Jesus is Not
Michael the Archangel
(Witnessing to JW's)
It is
clear from Scripture that Jesus is NOT and has never
been an angel or an archangel! It would appear that the only support you have
for such a belief is the literature of heretical cults and the false doctrinal
writings Ellen White, and their Watchtower magazine.
The
Watchtower theology deviates most dramatically from orthodox Christianity. In
contrast to the Trinitarian concept of one God in three Persons--Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit--the JW’s have been taught to believe that God the Father alone is
“Jehovah,” the only true God; that Jesus Christ is Michael the archangel, the
first angelic being created by God; and that the Holy Spirit is neither God nor
a person, but rather God's impersonal “active force.”
There
are no Bible verses, which say, “Michael is Jesus Christ.” In fact, Scripture
clearly teaches the opposite: namely, that the Son of God is superior to the
angels. The entire first chapter of Hebrews is devoted to this theme.
THE BIBLE SAYS:
"For to which of the angels did He ever say, 'Thou art My
Son, today I have begotten thee?'" Hebrews 1:5 (emphasis added). And again,
when he brings the first-born into the world, he says, Let all Gods angels
worship him" (vv. 5,6, Revised Standard Version).
"But of the Son He says, 'Thy throne, O God,
is forever and ever...'" Hebrews 1:8a
"But to which of the angels has He ever said,
'Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet?'
Are they [the angels] not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service
for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?" Hebrews 1:13-14
(emphasis added).
JW’s
use Scripture plus the erroneous non-canonical Watchtower to argue and to reach
this conclusion. But Jesus is not merely “one of the foremost princes,” Jesus
Christ is “Lord of lords and King of kings” (Rev. 17:14,) and is "far
above every government and authority and power and lordship and every name
named, not only in this system of things, but also in that to come"
(Ephesians 1:21). And, unlike "Michael who did not dare condemn the Devil
with insulting words, but said, The Lord rebuke you!" (Jude 9), Jesus
Christ displayed His authority over the devil when He freely commanded
him, "Go away, Satan!" (Matthew 4:10).
JW
Misinterpreted Scriptures
JW’s
misinterpret Bible verses while attempting to argue that Jesus is Michael the
archangel. For example "the
Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an
archangels voice and with God's trumpet…” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). However,
the expression “with an archangels voice” simply means that the archangel, like
God's trumpet, will herald the coming of the Lord, not that the Lord is an
archangel. “The Lord himself” – not an angel, is descending from heaven. The
sound of his voice is like that of an archangels voice and that of a trumpet,
this refers to the character of his voice, not to him being an angel. The Lord
Jehovah command the angels, not the other way around.
John 14:28 Jesus said, "The
Father is greater than I"
Question: "If
Jesus was God, why did He say "The Father is
greater than I" in John 14:28?"
Answer: Jesus says
repeatedly that He is doing the Father’s will, thereby implying that He is
somehow subservient to the Father. The question then becomes how can Jesus be
equal to God when by His own admission He is subservient to the will of God?
The answer to this question lies within the nature of the incarnation. During
the incarnation, Jesus was temporarily “made lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:9),
which refers to Jesus’ status. Jesus was fully human and “made lower than the
angels.” However, Jesus is fully divine, too. By taking on human nature, Jesus
did not relinquish His divine nature—God cannot stop being God.
Question: How do we
reconcile the fact that the second Person of the Trinity is fully divine yet
fully human and by definition “lower than the angels”?
Answer:
Philippians 2:6-11 6 Who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: The
word rendered "being" (ὑπάρχων) means, as
R.V. in margin, being originally. It looks back to the time before the
Incarnation, when the Word, the Λόγος ἄσαρκος, was
with God (comp. John 8:58;
John 17:5, 24).
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (proves
that the second Person of the Trinity took on human form, and that Christ “made
himself of no reputation” means that Jesus voluntarily relinquished the
prerogative of freely exercising His divine attributes and subjected Himself to
the will of the Father while on earth). “Taking upon him the form of a
servant” Jesus, being first in the form of God, took the form of a servant,
meaning he possessed originally the essential attributes of Deity, and assumed
in addition the essential attributes of humanity. He was perfect God; he became
perfect as a sinless man, completely yielded in obedience to the will of God
the Father, even the death of the cross (comp. Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3; 2 Corinthians 4:4).
Verse
8 And being found in fashion as a
man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross.
9
Wherefore God (the Father) also hath highly exalted
him (Jesus), and given him a name which is above every name: Jesus,
which was given him at his circumcision, in accordance with the angel's
message; but also the name Lord or Jehovah (comp. Ver. 11 Jesus Christ is
Lord), which was indeed his before his incarnation, but was given (comp. Matthew 28:18, "All
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth") to Jesus Christ, the
incarnate Son, God and Man in one Person. The name "Jesus" (Phil 2:10),
which is even now in glory His name of honor (Acts 9:5). "Above" not
only men, but angels (Eph 1:21). The exaltation was of Christ's human nature,
in union with the Divine. At the name of Jesus, not the mere sound of the word,
but the authority of Jesus, all should pay solemn homage.
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. It is to the glory
of God the Father, to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; for it is his will,
that all men should honour the Son as they honour the Father, John 5:23. Here
we see such motives to self-denying love as nothing else can supply. Do we thus
love and obey the Son of God?
Another
thing to consider is the fact that subservience in role does not equate to
subservience in essence. For example, consider an employer/employee
relationship. The employer has the right to make demands of the employee, and the
employee has the obligation to serve the employer. The roles clearly define a
subservient relationship. However, both people are still human beings and share
in the same human nature. There is no difference between the two as to their
essence; they stand as equals. Therefore, the fact that the Son took on a human
nature and made Himself subservient to the Father in no way denies the deity of
the Son, nor does it diminish His essential equality with the Father. The
“greatness” spoken of in this verse, then, relates to role, not to essence.
Jesus
Is The Firstborn
Col.
1:15, "firstborn of all creation"
Jesus is the Firstborn from the dead (Colossians
1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have
the preeminence.) The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of a
new creation in him, he is not the first created for he is the creator himself.
"He
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; because by
means of him all [other]
things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and
the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or
governments or authorities. All [other]
things have been created through him and for him. Also, he is before all [other] things and by means of him all
[other] things were
made to exists," (Col. 1:15-17, for context. The New World Translation--Emphasis
added. Note the NWT's addition of 'other'
into the text four times. This is discussed here).
The
Jehovah's Witnesses interpret the word "firstborn" here to mean
"first created" because it is consistent with their theological
presupposition that Jesus is a created thing. Of course, Jesus, the Word become
flesh (John 1:1,
14)
is not a created thing but that hasn't stopped the Watchtower organization from
claiming He is. Nevertheless, there is a Greek word for "first
created," and it was in use at the time of Paul's writing to the
Colossians. He did not use it here. The Greek for "firstborn" is
proto with tikto which would give us "firstborn" and that is what we
find here in Colossians
1:15. The Greek for "first created" would be proto with
ktizo, and it is not used here.
Second,
the Biblical use of the word "firstborn" is most interesting. It can
mean the first born child in a family (Luke 2:7),
but it can also mean "pre-eminence." In Psalm 89:20,
27
it says, "I have found David My servant; with My holy oil I have anointed
him . . . I also shall make him My first-born," (NASB). As you can see,
David, who was the last one born in his family, was called the firstborn by
God. This is a title of preeminence.
Third,
firstborn is also a title that is transferable:
Gen. 41:51-52,
"And Joseph called the name of the
first-born Manasseh: For, said he, God hath made me forget all
my toil, and all my father's house. And the
name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath made me
fruitful in the land of my affliction."
Jer. 31:9 " . . . for I am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is My firstborn."
Scripture best interprets
Scripture. Firstborn does not require a meaning of first created as the
Jehovah's Witnesses say it means here. "Firstborn" can mean the first
born person in a family, and it can also be a title of preeminence which is
transferable. That is obvious since Jesus is God in flesh (John 1:1,
14)
and is also the first born son of Mary. In addition, He is the pre-eminent one
in all things. The Jehovah's Witnesses should consider this when they examine Col. 1:15.
They should also abandon the Watchtower which guides them in their thinking and
believing.
Jesus,
Not Angels Are Worshipped
Angels
consistently refuse worship ("Be careful! Do not do that! …Worship
God," Revelation 22:8,9, NWT), but the Fathers command concerning the
Son is, “Let all Gods angels worship him” (Hebrews 1:6). That is how the
Watchtowers own New World Translation read for some 20 years until, in 1970,
the Society changed it to read “do obeisance to him” instead of “worship
him”--part of their consistent campaign to eliminate from their Bible all
references to the deity of Christ. (See John 10:36 comment.) The teaching that Jesus is Michael
the Archangel is an old, tired Arian argument. The early Adventist pioneers
also taught the heresy called "Arianism" which teaches that Jesus is
not God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity.
Jesus is
Jehovah in the Book of Revelation
Using
verse reference from the book of Revelation alone proves that Jesus is Jehovah
God. I recommend that you use the KJV of the Bible when witnessesing, but in
this case alone, you can even use the Jehovah’s Witnesses false version of the
Bible, the New World Translation, to refute their false theology):
1) Begin
by reading with the Jehovah’s Witness from Revelation 1:8.
“I am the
Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “Who is, and who was, and who is to
come, the Almighty.”
Question: “Who is
the Alpha and the Omega?”
Answer: it says
right there, the Alpha and the Omega is the Lord God (or Jehovah God in their
translation).”
2) Next,
read from Revelation 22:13.
“I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End”
Question: “Now, who
exactly is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last?”
Answer: “We just
saw who the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last is, he is the Lord God
(or Jehovah God in their translation).
3) Lastly,
read with them from Revelation 1:17-18.
When I saw
him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and
said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last”
Question: (stop
here and ask again, ‘who is the First and the Last?’).
Answer: “I am
the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever!”
Revelation 1:18
Final
Question - Ask the JW, “So, when exactly did the Lord God (or Jehovah God in their
translation) die?” And many Jehovah’s Witnesses will just curiously look at
that passage, having never seen this connection before. The Bible is clear in
identifying Jesus Christ as the Lord God (or Jehovah God). If you want to
demonstrate this reality even further, read with them from Revelation 22:13
& 16, where the Alpha and the Omega says, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel
to give you this testimony for the churches.”
