Is Archangel Michael a high ranking angel or Jesus Christ?

Deutsch

Is Archangel Michael a very high angel or is he Jesus Christ in another form? This issue is sometimes bitterly contested. But the Bible gives sufficient clues as to what nature Michael actually has.

The dispute in evangelical circles

IIn the evangelical world there is no consistent identification of the Archangel Michael. The view of the Roman Catholic Church is on the outside on this issue, because its “pantheon of angels” consists of several archangels (Info), an additional archangel Raphael and the extremely questionable representation of angels as female and especially as small, overfed children with wings (Info). Therefore, loud calls of horror from the paganism-based church of Rome can safely be ignored.

Michael Angel or Jesus Christ?

Some evangelicals want to recognize the archangel Michael as the highest of the (faithful) angels. Another part identifies Michael as another manifestation of the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ. Here the fronts are sometimes so hardened that mutual accusations of blasphemy can be heard or read. This is understandable, because if Michael were “only” a high angel, equating him with Jesus Christ would be presumptuous. However, if Michael is the son of God, then his reduction to an angel would also correspond to blasphemy against God (e.g. Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Catholic Church).

Find answers in the Bible

As always, the only way to answer this important question is to look at the Bible to find the truthful answers.
In the Old Testament the term “angel” occurs in Genesis 16:7. But the search would have to be limited to finding clues explicitly about the nature of the Archangel Michael. However, the context must also be taken into account. The first important clue comes in the situation when Moses stands in front of the burning bush.

Angel or God in the burning bush

Exodus 3:2:
“And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”
At this point an “Angel of the Lord” appears in a flame of fire. However, in the verse after the next, someone else calls out from the bush,Exodus 3:4:
“And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.”
After the second verse, in which the angel of the Lord appeared, he became the calling out God in the fourth verse.

Michael or Jesus Christ raises the dead

When Jesus Christ returns, those declared righteous will be called from their graves. Jesus Christ announced this in John 5:25:
“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.“

Here Jesus Christ speaks about Himself when He will raise the dead from their sleep with His voice. In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul teaches about the upcoming event in the following words, in 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 too there is an analogy to the event of the burning bush. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, will raise his voice to bring out the dead: Paul describes the wake-up call as the voice of the archangel.

How many resurrections are there for righteous people? Only one, at the return of Jesus Christ on the “Lord’s Day” (the true Lord’s Day has nothing to do with Sunday. That’s Catholic philosophy). So it’s one and the same event. Only God or Jesus Christ has the power to bring the dead out of their sleep.

Pretentious Michael?

The name Michael comes from Hebrew and means something like “who is what God is“. Can an angel presume to equate himself with God? The Bible only tells of an angel who presumes to be equal to God. And that is Satan.

Satan is the most powerful angel

The highest of all created beings is (still) Satan. He was created as an angel, even a cherub. The prophet Ezekiel gives a more detailed description in Ezekiel 28:13-16:
“Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.“

Satan, as the still protective cherub, was on the “mountain of God”. This means he was in close proximity to God. A privilege that not every angel is entitled to. Satan was, or still is, the highest of all angels. However, as a former light bearer (Latin: Lucifer), he is now also the highest of the fallen angels (demons). There is no higher angel and therefore an archangel Michael cannot be higher unless he is not an angel at all.

Michael came to Gabriel’s aid

The prophet Daniel received a vision, but could not cope with it and prayed to God for an explanation. But help was a long time coming. After three weeks the angel Gabriel came to Daniel and reported to him, 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.“

The high angel Gabriel was stopped by the “Prince of Persia”. What human power is capable of stopping an angel? An angel killed at least 185,000 Assyrian warriors in one night (2 Kings 19:35).

The “Prince of Persia” was not a human being, but Satan. As already shown in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7, this occupied the seat in the individual ancient world empires. These were Babylon, Medo-Persia and later also Greece and Rome. Egypt may also have been part of this (sun worship has been inherited to this day), but is not listed in this context in the prophecies.

Satan is more powerful than the angel Gabriel because Gabriel could not overcome him. Only Michael was able to stop Satan so that Gabriel could continue on his way to Daniel. Who is more powerful than the mightiest angel? That can only be the Son of God. So Jesus Christ.

Michael fights against Satan

In the book of Revelation, chapter 12, the battle in heaven is described. The result: Satan and his followers were cast out, straight down to earth. Michael led the fight, according to Revelation 12:7::
“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,”
Here the Archangel Michael is depicted as the leader of the angels. A fight against the most powerful of all angels and around a third of all other angels who, along with the former light bearer, have fallen away from God. Here too the most powerful created being was overcome.

Jesus Christ has always been active as a mediator

The Son of God was the mediator from the

Then another simple consideration. If sin separates from God, and Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden because of their sin, which also represents the accomplished separation from God (Father), at what point was the separation removed again so that God (Father) could speak to people ? At no time. All contact with God in the Old Testament after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden was made by the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

After the first fall, Jesus Christ was always the mediator between people and the Father. “No one comes to the Father except through me,” said Jesus Christ in John 14:6. This circumstance was not new in the New Testament.

Summary:

• The angel in the burning bush was God, that is, Jesus Christ

• Michael overcame Satan as prince of Persia

• The archangel angel or Jesus Christ will raise the dead

• Michael and His angels defeated Satan and his followers in battle.

• The name Michael means “who is what God is”

In the Old Testament, the Son of God did not yet appear on earth as a human being, but was always active as a mediator between man and the Father after the first fall. The people of that time knew that the anointed one (Greek Christos) would one day appear and only Mary and Joseph knew about the name Jesus.
The result should be clear. The archangel Michael, who, contrary to Catholic teachings, is the only archangel, is a designation of Jesus Christ. Michael and Jesus Christ are identical.
Looking at the high priest Melchizedek in Abraham’s day, it would appear that Jesus Christ could have been present elsewhere. But this is really speculation and will only be answered once things are concluded.

Bible verses from King James Version