Who is Michael?
Jesus and Michael, the archangel, are one and the same person. Now let's talk about how from the bible. Now searching the name Michael will yield about 15 results, but five of those, at least five, refer to Jesus. Three of those appear in the book of Daniel, one in Jude, one in Revelation. Now leading up to the first mention in the book of Daniel, in the context, we see a description of this divine figure.
Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. (Daniel 10:5-6.)
Now what's interesting if we compare that description with John's description of Jesus in the book of Revelation chapter one, they are very, very similar.
And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. (Revelation 1:13-15.)
Now shortly after this Daniel 10:5-6, we find we find this scripture:
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. (Daniel 10:13.)
You see, the angel Gabriel was sent to Daniel to explain the visions to answer his prayer that Daniel had prayed in Daniel chapter nine.
And it says that he was working on the king of Persia so that he could answer Daniel's prayer, but the king of Persia withstood him when he withstood those convictions, and Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help.
Now a lot of people will seize on the phrase one of the chief princes and say that it's blasphemy to call Jesus Michael, but let's let's study that phrase in the Hebrew. Now this word for one, it is Strongs H258, and it means, first or as an ordinal, as an authority. Now the word chief is very, very interesting.
The word chief also means first in terms of rank. And the word for prince means prince, but it also means ruler, leader, or chief. It also means ruler of rulers as in God himself.
So when the Bible describes Michael as being one of the chief princes, this is actually a mistranslation. It should actually read one of the top ruling officials, and this actually fits with the New Testament description of Jesus saying that he is a member of the Triune Godhead.
It's not saying that Jesus is an createdangel or that He was another created being. It's saying that he is chief among the rulers of the universe. Think of it like this. Here in The United States, our president is also known as the Commander in Chief of the military, even though the presidents are not officially part of the military. In fact, the Young's Literal Translation actually translates it, first of the chief heads.
Now Michael appears a second time in Daniel chapter 10, but the next time we see it is in Daniel chapter 12. Notice:
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. (Daniel 12:1.)
Now, this is sanctuary language. In the Old Testament Ceremonial Law, there was a ceremony known as the day of atonement. And Israel was supposed to be searching their hearts while the high priest was in the Most Holy Place doing his ceremonies.
This was the ceremony to symbolically cleanse the temple of Israel's sins. At the end of those ceremonies, they had the two goat ceremony. One was the Lord's goat. The second was, the scapegoat. And what happened with that scapegoat was it was led into the wilderness and abandoned.
This was a symbol of Satan during the millennium. Now according to the Bible, that will happen when Jesus comes again. Satan will be bound to the earth because all humanity will be dead. He will be forced to wander the wilderness like that scapegoat was. But in between the coming of Jesus and when Michael stands up, is that time of trouble that the Bible calls the great tribulation, or the time of trouble such as never was.
Now if you haven't heard all this before, click HERE to watch my video called, 1844 Made Simple. So here, Michael is being signified as the Great High Priest. Where else do we see that in scripture? In Hebrews 4, Jesus is specifically called our Great High Priest, the one who is able to identify with our struggles and is able to comfort us and give us victory.
And Daniel 11 actually gives us the time frame of when Michael stands up in Daniel 12. This is when all the nations are getting angry. This is when all the nations have stripped their citizens of religious freedom. Revelation 13 shows us the mark of the beast, and it gives us a more historical aspect of how that's going to happen. The Bible also says that when they do this, when they enforce the mark of the beast on the world, that is when Michael stands up.
Jesus leaves the Most Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary, and then the great tribulation starts as shown here in Daniel chapter 12. Revelation 22 also gives us a picture of what happens when Jesus, aka, Michael, leaves the Most Holy Place.
Everyone who is wicked and has not accepted Jesus will remain that way, and all the righteous will remain that way. There will be no second chance for anyone when this happens. There won't be a second chance for the Jews, or anyone else. There won't be a second chance for humanity in general.
Once Jesus leaves the Most Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary, that's it. Your decision for or against Him is eternal. Now interestingly, the name Michael means who is like god or all that god is.
Now another term you can find for Jesus in addition to the name of Michael is the Angel of the Lord. This always refers to Jesus. Another name is Captain of the Host of the Lord. This is why it's so important to study the Bible and not just read it at a surface level. One of the reasons that most Christians reject the idea of Jesus being Michael is because they don't study this deeper.
They just read at a surface level. For example, here when Jesus is referred to, He calls himself Captain of the Host of the Lord. How do we know that it's Him? It says Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship him. And the captain of the Lord's Host didn't tell him to stop.
This is God. This is Jesus. Additionally, the captain of the Lord's Host, Jesus, tells Joshua, take your shoes off because this is holy ground. That's exactly the same thing He told Moses on Mount Sinai. Now here in Jude, Jude only has one chapter, so chapter one verse nine, we see Michael again.
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.)
And here we get a rather strong hint that Moses was resurrected by Michael. And we see that this is in fact the case because Moses appeared to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. People don't go to heaven or hell when they die. The only way for Moses to go to heaven after he died was to be resurrected. He appeared with Elijah on the Mount Mount Of Transfiguration, and Elijah never died.
Now the only person that has the ability to resurrect is God. And since Jesus is God, and Michael resurrected Moses, that gives us a strong clue that Jesus is Michael.
Now a lot of people will seize on the second half of the verse here because Michael refused to bring an accusation against Satan. But all this simply means is that Jesus deferred all judgment to the Father. And the reason that Jesus refused to enter into controversy with Satan, was that the arch-apostate is already lost, and he’s not going listen to logic, and especially not to Jesus Himself.
He would have used that as an opportunity to try and bring Jesus down. Jesus basically says, “You know what? It's not even worth my time. The Father will deal with you. I'm resurrecting Moses, and we're going back to Heaven.”
Now, the final time that we see the name of Michael in scripture is in Revelation.
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought 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 the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:7-9.)
Now, this is one of the three main places in scripture that teaches us how Satan fell from heaven. (The other two are found in Isaiah 14, and Ezekiel 28.)
Notice that it says that Satan fought against Michael. The dragon, Satan, fought and his angels. They lost against Michael, aka Jesus. Then Satan and his angels were cast out of Heaven, and down to the earth. In Luke 10 actually records Jesus as telling us, I beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven.
Jesus was there in Revelation 12. He was the one. He is the Michael who cast Satan out of Heaven down to the earth. So again, the Bible is not telling us that Michael is a created angel. It's simply another name for Jesus.
There are hundreds of names for God, for Jesus, for the Holy Spirit in the Bible. Why? Because names in the bible are symbolic of character. They are attached to, situations of extreme significance and experience. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and even Hagar referred to God by certain names based on experiences they had with Him.
Notice also that this isn’t a teaching unique to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Read the following quotes, all from prominent Protestant leaders.
John Wesley (Founder of Methodism)
Commentary on Jude 9:
“Michael is commonly supposed to mean Christ.”
Commentary on Revelation 12:7:
“Michael and his angels—Christ, the Wisdom of the Father, and those whom he sends forth to execute His will.”
Matthew Henry (Presbyterian minister, 1662–1714)
Commentary on Daniel 10:13:
“Michael signifies Christ... Christ our Prince.”
Commentary on Revelation 12:7:
“Michael and his angels are Christ and His faithful followers.”
John Gill (Baptist theologian, 1697–1771)
Commentary on Daniel 10:13:
“...this is no other than Christ the Son of God... he is called Michael.”
Commentary on Jude 9:
“By Michael here is meant Christ.”
Charles Spurgeon (Famous Baptist preacher, 1834–1892)
“This war in heaven was led by that grand Michael, Christ Jesus Himself, the captain of our salvation.”
(Sermon: “War in Heaven,” 1886)
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary (Presbyterian/Anglican authors, mid-1800s)
On Jude 9:
“Michael the archangel. Identified by many with the Son of God Himself.”
On Revelation 12:7:
“Michael—Christ... in behalf of His Church.”
Albert Barnes (Presbyterian, 1798–1870)
Commentary on Daniel 10:13:
“There seems to be no reason to doubt that the reference is to the Messiah.”
Adam Clarke (Methodist theologian, 1762–1832)
Commentary on Jude 9:
“Michael the archangel. This can hardly be any other than Jesus Christ.”
Michael is used as a name for Jesus. He's referred to as the archangel in the Bible because He is Commander of the Lord's Host. He is commander in chief of heaven's military of the angels. We're not saying that Jesus is an angel. He's absolutely not.
He's absolutely not created, but he is Michael, the Archangel.
