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THE
ANGEL OF THE LORD
Lesson 26
page 1 of 2
After
forty years had passed, an angel appeared to
Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the
desert near Mount Sinai. When He saw this, he was
amazed at the sight. As he went over to look more
closely, he heard the Lords voice:
I am the God of your fathers, the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses trembled
with fear and did not dare to look. Then the Lord
said to him, Take off your sandals; the
place you are standing is holy
ground.
A Controversial Point
Some readers may consider
the following remarks to be blasphemy, but let me
say that nothing could be further from the truth.
Unfortunately, many people believe that it is
slanderous to say that Jesus lived in the form of
an angel before He came to Earth. Surprisingly,
these same people have no problem accepting the
fact that Jesus lived in a lower form of a man
while He was on Earth. Do not misunderstand my
statement that Jesus lived in the form of an
angel before He came to Earth. Jesus is not a
created being. He is eternal God, just like the
Father is God, and He has existed from time
everlasting. (John 1:1-14; Colossians 1:17; 1
Chronicles 16:36) The Bible plainly teaches that
Jesus lived in Heaven before He lived on Earth.
(John 14:24; 17:5; Hebrews 1:1-3)
Angelic in Form
Consider this
possibility: Prior to taking on the form of a
man, Jesus lived in Heaven in the form of an
angel and the angels called Him
Michael (which means One who is
like God). Before we get too involved in
this topic, I ask that you prayerfully consider a
simple concept about the Godhead. I am not asking
you to agree with me, but I would like to present
a summary statement first, allowing you to see
the big picture before demonstrating from
Scripture that Jesus is Michael.
Here is the concept:
Three Gods rule over the Universe; the Father,
Son and the Holy Spirit. Each God is separate and
distinct in His own right. They have the same
authority, power and ability, but they function
in different roles according to a mutual covenant
between themselves. The role of the Father is
universal focus. He is the object of worship and
the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. (The out
front position of the Father also makes Him
the focus of litigation should a contest over
governance arise.) The role of the Son is to live
among the created beings as one of them, to
faithfully instruct and demonstrate Gods
love to all beings. The role of the Holy Spirit
is to live within the soul of each created being,
making intimate communion between God and
creature simultaneously available to everyone
everywhere anytime. This concept of
the Trinity establishes that God is above us (the
Father), beside us (the Son) and within us (the
Holy Spirit). If this view of the Godhead is
correct, the following information about Michael
should be easier to understand.
Michael
Jesus is called by many
names in the Bible. Each name is like a prism
that reflects something new about His marvelous
wisdom and ways. Whether He is called The
Word, The Lamb of God, or The
Rose of Sharon, each name reveals another
aspect of His beautiful character. The name
Michael also reveals something very
important about Jesus. It identifies how closely
He identified with the angels before He took the
form of a man. The subject of Christs
preexistence is important because the disclosure
of Jesus, His authority, power, and love and
humility is a very encompassing subject. To the
angels, He is Michael the archangel (the prefix
arch means over or above
all angels). To man, He is Jesus, Savior, King of
kings and Lord of lords, the arch
man, if you will. A revealing of all that
Jesus is also exposes the other members of the
Godhead since the members of the Godhead are one
in purpose, plan and action. The Father and Holy
Spirit are keenly interested in the actions and
testimony of Jesus because as The
Word, He represents them, too. Since Jesus
is Creator/Heir of Earth, He will take possession
of Earth at an appointed time. People who trust
in Him for salvation should be willing to
understand all they can about Him and His ways
since He is Lord and Master to all who call on
Him.
There is one Archangel in
Heaven. Four books in the Bible offer information
about Him:
1.
But even the archangel Michael, when he was
disputing with the devil about the body of Moses,
did not dare to bring slanderous accusation
against him, but said, The Lord rebuke you!
(Jude 9)
In this
text, Michael is identified as the archangel.
Some people are offended by the idea that
Michael, the archangel, is another name for
Jesus, the Son of God. Sometimes, a portion of
this text is used to prove that Michael is not
Jesus because Michael says to the devil,
The Lord rebuke you. The argument
goes like this: If Michael is Jesus, why
would He refer to Himself in the third
person? This objection is not valid. Notice
what Zechariah 3:2 says, The Lord said to
Satan, The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord
who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you!
The
language of Zechariah 3:2 is identical to Jude 9.
In both cases, Michael is speaking of Himself in
the third person. He speaks with divine authority
in the argument over the body of Moses and ends
the argument without slandering the devil. This
is Judes point in verse nine. Jude
contrasts the words of Jesus with men who are
like unreasoning animals, carelessly
slandering celestial beings without realization
of their wrongdoing. We also know that when the
devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus did
not slander the devil or rail against him.
Speaking to Lucifer, Jesus said, Do not put
the Lord your God {me} to the test.
(Matthew 4:7, insertion mine.) Jesus knew
who He was. So did the devil and he retreated.
2.
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. (1
Thessalonians 4:16) Before we examine the details
of this verse, we need to consider two other
texts. Notice what Jesus said about Himself,
I tell you the truth, a time is coming and
has now come when the dead will hear the voice of
the Son of God and those who hear will
live. (John 5:25) Whose voice did Jesus say
the dead would hear at the resurrection? Jesus
also said, For my Fathers will is
that everyone who looks to the Son and believes
in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise
him up at the last day. (John 6:40)
These
three texts harmonize only if the archangel is
Jesus Himself. The Lord Himself will speak with
the authority of the archangel and call the dead
to life. When Jesus comes in glory, all the
angels will be with Him. (Matthew 25:31) The dead
will hear His voice at the last day. Some people
try to ignore the weight of the textual evidence
by saying the archangel joins with the Lord in
raising the dead. Why does Almighty God need an
archangel to help Him raise the dead? Jesus alone
has the keys to the grave and He alone has the
authority to redeem man! (Revelation 1:18; 5:9)
Read 1
Thessalonians 4:16 again and notice how Paul
connects two important themes. First, the Lord
Himself is the Redeemer coming down from Heaven
to gather up His saints. Second, the Lord Himself
is also the archangel. Michael, leading
Heavens angelic host. Paul merges two
perspectives about Jesus in this text. From
mans point of view, Jesus is the Redeemer.
From the angels point of view, Michael, the
archangel, is the Commander-In-Chief who leads
the heavenly host. In other words, Jesus has
great authority rising from both identities-He is
the Redeemer of Man and Commander-in-Chief of
angels.
3.
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. Multitudes
who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake:
some to everlasting life, others to shame and
everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:1,2) These
verses reveal two impressive facts. First, the
Great Tribulation commences when Michael stands
up. This suggests that at the present time,
Michael must be seated and Scripture verifies
this point,
We do have such a high
priest, who sat at the right hand of the throne
of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the
sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the
Lord, not by man. (Hebrews 8:1-2) In other
words, when Michael stands up, His work of
intercession at the right hand of the Father
(Hebrews 7:25) will be finished and a time of
distress will then begin on Earth. Do not
overlook the fact that Michael is the great
prince who protects His people. It is well known
that a prince becomes a king when the kingdom is
actually handed over to him. The same is true of
Jesus. At the present time He is a prince
in waiting-waiting for Earth to become His
dominion. (Hebrews 1:13; Revelation 11:17)
According to the Bible, the Father will hand over
the kingdom to Jesus during the Great
Tribulation, at the time of the seventh trumpet.
(Revelation 11:15-19) His first action (as King
of kings) will be to pour out seven bowls of
vengeance upon the wicked people of Earth.
(Revelation 15 and 16) Therefore, when Jesus
appears in the clouds of glory He will
appropriately wear the title, King of kings
and Lord of lords. Revelation 19:16) The
second impressive fact found in Daniel 12:1,2 is
that Michael, the archangel, is associated with a
resurrection of the righteous. (Paul confirms
this point in 1 Thessalonians 4:16.) Yet what
makes the book of Daniel so amazing is that it
was written about 600 years before Paul even
appeared on the scene. From Daniels
perspective, Michael had not become
Jesus yet! When studying the Old
Testament, keep in mind that the name
Jesus was not associated with the
second member of the Godhead. This did not happen
until He was born to Mary. These texts from
Daniel suggest that Michael is actually Jesus and
His position in Heaven is Archangel.
One text in Daniel is sometimes used to support
the idea that Michael is not Jesus. But the
prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me
twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief
princes, came to help me, because I was detained
there with the king of Persia. (Daniel
10:13) This text describes an event when Gabriel
needed Michaels help to overcome the
devils influence over the king of Persia.
At first, it may seem strange that Michael is
called one of the chief princes,
especially if He is the archangel. However, this
use of language can be easily harmonized if the
reader can accept two concepts. First, Jesus
lived among the angels as one of
them, just like He lived among men as
one of us. In other words, Michael
looked like the other chief princes of Heaven.
Second, in Heavens administrative order,
the highest rank is that of a servant leader.
Jesus said, The greatest among you will be
your servant. (Matthew 23:11) For example,
when Jesus lived on Earth, did He awe the
multitudes with His glory? Did He lord His divine
authority over mortals or rule from an exalted
throne? Did He surround Himself with an entourage
of 10,000 servants? The answer to each question
is No. Even though Jesus is Almighty
God, He chose to subject Himself to the Father,
the Plan of Salvation, and even death itself. He
lived as a humble servant of man and Michael
lived the same way in Heaven among the angels.
Servant leadership is the highest order in
Gods kingdom and Gabriel refers to Michael
as one of the chief princes because He functioned
as that. Keep this parallel in mind: From
mans perspective, Jesus appeared to be one
of us and from the angels perspective,
Michael appeared to be one of them.
4.
And there was war in heaven, Michael and
his angels fought against the dragon, and the
dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not
strong enough, and they lost their place in
heaven. (Revelation 12:7,8) I believe this
war took place on Resurrection Sunday. This text
describes Michael and His angels fighting against
Satan and his angels. Michael and Satan are
commanders, each having an army of angels.
Lucifer is the Prince of Darkness and sin.
Michael is the Prince of Righteousness and light.
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