Who is Michael the Archangel? To answer this question, let us go to the scriptures that talk about Michael, and see what we can understand from them.
Joshua 5:13-15 “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.”
We can see from these verses that the being that stood next to Joshua with a sword in his hand identified himself as the “captain of the host of the LORD”.
Well, who are the hosts of the Lord? We find the answer in Psalms 148:2, 3 “Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.”
According to this verse, the angels are the hosts of the Lord. We find as well in Psalms 103: 20, 21 “Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.”
From these two verses, it becomes very clear for us that the angels are the hosts of the Lord. Now, having proven that from scripture, we can safely say that the being that Joshua saw was the ‘captain of the angels of the Lord’ since the angels are the hosts.
And here we must ask ourselves a very important question. Is it necessary for the captain of the angels of the Lord to be an angel? Or in other words we can ask, Is this being (the captain of the angels of the Lord) a created angel?
We will find the answer for this important question in the reaction of Joshua after the being with the sword identified himself as the captain of the hosts (angels).
The Bible says in Joshua 5:14 “And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?” Did you get that! Joshua worshiped the captain of the angels, and the captain of the angels of the Lord accepted his worship and did not reject it. While we find in the book of Revelation that when John wanted to worship the angel that showed him the vision, that angel did not accept worship and instructed him to worship God alone. “And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.” Revelation 22: 8,9. This verse should be sufficient for us to believe that we are only allowed to worship God.
That is why we must conclude that the captain of the hosts (angels) of the Lord who accepted the worship of Joshua was not a created angel, but was a divine being. Not only did this captain accept the worship of Joshua, but he went as far as saying that the ground that he stood on was “holy” (Joshua 5:15). This is an additional proof that the captain of the hosts of the Lord was not a created angel but a divine being. The reason for this conclusion is that we never find in the Bible an angel sanctifying the ground on which he stands. While we find in the story of the burning bush that the ground became holy because God stood on it. “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. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” Exodus 3: 4,5
So we have seen clearly from the Bible, that the captain of the hosts (angels) of the Lord, is not a created angel, but is equal to God, and worthy of worship.
Now let us go to the New Testament, to Jude 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.”
We can see from this verse that the archangel (captain of the angels) is called “Michael” which means “Who is like God”. In other words it is saying, ‘the archangel who is like God’. And in Jude 9 we find Michael contending with the devil when raising Moses from the dead. We know that satan is “him that had the power of death” Hebrews 2:14. While Jesus Christ is the only one that has “the keys of hell and of death” Revelation 1:18 and He is “the resurrection and the life” John 11:25.
From here we can see that Jude 9 proves that Michael is no one other than Jesus Christ because He is the only one that has the right and the power to raise the dead – who are the prisoners of Satan. Some one might object here and say – If Michael is Jesus, then why when he contended with the devil while raising Moses, he said “the Lord rebuke thee”? In other words, how does the Lord of glory and power, Jesus Christ, rebuke the devil by saying “the Lord rebuke thee”? Is it reasonable for the Lord Jesus Christ to rebuke the devil in the name of the Lord?
We find the answer for these questions in Zechariah 3:1, 2 “And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 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?” It is not unreasonable for Michael, the “captain of the hosts of the Lord”, who is Jesus Christ the Son of God, to rebuke Satan using His Father’s name (the LORD).
And here is another proof that Michael the archangel is none other than Jesus Christ the creator. Paul said: “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. In here Paul is saying that the dead in Christ shall rise when they hear the voice or shout of Michael the archangel. And in John 5:25 Jesus Christ tells us that the dead will rise when they hear the voice of the Son of God. “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.” From these two verses we can see that the shout, or voice of the archangel, that Paul talks about in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, which will raise the dead, is none other than the voice of the Son of God.
Based on what preceded, it is very clear that the Bible teaches that Michael the archangel is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who will raise the dead with His voice.
Furthermore, the Bible tells us in Daniel 12:1 that Michael the great prince is the one who stands (protects) his people in the time of trouble that precedes His second coming. “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.”
Is it possible that the great responsibility of protecting God’s people in the time of trouble will be given to a created angel? Of course not, for the angels are only “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” Hebrews 1:14
The only one, other than God the Father, who is suitable to take such a responsibility to protect God’s people, is His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Michael the archangel. “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”
1 Corinthians 8:6
The Son of God is the only One in the entire universe who could be worshiped and could hold the title ‘who is like God’, simply because the scripture tells us that He was begotten in the express image of the Father. “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they” Hebrews 1:3,4
Keep in mind that Christ was not “made so much better than the angels” when he was born as a babe here on earth. Rather He was made a little lower than them. Hebrews 2:9 “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”
Christ was brought forth [begotten, born] in heaven in the express image of the Father in heaven. “The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:” Proverbs 8:22-25
This passage is talking about Christ under the title of “wisdom”.
“Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God”
(That this passage is talking about Christ is further noted in 1 Corinthians 1:30 and by comparing Matthew 23:34 with Luke 11:49)
When Christ was on earth, He taught His disciples this same truth.
“Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.” John 8:42
“I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.” John 16:28
“For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.” John 17:8
Please do not miss the two actions that Jesus was talking about. The first one is His birth in heaven and the other was when the Father sent Him to the world.
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law” Galatians 4:4
“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” 1 John 4:9
“God sent forth his Son”, “sent his only begotten Son”. God had to have a Son first in order to send Him.
Michael is the name that Jesus, the Son of God, had before He was incarnated. He was the prince of heaven whom Satan was jealous of. “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. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Revelation 12: 8-11
Michael, God’s own Son, was the only One permitted to enter into the council of God. Zechariah 6:12, 13 “Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”
Now after we saw all this scriptural evidence proving that Michael is the Lord Jesus Christ, let us ask God to forgive us for our ignorance when we used to consider Michael a created angel instead of considering Him our Creator.
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;” Colossians 1: 16-19
Note: Please do not think we are teaching that Christ is created. Christ is NOT created. He is begotten, or born. Christ is the creator of “all things”. Now, if He created everything that was ever created and existed before all created things, it is evident that He Himself is not among created things. He is above all creation and not a part of it. Satan was created, Christ was begotten. There is a vast difference between created and begotten.
The Scriptures declare that Christ is “the only begotten son of God.” He is begotten, not created. As to when He was begotten, it is not for us to inquire, nor could our minds grasp it if we were told. The prophet Micah tells us all that we can know about it in these words, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity.” Micah 5:2, margin. There was a time when Christ proceeded forth and came from God, from the bosom of the Father (John 8:42; 1:18), but that time was so far back in the days of eternity that to finite comprehension it is practically without beginning.
Who is Michael the Archangel?
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