Michael the archangel

Question

Michael is mentioned in Revelation 12:7

Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. (NIV)

So who is Michael is he just the archangel or is he Jesus

Answer 1

It is an odd thing for the Jehovah's Witnesses to attribute Jesus as Michael the Archangel for the following reasons:

1.) Hebrews chapter 1 gives an extensive Christology, identifying Jesus(the Son) in terms no mere Angel or Archangel could have. Examples:

Hebrews 1:3 Jesus is said to be the radiance of God's Glory and the exact representation of His nature. Some translations say: brightness of His(God's) glory and express image of His person. No angel can fit that category.

Here is where things get more expressive:

For to which of the angels did He ever say:

“You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”?

And again:

“I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son”?

6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says:

“Let all the angels of God worship Him.”

Hebrews 1:6 might be a little more tricky to interpret because in one instance it says in effect that the firstborn(Jesus) is to be worshipped by all the angels of God, which would include Michael the Archangel. This proves that Jesus isn't an angel of any order whatsoever.

What Hebrews 1:6 also shows us is that if Jesus is to be worshipped by any of the Angels of God, then we only have 2 primary conclusions:

1.) Jesus is God, eternally co-existent with the Father and the Spirit. OR

2.) The Angels of God are committing idolatry right there in Heaven!

The only logical conclusion from such a verse (Heb 1:6) is to affirm the deity of Jesus Christ. But it gets better!

And of the angels He says:

“Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.”

8 But to the Son He says:

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

2.) Jesus is often quoted by Jehovah's Witnesses and deniers of the Deity of Christ as being the firstborn over all creation and by that, they wrongly assume He isn't God. (Colossians 1:15)

To dissect what this term means, namely: Firstborn, we need to look at some OT background. We'll also address what image of the invisible God means:

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." (Colossians 1:15)

Jesus is said to be the image of the invisible God, cross referenced to Hebrews 1:3, this means from the Greek "eikōn" "likeness" "image" & the English word "icon" is derived from it. Angels are NOT anywhere described in both the OT or NT as being the "express image of God" or "image of God".

Furthermore, the term firstborn has roots in Jewish and Greek culture as pertaining to first in rank or preeminence in position. In such ancient cultures it was customary for the firstborn to receive the right of the inheritance from his father. In the same way, Jesus receives the inheritance His Father gave to Him. See also: (Jeremiah 31:9, Exodus 4:22)

See also for the image of God in man: How do we reconcile Genesis 1:26 with Isaiah 46:9?

"having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." (Hebrews 1:4)

"has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds" (Hebrews 1:2)

3.) Third and last: The Jehovah's Witness' translation which is named the New World Translation (NWT) was originally first published in 1950, the later and fully completed translation was made in 1961.

The (NWT) has passages in Hebrews & the rest of the Bible changed and altered in such a way that it denies the deity of Christ & the doctrine of the Trinity.

It's founder was Charles Taze Russell, who was a restoration movement minister. In his early life he questioned core Christian doctrines like the Trinity and even that of Eternal Punishment. So with his bias against such doctrines it's no wonder that he and those after him (like J.F. Rutherford) would be part of the organization that eventually made a translation that gutted the very teaching of the Deity of Christ.

EDIT: Also, the term Begotten in Greek is "monogenēs" which means "one and only, unique". It does NOT mean created or birthed.

Answer 2

The title Mikael מִיכָאֵל means "Who [is] Like God?" found in [Daniel 12:1] associated with the Prince of the Army of YHVH שַׂר־צְבָא־יְהֹוָה made known in [Joshua 5:14] who will resurrect the spiritually dead shortly after the ingathering of the exiles. In the presence of Mikael, the ground becomes holy & footwear must be removed as stated שַׁל־נַעַלְךָ מֵעַל רַגְלֶ֔ךָ כִּי הַמָּק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה עֹמֵד עָלָיו קדֶשׁ הוּא in [Joshua 5:15].

Mikael saves Yisrael from destructive [persecution] - not from their own sins. Only YHVH will forgive sins of Yisrael as Adon Olam stated in [Isaiah 43:25] - " I! I erase your transgressions for My sake, and your sins I will not remember." (אָנֹכִי אָנֹכִי הוּא מֹחֶה פְשָׁעֶ֖יךָ לְמַֽעֲנִי וְחַטֹּאתֶיךָ לֹא אֶזְכֹּֽר)

If the NT human prophet Jesus the Nazarene is our one and only Father YHVH of Tanakh, then Jesus the Nazarene could not have been מִיכָאֵל Mikael the שַׂר־צְבָא־יְהֹוָה Prince of the Army of YHVH.