Is Jesus Michael the Archangel?

THE WT ARGUES “JESUS IS MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL.”**

The WT View: “Jesus is a created being who was Michael the archangel in the OT and is now Michael in heaven." New Heavens and a New Earth, pp. 28-30. Also see "Michael" at Insight on the Scriptures.

At JW.ORG, The WT, April 2010 a reader asked: “Is Jesus the Archangel Michael?” Here is the WT answer:

JW comments are in BLUE—BLACK comments are from CARM which is here.

The Bible contains five references to the mighty spirit creature Michael. Three occurrences are in the book of Daniel. At Daniel 10:13, 21, (occurrences #1 & #2) we read that a dispatched angel is rescued by Michael, who is called “one of the foremost princes” and “the prince of you people.” Next (occurrence #3), at Daniel 12:1, we learn that in the time of the end, “Michael will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of the sons of your people.” Note Daniel 10:13 states that Michael is “one of the foremost princes”—not the one and only but one among other “foremost princes,” i.e. Archangels. “Foremost Princes” are an order of created beings while Jesus is the uncreated Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son. (John 1:1,14)

Back to the WT Arguments for “Jesus is Michael the Archangel.” 

A further mention of Michael occurs at Revelation 12:7 (occurrence #4), which describes “Michael and his angels” as fighting a vital war that results in the ousting of Satan the Devil and his wicked angels from heaven. Notice that in each of the above-mentioned cases, Michael is portrayed as a warrior angel battling for and protecting God’s people, even confronting Jehovah’s greatest enemy, Satan. Notice also, that nowhere in the above verses is Michael identified as Jesus or as God’s Son.

Back to the WT Arguments for “Jesus is Michael the Archangel.”

Jude 9 (occurrence #5) calls Michael “the archangel.” The prefix “arch” means “principal” or “chief,” and the word “archangel” is never used in the plural form in the Bible. The only other verse in which an archangel is mentioned is at 1 Thess. 4:16, where Paul describes the resurrected Jesus, saying: “The Lord [Jesus] himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet.” So Jesus Christ himself is here identified as the archangel, or chief angel. Jesus is identified as the archangel?—REALLY! I have read 1 Thess. 4:16 a dozen times and don’t see where “Jesus” is so identified.

Here is how the WT uses Jude 9 and Thess. 4:16 to “prove” that Jesus is Michael the Archangel.

1. Jesus' voice is the voice of an archangel.

2. Jesus, therefore, is an archangel.

3. Michael is the only archangel.

4. Therefore, Jesus is Michael.

Look at each of these 4 points and see where WT Logic goes off the rails.

POINT #1. JESUS VOICE IS THE VOICE OF AN ARCHANGEL!

The JWs’ own New World Translation of the Bible reads, ” . . . the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice.” Since the Lord Jesus descends from heaven “with an archangel’s voice,” JWs understand this passage as “suggesting that he (JESUS) is, in fact, himself the archangel” (Aid to Bible Understanding, pg. 1152).

There are two problems with this line of reasoning. FIRST, the fact that the Lord Jesus descends “with an archangel’s voice” does not automatically mean that it is his own voice spoken of. This passage simply says that an archangel’s voice will accompany the Lord’s descent from heaven, in the same manner that the bailiff’s voice (“All rise!”) accompanies the judge’s entrance into the courtroom. SECOND, Hebrews 1:5 says, “For example, to which of the angels did he [God] ever say: ‘You are my son; I, today, I have become your father’?” (NWT). The answer to this “RHETORICAL” question is “NONE.” Thus, if God never called an angel his Son, then Michael—who is an angel—cannot be the Son. The fact that Michael is an archangel does not change anything, as he is still an angel by nature. An archangel is simply a “higher order” of angel, but an angel nonetheless.

Three unique sounds will be involved in the event described in 1 Thess. 4:16, (1) a commanding call, i.e. a shout, (2) the voice of an archangel, and (3) God’s trumpet. The most obvious reading is not necessarily that the “voice of an archangel” is Jesus’ own voice. It is merely one of three sounds said to accompany Jesus’ second coming. That a trumpet blowing and a voice crying out mark Jesus’ decent sounds more like the approach of a king who is being announced.

POINT #2. JESUS, THEREFORE, IS AN ARCHANGEL!

If I were describing a man coming to greet me, I would NOT SAY that he “called out to me with the voice of a human being.” That would not tell you anything that you already don’t know about this person. Obviously, a human speaks with the voice of a human. It would be helpful if I said that “his voice was that of a lion,” and you would get that he was speaking loudly or powerfully. I could say that “he spoke with the voice of a nightingale,” and you would believe his voice was pleasant. In both of these examples, however, would you think that I was saying that the man literally was a lion or a nightingale. Such statements are clearly METAPHORS (a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable).

I would not bother saying that a lion has the voice of a lion because that is obvious and useless. I would not say that a nightingale has the voice of a nightingale because that doesn’t help in describing the voice. Even if Paul was saying that Jesus will personally shout “with the voice of an archangel,” such a statement could only be a metaphor, otherwise Paul is conveying useless information.

Plus, think about what happens if you apply the WT logic consistently in this verse. If Jesus must be an archangel because His voice is the voice of an archangel, then He also must be God because His trumpet blast is the trumpet blast of God. Obviously, no Jehovah’s Witness would accept this logic as applied to the latter point, so why should they think it valid in the former? There is simply no logical way to read this passage as actually calling Jesus an archangel.

POINT #3. IS MICHAEL THE ONLY ARCHANGEL?

It is a big leap to get from “an archangel” to “Michael the Archangel.” Jehovah’s Witnesses try to bridge this gap by claiming that Michael is the only archangel. Many major English translations render 1 Thess. 4:16 as “the voice of THE archangel” rather than “the voice of AN archangel.” In Greek, however, there is no article at v.16 (Articles are words that identify a noun as being specific (the) or unspecific (a or an)), which is why even the Jehovah’s Witness’s “New World Translation” goes with “an archangel” at v.16.

“God’s word refers to Michael ‘the archangel.’ (Jude 9). This term means ‘chief angel.’ Notice that Michael is called the archangel. This suggests that there is only one such angel. In fact, the term ‘archangel’ occurs in the Bible only in the singular, never in the plural,” (What Does the Bible Really Teach, pg. 218).

Apply this same argument to another biblical figure & it will expose the “weakness” in WT logic concerning v.16.

God’s word refers to Alexander “the coppersmith.” (2 Tim. 4:14). Notice that Alexander is called ”the coppersmith.” Are we to believe that there is only one such tradesman. In fact, the term ‘coppersmith’ occurs in the Bible only in the singular never in the plural.

You could say the same thing about “Simon the Zealot” (Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13). Simon being designated “the zealot” obviously was not meant to deny the existence of other zealots. Calling Alexander “the coppersmith” does not negate the obvious fact that there were many other coppersmiths. Labeling Michael “the archangel” has nothing to do with the number of archangels that exist. Daniel 10:13 calls Michael “one of the chief princes,” clearly indicating that there are other angels of his rank. In the ancient world, people often had descriptors attached to their names. Thus, in addition to “Simon the Zealot,” we also see names like “Simon the Leper” (Matt. 26:6,) “Simon the Tanner” (Acts 19:32), and “Simon, who was called Peter” (Matt. 4:18). This was a normal convention for referring to people by name, and Michael was no exception. There is no reason to think that Michael is the only archangel.

POINT #4. THEREFORE, JESUS IS MICHAEL.

Finally, since all of the premises of the Jehovah’s Witness’s argument are wrong, there is no basis for their conclusion. The reality is that Jesus is not a created being, not even the most exalted created being. Rather: “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being,” (John 1:3). In addition, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands; They will perish, but You remain, And they all will become old like a garment, And like a mantle You will roll them up; Like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end,” (Heb. 1:10-12).

No, Jesus is not Michael the Archangel. Jesus is Michael’s Lord and Maker. This is why an archangel will be Jesus’ herald and why the trumpet of God announces His coming. Jesus is the King of all creation because Jesus is the Creator. Jesus is Jehovah God!

OTHER PROBLEMS TRYING TO IDENTIFY JESUS AS MICHAEL.

POINT #5. The Book of Jude says: “But when the archangel Michael contended with the Devil and disputed about the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring a condemnation of slander against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!“ (Jude 9). Michael is obviously not the Lord. He could not rebuke the Devil on his own, but rather called upon the Lord to rebuke him. Jesus has no such problem with the Devil - He personally rebuked him, since He is the Lord. Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' Then the Devil left Him, and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.” (Matt. 4:10, 11).

POINT #6. The Bible uses Metaphors when describing Jesus. Are we to assume that Jesus is literally each of the following: a Vine, a Door, Bread or Light.

POINT #7. At Revelation 1:15 Jesus is described: “His voice was like the sound of many waters.” Are we to assume Jesus is a mighty river? Note how God’s voice is described in Ezekiel 43:2, “And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory.” (NKJV)

POINT #8. According to the WT, upon Jesus’ death on the “torture stake” he reverted back to a “sprit creature,” Michael the Archangel. Should we pray in the name of Michael?

POINT #9. According to the WT: “So Michael the archangel is Jesus in his prehuman existence. After his resurrection and return to heaven, Jesus resumed his service as Michael, the chief angel, “to the glory of God the Father.”​(Philippians 2:11.) At Philippians 1:21 which reads, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain,” could we say “For to me, to live is Michael, and to die is gain.” How about Romans 1:1, “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle.” Could we say, “Paul, a bondservant of Michael, called to be an apostle.“

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**Thanks to CARM for Information Contained in the Blog. They are a great resource for information on the Jehovah's Witnesses.