(urth) The Cumaean

[James B. Jordan]

At 07:28 PM 5/8/2013, Dan'l wrote:

>Oddly, the 7th Day Adventists believe that Michael is Jesus in 
>disguise or something like that.


Just happened to catch this. According to exegetes in many 
traditions, in the Bible, "Micha-el" is simply the name of the Angel 
of Yahweh, who incarnate is Jesus Christ. This can be established by 
several lines of argument, the chief of which is comparing Jude verse 
9 with Zechariah 3:2. "Archangel" means "chief messenger/angel," and 
really there is only One of these.

Michael is the name given to the Angel of Yahweh as the Angelic 
Overlord of Israel. A separate angel, Gabriel, is Angelic Overlord of 
the empire set up in Daniel 2 that is ruled successively by Babylon, 
Persia, Greece, and Rome. It is in Luke, the gospel to the gentiles, 
that Gabriel appears by name.

Confusion over all this has led to Michael's being regarded as a 
creaturely angel, and then the addition of new "archangels" like 
Raphael. Of course, if one wishes, he can have it both ways, since 
"Micha-El" is simply a name, and could be that of preincarnate Christ 
and another creature as well. Wolfe, being Roman Catholic, is 
unlikely to disagree with his liturgy and so would regard Michael as 
a created angel, even if he also agreed that in the Bible the name is 
given to the preincarnate Christ.

FWIW


James B. Jordan
Director, Biblical Horizons
Box 1096
Niceville, FL 32588
http://www.biblicalhorizons.com