"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 9, KJV)
The Watchtower teaches that Michael
the archangel is the Lord Jesus Christ. The organization's primary magazine,
bearing the same title as the organization, The Watchtower makes these
following statements: "Jesus Christ further deserves honor because he is
Jehovah's chief angel, or archangel."[1]
Again, another Watchtower magazine says, "Jesus Christ, whom we understand
from the Scriptures to be Michael the archangel..."[2] God's
Word mentions Michael the archangel only five times (see Dan. 10: 13, 21; 12:
1; Jude 9; Rev. 12: 7). One of their arguments for Michael the archangel being
identified as the Lord Jesus Christ is presented this way:
"Why do we conclude that Jesus is
the archangel Michael? God's Word mentions only one archangel, and it speaks of
that angel in reference to the resurrected Lord Jesus: "The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call,
with an archangel's voice and with God's trumpet." (1 Thessalonians
4:16). At Jude 9 we find that
this archangel's name is Michael."[3]
Another publication by the Jehovah's Witness further argues
on the same point:
"At 1
Thessalonians 4:16 (RS), the command of Jesus Christ for
the resurrection to begin is described as "the archangel's call," and
Jude 9 says that hte archangel
is Michael. Would it be appropriate to liken Jesus' commanding call to that of
someone lesser in authority? Reasonably, then, the archangel Michael is Jesus
Christ. (Interestingly, the expression "archangel" is never found in
the plural in the Scriptures, thus implying that there is only one.)"[4]
This of course
leads us to the question, "Is this really what the Scriptures teach about
the Lord Jesus Christ?" Let us consider five reasons why the Lord Jesus
Christ is not Michael the archangel. The five points are as follows.
(1.) The Lord
Jesus Christ is the "only begotten
Son of God" (John 1: 14, 18). This is never said of the archangel
Michael. Also, Hebrews specifically states in chapter one verse six, "And let all the angels of God worship
Him." Notice this verse states "ALL" angels of God are to
worship Him, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, and that includes Michael the
archangel.
(2.) Since the
Lord Jesus is the only unique "Son
of God" ("only one of a kind"); whereas, Michael the
archangel is "one of the chief
princes" among a number of princes (Dan. 10: 13; 12: 1). According to
Jewish tradition, there are seven archangels of which only two angels are
mentioned by name in the Bible: Michael and Gabriel. The Scriptures only
identify Michael as an archangel; whereas Gabriel is not mentioned as one.
(3.) The Lord
Jesus Christ is only one who has the authority to rebuke the Devil, "Get thee behind me, Satan" (Matt.
16: 23); whereas, Michael the archangel would not rebuke Satan. Instead, he
said, "The Lord rebuke you." (Jude
9). This shows that Michael did not have the authority to rebuke the Devil.
Another important point about the Lord Jesus' authority is that only He has the
"authority on earth to forgive
sins" (Matt. 9: 6, NASB). The
Jewish scribes [teachers] considered this blasphemy for Jesus to claim that He
can forgive sins. "Who can forgive
sins but God only?" (Mark 2: 7). Since the Lord Jesus Christ is "God...manifest in the flesh" (1
Tim. 3: 16). It is only right to conclude that Jesus is indeed God and is able
to forgive sins. No where in the Scriptures do we ever read of the archangel
Michael having the authority to forgive sins.
(4.) No where do
we find in the Holy Scriptures the Lord Jesus Christ being identified as
Michael the archangel. The phrase "with
the voice of the archangel" (1 Thess. 4: 16, KJV). This only states that the Lord Jesus' voice will sound
"like" an archangel's voice. To insinuate that this is Michael the
archangel is to read into the text what is not there. As stated earlier, since
there is more than one archangel, "one
of the chief princes", then which one is being referred to here? (See
Dan. 10: 13). This of course refutes the Watchtower's book Reasoning from the Scriptures
argument, "...the expression "archangel" is never found in the
plural in the Scriptures, thus implying that there is only one." (pg.
218). Now as for Daniel 12 : 1Israel
(5.) If the Lord
Jesus was Michael the archangel, that would make Satan higher in rank than Him,
the very Son of God! For Satan's rank is the "anointed cherub" the highest in rank over all God's
angels, not over the Son of God (see Isa. 14: 12-17; Ezek. 28: 12-19).
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