I see Joseph is a Bible Student! Oh, my God, I cannot tell you how many Bible Students I have debated the Michael the Archangel With. This is utter nonesense! You are just like JW's. Jesus was not and IS not an archangel. He is the only Son of God. The whole point of Hebrews chapter 1 is to show Jesus is superior to all the angels.
Anyway, even if you are saying Jesus is an Archangel, Joseph, I already showed you scripturally that you cannot worship Angels. Please put down Chuckie Russell's books and pick up the Bible itself. All you need is Holy Spirit to understand it and the Lord will give it to you if you ask him to.
I had a feeling you were a BS and I really was hoping we would not get into this Jesus is Michael nonesense but since you brought it up.....After leaving the WT, I did research into their so called "proof" texts that Jesus is Michael and was able to show their folly. Since the Bible Students us the same exact scriptures to try to prove this.......maybe this research can help you see chuckie's errors.
Is Jesus Michael the Archangel?
Some religious groups such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Bible Students teach that the Lord Jesus is the same person as the Archangel Michael. It is asserted that as the only Archangel, Jesus was the highest-ranking Angel prior to coming to earth and that upon his ascending back to heaven; he took the identity of Michael again. We will examine the biblical evidence to see if the scriptures really teach such a thing. The bible mentions Michael the Archangel in only six verses found in four biblical books and these are; Daniel 10:12,21, Daniel 12:1, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, Jude 9 and Revelation 12:7. It should be noted that none of these verses make the direct statement that “Jesus is Michael”. However those that support this view believe that these texts “infer” that Jesus is Michael.
The most commonly used scripture for supporting this view is the verse in 1 Thessalonians 4: 16 “ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first”. From this verse it is taught that the Lord is doing the shouting with his Archangel voice and thus he is Michael. However, that is not what this verse is saying. Note carefully that it states that the Lord will come down from heaven, WITH a loud command and WITH the voice of the Archangel and WITH the trumpet call of God. Nowhere here does it say that the Lord Jesus is doing the shouting. The term “WITH” means “accompanied by” therefore the bible writer is simply stating that the Lord when he arrives will be “accompanied by” the loud command made by the Archangel. If we reason that by using the term “WITH” it means Jesus is the Archangel then by his being WITH the trumpet call of God we would have to conclude that he is the trumpet of God. We know that would not make sense, and it does not make sense to assume that the Lord is doing the shouting unless it specifically states that he is. However rather than clearly identifying Jesus as Michael in this verse, it does the opposite. In the very beginning of the verse it identifies Jesus as “the Lord”, not Michael.
It is also taught that Jesus must be the Archangel Michael because there is only one Archangel mentioned in the Bible and this term means the highest ranking Angel. Thus it is concluded that the highest-ranking Angel must be God’s Son. However in Daniel 10:13 it clearly shows that Michael is not the only one of his status or rank “But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me”, According to the American Heritage Dictionary the term “Arch” has the following meanings; Chief or Principal, highest rank or chief status. Chief prince is another term for Archangel and Daniel records that there are more than one. Michael is the only one specifically called by his rank of Archangel in the Bible but this does not dismiss the fact that there can be more than one Angel occupying this high rank. And in light of Daniel chapter 10, we know there are others for Michael is only one of the Chief Princes. Gabriel is the only other Angel specifically named in the Bible, and according to some ancient historical books such as the book of Enoch , he is also an Archangel.
Daniel 12:1 state; "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. It is asserted here that this great prince must be Jesus. But again, the scripture does not make any direct statement that Michael here is actually the Lord Jesus. And while the Lord is called the Prince of Peace in the Bible, he is not known as the Great Prince or protector of Israel. Rather Christ is the King of Israel and the Savior. Some try to force Jesus into this text by saying that this scene is depicting Christ taking his Kingly rule. They come to this conclusion by mistranslating the meaning of the verse. This is done because some Bibles such as KJV translate verse 1 as “Michael, the great prince who protects your people, stands up”. By using the term “stands up” instead of “will arise” it is taught that the term “stands up” could denote the taking of kingly rule, as Kings were known to “stand up” or assert rule over their kingdoms. However this verse does not support any such translation, as it does not clearly say that kingship is being assumed. To get this opinion, you need to assume that this is what the verse is saying. This is what Charles Russell did, but this verse is ambiguous and could be translated in other ways. And you may note that this verse refers to Michael as a great Prince but not a King. The Prophet Isaiah called Christ the “Prince of Peace” prior to his human birth on earth. But, when Christ returns to reign on earth he will be returning as our King, not a Prince.
Again, this verse does not say Michael is assuming kingship but simply says that Michael the Archangel who protects God’s people arises to help deliver them, and is a scene during the final tribulation period. And it certainly is not uncommon for Angels to be used in this capacity even if they are not Archangels . For instance two Angels helped deliver Lot from Sodom before God destroyed the city (Genesis 19). Thus if Michael arises to help deliver Israel, he does so under the order of Christ the King .
Jude 9 states about Michael “But even the Archangel Michael when he was disputing the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said “the Lord rebuke you!” Michael would not rebuke or make a harsh statement to the Devil because he lacked the authority to do so. However, the Lord Jesus would rebuke Satan and did in Matthew 4:10, Jesus says “Away from me Satan! For it is written; worship the LORD your God, and serve him only”. This verse clearly shows that the Lord Jesus and Michael are not the same person. However in an effort to hide this fact this scripture has been tampered with in some Bibles such as the NWT. It translates this verse “May Jehovah rebuke you” instead of the “Lord”. There is no support in the early Greek Manuscripts for inserting the name Jehovah here and this is shown even in the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of Greek Scriptures distributed by the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society . (See page 1055 for the Greek translation of Jude 9). The original Greek translates this verse as “Lord” (Jesus), not Jehovah.
The last verse is Revelation 12:7 “And there was war in heaven , Michael and his Angels fought against the dragon and his Angels fought back, but were not strong enough, and lost their place in heaven” “He was hurled down to the earth and his Angels were hurled down with him”. Here again, Jesus is not identified with being Michael. It is said that this Michael must be Christ for whom else would have Angels under him to fight for him? Well, this verse states that Satan had his army of Angels under him. Therefore if Satan can have command of Angels under him, so could Michael as an Archangel. And certainly the Archangel can toss Satan out of heaven with God’s blessing!
Rather than the Bible teaching that Jesus is the Archangel Michael it clearly teaches the contrary, which is that the Lord Jesus is far superior to any of the Angels. He is the Son of God , the Logos (Word) and as such the fullness of God’s Divinity dwells in him. The Lord is also the firstborn of all creation, and by means of him all things (not all “other” things) have been created. (See KIT book page 880 for the Greek rendering of Col. 1:15-20) Note the addition of the word “other”. It was the Lord who laid the earth’s foundations and the heavens are the works of his hands. God commands all, including the Angels to honor and worship the Son just like we do him! And the Lord is returning to earth as the ‘ King of Kings ” and “ Lord of Lords ” and not as an Angel or chief prince. (Hebrews 1:1-14, Colossians 1:15-20, John 1:1, John 5:22-24, Revelation 19:15-17)
(Edited to add: article written by Lilly Cruz 2004)
