There are specific cults that believe that Christ is an angelic creature who became man. These religious movements claim that Jesus, in his prehuman existence and in his post-resurrection exaltation, is actually Michael the archangel!⁽¹⁾

In this post I will show the readers an effective manner of how to use the God-breathed Scriptures to refute this false teaching.

MICHAEL IN THE BIBLE

To begin with, I list all the passages where Michael is mentioned:

“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing against me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. Now I had been left there with the kings of Persia… However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. Now there is no one who exerts strength with me against these forces except Michael your prince.” Daniel 10:13, 21

“Now at that time, Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will stand. And there will be a time of distress such as never happened since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.” Daniel 12:1

“But Michael the archangel, when he, disputing with the devil, was arguing about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!’” Jude 1:9

“And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” Revelation 12:7-9

The aforementioned passages describe Michael as one of the ruling spirit creatures or archangels who had been assigned the role of guarding and overseeing Israel. Michael is also depicted as that particular angel whom God appointed to oppose Satan, having been given the authority to bar the Devil from accessing heaven.  

THE REFUTATION

The Bible is explicitly clear that Jesus is not a created angelic being. Rather, Christ is the divine Son of God by whom all things, including all the epochs of time, have been created, being the very One who preserves all creation by his powerful word:

“God, having spoken long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days spoke to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds, who is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power; who, having accomplished cleansing for sins.’” Hebrews 1:1-3

Here, the inspired writer of Hebrews assigns to the Son the very same functions and worship, which the OT scriptures attribute to YHWH God alone.

For instance, it is YHWH who created and sustains all creation by his word, provides cleansing for sins, and whom all the angelic host are to worship:

“And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, ‘Rise up, bless Yahweh your God from everlasting to everlasting! O may Your glorious name be blessed And exalted above all blessing and praise! You alone are Yahweh. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down to You.’” Nehemiah 9:5-6

“Because of him, each messenger succeeds, and all things hold together by his word.” Sirach 43:26 Common English Bible (CEB)

In fact, Hebrews even takes the following OT passages, where the angelic gods of the nations are commanded to worship God,

“See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, As I live forever, if I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh— with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the long-haired heads of the enemy. Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people’s land.” Deuteronomy 32:39-43 English Standard Version (ESV)

“Rejoice, ye heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice ye Gentiles, with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him; for he will avenge the blood of his sons, and he will render vengeance, and recompense justice to his enemies, and will reward them that hate him; and the Lord shall purge the land of his people.” Deuteronomy 32:43 LXX

“Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images, Who boast of idols; Worship Him, all you gods! Zion heard this and was glad, And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced Because of Your judgments, O Yahweh. For You are Yahweh Most High over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.” Psalm 97:7-9

“Let all that worship graven images be ashamed, who boast of their idols; worship him, all ye his angels.” Psalm 96:7 LXX

And has the Father applying this command to Christ:

“And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, ‘And let ALL the angels of God worship Him.’” Hebrews 1:6

I.e., the Son is the YHWH whom all the angels are commanded to worship!

This in itself poses a dilemma for these anti-Trinitarian cults. Since ALL (not some, not most) of the angels are to worship the Son as YHWH, the Son cannot possibly be one of these angelic creatures. Otherwise, the Son would have to be worshiping himself if he were in fact a created angel, which in turn means that YHWH is a spirit creature who worships himself!

Note how this works out logically:

1. All the angels are commanded to worship the Son as YHWH God (Cf. Deut. 32:43; Psalm 97:7).
2. Therefore, if the Son were a spirit creature then this means that YHWH God is a created angel who worships himself.
3. The Son, therefore, cannot be an angelic creature but is rather the very Creator and Sustainer of all creation, which includes his having created and giving life to the entire host of heaven.

The writer reinforces this point of the Son being YHWH by having the Father glorify Christ as the God who rules forever, and even quotes the following Psalm, where YHWH is identified as the unchangeable Creator and Sustainer of all creation,

“A Prayer of the afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before Yahweh. O Yahweh, hear my prayer! And let my cry for help come to You… But You, O Yahweh, abide forever, And the remembrance of Your name from generation to generation… I say, ‘O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days, Your years are from generation to all generations. Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You will remain; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.’” Psalm 102:1, 12, 24-27

And applies it to his Son!

“But of the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God (ho theos), is forever and ever, And the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness above Your companions.’ And, ‘You, Lord [the Son], in the beginning founded the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands; They will perish, but You remain; And they all will wear out 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.’” Hebrews 1:8-12

In other words, Hebrews has the Father glorifying and praising Jesus as YHWH God Almighty, magnifying his Son for being the immutable Creator and Life-giver of the entire creation!

The inspired author then contrasts the Son’s divine transcendence and immutability with the transient and mutable nature of angels, whom God created to serve rather than to be served:

“… sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again, ‘I will be a Father to Him And He shall be a Son to Me’?… But to which of the angels has He ever said, ‘Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies As a footstool for Your feet’? Hebrews 1:3b-5, 13

“And of the angels He says: ‘Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.’… Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1:7, 14 New King James Version (NKJV)

Hebrews cites the following OT texts, all of which speak of God’s promise to David that his physical seed would reign on God’s throne forever and ever:

“So now, thus you shall say to My servant David, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “I Myself took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. And I will appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place and not be disturbed again; and the unrighteous will not afflict them any more as formerly, even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Yahweh also declares to you that Yahweh will make a house for you. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up one of your seed after you, who will come forth from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will reprove him with the rod of men and the strikes from the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not be removed from him, as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever. According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.”’” 2 Samuel 7:8-17

“Why do the nations rage And the peoples meditate on a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against Yahweh and against His Anointed, saying, ‘Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!’ He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord mocks them. Then He speaks to them in His anger And terrifies them in His fury, saying, ‘But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.  will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh: He said to Me, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like a potter’s vessel.”’ So now, O kings, show insight; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Serve Yahweh with fear And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!” Psalm 2:1-12

“Of David. A Psalm. Yahweh says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand Until I put Your enemies as a footstool for Your feet.’ Yahweh will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Have dominion in the midst of Your enemies.’ Your people will offer themselves freely in the day of Your power; In the splendor of holiness, from the womb of the dawn, The dew of Your youthfulness will be Yours. Yahweh has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.’ The Lord (Adonay) is at Your right hand; He will crush kings in the day of His anger. He will render justice among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will crush the head that is over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the wayside; Therefore He will lift up His head.” Psalm 110:1-7

The writer to Hebrews is claiming that these promises to David were fulfilled in Jesus Christ who became a physical offspring of David in order to reign on David’s throne for all eternity (Cf. Lk. 1:26-35; 20:41-44; Acts 2:29-36; 13:22-23, 32-35; Romans 1:3-4; 2 Timothy 2:8; Revelation 5:5; 22:16).

Once again, since God never enthroned an angelic creature to rule forever at his right hand the Son, therefore, cannot be a created spirit being. If Jesus were a created angel then the inspired author would be contradicting himself since this means that God did in fact call a particular angelic creature his Son and did indeed exalt a specific spirit creature to reign alongside of himself in heaven.  

Moreover, since the Son became superior to the angels in position and status as a result of his post-resurrection heavenly exaltation, it is not possible that Jesus could be an angelic creature. Otherwise, we would have to believe that Jesus became superior to himself.

Again, note the logic behind the inspired statements of Hebrews:

1. God never exalted an angelic creature to reign alongside of him in heaven.
2. God never took a created spirit being to be his royal Son in fulfillment of the promises found in 2 Samuel 7, Psalms 2 and 110 that David would never fail to have a physical descendant ruling on his behalf.
3. God, on the other hand, did enthrone Jesus as his Son in order to fulfill the Davidic covenant.
4. Jesus, therefore, cannot be a created angelic being.

There’s simply no way around this.

Therefore, the inspired Scriptures do not describe Christ as an angelic creature, nor do they ever identify the Son as the archangel Michael. Rather, the God-breathed writings explicitly declare that Jesus Christ is YHWH God Almighty who became Man, being the uniquely begotten Son of God who is essentially one with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

FURTHER READING

Is Jesus Christ the Archangel Michael?

Jesus as the First Creature and the Irrationality of Arianism

Proving that Jesus is not the Archangel Michael

EVEN MORE PROOF THAT MICHAEL CANNOT BE JESUS

Is Michael the Ruler of Israel? Further Proof that Jesus isn’t an Archangel Pt. 1

Is Michael the Ruler of Israel? The Witness of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Michael’s Contention With Satan

CREATED ANGELIC BEINGS AS JEHOVAH GOD?

ARIAN CULTIST PROVES JEHOVAH IS A COPY OF JESUS!

ENDNOTES

(1) Not all groups who believe that Jesus is the archangel Michael think that this makes Christ a created being. Certain reformers such as John Calvin and seventh day Adventists believe that Jesus is God Almighty, the Second Person of the Trinity, while also affirming that he is Michael the Archangel. To them, Michael is not a creature but one of the names of the uncreated, eternal Son of God. For more on this point please read the following post: JOHN CALVIN ON MICHAEL BEING JESUS CHRIST.  

• Uncategorized