."

The Messengers of Michael overcame Satan how? By attacking them with swords or clubs in literalheaven? God forbid, but by the Blood of Christ, and by the WORD of their testimony, and they loved nottheir lives even unto death. Were they testifying in heaven? No, their testimony is in earth. ..Even untodeath! Can angels die? Study these scriptures carefully, and you will see that it refers symbolically to



Christ defeating Satan and his messengers, and they and he, were cast out of the kingdom of Heaven, andthe Kingdom given to another (see matthew 8:10-12 carefully). Those who Jesus said were of their fatherthe Devil, are the messengers of the Dragon. Those who Jesus were talking about in Matthew saying theChildren of the Kingdom would be cast out, are those who fought with Satan "against Him". They are theunsaved messengers of Israel (the Kingdom). They are the fallen messengers blinded in part (except for theremnant). This is the Spiritual battle fought at the cross. Satan fought and lost, and his house was spoiled.He "NO LONGER" can accuse the brethren because they are no longer of his household, under thebondage of sin. Christ cast Satan out of the Kingdom of God and made it so we could be freed fromcaptivity there. Consider wisely...

Matthew 12:28-29

"But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you,

or else how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he first Bind thestrong man? and then He will spoil his goods".

Christ "did" cast out devils by the Spirit of God, and so the kingdom of God had indeed come unto them.And He was the one who spoiled (took by right of conquest) the goods of Satan. Those goods were youand I who the accuser Satan held in bondage to sin. But note that Jesus tells us, FIRST Satan had to bebound! i.e., Satan was bound at the cross in order that Christ could spoil his house. By the cross is devilscast out and the accuser can no longer make accusation of us because of sin, for sin has been washedaway. Because of the work of Christ sin has been paid for, and now is Salvation and the kingdom of ourGod come "without the accuser" in it! Sin cannot condemn us anymore. No serpent can hold us anymore,nor hurt us anymore. We overcame him by the blood of the lamb. That is the marvelous symbolism here inverse eleven. When we look at this biblically and logically, who can cast satan out of the Kingdom ofheaven but Christ Himself? No one can but He who assuredly is God. Michael, our Prince who standethfor the people!

Conclusion

From all that we have seen in scripture from this study, Jesus is the only one who qualifies to be Michael,the one who comes to help the Lord's people. He is the only chief messenger of God who does all thesethings. The only one who could battle Satan and cast down the accuser of us, that we are no longer in fearof death. For sin and the law has no more power of death for us. The Archangel Michael is the Chief Rulerof thy people, but He is not a created being. This angel or Messenger of the Lord has appeared time andagain in the Old Testament to illustrate, He was assuredly God. Michael, the Great prince and ChiefMessenger of the living God!

Peace,

Copyright ©1999 Tony WarrenFor other studies free for the Receiving, Visit our web SiteThe Mountain Retreat! http://www.mountainretreatorg.net

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Created 10/2/99 / Last Modified 10/13/99The Mountain Retreat / [email protected]




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