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Who Was Michael?

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 20, 1870

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 37, No. 1.

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Who Was Michael?

By George I. Butler

THIS is a question of some interest, upon which there has been a difference of opinion in the religious world, and which the Scriptures alone can settle. We propose, therefore, to notice each passage where his name is mentioned. These are five in number. We will first notice Rev. 12:7: “And there was war in Heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in Heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.” Here are two great hosts brought to view, and their respective commanders at their head. Michael leads the angelic host; Satan, his rival, leads the other. Who, then, is represented in the Scriptures as the commander of the angelic host? I answer, Christ. 1 Pet. 3:22: “Who is gone into Heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels, and authorities, and powers, being made subject unto him.” The Scriptures bring to view, in many places, one being between the Father and the angels, the agent through whom all his high commands were given, our Lord and Saviour. Evidently he is the same as Michael referred to above.
The next passage I will quote, is Jude 9: “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses,” &c. Here the same parties are again represented as contending, evidently in regard to the resurrection of Moses. And it is further evident that Michael was successful; for the next account of Moses we have, he is seen upon the mount with Elijah and Christ. He is there, not his disembodied spirit. Evidently, then, Michael had power to resurrect him. Who is it that brings the dead to life? John 5:25: “The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.” “All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth.” Verse 28. Here we see again that Michael and Christ are the same.
Jude calls Michael the archangel. This is a compound word. According to Webster, arch means “chief, eminent;” angel means “a messenger of God.” So Michael is the chief, or first, messenger of God; the first in authority under him. This answers exactly to Christ. Paul says, “For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” 1 Thess. 4:16. The shout proceeds from Christ; the voice of the archangel goes forth from Christ; the trump of God is with Christ. Is it therefore evident that the archangel is no other than Christ? This word is never used in the plural.
The next instance we quote from Dan. 12:1, 2: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time; and at that time shall thy people be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,” &c. Who is the great prince whose standing up results in the coming forth of the dead, and the terrible destruction of his enemies? We have but to read the scriptures quoted from 1 Thess. 4:16, and many others, to be satisfied it must be Christ. He is the “great prince” who is so often set before us in the word of God; “the chiefest among ten thousand,” and “the one altogether lovely.”
The next instance I quote from Dan. 10:13: “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days; but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” One of the heavenly messengers was evidently the speaker. There was an important work to be done. There were certain purposes to be revealed in the past through God’s prophets, to be brought about and fulfilled. These purposes involved the agency of the kings of Persia. Daniel had been earnestly praying to God, and had been chastening his soul, partaking of no pleasant food for three full weeks. Daniel’s heart was set to see that work wrought for his own people, that God had promised. His faith took hold upon God’s promises, and we see its effects. The heavenly messenger says to him, “From the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me,” &c. Here we not only see the way God works among the nations of the earth, but the power of fervent prayer when the soul is really chastened before God. Satan, no doubt, was doing all he could to hinder the fulfillment of God’s purposes, bringing his influence to bear upon the mind of the sovereign. The king himself, it seems, was loth to carry out the design of God. It became necessary for a greater and more powerful influence to be brought to bear upon his mind; so Michael is sent. In the text, he is said to be “one of the chief princes.” The margin says, “the first of the chief princes.” I think in view of the other scriptures I have quoted, this is evidently the correct reading; and here plainly this refers to Christ, the head over all the angelic host.
Michael is mentioned in just one more instance. Dan. 10:21: “There is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.” We read that angels are “all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” Heb. 1:14. We see, then, that they occupy a very important and intimate relation to the salvation of men. But Michael is a heavenly messenger, and one to be entitled emphatically, “your prince.” One of the heavenly beings is our prince. I trust none of us can have any doubt who that is: the “Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” How thankful we may all be, if we love him, that our “prince” is so soon “to stand up.” May the Lord hasten it in his time.
GEO. I. BUTLER.
Lowell, Iowa, Dec. 1, 1870.