Christians, how would you counter these scriptures that suggest Jesus is Michael the Archangel?

Thanks for asking this, I wanted to share one scripture that I am thinking about, but throughout the Bible Jesus Christ is declared to the be Son of God, and these verses show that Jesus Christ is better than the angels and they worship Him. I would like for everyone that reads this to consider these verses prayerfully.

Hebrews 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:

4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:

11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;

12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

We see from these verses that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He is heir of all things, and that God made the worlds through Jesus Christ which is the Word of God. ( 2nd verse ) This is a point that people who believe that Jesus Christ and Michael will probably dispute, because it is the true identity of Christ that is being attacked. God has declared that Jesus Christ is His Son, and He is the heir of all things. Look in the 3rd verse God's word declares that Jesus Christ is the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person. Jesus Christ is the glory of God, and He is the image of God. And it is Jesus Christ that sits at the right hand of the Father, He is the only One that the scriptures say this about too. Notice in the 4th verse that God's word says that Jesus Christ is so much better than the angels, and that He by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Inheritance because He is the Son of God, this verse shows that He is again separate from the angels. In the 5th verse God's word asks, " For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? " Which of the angels did God say this too? None of them, He spoke this to His Son Jesus Christ. In the 6th verse look what God's word says, " And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. " We see again that Jesus Christ is higher than the angels, and they worship Him. This shows the deity of Jesus Christ, pay close attention to the words, " let all the angels of God worship Him " " all " everyone of them, not excluding any, including the Archangel Michael, they all worship Jesus Christ. We can see throughout this chapter the difference that God has placed between His Son Jesus Christ and the angels.

Hebrews 1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.

8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

See the difference the Lord has put between His Son Jesus Christ and the angels? The 8th verse, " but unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. " Jesus Christ said that all power is given to Him in heaven and in earth.

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Hebrews 1:13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

We can see again that God's word asks, " but to which of the angels said He at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? " and in the 14th verse God's word explains that angels are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. I hope that all who reads this, sincerely seek the Lord about this, God has declared to us Who Jesus Christ is, and I know without a doubt that He is the Son of the Living God, and He is not the Archangel Michael. I believe that you will find that people who hold this doctrine, usually stumble in other areas of Who Christ is. The verses that I shared, show us so much of Who Jesus Christ is. It was by Jesus Christ that God made all things.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

16 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:

17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

18 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.

19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

These verses declare more of Who Jesus Christ is, and notice in Colossians 1:16 that God's word says that " 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: " We see over and over again that God created all things through Jesus Christ Who is the Word of God. Thanks again for asking this question, the question of Who Jesus Christ is, is the most important question that we can answer. It isn't enough to just believe that He was just a prophet, He is the Prophet, He is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, He is the Image of God, and the glory of God, He is all of this and so much more, but what matters to each person individually is who do you say He is?

Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

With much love and sincerity in Christ Jesus my Lord,

andrew

Regarding Jesus - John 1:1 in a literal translation reads thus: "In beginning was the word, and the word was with the God, and God was the word." Notice that it says "God was the word." This is the actual word-for-word translation. It is not saying that "a god was the word." That wouldn't make sense. Let me break it down into three statements.

"In beginning was the word"

(en arche en ho logos)

A very simple statement that the Word was in the beginning.

"and the word was with the God"

(kai ho logos en pros ton theon)

This same Word was with God.

"and God was the word." -- Properly translated as "and the Word was God."

(kai theos en ho logos)

This same Word was God.

The false assumption is that Jesus is not God in flesh, but Michael the archangel who became a man. JW's deny that Jesus is divine, they have altered the Bible in John 1:1 so that Jesus is not divine in nature. The New World Translation has added the word "a" to the verse so it says, "...and the Word was a god." Jesus was NOT created.

In the Greek in John 20:28 Thomas said to Jesus, "ho kurios mou, kai ho theos mou," "The Lord of me, and the God of me." If Jesus was not God, but "a" god, then shouldn't Jesus have corrected Thomas? Shouldn't Jesus have said, "No Thomas, I am not the God. I am a god."? But Jesus did not. To do so would have been ludicrous. Nevertheless, the JW's will say that Thomas was so stunned by Jesus' appearance, that he swore. This is ridiculous because it means that Thomas, a devout man of God, swore in front of Jesus and used the Lord's name in vain in violation of Exodus 20:7. This is hardly the case since we find no New Testament equivalent of a disciple of Christ using God's name in vain.

Angel means messenger. Angels are created (Psalm 148:2,5; Col. 1:16), non-human, spirit beings (Heb. 1:14). They are immortal (Luke 20:36), innumerable (Heb. 12:22), invisible (Num. 22:22-31), sexless (Matt. 22:30), and do the will of God (Psalm 103:20). These angels have a ministry to believers. They guide (Gen. 24:7, 40), protect (Psalm 34:7), and comfort (Acts 27:2, 24).

There are good angels (Gen. 28:12; Psalm 91:11) and bad angels (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6). The only angels mentioned by name are Gabriel (Dan. 8:16; 9:21 ), Michael (Dan. 10:13,21; 112:1), and Lucifer (Luke 10:18). Michael is always mentioned in the context of battle (Dan. 10:13) and Gabriel as a messenger (Luke 1:26). Of course, Lucifer, who became Satan, is the one who opposes God.

Angels were originally created for the purpose of serving and carrying out the will of God. The fallen angels rebelled and became evil angels. Satan is such an angel (Isaiah 14:12-16; Ezekiel 28:12-15).

Off the top of my head:

1) If having the voice of an archangel makes Him an archangel, then having the voice of God must make Him God.

2) Hebrews chapter 1 has God commanding all the angels to worship Christ Jesus.

3) All angels are created beings, including Michael. The Word of God - Jesus Christ - is the Creator and never had a point where His life began. (John 1:1-3) He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Michael bows in reverence to Christ.

4) In Jude 8, Michael dares not even rebuke the devil on a matter about Moses, merely saying, "The Lord rebuke you!" Jesus rebuked the devil to his face, even when he was in his servant-form as a human on earth.

Hebrews 1 differentiates between Jesus and angels. Angels are ministering spirits.

Hebrews 1:5 [speaking of Jesus] For to which of the angels did He ever say "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"

Colossians 1:16 "For by/through Him [Christ] all things were created, both in the heavens and the earth, visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities [those are angelic titles of high-positioned angels such as Satan - now lost - and Michael]."

i.e The angels were created along with everything else in the creation by/through Jesus.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.

One can't argue Jesus was/is an angel unless one contradicts and denies the meaning of those Bible passages.

First of all, it must be noted that there is no overt scripture that will support the thesis equating Michael with Jesus. It is ironic that the Watchtower is ever-critical of the teaching of the Trinity, on the grounds that if it were true “it would clearly and consistently be presented in the Bible.” (Should You Believe in the Trinity, pg. 5). Yet, although the Watchtower rejects the Deity of Christ on what they consider lack of overt biblical evidence, they have no qualms with manufacturing a new identity for Jesus out of whole cloth, which has not only no direct biblical support, but was unknown to the church from the apostolic period until the 19th century. The phrases “it is only logical” and “it is only reasonable” are used repetitively to try to support this novel teaching. Looking at the scriptures that they use in attempt to infer the connection between Michael and Jesus, we will see that the Bible actually establishes that they are most certainly not the same individual.

The Evidence Examined:

1. Although Daniel calls Michael “a great prince”, that is not a title which is applicable to Jesus. Rather , Jesus is referred to in Revelations the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords (Revelations 19:16). There is a qualitative difference between “a” prince, and the King of Kings. This actually argues against the possibility of them being the same individual.

2. Although, according to Paul, it is true that Jesus did spiritually accompany the Israelites in the wilderness (1 Cor.10:4), the text presented specifically says that Christ was the “Rock-mass that followed”. The texts that the Watchtower cites as being indicative of the presence of Michael in the wilderness (Exodus 23:20, 21, 23; 32:34; 33:2) in every instance speaks of the “angel” that “went ahead” of the Israelites. The angel went ahead, the “rock-mass” followed behind, so clearly the writers of sacred scripture were not trying to equate the angel with Christ.

Although it is a minor note, it should also be pointed out that the Watchtower assertion that there is only one archangel is without substantial support. Actually, since Michael, who is identified as an archangel in the New Testament is called “a prince”, in Daniel, then it infers right off that there are others of comparable rank.

3. The faulty assumption has been made by the Watchtower that the “with an archangel’s voice” phrase (I Thess 4:16) is a description of Jesus “voice” at his second coming. That is not so. A simple examination of the description of Christ’s return in Rev 19:16,17 reveals that while the “King of Kings” is descending, John says “I also saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice…” It is clear that at Christ’s return, there is an angel who is speaking with a loud voice, not Christ.

4. The Watchtower makes the mistake of trying to equate the events of Revelation 12, which depict Michael leading his angels in battle against Satan, with Christ’s return in Revelation 19, leading the heavenly host. Even a cursory look at the text shows that they are addressing two separate events. (For example, in the Revelation 12 text Michael is leading his angels, the devil is thrown down to earth for an undisclosed amount of time. This event is NOT Christ’s Return to fight at Har-magedon). To make matters worse for the Watchtower, the same text addresses the “male, who is to shepherd the nations with a rod of iron” who is caught up to heaven just previous to the mentioning of Michael battling with Satan. Since the male-child who is to shepherd the nations is Christ, and Michael is seen in a different role in the same scene, that would clearly prove that Christ is not Michael.

Edit: A JW mentioned the other day that Jesus was Michael due to the fact that he was prince of the Angelss, an Arch-Angel, but what does that make Gabriel? isn't he also an Arch-Angel. They make it up as they go along I am sure.

Great question GT! hey, where is your picture?

Not a counter response here,

to avoid aspects

of a tennis match

in this answer, but

maintaining focus on Christ,

returning my thinking to

Jesus and what He teaches

me, when troubled thoughts

come to mind..

Having said that, it is interesting

to note how malleable the Word

is and how forgiving.

Angels have powers, but

all of them bow before Jesus Christ.

Jesus has a voice like an archangel.

So if you've ever heard one, you'll

know what Jesus sounds like.

All that the Word does is reassure

humans.

And because we all use our God-given

power of thought to think as we choose,

there is oftentimes quite a bit of

misunderstanding abounding.

Gratefully the Word is forgiving and patient.

Keep rereading and rereading and eventually

it will read clearly, as God intended. Cloudy

thinking in others will cease to become a

burden. And, as a result there will be less

cloudy thinking. And the light will shine,

and prevail, as ever...

My yoke is easy, said Jesus.

Try it, you'll like it....

that's my response to an interesting Q :)

This question never fails to attract much attention.

The main focus should be upon who Christ is in our lives.

We can find numerous identities for the personifications and manifestations of God.

The pre existance of Jesus, who He was before His personification as man can be a very extensive study.

God has presented HImself to us in the form of Jesus to lead the way out of darkness into light which leads us back to Him.

God can also present HImself in any format appearing in many ways.

E.g.

The Angel of the Lord= God HImself.

The angel of the Lord speaks as God, identifies Himself with God, and exercises the responsibilities of God (Genesis 16:7-12; 21: 17-18; 22:11-18; Exodus 3:2; Judges 2:1-4; 5:23; 6:11-24; 13:3-22; 2 Samuel 24:16; Zechariah 1:12; 3:1; 12:8). In several of these appearances, those who saw the angel of the Lord feared for their lives because they had "seen the Lord."

Jesus declared Himself to be existent “before Abraham” (John 8:58), so it is logical that He would be active and manifest in the world. Whatever the case, whether the angel of the Lord was a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ (Christophany), or an appearance of God the Father (theophany), it is highly likely that the phrase “the angel of the Lord” identifies a physical appearance of God.

The appearances of the angel of the Lord cease after the incarnation of Christ.

Now this aside, could the pre existing Christ Jesus manifest HImself as an Archangel? As the Chief of Angels because He created them?

As Michael, in order to achieve a particular role? To stand up in a time of war.?

When standing against Lucifer Michael overthrew the rebellion. ...And He will again at the end of time.

Whether or not Michael the Archangel is Christ Jesus should not give us conflict. God can present Himself (being the creator through Christ Jesus) as anything to achieve a purpose. There should never be a question about who is who and who created who and who cannot possibly be, because God who has never been created, who has existed from eternity past to etrnity future can appear in all created forms!

We should not look for points to conflict over.

The bigger question is...

Do we recognise CHRIST today and will we recognise Him when He comes in glory and shouts with the voice of the Archangel?

Does He recognise us as belonging to Him?

If one is going to use Michael as alternate to Jesus because it means "like God", what of the angel Gabriel that also means mighty like God ? Does this make him Jesus too, since Jesus is called the mighty God in Isa.9:6 ? What about Micah whose name also means "who is like Yahweh" The names don’t give a parallel but beg a question. Who is like God? Obviously no one. If Jesus is Michael than who are the other angels, are they God too?

Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, dirst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said the Lord rebuke thee. (Jude 9)

Jesus has never been afraid of rebuking Satan. However, Michael couldn't rebuke him in his own name, but did in God's name. the word "dirst" means "dare not for fear of retribution" Jesus would never be afraid of retribution from Satan.

Explanations of the angel of the Lord were used. Such as in Gen.22 and Ex.3:2,6. While there is an agreement on this being called an angel to be THE Messenger of the Lord (Yahweh himself) nowhere does it hint it is Michael, nowhere is his name called Michael, instead it is always Yahweh (Malach Yahweh).

I will never understand the JW interpretation. Col2:18 says not to worship angels so how can they claim to worship JC if he is Michael.

They are sooooooo wrong on this.

JWs will say the bible "suggests" that Michael is Jesus.

I "suggest" the Jws are wrong.

My wannabe JW partner never knew a thing about this so maybe they are phasing this teaching out too.

Swept under the carpet.

Give it a couple years and the WT will totally deny this opinion.

one is mentally incapacitated to think that Jesus is michael. Did michael rose from the dead, will michael judge the living and the dead and sit at the right of the father.. St Michael is weeping in heaven for putting him into this situation.

Jesus is called the "ONLY" Begotten Son of God, John 3:16.

NO angel carried this title!

"To which of the angels did God ever say, "You are My Son;....Let ALL God's angels worship Him." Heb.1:6.

Michael didn't dare rebuke the devil, "but said, "The Lord rebuke you" Jude 1:9. Jesus rebuked the devil many times.

We are told not to worship angels, Col. 2:18

The people and believer's worshiped Jesus and He received their worship, Matt.28:9; John 9:37; Matt.2:2,11.

"Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person...has lost contact with the Head." Col.2:18,19.

"The Word WAS God...the Word was made flesh..." John 1:1.

Emmanuel means: God with us, Matt.1:23.